Evil at Work

Because She Can by Bridie Clark

In a New York minute, Claire Truman lands both a plum position at a top publishing house and the man she's wanted for ten years...then reality intervenes. Her new boss is Vivian Grant, a notoriously ruthless tyrant known for her tirades, traumatized assistants, and tabloid-inspired bestsellers. Soon Claire's job is stealing more and more of her time and her relationship with her fiancé begins to feel the strain. It doesn't help that she's working late nights with a brilliant-and handsome-first-time author. As Vivian's outrageous demands continue to escalate, Claire wonders if she likes where the fast track is taking her-and worries about what she might turn into... (Publisher Summary)

The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare

No political science degree could ever prepare Elizabeth Miller for her new job as a second assistant at The Agency, whose clients include everyone you’ve never met—but you know who they’re sleeping with. A former congressional intern in Washington, Lizzie made a bid for a life change that landed her a job a world away, where ethics and First Amendment debates take a backseat to pleading the Fifth for Ritalin-snorting boss Scott Wagner. He’s the hottest young agent in Hollywood, who devotes his days to playing online poker—that is, when he’s not closing a $30 million deal for one of his AAA-list clients. And while getting six-hundred-dollar highlights from Cameron’s colorist or organizing the strippers for George’s birthday party come close to causing heart failure for this East Coast girl, the real dangers lurk elsewhere. (Publisher Summary)

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

When Imogen returns to work at Glossy after six months away, she can barely recognize her own magazine. Eve, fresh out of Harvard Business School, has fired “the gray hairs,” put the managing editor in a supply closet, stopped using the landlines, and hired a bevy of manicured and questionably attired underlings who text and tweet their way through meetings. Imogen, darling of the fashion world, may have Alexander Wang and Diane von Furstenberg on speed dial, but she can’t tell Facebook from Foursquare. Under Eve’s reign, Glossy is rapidly becoming a digital sweatshop—hackathons rage all night, girls who sleep get fired, and “fun” means mandatory, company-wide coordinated dances to Beyoncé. Wildly out of her depth, Imogen faces a choice—pack up her Smythson notebooks and quit, or channel her inner geek and take on Eve to save both the magazine and her career. A glittering, uproarious, sharply drawn story filled with thinly veiled fashion personalities,The Knockoff is an insider’s look at the ever-changing world of fashion and a fabulous romp for our Internet-addicted age. (Publisher Summary)

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

Alex Garrett, a recent college graduate who began her Wall Street career in 2006, dreams of fast-talking days on the trading floor while living a life tied to a government bond desk and performing other peculiar tasks. After fighting her way into the elitist boys' club and making it in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of Wall Street's most esteemed brokerage firms, Alex Garret must decide whether to stick with Cromwell Pierce or head for the hills when the financial crisis hits.(Publisher Summary)

Somewhere in Time

Time Salvager by Wesley Chu

James Griffin-Mars, a highly trained "chronman," travels from 26th-century Earth to past eras on numerous planets, salvaging coveted relics and materials to maintain humanity's power supply without breaking Time Laws (for instance, bringing someone back from the past) or affecting the time line. An apparently unstoppable plague has made Earth one of the least desirable places to live; fortunately, advanced technology lets James communicate by thought, provides powerful armor, and shields him from environmental discomforts. Haunted by people he has left to die in the past (his sister; a Nazi soldier; "the legendary Grace Priestly") and wishing only to complete his contract, James accepts a dangerous mission from menacing private corporation Valta, leading to life-changing choices. Like James, intriguing secondary characters such as High Auditor Levin and James's handler, Smitt, wrestle with increasingly complex ethical dilemmas; meanwhile, 21st-century scientist Elise, for whom James breaks the first Time Law, becomes his moral conscience and romantic interest, as well as a source of hope for a dying planet. Chu (The Lives of Tao) creates a fascinating world, strange and familiar, infused with humor, sorrow, courage, greed, and sacrifice. This page-turner is a riveting, gratifying read. (Publisher Weekly Reviews)

Legends & Lies: The Real West

Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies: The Real West
written by David Fisher

How did Davy Crockett save President Jackson's life only to end up dying at the Alamo? Was the Lone Ranger based on a real lawman-and was he an African American? What amazing detective work led to the capture of Black Bart, the "gentleman bandit" and one of the west's most famous stagecoach robbers? Did Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid really die in a hail of bullets in South America? Generations of Americans have grown up on TV shows, movies and books about these western icons. But what really happened in the Wild West? All the stories you think you know, and others that will astonish you, are here--some heroic, some brutal and bloody, all riveting. Included are the legends featured in Bill O'Reilly's ten week run of historic episodic specials-from Kit Carson to Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok to Doc Holliday-- accompanied by two bonus chapters on Daniel Boone and Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley.Frontier America was a place where instinct mattered more than education, and courage was necessary for survival. It was a place where luck made a difference and legends were made. Heavily illustrated with spectacular artwork that further brings this history to life, and told in fast-paced, immersive narrative, Legends and Lies is an irresistible, adventure-packed ride back into one of the most storied era of our nation's rich history.

