You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe, 261 pages

Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, chased rich young women, caused an international incident, and never backed down—even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle.

But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won. Coe focuses on his activities off the battlefield—like espionage and propaganda.

After an unlikely victory in the Revolutionary War, Washington once again shocked the world by giving up power, only to learn his compatriots wouldn't allow it. The founders pressured him into the presidency—twice. He established enduring norms but left office heartbroken over the partisan nightmare his backstabbing cabinet had created.

Back on his plantation, the man who fought for liberty finally confronted his greatest hypocrisy—what to do with the hundreds of men, women, and children he owned—before succumbing to a brutal death.

Alexis Coe combines rigorous research and unsentimental storytelling, finally separating the man from the legend.

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, 328 pages

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

And the Killer is. . . by G.A. McKevett, 309 pages

PI Savannah Reid has delved into the ugly side of SoCal’s celebrity culture more than once. But the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency may have bitten off more than they can chew when a Hollywood legend makes a deadly comeback . . .

It will be a cold day in San Carmelita before Savannah skips over a high-profile homicide case, especially one attached to a tasty reward. But when 90-year-old former silver screen siren Lucinda Faraday is murdered inside her derelict mansion, serving justice comes with unsavory risks. The fallen star, considered one of the most beautiful women of her time, was found strangled by a pair of vintage stockings amid a hoard of garbage and priceless memorabilia. Now, Lucinda is making headlines again—and, like in the past, her name is connected with the worst kind of scandal . . .

As a quest for answers reveals sleazy secrets about the victim’s history, the Moonlight Magnolia Agency soon discover that corruption, addiction, and blackmail were as rampant in the good old days of Hollywood as in the present—maybe even more so. Balancing a suspect list longer than the Lucinda’s acting credits and evidence that could destroy the reputation of people still alive, can Savannah outsmart the culprit before she or someone else get reduced to tabloid fodder next?

Christmas at Thrush Green by Miss Read, 344 pages

The people of Thrush Green celebrate Christmas in a traditional style which has hardly changed over the generations. Children eagerly hang up their stockings, families go to Church together, and everyone enjoys Christmas cake and other treats of the festive season. For heart-warming reading there is no writer to rival Miss Read, and this brand new Christmas novel is packed with unforgettable characters, enchanting stories and festive cheer.

Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters, 190 pages

The year is 1141 and civil war continues to rage. When the sheriff of Shropshire is taken prisoner, arrangements are made to exchange him for Elis, a young Welshman. But when the sheriff is brought to the abbey, he is murdered. Suspicion falls on Elis, who has fallen in love with the sheriff's daughter. With nothing but his Welsh honor to protect him, Elis appeals to Brother Cadfael for help. And Brother Cadfael gives it, not knowing that the truth will be a trial for his own soul.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee, 374 pages

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender.

While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light.

Forever by Pete Hamill, 613 pages

This widely acclaimed bestseller is the magical, epic tale of an extraordinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains . . . forever.

Through the eyes of Cormac O'Connor -- granted immortality as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan -- we watch New York grow from a tiny settlement on the tip of an untamed wilderness to the thriving metropolis of today. And through Cormac's remarkable adventures in both love and war, we come to know the city's buried secrets -- the way it has been shaped by greed, race, and waves of immigration, by the unleashing of enormous human energies, and, above all, by hope.

To Have and To Hoax by Martha Waters, 360 pages

Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.

Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.

Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

Post Oak Sprouts Along Belly Ache Creek by Grace Bacon Ferrier, 204 pages

Memoir about growing up on a farm in rural Missouri in the 1920s.

The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes, 317 pages

Who is Jane Moffat, anyway? She isn't the youngest in the family, and she isn't the oldest-she is always just Jane. How boring. So Jane decides to become a figure of mystery . . . the mysterious "Middle Moffat." But being in the middle is a lot harder than it looks.

In between not rescuing stray dogs, and losing and finding best friends, Jane must secretly look after the oldest inhabitant of Cranbury . . . so he can live to be one hundred. Between brushing her hair from her eyes and holding up her stockings, she has to help the girls' basketball team win the championship. And it falls to Jane-the only person in town with enough courage-to stand up to the frightful mechanical wizard, Wallie Bangs.

