Of Mice and Murder by Steffanie Holmes, 266 pages

 When the local Banned Book Club lose their meeting room, Mina volunteers to host the group at Nevermore Bookshop (against Heathcliff’s muttered protests, of course). Little does she know this old biddies book club is about to turn murderous.First, someone poisons Mrs Scarlett, then members of the book club start dropping like flies. Who in the village will turn to murder just to stop people reading a few dusty old books? Mina’s got to figure it out quick, or her beloved teacher Mrs Ellis is next to die.Luckily, she’s got Moriarty, Heathcliff, and Quoth to help. That is, if she can figure out her feelings for her three fictional men before the magical bookshop is torn apart by sexual tension.They want her. She can’t choose.But maybe… she doesn’t have to.

A Dead and Stormy Night by Steffanie Holmes, 302 pages

 After being fired from my dream fashion job, I return home to my village under a cloud of failure and take a job at the quaint Nevermore Bookshop. I'm hoping for an easy few months while I get my life together.

But this is no ordinary bookshop.

A mysterious curse on Nevermore brings infamous fictional villains from classic literature to life in the real world.

My "easy" job involves rescuing customers from a 6foot4, grumpy, tattooed Heathcliff, drinking tea and evading the authorities with sophisticated villain Moriarty, and making art with Edgar Allen Poe’s shy, cheeky, raven shifter, Quoth.

As if that isn’t crazy enough, my ex-best friend shows up dead with a knife in her back, and I’m the chief suspect. I’m going to have to Agatha Christie this shiz if I want to clear my name.

Oh, and those three fictional villains?

They like to share…

World of Archie Jumbo Comics #104, 225 pages

 BRAND NEW “Blast from the Past” The gang is decorating the tree at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe, when they come across a cute but crudely-designed ornament. Each of the gang has a different memory of who crafted the ornament…but it turns out the real version of how it was created is not what anyone thought!

Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford, 286 pages

 When Christina Crawford's harrowing chronicle of child abuse was first published in 1978, it brought global attention to the previously closeted subject. It also shed light on the guarded world of Hollywood and stripped away the façade of Christina's relentless, alcoholic abuser: her adoptive mother, movie star Joan Crawford.

Christina was a young girl shown off to the world as a fortunate little princess. But at home, her lonely, controlling, even ruthless mother made her life a nightmare. A fierce battle of wills, their relationship could be characterized as an ultimately successful, for Christina, struggle for independence. She endured and survived, becoming the voice of so many other victims who suffered in silence, and giving them the courage to forge a productive life out of chaos.

Wonder Woman: Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick, 232 pages

 Millennia ago, Queen Hera and the goddesses of the Olympian pantheon grew greatly dissatisfied with their male counterparts…and far from their sight, they put a plan into action. A new society was born, one never before seen on Earth, capable of wondrous and terrible things…but their existence could not stay secret for long. When a despairing woman named Hippolyta crossed the Amazons' path, a series of events was set in motion that would lead to an outright war across heaven and Earth—and the creation of Earth's greatest guardian!

Legendary talents Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott unleash a critically lauded and Eisner Award-winning reading experience the likes of which you've never seen, with unbelievably sumptuous art and a story that will haunt you. Featuring a brand-new cover by all three series artists!

Collects WONDER WOMAN HISTORIA: THE AMAZONS #1-3.

Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler as told to Joseph B. Egan, 98 pages

 Based on the true account of a boy's harrowing journey through the vast wilderness of the Katahdin Mountains, Lost on a Mountain in Maine is a gripping survival story for all ages. Twelve-year-old Donn Fendler steps away from his Boy Scout troop for only a minute, but in the foggy mountains of Maine, a minute is all it takes. After hours of trying to find his way back, a nervous and tired Donn falls down an embankment, making it impossible for him to be found. One sleepless night goes by, followed by a second . . . and before Donn knows it, almost two weeks have passed, leaving him starving, scared, and delirious. With rainstorms, black bears, and his fear of being lost forever, Donn's journey is a physically, mentally, and emotionally charged story told from the point of view of the boy who lived it. 

A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford, 304 pages

 From Britain's beloved oldest living nanny comes a charming and uplifting memoir of a real-life Mary Poppins.

In her extraordinary memoir, Brenda Ashford shares her endearing and amusing experiences as a British nanny caring for generations of children over the past sixty-two years.

Brenda's lifelong love for children began the minute she laid eyes on her baby brother, David. As a teenager, she applied to London's Norland College, famous for producing top-class nannies, and, after a grueling interview, she was accepted on scholarship. It was a radical change from her idyllic country life in the village of Surrey. The training was rigorous and discipline strictly enforced, as Brenda and her classmates scrambled to pass inspections on everything from morality and neatness to needlework and pram pushing. Meanwhile, World War II began, and Brenda's heart was broken twice. She vowed never to fall for a man again and devoted her life to caring for other people's children, never having any of her own.

