Book talk for July 30 2024
Breathe your last
by Lisa Regan
Dropping off a shirt off for her brother at his college job, Detective Josie Quinn spots a body in the pool, but her attempts to save the young woman fail. How did the star swimmer--who was not dressed for practice--drown? Strong language and some violence. 2020.
DB101647
The Bodyguard
Katherine Center
"She's got his back. Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she's an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker. He's got her heart. Jack Stapleton's a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid. They've got a secret. When Jack's mom gets sick, he comes home to the family's Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn't want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack's girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, like a jerk, says no one will believe it. What could possibly go wrong??? Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it's easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That's the hardest thing she's ever done." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
DB109304
Vital Signs
by Barbara Wood
Three women in medical school are determined to become doctors and must reconcile their personal lives with the demanding requirements of their careers. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
DB23713
Prelude
by B J Hoff
Three immigrant families find evangelism and opportunity in late-nineteenth-century America. Young Susanna Fallon, having come to New York to care for her niece, distrusts her deceased sister's husband--a brilliant, blind composer. A Scottish physician contemplates his practice, and a poor Irish family journeys across the Atlantic. Followed by Cadence. 2002.
DB57449
A discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness
After scholar and witch Diana Bishop requests an alchemical manuscript from the depths of Oxford's Bodleian Library, she finds the magical power within the leather cover disturbing and hastily sends it back. But the book's reemergence causes a chain reaction through the paranormal community. Descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2011.
DB72629
Rainbow Six
by Tom Clancy
John Clark, ex Navy SEAL, is off to London to head up the antiterrorist strike force, Rainbow Six, when his plane is hijacked. He and co-worker Ding Chavez quickly foil the attempt. In England, the two deal with bank robbers, hostage situations, a raid, and an environmentalist who thinks more of nature than humans. Violence and strong language. Bestseller.
BR12192 DB46775
A song to remember
by Kay Correll
"Sophie Brooks runs the small art gallery in Sweet River Falls. She's thrown herself into keeping the gallery open. She owes her parents that much. But when Chase Green arrives in town, long-buried memories of the dreams Sophie had for her life bubble to the surface. Chase is hiding from his own haunted past and keeping long-held secrets. When the secrets explode will they end his faltering country singer career? But when they team up for a duet, the chemistry between them is impossible to deny. Chase has a choice... will he let the past destroy his future? Sophie has a choice... will she walk away from everything to chase after her dreams? Sometimes the Song Remembers... even if you don't." -- Provided by publisher.
DB119356
A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America.
by Cal Thomas
"In A Watchman in the Night, Cal Thomas takes the reader on a "road trip" through over fifty years of journalism and American life, serving as a "watchman" on culture and politics and seeking to conform it to a standard that never changes. A watchman "keeps guard over a building at night, to protect it from fire, vandals, or thieves." Thomas is a believer that certain values and principles never change and has critiqued misbehavior and wrong-headedness by people on "his side" from the start. "If values and Truth mean anything," Thomas says, "they must be applied equally. Hypocrisy and heresy cannot be ignored no matter the source." In the book, Thomas does not stigmatize labels, such as "conservative" and "religious," because Thomas says: "It allows people to define me and others by their perception of those labels. Ask me a question and I will give you my answer. For over fifty years in journalism, Thomas has offered incisive, humorous and often corrective commentary to our social, political, and religious conversations. An early commitment to addressing publicly what he sees has marked Thomas' entire career. Cal has always called both parties, both sides of the American political divide, to account, to take the high road and to honor our civic and religious ideals with compatible behavior to the very best of our ability. This increasingly "radical" approach to public life has won him many friends on both sides of the political aisle, hundreds of thousands of faithful readers of his columns, and a continuous barrage of accolades and "hate mail," much of it charming when it is not too foul to repeat. Cal came to the Christian faith while a young journalist at a dinner led by Dr. Richard Halverson, Pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD, and later, Chaplain of the United States Senate. This experience informed the rest of Cal's life as he hosted his own private dinners for members of the press and members of Congress from both parties leading to deep friendships with Senator Ted Kennedy and many others, friendships which became a hallmark of Cal's life despite wide political differences. For over two decades, Cal has hosted the National Prayer Breakfast Media Dinner as a continuation of his commitment to the reality that a relationship with Jesus Christ can change a person's life and ultimately change a nation, and that things of such import are best discussed over dinner. The book includes tones about faith, but focuses on American social, cultural and political currents. A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America is a living history of our times, of who we were then and who we are now and who we might become (for better or worse) in the future, and a remarkable chronicle of modern American life." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language.
DB115809
Prairie fires: the American dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
by Caroline Fraser
"Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls—the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true saga of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser—the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series—masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography. Revealing the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life, she also chronicles Wilder's tumultuous relationship with her journalist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books. The Little House books, for all the hardships they describe, are paeans to the pioneer spirit, portraying it as triumphant against all odds. But Wilder's real life was harder and grittier than that, a story of relentless struggle, rootlessness, and poverty. It was only in her sixties, after losing nearly everything in the Great Depression, that she turned to children's books, recasting her hardscrabble childhood as a celebratory vision of homesteading—and achieving fame and fortune in the process, in one of the most astonishing rags-to-riches episodes in American letters. Spanning nearly a century of epochal change, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, Wilder's dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. With fresh insights and new discoveries, Prairie Fires reveals the complex woman whose classic stories grip us to this day." -- Provided by publisher.
BR25220 DB91043
Bums: an oral history of the Brooklyn Dodgers
by Peter Golenbock
"Before the team headed to Los Angeles in 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers were one of the most colorful and beloved teams in baseball. Even today, they remain ingrained in the fabric of our national pastime. In Bums, bestselling author Peter Golenbock has compiled a fascinating oral history of the Ebbets Field heroes with recollections from former players, writers, front-office executives, and faithful fans. Dodgers' legends such as Pee Wee Reese, Leo Durocher, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Ralph Branca, and many others recall the ups and downs of that unforgettable ball club in their own words. Brooklyn fans and other baseball enthusiasts will savor these warmly nostalgic accounts, which range from reminiscences of the magic of Ebbets Field to tales of Jackie Robinson's historic debut (the Shot Heard 'Round the World), the triumphant 1955 season, and the ultimate betrayal by Walter O'Malley." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
DB112202
Prey
by Michael Crichton
Unemployed computer programmer Jack Forman stays home with the children while wife, Julia, works at a firm developing "molecular manufacturing," or nanotechnology. Hired as a consultant, Jack discovers that an experiment has gone horribly astray and that escaped swarms of tiny robots are feeding off flesh. Strong language and some violence. Bestseller. 2002.
DB55273
Demon Seed
by Dean Koontz
A form of artificial intelligence has seized control of Susan Harris's completely automated house. As she struggles to escape the computer's devious plans to gain a human form, it underestimates her power of survival. Strong language and some violence. 1973.
DB54208