Jane is so busy keeping Cranbury in order that she barely has time to be plain old Jane. Sometimes the middle is the most exciting place of all. . . .

Coconut Layer Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke, 341 pages

Bakery owner Hannah Swensen is leaving Lake Eden to help a friend in sunny California. But an unexpected phone call swiftly brings her back to a cold Minnesota winter . . . and murder . . .
 
When Hannah learns that her sister Michelle’s boyfriend, Detective Lonnie Murphy, is the prime suspect in a murder case, she goes straight from a movie studio sound stage to the Los Angeles airport.
 
Back in frigid Minnesota, she discovers that proving Lonnie’s innocence will be harder than figuring out what went wrong with a recipe. Lonnie remembers only parts of the night he went out to a local bar and ended up driving a very impaired woman home. He knows he helped her to her bedroom, but he doesn’t recall anything else until he woke up on her couch the following morning. When he went to the bedroom to check on her, he was shocked to discover she was dead.
 
Hannah doesn’t know what to believe—only that exonerating a suspect who can’t remember is almost impossible, especially since Lonnie’s brother, Detective Rick Murphy, and Lonnie’s partner, Chief Detective Mike Kingston, have been taken off the case. Before everything comes crashing down on Lonnie like a heaping slice of coconut layer cake, it’ll be up to Hannah to rack up enough clues to toast a flaky killer . . .

Mythology Abroad by JodyLynn Nye,264 pages

Keith Doyle, business major at Midwestern University, with an unofficial minor in mystical studies and magic overseen by his Little Folk friends, flies off to spend the summer on an educational tour of archaeological sites of the British Isles and Ireland with his best friend, Holl. They hope to locate signs of Holl’s long-lost relations as well as to help fulfill a traditional rite that will permit Holl to marry his beloved Maura. Keith’s reckless exploits attract the attention of not only magical folk who are far less friendly than the Little Folk back home, but human smugglers. The Master and Keith’s girlfriend Diane are forced to come to their aid. Can Keith keep from losing his college credits and Holl his one chance at happiness?

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak, 358 pages

It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she’s been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family.

For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other’s orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems.

As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.

In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who’s about to arrive…

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix, 243 pages

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör comes packaged in the form of a glossy mail order catalog, complete with product illustrations, a home delivery order form, and a map of Orsk’s labyrinthine showroom.

Inappropriate by Gabrielle Bell, 137 pages

This was just a less than enjoyable graphic novel for me.

The Year at Thrush Green by Miss Read, 367 pages

In her fortieth book published by Houghton Mifflin, the inimitable Miss Read leads us through the seasons at Thrush Green, the Cotswold village already beloved by her thousands of readers. As the snows of January yield to snowdrops and then daffodils, we look in on a host of characters - whimsical, eccentric, always delightfully recognizable - and their daily affairs. Dotty Harmer serves up an herbal brew to her neighbor Albert Piggott, who has a soft spot for her behind his crusty facade. Architect Edward Young overhears a rumor that the old people's home he designed may be a bit cramped. An American stranger arrives in search of family ties. And at the Fuchsia Restaurant, Albert's wife Nellie finds herself in charge when old Mrs. Peters falls ill, and soon she receives two surprising gifts with implications for her past and her future. As summer unfolds, so do the dramas of village life. By year's end, these stories are satisfyingly interlocked, capturing a bygone era with wit and charm.

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern, 203 pages

From the creator of the hit webcomic My Life As a Background Slytherin comes a hilarious graphic novel pastiche of classic Romantic literature led by a trio of queer misfits—and several angry vampires.

Set in early nineteenth-century Britain, Bloodlust & Bonnets follows Lucy, an unworldly debutante who desires a life of passion and intrigue—qualities which earn her the attention of Lady Violet Travesty, the leader of a local vampire cult. 
 
But before Lucy can embark on her new life of vampiric debauchery, she finds herself unexpectedly thrown together with the flamboyant poet Lord Byron (“from books!”) and a mysterious bounty-hunter named Sham. The unlikely trio lie, flirt, fight, and manipulate each other as they make their way across Britain, disrupting society balls, slaying vampires, and making every effort not to betray their feelings to each other as their personal and romantic lives become increasingly entangled.

