Staff Picks for February

At our staff meetings we take a few minutes to talk about the books we are reading. This is a list of recent favorites. STAFF PICKS for February

Presidential portraits President's Day is February 21, and one way to celebrate is by learning more about some of the lesser known leaders in our country's history. Check out the newest addition to Times Books' American Presidents series, Andrew Johnson by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. Johnson, who took office after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, is one of our most maligned presidents, and Gordon-Reed finds little to challenge history's harsh assessment. She argues that Johnson was not well suited for the office and did little to extend the full benefits of freedom to former slaves. The American Presidents series is designed to provide brief, incisive portraits of the presidents by distinguished contributors and Andrew Johnson is no exception. Other pairings include Garry Wills' volume on James Madison, Douglas Brinkley writing about Gerald R. Ford, and former presidential candidate Gary Hart on James Monroe>.

Climbing Mount Improbable By Dawkins, Richard Illustrator Ward, Lalla 1997-09 - W. W. Norton & Company 9780393316827 Check Our Catalog In a brilliant book that celebrates improbability, the acclaimed author of "The Selfish Gene" and "The Blind Watchmaker" builds a carefully reasoned and lovingly illustrated argument for evolutionary adaptation as the mechanism for life on Earth. "Without question, Richard Dawkins is the most brilliant and compelling propagandist of Darwin today".--"Wired". Photos and drawings. …More

The Night She Got Lucky By Donovan, Susan 2010-05 - St. Martin's Press 9780312366056 Check Our Catalog SHE HAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE. Her marriage is over. Her newspaper career went belly up. And it won't be long before her two teenage sons are off to college...and then what? Sometimes it seems like the only thing Ginger Garrison can count on is her beloved Bichon Frise and the loyal women in her dog-walking group. But her luck is about to take a wild turn... WILL SHE DARE TO LET LOOSE? A diplomatic snafu has sidelined the globe-trotting nature photographer Lucio "Lucky" Montevez, a man known as much for his wild personal life as his wildlife images. Now stuck in the States and forced to shoot pet portraits for a living, his prospects look downright tame...until Ginger enters his world (along with her boys, her spoiled pooch, and her egomaniacal ex-husband). Lucky's always been a love-her-and-leave-her kind of guy, but something about the spirited, sensual Ginger makes him want to stick around. But will Lucky's playboy past end up costing him the only woman he's ever really loved? "Susan Donovan will steal your heart." --Christina Dodd, "New York"" Times" bestselling author …More

A Vision of Murder By Laurie, Victoria 2005-12 - Signet Book 9780451217158 Check Our Catalog Professional psychic Abby Cooper plans to fix up an old house and make a killing in the real estate market--until she encounters a killing of another kind as phantom inhabitants of the house replay a violent night from long ago that ended in the murder of a beautiful blonde. Original. …More

The Man from Beijing By Mankell, Henning Translator Thompson, Laurie 2010-02 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780307271860 Check Our Catalog The acclaimed author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries gives listeners an electrifying thriller that takes off into a sweeping international drama. In the Swedish hamlet of Hesjovallen, 19 people have been massacred--and the only clue is a red ribbon found at the scene. …More

The Housekeeper and the Professor By Ogawa, Yoko Translator Snyder, Stephen 2009-02 - Picador USA 9780312427801 Check Our Catalog He is a brilliant math professor, with a peculiar problem--since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only 80 minutes of short-term memory. She is an astute young housekeeper with a 10-year-old son who is hired to care for the professor. Between them, a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms. …More

The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity By Barnett, Mac Illustrator Rex, Adam 2010-05 - Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 9781416978169 Check Our Catalog Steve Brixton is an average seventh grader. Until one day at the library when he finds himself caught up in America's most top secret case. The only way to solve the mystery is to work with his Bailey Brothers Handbook. Illustrations. …More

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword By Deutsch, Barry Author Hansen, Literary Agency 2010-11 - ABRAMS 9780810984226 Check Our Catalog The first-ever wisecracking, troll-fighting, Orthodox Jewish heroine, Mirka is a spunky, strong-willed 11-year-old girl who wants to go out and fight dragons. This charming graphic novel is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" meets Isaac Bashevis Singer. Full color. …More

Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood By Lemelman, Martin 2010-08 - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 9781608190041 Check Our Catalog …More

President of the Whole Fifth Grade By Winston, Sherri 2010-10 - Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 9780316114325 Check Our Catalog When Brianna's hero, the famous celebrity chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and credits her success to being president of her own 5th grade class, Brianna is determined to follow in her footsteps. Includes cupcake recipes. …More

Whaling and Fishing By Nordhoff, Charles 2010-03 - Nabu Press 9781147707946 Check Our Catalog This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. …More

The Truth about Celia By Brockmeier, Kevin 2004-07 - Vintage Books USA 9780375727702 Check Our Catalog While playing alone in her backyard one afternoon, seven-year-old Celia suddenly disappears while her father Christopher is inside giving a tour of their historic house and her mother Janet is at an orchestra rehearsal. Utterly shattered, Christopher, a writer of fantasy and science fiction, withdraws from everyone around him, especially his wife, losing himself in his writing by conjuring up worlds where Celia still exists--as a child, as a teenager, as a young single mother--and revealing in his stories not only his own point of view but also those of Janet, the policeman in charge of the case, and the townspeople affected by the tragedy, ultimately culminating in a portrait of a small town changed forever." The Truth About Celia is a profound meditation on grief and loss and how we carry on in its aftermath. …More