Brenda's memoir offers readers an enticing glimpse into the joys, frustrations, adventures, and mishaps of children of all ages and situations. She peppers her story with delightful bits of cultural history and timeless life lessons. A Spoonful of Sugar is an irresistible Mary Poppins story that will touch your heart and remind you of what is truly important in life.

The Mystery of the 99 Steps by Carolyn Keene, 176 pages

 Nancy Drew must search for a flight of 99 steps to solve the mystery of a friend’s weird dream. Her search leads her to France, but before she leaves the United States, an unknown person calling himself Monsieur Neuf warns the young sleuth not to pursue her mission.With her friends Bess and George, Nancy arrives in Paris to join her father who is working on another to find out what, or who, is frightening wealth financier Monsieur Leblanc into selling large amounts of securities. Startling discoveries convince the young detective that Mr. Drew’s case and her own mystery are linked by the 99 steps, and that a mysterious man has a strong hold over Leblanc. Is it blackmail? Nancy’s quest for further clues leads to the romantic chateau country in the Loire Valley, where a web of danger closes in tightly around the three girls.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, 186 pages

 Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake--and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure.

Brian had been distraught over his parents' impending divorce and the secret he carries about his mother, but now he is truly desolate and alone. Exhausted, terrified, and hungry, Brian struggles to find food and make a shelter for himself. He has no special knowledge of the woods, and he must find a new kind of awareness and patience as he meets each day's challenges. Is the water safe to drink? Are the berries he finds poisonous?

Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage--an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane. Most of all, Brian leaves behind the self-pity he has felt about his predicament as he summons the courage to stay alive.

World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #36, 225 pages

 

World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #35, 225 pages

 BRAND NEW STORY! Daisy Thunder, the glamorous globe-hopping queen of the race car circuit, has returned to Riverdale, and hasn’t forgotten her roots. In fact, Daisy remembers every one of her grade school friends from Riverdale Elementary. Everyone, that is, except for Veronica Lodge!

Ask the Past: Pertinent and Impertinent Advice from Yesteryear by Elizabeth P. Archibald, 287 pages

 Want to know how to garden with lobsters? How to sober up? Grow a beard? Or simply how to make a perfect omelet? Look no further. Rather, look backward.

Based on the popular blog, Ask the Past is full of the wisdom of the ages--as well as the fad diets, zany pickup lines, and bacon Band-Aids of the ages. Drawn from centuries of antique texts by historian and bibliophile Elizabeth P. Archibald, Ask the Past offers a delightful array of advice both wise and weird.

Whether it's eighteenth-century bedbug advice (sprinkle bed with gunpowder and let smolder), budget fashion tips of the Middle Ages (save on the clothes, splurge on the purse) or a sixteenth-century primer on seduction (do no pass gas), Ask the Past is a wildly entertaining guide to life from the people who lived it first.

Manga Biograph ies: Charles M. Schulz, The Creator of Snoopy and Peanuts by Yuzuru Kuki, 168 pages

 

Publisher For the Masses-Emanuel Haldeman-Julius by R. Alton Lee, 255 pages

 His admirers called him the “Barnum of Books” and the “Voltaire of Kansas” because of his ability to bring culture and education to the people.

R. Alton Lee brings to life Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (1889–1951), a writer-publisher-entrepreneur who was one of America’s most significant publishers and editorialists of the twentieth century. His company published a record 500,000,000 copies of 2,580 titles and was second only to the U.S. Government Printing Office in the quantity of publications it produced. Lee details Haldeman-Julius’s family origins in Russia and his formative years in Philadelphia, where he learned the book trade. As a writer and editor for the Social Democrat, Sunday Call, and Western Comrade, Haldeman-Julius was already well known by the time he launched his own publishing company. Haldeman-Julius knew, was nurtured by, and published writers such as Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Jane Addams, Emma Goldman, H. L. Mencken, Carl Sandburg, Eugene V. Debs, Clarence Darrow, Job Harriman, Will Durant, and Bertrand Russell, among others.

Based in Girard, Kansas, his company, Haldeman-Julius Publications, covered socialist politics, the philosophy of free thought, and both new and classic books marketed to ordinary Americans, including the Little Blue Book series of classics in Western thought and literature.         

This biography of the enigmatic and energetic Haldeman-Julius opens a window into the fascinating world of early twentieth-century radical politics and publishing.

Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson, 324 pages

 For Genevieve Terrence it seemed like a dream come true: a weekend alone on Maui with her sexy boss, Nick Brogan. But little did she know that Nick had dreams of his own--a nefarious scheme that nearly got her killed on the flight over the Pacific. Lucky for her, brilliant computer programmer Jack Farley was on board and quick-witted enough to crash-land the plane. Now Jack is her sole companion on a remote desert island with nothing but guava trees and sharks for company. Who’d expect the shy genius--and the least alpha male she knows--to turn out to be the uninhibited stud of her wildest dreams?

Saving Genevieve’s life has made Jack a hero in the eyes of the woman he has secretly lusted after for months. Now they’re alone together in a tropical eden where they’re free to give in to their every sensual whim. But when some nasty unfinished business puts them at risk again, Gen will learn there’s nothing quite as dangerous as a fully aroused ex-nerd who’ll move heaven and earth to protect the woman he loves…

Heidi's Alp: One Family's Search for Storybook Europe by Christina Hardyment, 258 pages

 One spring morning in 1985, Christina Hardyment and her four daughters set out from their Oxford home to trace the roots of stories that have captured the imaginations of generations of children worldwide.

Great Mysteries of History by Kenneth Platnick, 224 pages

In this book, the author sifts through the evidence of 16 famous, unsolved cases of murder, royal intrigue, missing persons, lost continents and peoples, and creatures that baffle science.

Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton, 301 pages

In Circus of the Damned-now in trade paperback for the first time-a rogue master vampire hits town, and Anita gets caught in the middle of an undead turf war. Jean-Claude, the Master Vamp of the city, wants her for his own-but his enemies have other plans. And to make matters worse, Anita takes a hit to the heart when she meets a stunningly handsome junior high science teacher named Richard Zeeman. They're two humans caught in the crossfire-or so Anita thinks.

If You've Got It, Haunt It by Steffanie Holmes, 344 pages

 I’m Bree Mortimer, and I can bring ghosts back to life.

The hot-as-Hades Roman Centurion in my bedroom is living proof that I can raise the dead. Now all I have to do is stop him swimming naked in the duck pond and trying to stab anyone with a man bun, and my life will be perfect.

Hah. That’s a joke. My life is a spooktacular failure. I’ve got two ghostly lovers who are desperate for me to bring them back, too, but if I don’t figure out how to control my new magical powers, there could be grave consequences.

And that’s going to be difficult since the only person who can help me was ripped to pieces by a monster who can’t possibly be human. Some dark power is after resurrection magic, and if I don’t figure out how to stop it, I’m next.

Luckily, with a sword-wielding psychotic ex-ghost, a sarcastic royal rake, a cinnamon roll Victorian gentleman, a sadistic bat, a vampire-slaying bookshop owner, and the village undertaker on my side, I stand a ghost of a chance. Right?

Bree and her ghostly men are back for another spooky adventure in, If You've Got It, Haunt It, book 2 of this darkly humorous cozy fantasy series by bestselling author Steffanie Holmes. If you love a sarcastic heroine, hot, possessive and slightly unhinged ghostly men, a mystery to solve, and a little kooky, spooky lovin’ to set your coffin a rockin’, then quit ghouling around and start reading!

World of Archie Jumbo Comics #145 pages, 225 pages

 BRAND NEW STORY! The Riverdale High Christmas Party is here and an old familiar face in Riverdale, Wilbur Wilkin, is on the guest list. But there’s going to be some holiday havoc when Alexandra Cabot crashes the party because she has a crush on him!

Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #330, 225 pages

 BRAND NEW STORY! Betty and Veronica, along with Wilbur’s two friends Laura and Linda, are taking part in Riverdale’s Christmas Skateathon Charity event! But when Archie and Wilbur decide to join in on the fun, will they all be skating on thin ice?

Archie Jumbo Comics #356, 225 pages

 BRAND NEW Wilbur Wilkin is hosting a Christmas party—and everyone’s invited! It’s going to be a Secret Santa gift exchange for the ages, but when Archie’s rivalry with Wilbur amps up, will everyone get what they want?

Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle by Dorothy Gilman, 199 pages

 Mrs. Pollifax and her beloved husband, Cyrus, are off to the Far East for pleasure. No more life-threatening danger for Emily Pollifax, thank you very much—her mind’s made up. But when, on the very morning she and Cyrus are leaving for Bangkok, the CIA arrives on her doorstep (in the form of the somewhat harried Bishop) with an urgent request for help, Mrs. Pollifax finds that her resolve has dissolved.

After all, it’s a very small job. All she’s got to do is carry a small object to someone named Ruamsak, and get something from him in exchange. Simple enough, and—Bishop assures her—not in the least dangerous.