April Fools by Jess Lourey, 301 pages

After eleven straight months of discovering a dead body a month, librarian Mira James thinks she’s finally broken her bad luck streak. That is until she finds a disturbing note in a book, a clue that could lead to breaking open one of Minnesota’s biggest crime syndicates. She follows the trail and is horrified to discover that it leads to her father, who died 13 years earlier. To make matters worse, Mira catches wind that her sexy Adonis boyfriend, Johnny, is planning a surprise for her. Problem is, she doesn’t know if it’s a marriage proposal or an intervention.

As Mrs. Berns and Mira take on their final case together, Mira discovers it’s more personal than she could have imagined, and that she holds the fates of her dearest friends in her hands.

The Lost Fairy Tales by Anna James, 284 pages

A magical adventure to delight the imagination. The curl-up-on-the-sofa snuggle of a series from a uniquely talented author.
After solving the mystery of Tilly’s mother’s disappearance, the bookwandering community is at risk. An extreme group of Librarians have taken over the British Underlibrary and they want to restrict bookwandering.
 
Tilly and Oskar believe that The Archivists are the key to restoring balance – but nobody has seen them for thousands of years, and most people think they never really existed anyway. Is a journey to the French Underlibrary and a peculiar book of fairytales, the key to discovering their whereabouts?  
 
But wandering into fairytales is dangerous and unpredictable, and the characters aren’t as they seem. Soon, Tilly and Oskar realise that villains don’t just live inside the pages of books. Sometimes, you don’t get to live happily ever after…

The Best of Archie Comics, 415 pages

Celebrate 70 years of Archie Comics fun with this massive full-color collection of over 50 favorite comic book stories hand-selected by noted Archie writers, artists, editors and historians. Also included are loads of entertaining behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the comics, their creators, and Archie's unique impact on America's pop culture!

Designed for young and old alike, this is both a must-have companion for anyone who has grown up with Archie and a perfect introduction for new readers.

Lavender Blue Murder by Laura Childs, 322 pages

Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier Drayton Conneley are guests at a bird hunt styled in the precise manner of an English shooting party. Which means elevenses (sloe gin fizzes), gun loaders, the drawing of pegs, fine looking bird dogs, and shooting costumes of tweed, herringbone, and suede.

But as gunshots explode like a riff of Black Cat firecrackers, another shot sounds too close for comfort to Theodosia and Drayton. Intrigued but worried, Theodosia wanders into the neighbor's lavender field where she discovers their host, Reginald Doyle, bleeding to death.

His wife, Meredith, is beside herself with grief and begs Theodosia and Drayton to stay the night. But Theodosia awakens at 2:00A.M. to find smoke in her room and the house on fire. As the fire department screams in and the investigating sheriff returns, Meredith again pleads with Theodosia for help.

As Theodosia investigates, fingers are pointed, secrets are uncovered, Reginald's daughter-in-law goes missing presumed drowned, and Meredith is determined to find answers via a séance. All the while Theodosia worries if she's made a mistake in inviting a prime suspect to her upscale Lavender Lady Tea.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer, 263 pages

PROBLEM:
You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years now engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes--it would all be too awkward--and you can’t say no--it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of half-baked literary invitations you’ve received from around the world.

QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town?

ANSWER: You accept them all.

If you are Arthur Less.

Thus begins an around-the-world-in-eighty-days fantasia that will take Arthur Less to Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India and Japan and put thousands of miles between him and the problems he refuses to face. What could possibly go wrong?

Well: Arthur will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Sahara sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and arrive in Japan too late for the cherry blossoms. In between: science fiction fans, crazed academics, emergency rooms, starlets, doctors, exes and, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to see. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. The second phase of life, as he thinks of it, falling behind him like the second phase of a rocket. There will be his first love. And there will be his last.

A love story, a satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, by an author The New York Times has hailed as “inspired, lyrical,” “elegiac,” “ingenious,” as well as “too sappy by half,” Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy.