Friday, December 31, 2021

That's Not in My American History Book: A Compilation of Little-Known Events and Forgotten Heroes by Thomas Ayres, 240 pages

 Most people don't know that Benjamin Franklin almost killed himself trying to electrocute a turkey; the Wright brothers were not the first to fly an airplane; there was a 14th state that the original 13 wouldn't let join the Union; and that Benedict Arnold helped save the American Revolution. All this and more is revealed in That's Not in My American History Book.





Thursday, December 30, 2021

Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene, 174 pages

 By mistake Nancy Drew receives a letter from England intended for an heiress, also named Nancy Drew. When Nancy undertakes a search for the missing young woman, it becomes obvious that a ruthless, dangerous man is determined to prevent her from finding the heiress or himself. Clues that Nancy unearths leads her to believe that the villainous Edgar Nixon plans to marry the heiress and then steal her inheritance.


During her investigation Nancy discovers that Nixon is engaged in a racket that involves many innocent, trusting persons. The thrilling hunt for Nixon and the heiress takes Nancy in and out of many perilous situations.

How the teen-age detective saves the British heiress from the sly, cunning schemer makes a highly intriguing story of mystery and suspense.
 



Wednesday, December 29, 2021

World of Archie Comics Double Digest #52, 256 pages

 Archie, Betty, Jughead and Ethel are excited for another fun Halloween bash that Veronica's throwing -- and this time, she's pulled out all the stops to make it a memorable one! From a secret location with creepy dolls and clowns, the gang is sure to be frightened... just one question: where is the woman of the hour? And why do those dolls seem to be following them wherever they go? Find out in the frightfully fun "Scary, Scary Doooo," the brand new lead story to this comics double digest!




World of Archie Comics Double Digest #54, 256 pages

 Archie, desperate for money to buy Christmas gifts, decides to lower himself in the worst possible way for a little Christmas cash: he's going to rent himself out to his friends -- at least, they WERE his friends, until they decide to take advantage of Archie's situation by making him to do all the holiday chores they don't want to! Will they remember the true meaning of the holiday before it's too late? Find out in "All Worked Up!" the fun, festive new lead story to this comics double digest!




World of Archie #45, 256 pages

 Dilton invents a handy Christmas app that's supposed to help Archie pick out the perfect gift for Veronica -- but even modern technology can't help find something for the girl who has everything! Archie and Jughead decide the only way they can find something for her that she doesn't own is by shopping somewhere completely different -- and so they recruit their pals to find her the perfect gift. But has the answer been at the tip of their fingers all along? Find out in "The Christmas App," the festively fun lead story to this comics digest! 




World of Archie Double Digest #34, 256 pages

 Christmas time is here... and Santa's reindeer are on strike?!! The jolly man in red calls on his trusted assistant Archie to help get things back on track in time for the biggest night of the year. Can Archie inspire everyone to work together, or will this be a present-less holiday for children all over the world? Find out in "A Christmas Story!"




Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, 113 pages

 Basil--famous sleuth of mousedom--lived in the cellar of Sherlock Holmes' house. A devoted admirer of the great detective, he had learned his craft by listening at the feet of Holmes himself. The Mystery of the Missing Twins was one of the strangest cases in Basil's career. He had only a few crumbs of clues with which to find solutions to such baffling questions as: Who had masterminded the plot? Where were the twins, Angela and Agatha, being kept? 




Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them by Sian Evans, 354 pages

 During the early twentieth century, transatlantic travel was the province of the great ocean liners. It was an extraordinary undertaking made by many women, whose lives were changed forever by their journeys between the Old World and the New. Some traveled for leisure, some for work; others to reinvent themselves or find new opportunities. They were celebrities, migrants and millionaires, refugees, aristocrats and crew members whose stories have mostly remained untold—until now.


Maiden Voyages is a fascinating portrait of the era, the ships themselves, and these women as they crossed the Atlantic. The ocean liner was a microcosm of contemporary society, divided by class: from the luxury of the upper deck, playground for the rich and famous, to the cramped conditions of steerage or third class travel. In first class you’ll meet A-listers like Marlene Dietrich, Wallis Simpson, and Josephine Baker; the second class carried a new generation of professional and independent women, like pioneering interior designer Sibyl Colefax. Down in steerage, you’ll follow the journey of émigré Maria Riffelmacher as she escapes poverty in Europe. Bustling between decks is a crew of female workers, including Violet “The Unsinkable Stewardess” Jessop, who survived the Titanic disaster.

