The Fabulous Saga of Alexander Botts and the Earthworm Tractor by William Hazlett Upson, 255 pages

Botts is back! After nearly 30 years, the fabulously popular stories of Earthworm Tractor salesman Alexander Botts are back in print to delight both those who remember reading William Hazlett Upson's tales, and those who will be discovering the amusing adventures of the "natural born salesman" for the first time. Author William Hazlett Upson turned his work experience with the Holt Caterpillar Company into a second career when "The Saturday Evening Post" published his first story in 1927 in the saga of tractor salesman extraordinare Alexander Botts and Earthworm crawlers. The series was so popular that it led to 112 Botts tales and a movie, "Earthworm Tractors," that starred Joe E. Brown as Botts.

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, 242 pages

A Dutch painting of a young girl, possibly a Vermeer, survives three and a half centuries through loss, flood, anonymity, secrecy, theft, even the Holocaust. This is the story of its sometimes desperate owners whose lives are influenced by its seductive beauty and mystery, and whose defining moments take place in its presence. Despite their unsatisfied longings, their own and others' flaws, the girl in hyacinth blue has the power to generate love in all its human variety.

The German-American son of the Nazi who looted it from a Jewish home in Amsterdam in 1942, hides it out of shame for his father's atrocities, loves it with awe and passion, wrestles with moral questions of unlawful ownership and his own responsibilities of penance and restitution, and, like his father, ultimately fails as a human being.

The rest of the eight stories which make up this composite novel move back in time to the Renaissance. In each episode, the painting figures in casual affairs, natural catastrophe, flawed marriages, domestic violence, a murder, a hanging, yet in spite of these dreary circumstances, the power of beauty and art elevates the characters in individual, subtle ways.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, 404 pages

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.

Beasts in My Bed by Jacquie Durrell, 191 pages

Mrs. Durrell begins at the moment when she first set eyes on her future husband, Gerald . . . Her meetings with the othr members of his family, their efforts at home-making and their journeys together in search of animals for the zoo reveal a writer of wit, massive understatement and a most attractive style (jacket blurb). Footnotes by Gerald Durrell.

Pride and Pudding: The History of British Puddings by Regula Ysewijn, 368 pages

Let food photographer and writer Regula Ysewijn take you on a journey through the fascinating culinary history of Great Britain - specifically through its puddings, both savoury and sweet. Captivated by British cuisine - from its ancient savoury dishes such as the Scottish haggis to traditional sweet and savoury pies - Regula tells the story of British food, paying homage to the great British pudding, which is versatile and wonderful in all its guises. By tracing back to authentic cookery texts, the earliest of which dates from 14th century, Regula has re-created over 80 recipes for the 21st century, and in the process has rediscovered long-forgotten flavours and food fashions.

Vamps by Elaine Lee & William Simpson, 160 pages

Meet Howler, Screech, Whipsnake, Skeeter and Mink -- five dangerously alluring female vampires thundering down America's highways on Harleys (what else?), drunk on freedom and high octane. After killing their male master, the Vamps set out on the open road in search of a new life. If you're a fan of blood, chrome and vampires -- and, well, who wouldn't be -- check out this comic book road trip from Vegas to NYC.

Collects 1-6 of the original VAMPS miniseries.

The Wicked & the Divne, Volume 7: Mothering Invention, 208 pages

In the past: awful stuff. In the present: awful stuff. But, increasingly, answers.

Collects THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #34-39

Wicked & the Divine, Imperial Phase Part 2, Volume 6, 168 pages

When you're at the peak of your powers, there's only one way to go. The question becomes - how many people are you willing to drag down with you?

The bestselling, critically-acclaimed comic by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson reaches its most dramatic arc yet.

Collects THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #29-33

The Wicked & The Divine: Imperial Phase Part 1, Volume 5, 200 pages

The gods are free to do whatever they want. Inevitably, they do. Collects issues 23-28 of the series, including the critically lauded Kevin Wada magazine issue.

Ma, Jackser's Dyin 'Alone by Martha Long, 384 pages

On hearing that Jackser, her childhood abuser, is seriously ill, Martha is elated, thinking that finally she will be able to watch him suffer. But in the hospital she sees a frightened, lonely old man and realizes with a shock that he seems to regret his earlier actions.

During her vigil, she is joined by Charlie, her beloved little brother, then the ma and some of her other siblings. All of them have suffered greatly and it is clear that no one connected to Jackser has escaped unscathed.

