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The Institute

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The Institute by Stephen King
Format:  Audio Book on CD
Who it’s for:  Adults

Stephen King fans will be happy to hear he has a new audio book for your listening pleasures!

The story opens with Tim Jamieson surrendering his seat on the Delta flight from Tampa to New York for a refund and a hefty sum of money, so a federal officer could make the flight.  We follow Tim on his slow journey north, at least as far as South Carolina where he takes a job in the small police department as a Night Knocker.

The story then jumps to the outrageous kidnapping of Luke Ellis, a very intelligent 12-year-old boy, and the murder of his parents in their room down the hall.  Luke is loaded into the back of an SUV and eventually wakes up thinking he is still in his bedroom, except there isn’t a window.  He finds several other kids, each of whom have some very special talents.  Some with telekinesis and others with telepathy.  Luke learns the ropes from these other kids who got there in the same manner he did.  He discovers that you need to “go along to get along”.  If you do, you get tokens that allow you to purchase items from the vending machines.  Such as snacks, drinks, cigarettes, and even some brownies with a special ingredient.  If you don’t go along, you are punished brutally.

You’ll have to listen to find out how the character of Tim Jamieson comes into play with the other characters at “The Institute”.

Find it in the catalog

The Beholder by Anna Bright

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The Beholder by Anna Bright
Format: Book
Who’s It For: Teens and Adults

Selah was devastated when Peter publicly rejected her proposal to make him her prince, her husband.  Didn’t he know how much she cared for him?  Before her private tears were dried, Selah’s stepmother Alessandra, whom she silently dubbed her “smother,” had a plan laid out for the Council.   Selah would leave her home and her ailing father.  With a company of protectors and advisors, Selah would set sail across the Atlantic to meet four potential suitors from very different lands.  She had to choose wisely to make a good political alliance.  Would love even be a possibility?  Would Selah ever return home?  Was her dear father dying?  Selah realized the gravity of her pending decision. It would impact her, her family, her country.  And what secrets was her crew hiding about her ship, The Beholder?  Was there more at stake than met the eye?

I enjoyed this historical fantasy.  It often paralleled fairy tales and mythology, such as Cinderella, Snow White, and The Odyssey.  I’m looking forward to its sequel, The Boundless, in 2020!

Read all about it!

Under Currents by Nora Roberts

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Zane Bigelow grew up in a beautiful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Strangers and even Zane’s own aunt across the lake see his parents as a successful surgeon and his stylish wife, making appearances at their children’s ballet recitals and baseball games. Only Zane and his sister  know the truth, until one brutal night finally reveals cracks in their facade, and Zane escapes for college without a thought of looking back…

Years later, Zane returns to his hometown determined to reconnect with the place and people that mean so much to him, despite the painful memories. As he resumes life in the colorful town, he meets a gifted landscape artist named Darby, who is on the run from ghosts of her own.

Zane and Darby’s relationship becomes more serious, and as they both become more involved in the community.   Threats from the past come back to haunt them and their newfound happiness. Together they will have to teach each other what it means to face the past, and stand up for the ones they love.

This story is full of powerful, magnetic characters who have overcome terrible situations. Suspense and romance are expertly combined in this riveting story, where Roberts obviously blends the past into the present as abuse survivors discover the healing power of love.

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The Bitterroots

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The Bitterroots by C.J. Box
Read by Christina Delaine
Published: August 13, 2019
Audiobook
Adult

 

This is the 4th in the “Cassie Dewell” book series by C.J. Box.  The first three “The Highway”, “Badlands” and “Paradise Valley” proved to be exciting and suspenseful reads.

In this new book, expected out on August 13th, we find former sheriff’s investigator Cassie Dewell trying to start over with her own private investigation firm.  Even though she isn’t happy about the idea, she has agreed to help an old friend, who is a defense attorney, and who is calling in a favor.  She wants Cassie to help her exonerate a man from an influential family, who is accused of assaulting his 15 year old niece.  Out by the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, twisted family loyalty runs as deep as the ties to the land, and there’s always something more to the story.

Even though it is 4th book in the series, it appears that it is not necessary to have read the previous titles.

I can’t wait to see how C. J. Box spins this one!  Sounds like there will be some suspenseful twists to try and figure out!

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A Way to Garden: a Hands-on Primer for Every Season

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A Way to Garden: a Hands-on Primer for Every Season by Margaret Roach
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Margaret Roach is a well-known and respected expert who has been gardening for decades.  This book is an update of the 1998 edition, and contains excellent instructions for the home gardener, with emphasis on the importance of native plants and the dangers of invasive ones.  Breathtaking photos of her gardens add to the beauty and appeal of this book.

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Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide

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Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz
Format: Book, eBook
Who it’s for: Adults

In the 1850s, Frederick Law Olmsted (future architect of Central Park and many other landscapes and parks) set out on a journey through the American South as a correspondent for the New York Times, writing about his travels under the pseudonym “Yeoman.” Olmsted wrote about the people, places, and cultures he encountered, and later turned his dispatches into three books.

Over 150 years later, Tony Horwitz set out on an Amtrak train to follow Olmsted’s path and document what he found. He traveled through western Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas, meeting locals at bars and restaurants, convenience stores, and shops. Horowitz (who passed away in May, just after the publication of Spying on the South) was an easy conversationalist who made most people he met feel at ease in speaking openly about their political, social, religious, and economic thoughts and beliefs. He boarded a coal barge and rode down the Ohio River, visited former plantations now housing museums or wedding venues, rode a mule through part of Texas with a guide seemingly immune to Horwitz’s charm, and spent time in a Texas border town. 

Horwitz observed an American South much changed from the one Olmsted saw. Once bustling towns are now characterized by deserted storefronts and an area of Texas once populated with free-thinking, anti-slavery Germans is now home to their more commercially minded descendants, but parallels remain. Throughout his journey, Horwitz encountered divisions similar to those recorded by Olmsted in the antebellum South – “extreme polarization, racial strife, demonizing of the other side, embrace of enflamed opinion over dialogue and debate.” Horwitz didn’t disparage or belittle the people he met on his journey, even if he ultimately disagreed with them. Every interaction was characterized by his desire to understand what’s going on in the hearts and minds of the people of a town or city.

Horwitz ultimately felt optimistic about the future. Spying on the South ends with a discussion of his two days spent wandering Central Park, Olmsted’s first urban landscaped park. Olmsted intended his parks to be gathering places that could overcome the barriers thrown up in society. In the park, Horwitz observed people of all races, languages, and socioeconomic statuses enjoying themselves outside of the hustle of New York City. 

Horwitz’s work in general is recommended for those who enjoy travelogues and history. In addition to Spying on the South, he is the author of Confederates in the Attic, Blue Latitudes, A Voyage Long and Strange, and Midnight Rising.

Find Spying on the South in the catalog.