Entertaining and informative, Maiden Voyages captures the golden age of ocean liners through the stories of the women whose transatlantic journeys changed the shape of society on both sides of the globe.



Monday, December 27, 2021

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston, 442 pages

 Ten years after Blayne Thorpe first encountered Bo Novikov, she still can't get the smooth-talking shifter out of her head. Now he's shadowing her in New York-all seven-plus feet of him-determined to protect her from stalkers who want to use her in shifter dogfights. Even if he has to drag her off to an isolated Maine town where the only neighbors are other bears almost as crazy as he is...


Let sleeping dogs lie. Bo knows it's good advice, but he can't leave Blayne be. Blame it on her sweet sexiness -- or his hunch that there's more to this little wolfdog than meets the eye. Blayne has depths he hasn't yet begun to fathom -- much as he'd like to. She may insist Bo's nothing but a pain in her delectable behind, but polar bears have patience in spades. Soon she'll realize how good they can be together. And when she does, animal instinct tells him it'll be worth the wait...



Sunday, December 26, 2021

Mistle Text: 'Twas the Text Before Christmas by Whitney Dineen and Melanie Summers, 302 pages

 Twenty-eight-year-old Holly Snow is the only mother her four-year-old niece remembers. Three years earlier, when her sister and brother-in-law were killed, Holly’s dream of becoming an international flight attendant was put on hold so she could be home for baby Faith. Holly is doing everything she can to keep the rent paid, including working as an online travel agent, filing medical claims, and cleaning apartments in her building. When her friend Maggie tells her that her boss needs someone to buy his Christmas gifts, she leaps at the opportunity.


Tall, dark and Scroogy, investment banker, Archibald Harrington is too busy to do his own Christmas shopping. When his assistant tells him she knows of a professional shopper, he happily checks another dreaded task off his holiday list. The last thing Archie is expecting is for his hired elf to text him insistently to find out more about the people on list. The last thing Holly expects is to develop feelings for grumpy man who’s stealing her Christmas spirit.

Will there be a Holiday miracle, or will Holly and Archie miss their chance at love? Find out in the fifth installment of the Accidentally in Love Series.



The Rough Riders by Teddy Roosevelt, 126 pages

 In 1898, as the Spanish-American War was escalating, Theodore Roosevelt assembled an improbable regiment of Ivy Leaguers, cowboys, Native Americans, African-Americans, and Western Territory land speculators. This group of men, which became known as the Rough Riders the best, riders and shooters. of their generation, trained for four weeks in the Texas desert and then set sail for Cuba. Over the course of the summer, dying of heat in winter gear and starvation from poor administration, Roosevelt's Rough Riders without horses fought with smoking ammo that gave away their positions,valiantly, and sometimes recklessly, in the Cuban foothills, incurring casualties, especially officers on only horses at a far greater rate than the Spanish guerrillas in trees with smokeless ammo.


Roosevelt kept a detailed diary from the time he left Washington until his triumphant return from Cuba later that year. The Rough Riders was published to instant acclaim in 1899.



The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer, 411 pages

 Oy! to the world


Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.

But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg.

Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.



Friday, December 24, 2021

Ripley's Believe It or Not: Weird Inventions and Discoveries, 125 pages

 Amazing but true stories of weird inventions such as A real flying sauer, the dogmobile, gun that shoots around corners and so much more




Thursday, December 23, 2021

From Hand to Mouth: Or, How We Invented Knives, Forks, Spoons, and Chopsticks & the Table Manners to Go With Them by James Cross Giblin, 89 pages

 The history of eating utensils and customs from the ancient world to the present. Beginning with the use of small spears to pick meat out of the fire, Giblin follows the development of utensils through the controversial introduction of forks and the casual eating practices of today. 




Pearl S. Buck's Book of Christmas, edited by Lyle Engel, 507 pages

A collection of Christmas stories that had been selected by Pearl Buck and was published after her death. Features authors such as O. Henry, Frank Baum, Hans Christian Anderson and a multitude of other authors. 




