The Clue in the Old Album by Carolyn Keene, 180 pages

 Nancy witnesses a purse snatching and chases the thief. She rescues the purse, but not its contents. The owner, a doll collector, asks Nancy to do some detecting. The woman provides a mysterious note: "The source of light will heal all ills, but a curse will follow him who takes it from the gypsies." Nancy interprets this clue in her quest to find an old album, a lost doll, and a missing gypsy violinist. The girl detective’s valiant efforts bring happiness to a misunderstood child and her lonely grandmother. This book is the revised text. The plot of the original story (©1947) is similar with one major and other minor revisions.

The Housemaid's Daughter by Barbara Mutch, 403 pages

 Barbara Mutch's stunning first novel tells a story of love and duty colliding on the arid plains of Apartheid-era South Africa When Cathleen Harrington leaves her home in Ireland in 1919 to travel to South Africa, she knows that she does not love the man she is to marry there ―her fiance Edward, whom she has not seen for five years. Isolated and estranged in a small town in the harsh Karoo desert, her only real companions are her diary and her housemaid, and later the housemaid's daughter, Ada. When Ada is born, Cathleen recognizes in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she cannot with her own family. Under Cathleen's tutelage, Ada grows into an accomplished pianist and a reader who cannot resist turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought to hide. As they grow closer, Ada sees new possibilities in front of her―a new horizon. But in one night, everything changes, and Cathleen comes home from a trip to find that Ada has disappeared, scorned by her own community. Cathleen must make a should she conform to society, or search for the girl who has become closer to her than her own daughter? Set against the backdrop of a beautiful, yet divided land, The Housemaid's Daughter is a startling and thought-provoking novel that intricately portrays the drama and heartbreak of two women who rise above cruelty to find love, hope, and redemption.

Stupid History: A Collection of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythoconceptions Through the Ages by Leland Gregory, 538 pages

 This is a compilation of two previously published book by Leland Gregory: Stupid History(2007) and Stupid American History(2009).

The Royal Mess by MaryJanice Davidson, 210 pages

 A tough princess meets her match - a rugged bodyguard - in the third book of the royally entertaining series from the New York Times best-selling author.

When it comes to the wild Kingdom of Alaska, in a reality where Russia never sold the territory to the United States, a Rodinov has always protected the Baranov royal family. And Jeffrey, born and raised to be the next in the long and illustrious line of protectors, is not about to let the tradition fail with him.

But Princess Nicole isn't exactly the easiest charge: an expert at hunting who's sharp as nails, stubborn as a bull, and completely convinced she doesn't need anyone watching her back. Even worse, she's got the most kissable lips Jeffrey has ever seen.

What Nicole really needs is a man with the perfect combination of brains and brawn to show her the royal ropes (and cuffs...and scarves...). Someone who can make her feel like a queen - in bed and out of it. And, after all, taking care of the royal family is exactly what Rodinovs are trained to do....

Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 219 pages

 A seven-year-old boy is transported from the mean streets of nineteenth-century New York to the splendor of his grandfather's English manor in this beloved classic of children's literature. Young Cedric is astonished to find himself in possession of the title of Lord Fauntleroy and dismayed at his separation from his adored mother during the schooling for his new position. The Earl of Dorincourt, Cedric's crotchety grandfather, intends to instruct Cedric in the manners of the peerage; as it happens, the child teaches the man some valuable lessons about the true meaning of nobility.

Written by the author of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy has enchanted generations of readers. Its conviction that nothing in the world is as strong as a kind heart has made the lovable lordling’s name synonymous with his gentle sincerity and tenderness.

Bernard the Brave by Margery Sharp, 108 pages

 While Miss Bianca is away, Bernard faces the most daring prisoner rescuing mission yet. Miss Thomasina, orphan heiress to the Three Rivers Estate, has been kidnapped by her wicked guardian. With only one clue to follow, Bernard stamps off into the night. And what dangers he faces! But with obstinate determination and the help of a most unusual ally, Bernard does not falter from his purpose.

The Something Girl by Jodi Taylor, 275 pages

 The Nothing Girl has grown up…

It’s life as usual at Frogmorton Farm – which is to say that events have passed the merely eccentric and are now galloping headlong towards the completely bizarre.

Once again Jenny struggles to stay afloat in the stormy seas of matrimony with her husband, Russell Checkland, together with an unlikely mix of Patagonian Attack Chickens, Jack the Sad Donkey, and Mrs Crisp’s mysterious boyfriend. The old favourites are still around, of course. There’s Marilyn the Omnivorous Donkey, Russell’s ex-girlfriend Don’t Call Me Franny, and the neurotic Boxer, currently failing to deal with butterfly trauma.