But as she sits with him during his dying days, other memories of Jackser come back to Martha - fleeting moments of concern and kindness, and a sense of closeness as he recalled his own tormented past in one of Ireland's industrial schools. It is a vicious cycle of cruelty and loss that has played out, from which only her own tenacity and wit has provided an escape.

Poignant, ribald, poetic and defiant, with its resolution of many unanswered questions about her life this is Martha at her best.

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston, 406 pages

She's the woman he's been hired to kidnap. But ZeZé Vargas has other ideas . . . like getting them both out of this nightmare alive. Just one problem. She's crazy. Certifiably. Because while he's plotting their escape, the petite Asian beauty is plotting something much more deadly . . .

Max "Kill It Again" MacKilligan has no idea what one of her own is doing with all these criminal humans until she realizes that Zé has no idea who or what he is. Or exactly how much power he truly has.

But Max is more than happy to bring this handsome jaguar shifter into her world and show him everything he's been missing out on. A move that might be the dumbest thing she's ever done once she realizes how far her enemies will go to wipe her out. Too bad for them Zé is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive . . . and honey badgers are just so damn hard to kill!

Victorian Lady Travellers by Dorothy Middleton, 182 pages

A lively, amusing retelling of the adventures of seven unique women, who fearlessly travelled to remote corners of the earth: Isabella Bird Bishop, Marianne North (a botanist who painted in Brazil), Fanny Bullock Workman (photographer and mountaineer), Annie Taylor, May French Sheldon, Kate Marsden, and Mary Kingsley.

Mythology 101 by Jody Lynn Nye, 264 pages

Keith Doyle, believer in myths, goodhearted nerd, general busybody, and business major at Midwestern University, discovers to his joy—and horror—that a secret village of pointy-eared, magical little elves are occupying a vacant level of the library building. Their leader, The Master, tutors students to pass difficult courses. Marcy, the girl of Keith’s dreams, is already a member of the class. But the library is in danger of being torn down, thanks to a modernization campaign led by Keith himself. The students of the secret class hate him. Marcy is devastated. It looks as though the elves’ home will be destroyed. Keith and the Little Folk need one another. The only thing that can save Keith’s social life is elven magic. And the only thing that can save the elves is the magic of … free enterprise.

Alfred Hitchcok Presents Stories To Be Read With the Lights on, 402 pages

Contents:
Alfred Hitchcock, Introduction
Mary Barrett, Death Out of Season
Fredric Brown, Witness in the Dark
Robert Colby, Shadows on the Road
Zena Collier, Mr. Mappin Forecloses
Ron Goulart, Granny
Roald Dahl, The Landlady
Harold R. Daniels, Three Ways to Rob a Bank
Miriam Allen deFord, No Loose Ends
James Gores, Pin Money
Robert J. Higgins, Social Climber
Edward D. Hoch, I'd Know You Anywhere
John Keefauver, The Pile of Sand
Warner Law, Payoff on Double Zero
Dana Lyon, The Bitter Years
Dee Stuart, Man's Best Friend
William P. McGivern, Killer on the Turnpike
Robert McGrath, Payment Received
Barry N. Malzberg, Agony Column
Rose Million Healey, Guessing Game
Harold Q. Masur, The $2,000,000 Defense
Berkely Mather, The Man in the Well
Ardath Mayhar, Crawfish
William F. Nolan, The Strange Case of Mr. Pruyn
David Montross, Ludmila
Al Nussbaum, The One Who Got Away
Bill Pronzini, It's a Lousy World
Joan Richter, Only So Much to Reveal
Jack Ritchie, Who's Got the Lady?
Harold Rolseth, Hey You Down There
William Sambrot, Too Many Sharks
Nancy C. Swoboda, Christopher Frame
Paul Theridion, Obituary
Jeffrey M. Wallmann, Random Demand
Betty Ren Wright, The Mother Goose Madman
Waldo Carlton Wright, The Green Fly and the Box
Mitsu Yamamoto, The Blue Rug 

Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane and Mary Poppins and the House Next Door by P.L. Travers, 112 pages

She's back! Mary Poppins, everyone's favorite nanny, has returned to take the Banks children on another unforgettable adventure. On the most magical of nights, Midsummer's Eve, all kinds of strange things can happen--mythical visitors come down from the heavens and animals speak. But Mary Poppins takes it all in stride, drawing everyone, even the trembling Park Keeper, into the spirit of a romantic and magical holiday.