Monday, December 20, 2021

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan, 699 pages

 The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.


Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al'Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits...

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn....



Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke, 489 pages

 Hannah's up to her ears with Easter orders rushing in at The Cookie Jar, plus a festive meal to prepare for a dinner party at her mother's penthouse. But everything comes crashing to a halt when Hannah receives a panicked call from her sister Andrea--Mayor Richard Bascomb has been murdered...and Andrea is the prime suspect.


Even with his reputation for being a bully, Mayor Bascomb--or "Ricky Ticky," as Hannah's mother likes to call him--had been unusually testy in the days leading up to his death, leaving Hannah to wonder if he knew he was in danger. Meanwhile, folks with a motive for mayoral murder are popping up in Lake Eden. Was it a beleaguered colleague? A political rival? A jealous wife? Or a scorned mistress?

As orders pile up at The Cookie Jar--and children line up for Easter egg hunts--Hannah must spring into investigation mode and identify the real killer...before another murder happens!



The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene, 174 pages

 Nancy, Bess and George, returning from a country carnival, witness the malicious burning of a stately home. Fearing its occupants might be trapped in the fire, they rush to the rescue. Other motorists including handsome, Ned Nickerson, are also at the scene. Nancy notices a mysterious man running from the fire and finds a lost diary. Nancy learns the homeowner and the man who kept the diary are involved in a business transaction in which the latter was cheated. Despite strong evidence to the contrary, Nancy is convinced of this prime suspect's innocence. While working to exonerate the troubled man, Nancy is delighted by her new friendship with Ned. This is the revised text from the 1932 original book. The plot is the same with minor revisions. A sub-plot about a mail fraud swindle is added to this version.




Tuesday, December 14, 2021

God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen by Rhys Bowen, 294 pages

 Georgie is excited for her first Christmas as a married woman in her lovely new home. She suggests to her dashing husband, Darcy, that they have a little house party, but when Darcy receives a letter from his aunt Ermintrude, there is an abrupt change in plans. She has moved to a house on the edge of the Sandringham estate, near the royal family, and wants to invite Darcy and his new bride for Christmas. Aunt Ermintrude hints that the queen would like Georgie nearby. Georgie had not known that Aunt Ermintrude was a former lady-in-waiting and close confidante of her royal highness. The letter is therefore almost a royal request, so Georgie, Darcy, and their Christmas guests: Mummy, Grandad, Fig, and Binky all head to Sandringham.


Georgie soon learns that the notorious Mrs. Simpson, mistress to the Prince of Wales, will also be in attendance. It is now crystal clear to Georgie that the Queen expects her to do a bit of spying. There is tension in the air from the get-go, and when Georgie pays a visit to the queen, she learns that there is more to her request than just some simple eavesdropping. There have been a couple of strange accidents at the estate recently. Two gentlemen of the royal household have died in mysterious circumstances and another has been shot by mistake during a hunt. Georgie begins to suspect that a member of the royal family is the real target but her investigation will put her new husband and love of her life, Darcy, in the crosshairs of a killer.



Monday, December 13, 2021

Murder on a Mystery Tour by Marian Babson, 182 pages

 They had explored every avenue and it seemed that murder was their only salvation.


Reggie and Midge, reluctant managers of an English country inn of no particular distinction, find that even this transformation of what was the family's more or less stately home will not solve their financial problems. The possibility of succor comes instead in a transatlantic phone call from Midge's old classmate, Victoria, who is arranging "mystery tours" of the English countryside for American visitors, and wants to use Chortlesby Manor as one of the locales of her staged murders.

From the beginning, the mystery tour project is heading for disaster. Dissension, complaints, shows of temperament abound. These are upstaged, however, by a snowstorm of paralyzing amplitude, which in turn must retire from the spotlight when a real murder takes front and center.



Sunday, December 12, 2021

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, 654 pages

 Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories--many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Thomas Hardy, to contemporary stories by Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant.


Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey and Max Allan Collins; O. Henry-like stories by Stanley Ellin and Joseph Shearing, stories by pulp icons John D. MacDonald and Damon Runyon; comic gems from Donald E. Westlake and John Mortimer; and many, many more. Almost any kind of mystery you’re in the mood for--suspense, pure detection, humor, cozy, private eye, or police procedural—can be found in these pages.
 
