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New Books: December

Lists new books monthly

December 2023

Books are on a carousel--you don't need to scroll down for the additional new books.  They will scroll automatically or you can scroll faster by swiping on your mobile device or clicking on the arrow beside the book.

New Books: December

Elvis and the Colonel

ML 429 P33 M33 2023

A fresh biography of legendary entertainment manager Colonel Tom Parker, with a contrarian and corrective point of view. Colonel Tom Parker, often reviled in his time, led the strategy from the earliest days of Elvis's career. Together, they built the most legendary partnership in show business. For the first time, Colonel Parker's story is told by an insider, Greg McDonald, who worked under Parker for years. Never-before-heard stories of Parker's collaboration with Elvis reveal the man behind the legend and the strategies that made Elvis a commercial groundbreaker. Ingrained lore has it that Parker took advantage of "poor country boy" Elvis to sign the singer who became "The King". But Elvis and the Colonel shows that Elvis was not foolish when it came to business arrangements. This book is full of stories of innovations Parker made with his star client, including: --ingenious merchandising (eg, selling both "I love Elvis" and "I hate Elvis" buttons) --licensing and branding, from suits to toys, ashtrays to guitars --establishing The King as an artist-in-residence in Las Vegas --creating televised concert events, like Elvis' Christmas special Many of the practices Parker established are still deployed today by most major agencies. Parker's experience as a carny and an immigrant shaped his management style when he was at his peak, showing how he adapted big top practices to the big time. The heart of Elvis and the Colonel is the long, strong, warm and complex relationship between two iconic men.

Inheritance

F Rob

Inheritance is the first in The Lost Bride Trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts--a tale of tragedies, loves found and lost, and a family haunted for generations. 1806: Astrid Poole sits in her bridal clothes, overwhelmed with happiness. But before her marriage can be consummated, she is murdered, and the circle of gold torn from her finger. Her last words are a promise to Collin never to leave him... Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about--and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in it for at least three years. Her engagement recently broken, she sets off to find out why the boys were separated at birth--and why it was all kept secret until a genealogy website brought it to light. Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, notes Sonya's unease--and acknowledges that yes, the place is haunted...but just a little. Sure enough, Sonya finds objects moved and music playing out of nowhere. She sees a painting by her father inexplicably hanging in her deceased uncle's office, and a portrait of a woman named Astrid, whom the lawyer refers to as "the first lost bride." It's becoming clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it...

The Ball at Versailles

F Ste

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Four American debutantes attend a renowned Paris cotillion in Danielle Steel's captivating new novel. It's the summer of 1959 and the Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will make history. It is an exclusive dusk-to-dawn ball in which a select group of American and French debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. Four young women, all with something to prove, receive what some see as the invitation of a lifetime. Amelia Alexander, who hopes to eventually attend law school, hesitates to participate in what she sees as an archaic and privileged tradition. But her indomitable widowed mother, Jane, who's struggled financially and sacrificed for a career, encourages her to attend. Jane would do anything for Amelia to have the chance at a happily ever after. Felicity Smith is equally uncertain about the ball. Although her family is prominent in the Dallas social scene, Felicity prefers to keep to herself, avoiding the older sister who torments her. But to get out of her sister's shadow, Felicity decides to accept. If it's a success, the tables will have turned at last. For Caroline Taylor, the beautiful ingénue and daughter of Hollywood legends, the ball is an irresistible opportunity. But an unexpected heartbreak just before she leaves for France gets things off to a bad start. Then there's Samantha Walker, an art history major with an overprotective father. Her excitement about the invitation is overshadowed by the emotional and physical effects of a past tragedy that still haunts her.  For all these young women, Paris and one transcendent night will change their lives forever. Bestselling author Danielle Steel extends an invitation to all, in The Ball at Versailles.

Catfish Charlie

F Joh

In this rip-roaring Western adventure, a once-famous Texas Ranger who's given up his badge and gone fishin' gets back in the saddle to set things straight--with guns blazin' . . .

Lost Hours

F She

Lost Hours is the fifth instalment in Paige Shelton's gripping, atmospheric Alaska Wild series. A year after arriving in Benedict, Beth Rivers is feeling very at home in Alaska, even as outsiders are starting to return to enjoy the brief summer perfection. Beth feels like she's finally let go of most of her demons. She's even found her father, Eddy Rivers--or, rather, he found her--and she's trying to find the middle ground between anger and forgiveness. One sunny July day, Beth boards a tourist ship to see the glaciers, the main reason visitors venture to the area, and something Beth hasn't attempted until now. But when the captain has to navigate to an island, a bloodied woman is found standing on the shore, waving for help. When she's brought aboard, she claims she was kidnapped from her home in Juneau three days earlier, and that a bear on the island killed her captor. She, however, is unharmed. The woman, Sadie, finds a sympathetic ear in Beth. She tells her that she's been in Juneau under witness protection, and that the Juneau police don't like her. When another kidnapping occurs, Beth and police chief Gril can't help but think the two cases are interwoven, though the clues to solving them will be harder to unravel.

Songs on Endless Repeat

S 66 2023

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 from: LA Times * Boston Globe * The Millions * LitHub * Shondaland By the New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning AFTERPARTIES comes a collection like none other: sharply funny, emotionally expansive essays and linked short fiction exploring family, queer desire, pop culture, and race  The late Anthony Veasna So's debut story collection, Afterparties, was a landmark publication, hailed as a "bittersweet triumph for a fresh voice silenced too soon" (Fresh Air). And he was equally known for his comic, soulful essays, published in n+1, The New Yorker, and The Millions. Songs on Endless Repeat gathers those essays together, along with previously unpublished fiction. Written with razor-sharp wit and an unflinching eye, the essays examine his youth in California, the lives of his refugee parents, his intimate friendships, loss, pop culture, and more. And in linked fiction following three Cambodian American cousins who stand to inherit their late aunt's illegitimate loan-sharking business, So explores community, grief, and longing with inimitable humor and depth. Following "one of the most exciting contributions to Asian American literature in recent years" (Vulture), Songs on Endless Repeat is an astonishing final expression by a writer of "extraordinary achievement and immense promise" (The New Yorker).

