'Unexpected Pleasures' lives up to its name

For a quick historical romance, try Unexpected Pleasures by Mary Wine, which earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  Forced by her ruthless guardian to tempt secrets from his enemies and seduce allegiance from his friends, Lady Justina Wincott nevertheless refuses to sully the reputation of the honorable Sir Synclair.  Check out even more quick reads on the library's Summer Reading Club paperback display.  You don't need to be a club member to check them out, but with a free membership, Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library cardholders can win fabulous raffle prizes all summer long, just for reading!

Quality new nonfiction at your Community Library

Looking for some high-quality new nonfiction from Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library?  Perhaps you'd like try one of these two books, which both earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly:

• Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep - Examines the complex world of sleep and discusses whether or not women sleep differently than men and if killing someone while sleepwalking would count as murder.
• Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy - Analyzes scandals in high-profile institutions, from Wall Street and the Catholic Church to Major League Baseball, while evaluating how an elite American meritocracy rose throughout the past half-century before succumbing to corruption and failure.

Cultures clash 'In the Kingdom of Men'

A young 1960s Oklahoman finds herself in a very unfamiliar world when she marries an oil driller and moves to Saudi Arabia in the new book In the Kingdom of Men.  The death of a young Bedouin woman causes her to question the decadence and corruption of her glamorous but restrictive new home.  The book earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called it an "immersive and bracing exploration of one woman's search for freedom amid repression."  Check it out from your Community Library!

Three New Mysteries

Looking for some top-quality mysteries?  Try one of these three new releases, which all earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly:

• An Unmarked Grave - While contending with wounded soldiers and influenza patients, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford stumbles upon the body of an officer and family friend who has been murdered, and uses her father's connections in the military to search for an elusive killer.
• Never Tell - While investigating the suicide of sixteen-year-old Julia Whitmire, whose famous parents believe that she was murdered, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher discovers that Julia was engaged in a dangerous game of cyberbullying against an unlikely victim.
• Guilt Trip - As the pranks played on the cast of "Curtain Call" grow nastier, Lina Townend and Griff Tripp, her business partner and cast member of the production, begin to investigate.

Highly-anticipated debut in 'Something Red'

The new debut novel Something Red, which earned a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, is described as a "haunting fantasy of love, murder, and sorcery set in one of the coldest winters of thirteenth-century England."  Characters range from shapeshifters to pilgrims to Irish battle queens and everyone in between.  If you enjoy atmospheric historical fiction with supernatural elements, don't miss the debut of this talented new novelist and award-winning poet Douglas Nicholas.

New family drama: 'The Red House'

From the award-winning author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes a dazzlingly inventive novel about the modern family.  Told from rotating viewpoints, The Red House traces seven days of bitterly comic family dynamics and confrontation when a wealthy doctor invites his estranged sister's family to join his newly blended one at a vacation home in the English countryside.  This book got a starred review in Library Journal; be sure to check it out from your Community Library.

Intrigue and espionage in 'The Blind Spy'

Spies, assassins, and covert agents - there are plenty of these in Alex Dryden's action-intensive new book The Blind Spy, which earned a starred review in Library Journal.  When Burt Miller of Cougar, the powerful private intelligence company that overshadows the CIA, discovers Russia's plans to destroy the Ukraine's independence, he calls upon Anna Resnikov to run interference.  Feel free to share your own recommended spy stories in the comments!

New memoir: 'Gypsy Boy' by Mikey Walsh

Here's a new memoir that got a starred review in Library Journal: Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh. Walsh, the son of a Romany Gypsy champion bareknuckle boxer, shares the story of his upbringing in England, his realization of his sexual orientation, and how his circumstances were shaped by his culture's absolute beliefs.  A good bet for fans of dysfunction memoirs and LGBTQ themes.

Olympic reading in debut novel 'The Games'

Ted Kosmatka's debut novel The Games has gotten a lot of buzz, earning a starred review in Library Journal, which also featured it as a "debut of the month."  In the story, a near-future Olympic sport reminiscent of gladiator fighting in ancient Rome pits genetically engineered monsters against human athletes.  With the 2012 London Olympics coming up, this book might be just the thing to get into the spirit of the Games!  Got any other Olympics-themed reading suggestions?  Comment!

Just released: 4th book in Arthurian Mystery Series, 'The Stolen Bride'

If you love reading suspenseful stories from the days of King Arthur, you've probably already discovered Tony Hays, who just released the 4th installment in his Arthurian mystery series, The Stolen Bride.  In this book, which got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, King Arthur's trusted advisor Malgwyn ap Cuneglas is charged with tracking down the culprit responsible for murdering the king of a small, gold-rich region.  New to the series?  Start with The Killing Way, followed by The Divine Sacrifice and then The Beloved Dead.  Hungry for more mysteries set centuries ago?  Try P.C. Doherty's "Hugh Corbett" medieval mystery series, now on its 8th book, Mysterium.

Nothing Can Make Me Do This

Enjoy domestic drama?  Nothing Can Make Me Do This by David Huddle tells the story of a family torn apart by its patriarch's dirty secret.  This book received a starred review in Booklist: "Huddle zestfully traverses the erratic arc of love, lust, and everything in between."  Be the first at your Community Library to put a hold on this exciting new book.

Imagining Thanksgiving 1962 in American Boy

Larry Watson's new book American Boy starts on Thanksgiving Day, 1962, when the shooting of a young woman sets off a chain of events in a small Minnesota town.  Booklist, which gave American Boy a starred review, describes the book as a modern-day Catcher in the Rye, and also recommends it as a crossover title for teenaged readers.  Happy Thanksgiving (and happy reading) from your Community Library.

Announcing a new trilogy from Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts fans, take note: The Next Always, book one in a planned trilogy by this popular author, is due out soon.  This book, which received a starred review in Booklist, is a love story set around a historic hotel that has endured war and peace, and even rumored hauntings. In the story, the inn is getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen...  Reserve your copy early to be sure you don't have long to wait!

Required Reading: The Influencing Machine

The Influencing Machine is a recently-published graphic novel examining the media.  The starred review in Library Journal compares the book's narrator to "a chatty but interesting poli-sci professor" who guides the reader "through media history, source accuracy (or not), journalist impartiality (or not), bias (seven kinds), dilemmas relating to war reporting, objectivity (or not), disclosure, tricks the mind plays on understanding news stories, and how the media mirror ourselves in all of our human diversity."  The review also recommends that the book "should be required reading for nearly everbody over age ten, media students, and plain ole citizens, especially."  Intrigued?  Pick it up at your Community Library!

Pompeii: New Historical/Inspirational Fiction

Enjoy well-researched historical fiction with Christian themes? Then Pompeii by T.L. Higley might be a good choice for you. In this book (rated a "top pick" by Romantic Times and given a starred review by Library Journal), a Jewish woman posing as a Roman gladiator may be the only hope for Christian convert Portius Cato, whose attempt to start a new life in Pompeii seems doomed to failure.