FEATURING:
-        Unscrupulous Santas
-        Crimes of Christmases Past and Present
-        Festive felonies
-        Deadly puddings
-        Misdemeanors under the mistletoe
-        Christmas cases for classic characters including Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, and Nero Wolfe.



Friday, December 10, 2021

Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs, 328 pages

 Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are catering a Victorian Christmas party at a swanky mansion in downtown Charleston. Drucilla Heyward, the hostess, is one of the wealthiest women in town.


As the champagne flows and the tea steeps, Drucilla is so pleased with the reception by her partygoers that she reveals her secret plan to Theodosia. The Grande Dame has brought the cream of Charleston society together to reveal that she is planning to give her wealth away to various charitable organizations. However, before she can make the announcement, Theodosia finds her crumpled unconscious in the hallway. It looks like the excitement has gotten to the elderly woman--except that there is a syringe sticking out of her neck.



Thursday, December 9, 2021

The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova, 162 pages

 Surreal, ambitious, and exquisitely conceived, The Doll's Alphabetis a collection of stories in the tradition of Angela Carter and Margaret Atwood. Dolls, sewing machines, tinned foods, mirrors, malfunctioning bodies - many images recur in stories that are in turn child-like and naive, grotesque and very dark.

In Unstitching, a feminist revolution takes place. In Waxy, a factory worker fights to keep hold of her Man in a society where it is frowned upon to be Manless. In Agata's Machine, two schoolgirls conjure a Pierrot and an angel in a dank attic room. In Notes from a Spider, a half-man, half-spider finds love in a great European city.
By constantly reinventing ways to engage with her obsessions and motifs, Camilla Grudova has come up with a method for storytelling that is highly imaginative, incredibly original, and absolutely discomfiting.

Content:
Unstitching (2017)
The Mouse Queen (2017)
The Gothic Society (2017)
Waxy (2016)
The Doll's Alphabet (2017)
The Mermaid (2017)
Agata's Machine (2015)
Rhinoceros (2017)
The Sad Tale of the Sconce (2017)
Edward, Do Not Pamper the Dead (2017)
Hungarian Sprats (2017)
The Moth Emporium (2017)
Notes from a Spider



Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove, 372 pages

 It is 1890, and in the days before Christmas Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are visited at Baker Street by a new client. Eve Allerthorpe - eldest daughter of a grand but somewhat eccentric Yorkshire-based dynasty - is greatly distressed, as she believes she is being haunted by a demonic Christmas spirit.


Her late mother told her terrifying tales of the sinister Black Thurrick, and Eve is sure that she has seen the creature from her bedroom window. What is more, she has begun to receive mysterious parcels of birch twigs, the Black Thurrick's calling card...

Eve stands to inherit a fortune if she is sound in mind, but it seems that something - or someone - is threatening her sanity. Holmes and Watson travel to the Allerthorpe family seat at Fellscar Keep to investigate, but soon discover that there is more to the case than at first appeared. There is another spirit haunting the family, and when a member of the household is found dead, the companions realise that no one is beyond suspicion.



Poison: A History: An Account of the Deadly Art & Its Most Infamous Practitioners by Jenni Davis, 192 pages

 Poison: A History lifts the lid on 30 notorious cases of poisoning—riveting accounts ranging from Roman poisoning epidemics to the shocking antics of toxic aristocrats in 16th-century Florence and 17th-century Versailles, all the way up to the murder of Alexander Litvinenko by means of a polonium-laced cup of tea in 2006.

 
Cases of intentional poisoning have likely been occurring since early humans discovered that a sour aftertaste isn't the only consequence of snacking on belladonna. In the twenty-first century, the art of the poisoner remains just as creepy, secret, and horribly fascinating as ever. Poison: A History reveals intriguing insights into the poisonous art, including the psyches of the perpetrators. These richly illustrated stories detail both motive and method, along with body count.

The five chapters in this comprehensive overview of poisoning take us from 399 BCE to the present day, in chronological order: Poison in the Ancient World, Medieval Times and the Renaissance, Mid 17th to 18th centuries: “The Skills of Witches,” 19th century: The Golden Age of Poisoning, and From Cults to Espionage: the 1970s and Beyond. Plus, Poison: A History includes a timeline on fashions in poison, and a top-20 identifier—to help you steer clear.