So nothing much is new … except for the mysterious figure dogging Jenny’s steps and who, if she didn’t know better, she would swear was her sinister cousin Christopher, last seen being hurled from the house by her wayward husband. He couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to come back and try again … Could he?

Laughter in Appalachia by Loyal Jones and Billy Edd Wheeler, 155 pages

 As you chuckle through these tales you find the thread of self-effacing, good-natured warmth that characterizes Appalachia. -Southern Living From the people of the Appalachian Mountains comes a special brand of dry, colorful and earthy, aimed sometimes at the hillbilly's own foibles, but often at the outside world's pretenses, too. As longtime fans of and contributors to Appalachian lore, Jones and Wheeler collected the material for this popular and timeless volume at the Festival of Appalachian Humor sponsored by the Appalachian Center at Berea College. Includes jokes and yarns on such topics as hunting, lawyers and doctors, alcohol, and religion, along with essays on the nature and origins of humor. This hilarious collection based in Appalachia America will teach readers the importance of resourcefulness, trustworthiness and respect.

Hetty, The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon by Charles Slack,

 A full century before Martha Stewart, Oprah, and Madonna became icons, generations before women swept through Wall Street, and decades before they even had the right to vote, there was Hetty Green, America's richest woman, who stood alone among the roguish giants of the Gilded Age as the first lady of capitalism and is remembered as the Witch of Wall Street. At the time of her death in 1916, Hetty Green's personal fortune was estimated at $100 million ($1.6 billion today), and the financial empire she built on real estate and railroads rivaled that of Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and some of the nation's biggest banks. Today, Hetty Green ranks near the top of America's list of greatest financiers, in company with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and billionaire-investor Warren Buffett. But in history books she has remained merely a footnote, a miser and an eccentric, whose character flaws and personal choices unjustly overshadowed her remarkable accomplishments on the fierce battlefield of American industry and commerce. In Hetty, Charles Slack reexamines the life, work, and conflicted legacy of the exceptionally resourceful, ruthless, and inimitable woman who turned a comfortable inheritance into a fortune through instinct, courage, cunning, greed, and determination to succeed at a man's game on her own from her childhood in the Quaker community of New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she learned about business by reading financial papers to her father, to the battle over her inheritance that was one of the most controversial legal cases of her time; from her collisions with railroad magnate Collis Huntington to her rescue of New York City from financial ruin. Looking well beyond the lore and historical prejudices, Charles Slack presents a full portrait of a true American original, a female Citizen Kane who, having turned away from the conventions of her time, as a woman, a wife, a mother, and a mogul, led a life of a different sort, with occasionally tragic results, becoming both a hero and a victim of her era. Above all, it is a story of an uncompromising, larger-than-life, flawed woman who ruled a vast financial empire but was known, simply, as Hetty.

The Best of Archie Comics, 75 Years, 75 Stories, 640 pages

 Archie Comics has always been representative of teenage life. And I should know a thing or two about being a teenager—after all, I’ve been one for 75 years! THE BEST OF 75 YEARS, 75 STORIES gives fans the opportunity to take a look at some of my favorite stories from the past 75 years, one picked from every year since 1941. Along the way you’ll meet some of my friends (both off panel and on!), learn some behind-the-scenes info about the people who brought me to life, and get to learn about what was going on at the time the stories were made.

Celebrate 75 years of entertainment, humor and fun with me, Archie Andrews!

Wild Bird by Diane Zahler, 308 pages

 Get lost in a middle grade adventure following Rype, an abandoned girl in fourteenth-century Europe, as she walks from Norway to England looking for safety from the plague.

Her name was Rype. That wasn’t really her name. It was what the strangers called her. She didn’t remember her real name. She didn’t remember anything at all.

Rype was hiding in the hollow of a tree trunk when they found her. She was hungry, small, cold, alone. She did not speak their language, or understand their mannerisms. But she knew this: To survive, she would have to go with them.

In fourteenth-century Norway, the plague has destroyed the entire village of Skeviga. To stay alive, Rype, the only one left, must embark on an adventure across Europe with the son of an English ship captain and a band of troubadours in search of a brighter future and a new home.

Never Too Old To Save the World edited by Addie King & Alana Joli Abbott, 307 pages

 Once every generation there is a Chosen One, who will stand between humanity and darkness.

But why is the Chosen One so often a teenager? Why do only children get swept through portals to save the fantastic world on the other side? Whose idea was it to put the fate of the world in the hands of someone without a fully developed prefrontal cortex?