Mary Poppins, the unflappable nanny of the Banks children, is back again! This time she returns to save the house next door to the Bankses'. The house has always been empty, and so has become the treasure of Cherry Tree Lane--each neighbor has filled it with personal dreams.
Then a new, but not unknown, tenant arrives, and peace in the lane is gravely threatened. Can Mary Poppins, in her own magical, whimsical way, resolve the crisis?

Mary Poppins in the Park by P. L. Travers, 211 pages

From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. This classic series tells the story of the world's most beloved nanny, who brings enchantment and excitement with her everywhere she goes. Featuring the charming original cover art by Mary Shepard, these new editions are sure to delight readers of all ages.

Only the incomparable Mary Poppins can lead the Banks children on one marvelous adventure after another. Together they meet the Goosegirl and the Swineherd, argue with talking cats on a distant planet, make the acquaintance of the folks who live under dandelions, and celebrate a birthday by dancing with their own shadows. And that’s just for starters!

Pigs is Pigs and Other Favorites by Ellis Parker Butler, 109 pages

1906. Butler, the author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays, is most famous for his short story Pigs is Pigs in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a shipment of two pet guinea pigs that soon start proliferating geometrically. In addition to Pigs is Pigs, this volume contains the full texts of That Pup of Murchison's, The Great American Pie Company, and another favorite Perkins of Portland.

Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P.L. Travers, 207 pages

From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. This classic series tells the story of the world's most beloved nanny, who brings enchantment and excitement with her everywhere she goes. Featuring the charming original cover art by Mary Shepard, these new editions are sure to delight readers of all ages.

Mary Poppins reappears just in time! According to her tape measure, Jane and Michael have grown "Worse and Worse" since she went away. But the children won't have time to be naughty with all that Mary has planned for them. A visit to Mr. Twigley’s music box-filled attic, an encounter with the Marble Boy, and a ride on Miss Calico’s enchanted candy canes are all part of an average day out with everyone's favorite nanny.

The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire by Francesca Cartier Brickell, 625 pages

The captivating story of the family behind the Cartier empire and the three brothers who turned their grandfather's humble Parisian jewelry store into a global luxury icon--as told by a great-granddaughter with exclusive access to long-lost family archives
The Cartiers is the revealing tale of a jewelry dynasty--four generations, from revolutionary France to the 1970s. At its heart are the three Cartier brothers whose motto was "Never copy, only create" and who made their family firm internationally famous in the early days of the twentieth century, thanks to their unique and complementary talents: Louis, the visionary designer who created the first men's wristwatch to help an aviator friend tell the time without taking his hands off the controls of his flying machine; Pierre, the master dealmaker who bought the New York headquarters on Fifth Avenue for a double-stranded natural pearl necklace; and Jacques, the globe-trotting gemstone expert whose travels to India gave Cartier access to the world's best rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, inspiring the celebrated Tutti Frutti jewelry.
Francesca Cartier Brickell, whose great-grandfather was the youngest of the brothers, has traveled the world researching her family's history, tracking down those connected with her ancestors and discovering long-lost pieces of the puzzle along the way. Now she reveals never-before-told dramas, romances, intrigues, betrayals, and more.
The Cartiers also offers a behind-the-scenes look at the firm's most iconic jewelry--the notoriously cursed Hope Diamond, the Romanov emeralds, the classic panther pieces--and the long line of stars from the worlds of fashion, film, and royalty who wore them, from Indian maharajas and Russian grand duchesses to Wallis Simpson, Coco Chanel, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Published in the two-hundredth anniversary year of the birth of the dynasty's founder, Louis-Fran�ois Cartier, this book is a magnificent, definitive, epic social history shown through the deeply personal lens of one legendary family. 

The Best of Roald Dahl by Roald Dahl, 520 pages

The Best of Roald Dahl is a collection of 25 of Roald Dahl's short stories. This collection brings together Dahl’s finest work, illustrating his genius for the horrific and grotesque which is unparalleled.

Contents

- Madame Rosette
- Man from the South
- The Sound Machine
- Taste
- Dip in the Pool
- Skin
- Edward the Conqueror
- Lamb to the Slaughter
- Galloping Foxley
- The Way Up to Heaven
- Parson's Pleasure
- The Landlady
- William and Mary
- Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat
- Royal Jelly
- Georgy Porgy
- Genesis and Catastrophe
- Pig
- The Visitor
- Claud's Dog (The Ratcatcher, Rummins, Mr. Hoddy, Mr. Feasy, Champion of the World)
- The Great Switcheroo
- The Boy Who Talked with Animals
- The Hitchhiker
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
- The Bookseller