The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances, by Andy Andrews

This week’s posts are from our Outreach Services Division, and we start off with one from Connie. Andy Andrews has written several best selling inspirational books such as The Traveler’s Gift and The Noticer, but this book (a reissue of one of his earlier books originally published under the title, Island of Saints) will interest [...]

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Dragon Bound, by Thea Harrison

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when your ex-boyfriend decides to keep you around by using blackmail. Pia Giovanni is in a world of trouble and it’s all because her ex Keith, a wannabe hotshot and gambling addict, blackmails her into stealing from the most powerful man on earth, Dragos.  On top of a [...]

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This is Spinal Tap

Mandy Malone from Circulation Services provides this review: The year is 1982. The members of the British heavy metal band Spinal Tap–Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls–have reunited and recorded a comeback album titled ‘Smell the Glove’. Marty DiBergi, a television commercial director and longtime Spinal Tap fan, is on hand to film [...]

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1939: Countdown to War, by Richard Overy

Lisa Hilleary from Circulation Services shares a nonfiction review today: History can be a very dry topic, especially historical monographs written by professional historians. However, there are those skilled “pro-historians” who write histories that often read like a novel. Richard Overy’s 1939: Countdown to War is one of these works. Overy is an expert on [...]

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And Only to Deceive, by Tasha Alexander

AnnMarie from Circulation Services provides today’s review: The theft of rare Greek artifacts from the British Museum is the main mystery in And Only to Deceive, but it’s not the only mystery.  Who’s making and buying forged artifacts as well as a possible murder heighten the suspense. Using the 19th-century obsession with classical antiquities as [...]

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On a Pale Horse, by Piers Anthony

Russ Walker from Circulation Services starts off the week with a classic Piers Anthony series: Death.  Time.  Fate.  War.  Nature.  Good.  Evil.  Night.  Eight intangible concepts which are brought to life in the world of Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series, a world where magic and science have both evolved at the same rate since [...]

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Tighter, by Adele Griffin

It is a truth universally acknowledged by babysitters and horror film directors: there is nothing scarier than cute little kids. At least, as Henry James explored in The Turn of the Screw, than cute little kids whose innocence is just a front for unutterable evil. And what does Henry James have to do with this [...]

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The Name of the Star, by Maureen Johnson

Pay no attention to the top hat on the cover of this YA paranormal mystery; it looks Victorian, but the action takes place in the present day. And you’d think, if a Jack the Ripper copycat killer were going to strike in present-day London, he’d have no chance of escaping the CCTV cameras surveying the [...]

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Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton

Gabrielle Hamilton’s ambivalence about the chef’s life is our gain: throughout her career as a cook, culminating in her position as chef-owner of the New York restaurant Prune, Hamilton has always wanted to write. Eventually earning an MFA on the side, she’s crafted an introspective memoir with a writer’s ear for telling details. The first [...]

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Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey

In this fast-moving space opera, the political and military tensions between Earth, Mars, and the colonies of the asteroid belt are already racked like billiard balls, just waiting for something to set them spinning out of control. Jim Holden is an idealistic spaceship XO, lately slumming it on an ice hauler back and forth from [...]

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When the King Comes Home, by Caroline Stevermer

“One day, all well-meant promises would be made good; that’s what it meant, when I was a child, to say ‘When the king comes home.’ Wishes granted. Dreams made real. I never hear the phrase used any more…..” Hail Rosamer (“My name is a greeting, dignified and sober, not a form of bad weather”) is [...]

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The ’59 Sound and American Slang, by The Gaslight Anthem

What do you get if you mix Bruce Springsteen, the Replacements, a little Tom Petty, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, a splash of Motown and a dash of the Clash?  How about The Gaslight Anthem – a New Jersey punk band with a fervent love for classic rock and soul icons, but with a sound uniquely [...]

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Flight of the Conchords, by Flight of the Conchords

The Flight of the Conchords proudly announce themselves as “New Zealand’s 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo.” They are quirky, offbeat, more than a little strange, and very talented. The Conchords – otherwise known as Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie – are a comedy duo from New Zealand and played fictionalized versions of [...]

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Science & Faith, by The Script

The Script first came to my attention with their hugely successful single “Breakeven” from their debut self-titled album. “Breakeven” was one of those rare songs that I loved from the first time I heard it. So I was excited to listen to their sophomore effort, which was released in January here in the States, and [...]

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Emotionalism, by the Avett Brothers

Now, as they say, for something completely different.  Emotionalism is the tenth album by southern musicians, The Avett Brothers. The Avett Brothers formed in 2001 in Charlotte, North Carolina, when banjoist Scott Avett and guitarist Seth Avett joined forces with bassist Bob Crawford. Their sound can best be described as a blending of country, bluegrass, [...]

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Lights, by Ellie Goulding

It seemed like Ellie Goulding’s name was on every British DJ’s lips in 2010 – she topped the BBC Sound of 2010 poll and also won the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2010 BRIT Awards (previously won by Florence + the Machine and Adele). Her debut album, Lights, was nominated for two 2011 BRIT Awards [...]

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The Postmortal, by Drew Magary

A note from Jessica: I’ve been with BFGB since its inception 4.5 years ago. This will be my last review, since I’m leaving for a new job in a new state. Writing about books has been my favorite part of working at WRL. Thank you for the good times, readers. They call it a cure [...]

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Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won’t Do, by Gabriel Thompson

When Barbara Ehrenreich spent a year undercover working in minimum-wage jobs in Nickel and Dimed, she was trying to make a political point about class, labor, and fair wages. Gabriel Thompson didn’t have a political agenda underpinning his year in crappy jobs. He just wanted to see if he could do it. Specifically, Thompson wants [...]

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