Mrs. Pollifax will know better next time than to trust Bishop—if she survives. In short order after her arrival in Thailand, she discovers the body of a murdered man and, moments later, watches in horror as Cyrus is kidnapped. Next thing she knows, she’s tramping through the ominous Thai countryside—known for its smugglers and drug warlords—led by a curious fellow called Bonshoo, who may be trying to help her find her husband. Or may have other, more sinister plans…

Penny Bloods: Gothic Tales of Dangerous Women edited by Nicole C. Dittmer, 240 pages

 Her cheeks were pale, and her eyes had the wild and stolid glare which Rodolph had observed when she awakened from the slumber of the grave; she quitted the castle, and after gazing around her, as if uncertain which way to go, she proceeded towards the village.

In the mid 1800s, the inexpensive publications known as penny bloods were all the rage in Britain. Spinning tales of high Gothic drama, violence and monstrosity, this literary phenomenon was significant for its depictions of dangerous and transgressive women which inspired such milestone Gothic works as Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla .

Collecting ten tales from classic – and truly obscure – penny publications and featuring newly edited text and insights from Dr Dittmer’s research, this new volume revives a company of witches, femme fatales, vampire mistresses and deadly criminals to enthrall a new generation of readers.

Rockin' Around the Chickadee by Donna Andrews, 280 pages

 Meg's sister-in-law, Delaney is pregnant. Since her due date is on or around Christmas Day, this is putting a bit of a damper on the usual holiday festivities. Meg and Michael are NOT hosting the usual house full of relatives and parties. Instead, Meg, along with her mother, her grandmother, her cousin Rose Noire, and her good friend Caroline, are militantly doing everything they can think of to keep Delaney quiet and healthy. All the relatives are farmed out to friends and neighbors; all the parties are being held somewhere else, and while Delaney is bored and mutinous, she's doing well, and they're managing to maintain a serene, peaceful environment for her . . . until a body is found in Meg and Michael's yard. Can Meg still keep Delaney calm in the middle of a murder investigation, all while trying to catch the killer?Full of her usual twists and turns, paired with relatable family holiday drama and Caerphilly’s traditional Christmas merriment, Donna Andrews brings readers another joyful classic.

The Greatest Nobodies of History by Adrian Bliss, 293 pages

 The lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria fill bookshelves and fascinate scholars all over the world. But little attention is given to the ferret who posed for the renaissance master, the servant who oversaw the Tudor’s toilet time, or the famous horse who thrilled the miserable old monarch.

These supporting cast members have been waiting in the wings for too long, and Adrian Bliss thinks it’s high time they join their glory-hogging contemporaries in the spotlight. Fortunately, - thanks to some recently discovered ancient complaint letters, court transcripts and memoirs in bottles - now they can.

Equal parts fascinating and hilarious, the Greatest Nobodies of History is a surreal love letter to life’s forgotten heroes featuring hitherto undocumented accounts from Ancient Greece to the frontlines of the Great Emu War.

All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true...

Betty and Veronica Digest #31, 125 pages

 

Betty and Veronica Double Digest #4, 225 pages

 

Betty and Veronica Double Digest #18, 225 pages

 

The Greatest War Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer, 214 pages

 Rick Beyer, the author of the acclaimed History Channel® series The Greatest Stories Never Told, returns with new historic tales, this time focusing on amazing war stories Search the annals of military history and you will discover no end of quirky characters and surprising true stories: The topless dancer who saved the Byzantine Empire; the World War I battle that was halted so a soccer game could be played; the scientist who invented a pigeon-guided missile in 1943; and don't forget the elderly pig whose death triggered an international crisis between the United States and Great Britain. This is the kind of history you'll find in  The Greatest War Stories Never Told . One hundred fascinating stories drawn from two thousand years of military history, accompanied by a wealth of photographs, maps, drawings, and documents that help bring each story to life. Little-known tales told with a one-two punch of history and humor that will make you shake your head in disbelief -- but they're all true! Did You Know That: Discover how war can be a catalyst for change; an engine for innovation; and an arena for valor, deceit, intrigue, ambition, revenge, audacity, folly, and even silliness. Want to know how the mafia helped the United States win World War II, when the word bazooka was coined, or how Silly Putty was invented? Read on!

The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal by Lilian Jackson, 240 pages

 All the world's a stage--and now Jim Qwilleran's apple orchard has become the stage for a real-life murder scene. The much-disliked director of the Pickax Theatre Club's Shakespeare production, Hilary VanBrook, has been found dead after the closing-night cast party. With the help of his super-smart Siamese, Qwill must cast a suspicious eye on all the players--especially the ones pussyfooting around behind the scenes...