In Never Too Old to Save the World, nineteen authors explore what would happen if the Chosen One were called midlife. What would happen if the Chosen One were:

a soccer mom
a cat lady
a nosy grandmother
a social worker
a retiree
an aging swordmaster? 

The Chosen One could be anyone—because when the universe calls, the real question is whether the hero will take up the mantle and answer their midlife calling. Sometimes the world needs a hero who's already been in the thick of chaos and survived. In those cases, age does matter.

Scottish Ghost Stories edited by Helen McClory, 155 pages

 Atmospheric, chilling and often witty tales from the storytellers of ancient and modern phantom appearances

From the misty air of the highlands, to the reekie streets of Edinburgh's underground city, comes an entertaining selection of classic and mysterious Scottish ghost stories, including ‘The Screaming Skull of Greyfriars’, ‘Mary Burnet’, ‘Wandering Willie’s Tale’ and ‘Glamis Castle’, from the pen of John Buchan, Elliott O’Donnell, Margaret Oliphant, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walter Scott and more.

From myth to mystery, the supernatural to horror, fantasy and science fiction FLAME TREE 451 offers tales, myths and epic literature from the beginnings of humankind, through the medieval era to the stories of imagination and dark romance of today.

Miss Bianca and the Bridesmaid by Margery Sharp, 110 pages

 The Embassy had never been gayer. Everyone loves the prospect of a glittering wedding, and preparations were progressing merrily. Suddenly, the busy excitement turned to dismayed anguish. The little bridesmaid had disappeared! "If she isn't found," cried the bride passionately, "There won't be any wedding for I shan't get married at all!"

With at least 332 guests expected, wedding presents laid out, telegrams of congratulations in piles, a banquet prepared, Miss Bianca understands instantly the critical state of affairs, and with her famed resourcefulness and gusto, takes full command of the emergency. So with Bernard offering loyal support, the search for the missing bridesmaid gets speedily under way with not a moment to lose.

Miss Bianca in the Antarctic by Margery Sharp, 124 pages

 The intrepid Miss Bianca embarks upon the most perilous mission of her career in Miss Bianca in the Antarctic, the sixth chronicle of her adventures by Margery Sharp. Newly retired as Perpetual Madam President and Secretary, respectively of the Mouse Prisoners' Aid Society, Miss Bianca and her stalwart right-hand-mouse Bernard settle down for a life of well-deserved peace and quiet, when who should re-enter their lives but Nils, the valiant Norwegian sailor-mouse from their adventures in The Rescuers.

His news is most distressing: the Poet is in trouble again! Saved from the Black Castle in The Rescuers, the Poet has joined a Scientific Expedition to the Antarctic - and has become trapped there, a prisoner of whirlwinds and breaking ice fields. Duty is clear; the Poet must be saved again! But how?

As Miss Bianca and Bernard set out to brave the perils of the icy Antarctic, little do they realize the ever greater dangers in store for the. Blizzards, polar pears, penguins, and temperatures cold enough to freeze a mouse stiff as a board all unite to make Miss Bianca in the Antarctic the most exciting tale ever in the annals of the Mouse Prisoners' Aid Society.

Mystery of the Tolling Bell by Carolyn Keene, 181 pages

 Nancy becomes involved in a maze of mystery when she accepts an invitation from Mrs. Chantrey, a client of Mr. Drew, to vacation at her cottage in a picturesque seaside town. Carson Drew has promised to join his daughter, but fails to arrive. The alarming disappearance of Mr. Drew and the odd circumstances surrounding his rescue are only the start of a series of highly dangerous adventures for Nancy and her friends Bess and George.

Mrs. Chantrey's story about a nearby cliffside cave reputedly inhabited by a ghost intrigues Nancy and she decides to investigate. Several frightened townspeople claim to have seen an apparition and heard the weird sounds of a tolling bell just before water rushes from the cave. What Nancy discovers and how she outwits a ring of swindlers will thrill all admirers of the courageous young detective.

Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads by Sylvia Lovgren, 464 pages

 Though the Roaring Twenties call to mind images of flappers dancing the Charleston and gangsters dispensing moonshine in back rooms, Sylvia Lovegren here playfully reminds us what these characters ate for Banana and Popcorn Salad. Like fashions and fads, food—even bad food—has a history, and Lovegren's Fashionable Food is quite literally a cookbook of the American past.