Poison: A History is a chilling cabinet of poison sure to inform and fascinate.



Sunday, December 5, 2021

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary,190 pages

 First-grader Ramona Quimby likes to think she's brave and fearless. She thinks she's being brave one day in the park--defending her big sister--but Beezus calls her silly and embarrassing. Ramona also has a new bedroom of her own, and she finds it's not easy to be brave when there might be ghostly, boneless gorillas oozing under the door at night--and no one across the room to whisper to. Then Ramona has a tangle with a great big growling dog on her way to school. But Ramona will not give in to a mean old dog. After all, she's her father's spunky little gal. Or is she?




Saturday, December 4, 2021

Lost Bodies: A Chronicle of Deaths, Disappearances, and Discoveries by Jenni Davis, 195 pages

 History--and the bodies of the most famous--truly move in mysterious ways. Along with short biographies of their lives, Lost Bodies explores the controversies surrounding the deaths, as well as the theories about what may have happened to the bodies of some of the highest profile people in history as it attempts to find them. This is just one part of an ongoing search by archaeologists and historians to uncover the past.


Inspired by the discovery of Richard III in Leicester, England, ("the king in the car park"), Lost Bodies features persons who went missing post-mortem--from bodies that went on walkabout (Eva Peron was snatched in 1955 only to reappear in 1971, badly in need of "some work") to those that are well and truly lost (Cleopatra, Hitler).
 



Thursday, December 2, 2021

The Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston, 395 pages

 Growing up on the tough Philly streets, Gwen O'Neill has learned how to fend for herself. But what is she supposed to do with a nice, suburban Jersey boy in the form of a massive Grizzly shifter? Especially one with a rather unhealthy fetish for honey, moose, and…uh…well, her. Yet despite his menacing ursine growl and four-inch claws, Gwen finds Lachlan "Lock" MacRyrie cute and really sweet. He actually watches out for her, protects her, and unlike the rest of her out-of-control family manages not to morbidly embarrass her. Too bad cats don't believe in forever.

At nearly seven feet tall, Lock is used to people responding to him in two ways: screaming and running away. Gwen-half lioness, half tigress, all kick-ass-does neither. She's sexy beyond belief and smart as hell, but she's a born protector. Watching out for the family and friends closest to her but missing the fact that she's being stalked by a murderous enemy who doesn't like hybrids…and absolutely hates Gwen. Lock probably shouldn't get involved, but he will. Why? Because this is Gwen-and no matter what the hissing, roaring, drape destroying feline says about not being ready to settle down, Lock knows he can't simply walk away. Not when she's come to mean absolutely everything to him.



Mr. Finchley Takes the Road by Victor Canning, 363 pages

 Book 3 of the classic trilogy of humorous rural adventures through pre-war England

Mr Finchley takes a fancy to a horse-drawn caravan that he sees for sale, but his new wife does not relish the prospect of a caravan journey, so he sets off alone to explore the countryside and go house-hunting.

While learning to handle the horse and the caravan, he encounters a variety of eccentrics and country characters, and several unsuitable houses. It gradually emerges that the caravan contains a secret, and Mr Finchley finds himself in real trouble.




Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Jughead and Archie Double Digest #1, 256 pages

 Get ready for fun in this BRAND NEW double digest series! Could a goofy image of Archie in a not-so-flattering sweater from Veronica be the key to an opportunity of a lifetime for Jughead? That's right -- Jughead could be on the receiving end of free soda for a lifetime! If Jughead wins, will Archie be a sore loser (literally!) when Veronica sees the photo? Find out in "Label Fable," this fun lead story to a hilarious NEW #1 double digest!




Betty and Veronica Double Digest #213, 228 pages

 


Laugh Comics Digest #12, 228 pages

 


Jughead's Double Digest #114, 256 pages

 


Archie Comics Annual, 246 pages

 


The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, 223 pages

 As uplifting as the tale of Scrooge itself, this is the story of how one writer and one book revived the signal holiday of the Western world.


Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist.

The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all.

With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.