New Must Read Memoirs

After Visiting Friends  by Michael Hainey: Michael Hainey was only six when his father, Bob, an editor with the Chicago Tribune, was found dead. But what never came clear were the exact circumstances of Bob's death. He was found dead on the street after visiting friends. As an adult – today deputy editor of GQ and living in New York – Michael decided it was time to find out.  What emerges is not only the buried story of Bob Hainey's life  but also a portrait of America in the 1960s, the newspaper profession as it was practiced at that time, and a snapshot of the city of Chicago itself. 

Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou: Angelou returns to her own story when, at the age of 13, she is sent from her grandmother’s home to reunite with “Lady” (the name she gives to the lively little woman she can’t quite bring herself to call “Mother”). Their beginning is rocky, but it soon becomes clear that this is a story of redemption.  Angelou gradually finds much to admire and eventually to cherish about her mother, making her memoir both a tender read and a lovely tribute. 

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala: The backdrop to this memoir is horrific: Deraniyagala lost her entire family – husband, two young sons, and parents – in the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in late 2004. In bits and pieces, Deraniyagala eventually allows herself to recall the beauty of her family and in the face of death – to vividly remind us of all that is most to be valued in life.

Coming Soon To A Theater Near You

Film rights to William P. Young's self-published inspirational 2007 blockbuster The Shack have been acquired by Summit Entertainment.  Gill Netter has signed on as the producer. He most recently produced the Ocsar-winning adaptation of Yan Martel’s Life Of Pi, a project he worked on for over a decade before it became a reality.  The Shack tells the story of Mackenzie Allen Philips, whose youngest daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family vacation with evidence indicating that she may have been brutally murdered in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.  Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will changes Mack's world forever.  Pickup the book before it hits the big screen!

Amanda Knox Speaks

Since the arrest of Amanda Knox in 2007, her murder case — with its lurid details and attractive young cast — has been heatedly debated by the news media on both sides of the Atlantic and in several books.  Prosecutors and some European tabloids depicted Knox as a cunning “she-devil,” but her family and her supporters have promoted an image of her as an American innocent abroad who got caught up in the gears of a dysfunctional Italian justice system.  After a controversial trial, Knox was convicted and imprisoned. But in 2011, an appeals court overturned the decision and vacated the murder charge. Free at last, she returned home to the U.S., where she has remained silent, until now.  Filled with details first recorded in the journals Knox kept while in Italy, Waiting to Be Heard is a remarkable story of innocence, resilience, and courage, and of one young woman’s hard-fought battle to overcome injustice and win the freedom she deserved.

Dark and Captivating New Novel

The Morels─Arthur, Penny, and Will─are a happy family of three living in New York City. So why would Arthur choose to publish a book that brutally rips his tightly knit family apart at the seams? Arthur's old schoolmate Chris, who narrates the book, is fascinated with this question as he becomes accidentally reacquainted with Arthur. A single, aspiring filmmaker, Chris envies everything Arthur has, from his beautiful wife to his charming son to his effortless creativity. But things are not always what they seem.  The Morels, by Christopher Hacker, takes a unique look at the power of art and challenges us as readers to think about some fascinating questions to which there are no easy answers. Where is the line between art and obscenity, between truth and fiction, between revolutionary thinking and brainless shock value, between craftsmanship and commerce? Is it possible to escape the past? Can you save your family by destroying it?

Baseball Mysteries

With baseball season fully underway, now is the perfect time to check out one of these baseball mysteries available at your Community Library!

Drawing Card by Dorothy Seymour Mills: In the early 20th century, two female baseball players signed with minor league teams only to have their contracts canceled when their gender became public. In this historical novel, Cleveland pitcher Annie Cardello does not go so quietly. Drawing Card demonstrates the danger of a woman scorned, especially one with a mean curve ball.

Caught Stealing by Charlie Houston: Henry Thompson, a former California ball player turned New York bartender, running for his life (and using his baseball bat in a totally new way) when something in his previous sports life sets a cast of thugs, goons, and mafia hit men on his tail.

Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker:  Parker takes a straightforward plot—for reasons unknown, a top Red Sox pitcher may be throwing games—and turns it into a thrilling kill-or-be-killed tale, as well as a look at the dark side of baseball, where gamblers are always on the lookout for weaknesses to be exploited.