Well researched and delightfully illustrated, this collection of faddish recipes from the 1920s to the 1990s is a decade-by-decade tour of a hungry American century. From the Three P's Salad—that's peas, pickles, and peanuts—of the post-World War I era to the Fruit Cocktail and Spam Buffet Party loaf—all the rage in the ultra-modern 1950s, when cooking from a can epitomized culinary sophistication —Fashionable Food details the origins of these curious delicacies. In two chapters devoted to "exotic foods of the East," for example, Lovegren explores the long American love affair with Chinese food and the social status conferred upon anyone chic enough to eat pu-pu platters from Polynesia. Throughout, Lovegren supplements recipes—some mouth-watering, some appalling—from classic cookbooks and family magazines, with humorous anecdotes that chronicle how society and kitchen technology influenced the way we lived and how we ate.

Equal parts American and culinary history, Fashionable Food examines our collective past from the kitchen counter. Even if it's been a while since you last had Tang Pie and your fondue set is collecting dust in the back of the cupboard, Fashionable Food will inspire, entertain, and inform.

Thank You, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse, 216 pages

 Bertram Wooster's interminable banjolele playing has driven Jeeves, his otherwise steadfast gentleman's gentleman, to give notice. The foppish aristocrat cannot survive for long without his Shakespeare-quoting and problem-solving valet, however, and after a narrowly escaped forced marriage, a cottage fire, and a great butter theft, the celebrated literary odd couple are happy to return to the way things were.

Archie 1000 Page Comics Celebration, 1000 pages

 ARCHIE 1000 PAGE COMICS CELEBRATION collects 1000 pages of iconic Archie tales in this one amazing volume! Follow America's favorite red-head as he navigates the pressures of the American teenager in the awkward, charming, and hilarious way you've come to know and love.

Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life by Laurie Notaro, 270 pages

 #1 New York Times bestselling author Laurie Notaro isn’t exactly a domestic goddess—unless that means she fully embraces her genetic hoarding predisposition, sneaks peeks at her husband’s daily journal, or has made a list of the people she wants on her Apocalypse Survival team (her husband’s not on it).

Inspired by Victorian household manuals, Notaro chronicles her chronic misfortune in the domestic arts, including cooking, cleaning, and putting on Spanx while sweaty (which should technically qualify as an Olympic sport).

Housebroken is a rollicking new collection of essays showcasing her irreverent wit and inability to feel shame. From defying nature in the quest to making her own Twinkies, to begging her new neighbors not to become urban livestock keepers, to teaching her eight-year-old nephew about hobos, Notaro recounts her best efforts—and hilarious failures—in keeping a household inches away from being condemned. After all, home wasn’t built in a day.

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle, 371 pages

 Hubert Bird is not alone in being alone.

He just needs to realise it.

In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship and fulfilment.

But Hubert Bird is lying.

The truth is day after day drags by without him seeing a single soul.

Until, that is, he receives some good news - good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on.

Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
Along the way Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all . . .

Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows will he ever get to live the life he's pretended to have for so long?

American Royals by Katherine McGee, 440 pages

 What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.

Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.

And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

Miss Bianca in the Orient by Margery Sharp, 144 pages

 Miss Bianca began to take more interest as the little green snake continued his story. "The Ranee's page," he added, "is in the elephant lines waiting to be trampled to smithereens at the next full moon on account of his sniveling into Her Highness's sherbert!"

And so intrepid Miss Bianca, her sense of justice outraged that such a dire punishment can be meted out for such a trifling error, begins to plan and scheme an urgent rescue mission, which must be the strangest and most exotic yet.

Only this time she will need every ounce of tact, every measure of courage and all the wits she could possibly muster.

MIss Bianca in the Salt Mines by Margery Sharp, 148 pages

 In her fourth adventure, accompanied by the adoring Bernard (and a couple of professorial mice, more trouble than anything else), Miss Bianca ventures into the sinister reaches of a salt mine, in a response to a call for help from Teddy-age-eight—no child ever calls Miss Bianca in vain!

Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain by Robert Burch, 145 pages

 Life in rural Georgia is tough for the Suttons. Their mother has passed away, and the country is in the midst of the Great Depression . But things take a turn for the better when Ida Early comes over the mountain. She offers to help Mr. Sutton with the children, and entertains them with her tall tales of lion taming, working as a cook on a pirate ship, and even a stunt pilot!

What the Butler Saw: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem by E. S. Turner, 304 pages

 This is a lively foray into a world where a gentleman with £2,000 a year was betraying his class if he did not employ six females and five males; where a lady could go to the grave without ever having picked up a nightdress, carried her prayer book or made a pot of tea. It is the story of the housekeeper and the butler, the cook, the lady's maid, the valet and the coachman. Their duties are described in detail, and the story is told of the strife and even pitched battles that ensued between servants and the served. Here is social history from a fascinating angle, packed with droll information lightly handled, with many a moral for our own times.