Wanderlust

Honolulu by Alan Brennert

“In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents’ feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret.”Journeying to 1914 Hawaii as a mail-order "picture bride," Korean-born Jin finds her hopes for education and a better life devastated by the realities of a rushed marriage to an embittered laborer; a situation throughout which she works to overcome limited opportunities and prejudice in order to improve circumstances for her fellow brides.(Publisher Summary)

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement is a sweeping, evocative epic of two women’s intertwined fates and their search for identity, that moves from the lavish parlors of Shanghai courtesans to the fog-shrouded mountains of a remote Chinese village. Spanning more than forty years and two continents, The Valley of Amazement resurrects pivotal episodes in history: from the collapse of China’s last imperial dynasty, to the rise of the Republic, the explosive growth of lucrative foreign trade and anti-foreign sentiment, to the inner workings of courtesan houses and the lives of the foreign “Shanghailanders” living in the International Settlement, both erased by World War II. (Publisher Summary)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: “Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.” His prayer is seemingly answered when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the once sophisticated hotel has stalled, and that such amenities as water and electricity are . . . infrequent. But what their new life lacks in luxury, they come to find, it’s plentiful in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love. (Publisher Summary)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart. (Publisher Summary)

The Promise by Beth Wiseman

Tate Webber has loved Mallory for many years. He understands that Mallory will never be happy with him until her deepest heart’s desire is satisfied. When Mallory decides to travel across the world to fulfill her dreams, Tate begs her not to go but tries to give her the space she needs. Mallory embarks on her dangerous journey only to discover how swiftly and easily promises can be broken. And Mallory can only pray that she will make it out alive. Inspired by actual events, The Promise is a riveting love story that asks the question: how far will we go for love? (Publisher Summary)

The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises is a classic example of Hemingway’s spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love and vanishing illusions. (Publisher Summary)

A Day that Changed America

September 11, An Oral History by Dean E. Murphy

Murphy's book is a 9/11 oral history. He is a New York Times reporter, and his collection of approximately 40 survivor stories is underscored by the idea that when September 11 "was all over, it was a day of national calamity. But it was also a day of individual human heartache." The personal accounts he compiles here serve to support that sentiment to the fullest. One can't find a more eloquent explanation of the situation at the World Trade Center than the words spoken by the woman who was master of the keys at the Center: "I wasn't burnt or severely bruised. My pain was somewhere else--and it still is. Inside my heart, it hurts so bad." And only the most inured readers will not react with tears to the story of the sight-impaired man being carefully led down the stairs from high in the Center by his devoted seeing-eye dog. (Booklist Reviews)

A Nation Challenged designed by Toshiya Masuda

A powerful and eye-filling photographic chronicle of the award-winning New York Times 's coverage of 9/11 and its aftermath worldwide, including the war in Afghanistan In an unprecedented effort, The New York Times opens its picture archive of September 11th and the aftermath at home and abroad. Special charts and graphics supply another level of clarity and understanding, while the brilliant photographs provide counterpoint and perspective to carefully chosen text. (Publisher Summary)

Manhunt by Peter Bergen

Here are riveting new details of bin Laden’s flight after the crushing defeat of the Taliban to Tora Bora, where American forces came startlingly close to capturing him, and of the fugitive leader’s attempts to find a secure hiding place. As the only journalist to gain access to bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound before the Pakistani government demolished it, Bergen paints a vivid picture of bin Laden’s grim, Spartan life in hiding and his struggle to maintain control of al-Qaeda even as American drones systematically picked off his key lieutenants. (Publisher Summary)

Why America Slept by Gerald Posner

The author of Case Closed offers an inside look at the terrorist attacks on September 11th and the reasons why the disaster was not prevented, discussing how breakdowns in intelligence, political infighting, and communications allowed terrorists to make an unprecedented attack on American soil.  (Publisher Summary)

Hard Measures by Jose Rodriguez

A leading CIA counter-terrorist at the head of covert operations that contributed to the defeat of Osama Bin Laden traces his unlikely journey from a law student and CIA recruit to a top American spy, addressing questions related to his political views and controversial decision to destroy tapes of CIA interrogations. (Publisher Summary)