The Frozen River

F Law

GMA BOOK CLUB PICK * AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. "Fans of Outlander's Claire Fraser will enjoy Lawhon's Martha, who is brave and outspoken when it comes to protecting the innocent. . . impressive."--The Washington Post "Once again, Lawhon works storytelling magic with a real-life heroine." --People Magazine Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town's most respected gentlemen--one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie. Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon's newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

Oath and Honor

E 840.8 C429 A3 2023

INSTANT #1 BESTSELLER: A gripping first-hand account of the January 6th, 2021, insurrection from inside the halls of Congress, from origins to aftermath, as Donald Trump and his enablers betrayed the American people and the Constitution--by the House Republican leader who dared to stand up to it.   In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the Constitution: they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol.   Liz Cheney, one of the few Republican officials to take a stand against these efforts, witnessed the attack first-hand, and then helped lead the Congressional Select Committee investigation into how it happened. In Oath and Honor, she tells the story of this perilous moment in our history, those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face.  

Endgame

DA 594.1 A1 S36 2023

Endgame, the explosive book from longtime royal journalist Omid Scobie and author of the international blockbuster Finding Freedom, is a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy--an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family. Queen Elizabeth II's death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor--and dismantled the protective shield around it. With an institution long plagued by antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernizing world. Relying on his vast experience as a royal reporter and over a decade of conversations and interviews with current and former Palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves, Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil to show what the monarchy must change in order to survive.  This is the monarchy's endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?

The Palace

DA 690 H2 R87 2023.

A "riotously readable...tender and affectionate" (Daily Mail, London) exploration of five hundred years of British history--from King Henry VIII to Queen Elizabeth II--as seen through the doorways of the exquisite Hampton Court Palace. Architecturally breathtaking and rich in splendid art and décor, Hampton Court Palace has been the stage of some of the most important events in British history, such as the commissioning of King James's version of the Bible, the staging of many of Shakespeare's plays, and Queen Elizabeth II's coronation ball. The Palace takes us on "an entertaining journey into the past" (Kirkus Reviews) as it reveals the ups and downs of royal history and illustrates what was at play politically, socially, and economically at the time. An engaging and charming history book that is perfect for fans of Alison Weir, Philippa Gregory, and Andrew Lownie, The Palace makes you feel as if you were in the room as history was made.

Strike of the Sailfish

D 783 M668

In 1939 off the New England coast, the submarine USS Squalus is accidentally sunk during a training exercise, killing half her crew. Coming to the rescue is the USS Sculpin, in many ways the Squalus's twin. The remaining crew aboard the Squalus are saved in a lengthy, white-knuckle operation, and eventually the sunken submarine is raised, repaired, and returned to duty, with a new name: the Sailfish. Four years later, on patrol during the darkest days of the Pacific War, the Sailfish's radarman picks up the tell-tale signs of a Japanese aircraft carrier, the greatest of all enemy ships. Never before has an American submarine taken down a carrier. Immediately, the crewmen swing into action, embarking on a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as this once-dead boat evades enemy cruisers to stalk closer and closer to their prized target. Little do they know that aboard the Japanese carrier are the sole survivors of an attack on the USS Sculpin, the very boat that saved the Squalis-turned-Sailfis

Becoming Ella Fitzgerald

ML 3930 F5 T53 2024

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) possessed one of the twentieth century's most astonishing voices. In this first major biography since Fitzgerald's death, historian Judith Tick offers a sublime portrait of this ambitious risk-taker whose exceptional musical spontaneity made her a transformational artist. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald clears up long-enduring mysteries. Archival research and in-depth family interviews shed new light on the singer's difficult childhood in Yonkers, New York, the tragic death of her mother, and the year she spent in a girls' reformatory school--where she sang in its renowned choir and dreamed of being a dancer. Rarely seen profiles from the Black press offer precious glimpses of Fitzgerald's tense experiences of racial discrimination and her struggles with constricting models of Black and white femininity at midcentury. Tick's compelling narrative depicts Fitzgerald's complicated career in fresh and original detail, upending the traditional view that segregates vocal jazz from the genre's mainstream. As she navigated the shifting tides between jazz and pop, she used her originality to pioneer modernist vocal jazz. Interpreting long-lost setlists, reviews from both white and Black newspapers, and newly released footage and recordings, the book explores how Ella's transcendence as an improvisor produced onstage performances every bit as significant as her historic recorded oeuvre. From the singer's first performance at the Apollo Theatre's famous "Amateur Night" to the Savoy Ballroom, where Fitzgerald broke through with Chick Webb's big band in the 1930s, Tick evokes the jazz world in riveting detail. She describes how Ella helped shape the bebop movement in the 1940s, as she joined Dizzy Gillespie and her then-husband, Ray Brown, in the world-touring Jazz at the Philharmonic, one of the first moments of high-culture acceptance for the disreputable art form. Breaking ground as a female bandleader, Fitzgerald refuted expectations of musical Blackness, deftly balancing artistic ambition and market expectations. Her legendary exploration of the Great American Songbook in the 1950s fused a Black vocal aesthetic and jazz improvisation to revolutionize the popular repertoire. This hybridity often confounded critics, yet throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Ella reached audiences around the world, electrifying concert halls, and sold millions of records. A masterful biography, Becoming Ella Fitzgerald describes a powerful woman who set a standard for American excellence nearly unmatched in the twentieth century.

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