New Bookshelf

New to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Bookshelves

Check out the New Science Fiction and Fantasy Shelves this month for tales of superhero noir, southern vampire hunters, the Halo™ Universe, dragons in search of a home, Sith Lords, a fantastic take on Arabian Nights, and human biochemical experimentation.

Featured this month is Adam Christopher’s genre blended debut novel, Empire State. In an alternative world, New York (known as the Empire State), resembles what-we-know as the prohibition-era, except for some notable differences. For starters, there are airships hovering over the city to keep an eye on the citizens, while financially, an endless war with an unseen enemy, has rendered the economy bankrupt … oh yeah, and superheroes exist. Caught up in this world is detective Rad Bradbury (…), a detective who follows a femme fatale down a rabbit hole of mysteries which might just uncover the reason for the Empire State’s existence. In a book that SciFiNow Magazine calls a mix between Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Alan Moore, Christopher manages to create a marvelously dark sci-fi atmosphere while crafting a fast-paced plot with multiple threads of intrigue.

You can find Empire State, along with any of the other titles listed below in the New Release section of the Library or you can click on the following links for more titles on the New Fantasy Shelf and the New Science Fiction Shelf.

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:15pm

What's New in Beaded Jewelry

book cover New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry by Margot Potter

New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry brings shaping and beading wire together to create stunning sculptural designs. From necklaces and bracelets, to rings, earrings and tiaras, jewelry maven Margot Potter shows you how to coil, wrap, weave and sculpt 30 wire-based projects. In addition, inspirational variations on the projects provide even more reason to get wrapped up in wire.

book cover The Bead Jewelry Bible by Dorothy Wood

Discover this indispensable guide to making bead jewelry covering all the essential beading techniques, from choosing colors and designing jewelry, to bead stringing, making findings and bead embroidery. Author Dorothy Wood features nine technique-focused chapters, including a chapter on how to make your own beads, and a tenth chapter containing step-by-step instructions for 12 brand new bead jewelry projects. Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions, clear diagrams and stunning photography combine to create a must-have resource for expert and beginner beaders alike.

book cover 100 Beaded Flowers, Trinkets & Charms by Amanda Murr-Hinson

Beads are perfect for making all sorts of tiny treasures: cakes and treats, fruit, flowers, fast food, holiday souvenirs, pets and animals, fairies, and more! This book will show you how to make everything from a tiny tea service, a micro monkey, and some minute flowers to the sweetest little ladybug. No matter what your level of beading experience, you are sure to find the perfect beaded miniature project in this book. Step-by-step demonstrations, from basic constructin to more advanced techniques are covered, as well as inspiration for how to incorporate your designs into projects---including jewelry, accessories, and stationery.

Submitted by Kate on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:20pm

New Thriller from Chris Kuzneski

If you're a fan of Dan Brown, Steve Berry, or James Rollins, check out Chris Kuzneski, author of the Jonathon Payne & David Jones series. Payne and Jones are two wise cracking, special forces veterans turned adventurers who have a habit of falling into mysteries and stumbling across treasures. Check out their latest thriller, The Secret Crown.

Hidden among the crates in a recently discovered World War II bunker are documents stamped with an elaborate black swan, the insignia of the murdered King Ludwig II. According to legend, Ludwig stockpiled a massive treasure in the years before his death, a cache of gold and jewels that would finance the construction of the largest castle of all time. But in the years since his death, no one has found any evidence that Ludwig had hidden anything. Until now.

Jonathon Payne and David Jones are pulled into the mystery by a colleague of theirs, a former supply sergeant in the U.S. military who asks them to investigate. They agree to help and quickly find themselves in a life-or-death struggle to uncover the truth about Ludwig's murder and his mythical treasure.

See below to read Paynes & Jones's adventures from the beginning

Submitted by Christy on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 1:18pm

New to the Graphic Novel Shelf

Check out the New Graphic Novels Shelf for these tales of murderous relationships, ancient Gotham evil, Iranian post-election protests, a daredevil with a rocket pack, schizophrenic superhero powers, a Literature-based team of adventurers, the mysterious Jake Ellis, and good ol' dungeon busting mercenaries.

Featured this month is the newest edition to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip’s award-winning noir series, Criminal. In volume 6, The Last of the Innocents, main character Riley Richards seems to have it all. He has married the hottest girl from high school, scored a lucrative job in her father’s company, and lives on the high horse in the city. So why is he planning on murdering his wife. As the reader you learn through Archie-inspired, teen romance, flashbacks of Riley’s high school years the nostalgia of the past that has fueled his homicide, while you sit on the edge of your seat wondering if Riley is actually going to get away with it. While The Last of Innocents is a departure from the usual grittiness of Brubaker’s Criminal, it is an interesting commentary on the nature of nostalgia and the ways that memory can change over time.

You can find The Last of the Innocents, along with any of the other titles listed below on the New Graphic Novels shelf or you can click on the following link for more Graphic Novel Titles that have come out recently.

Submitted by Matt on Sat, 01/07/2012 - 5:59pm

New to the Science Fiction Shelf

Check out the New Science Fiction Shelf for these tales a robot uprising fueled by the Positronic ™ Brain, Lovecraftian Mythos, time-traveling killing machines, the mysterious Palmer Elderitch, space trade in a capitalism-driven future, a demon bounty hunter, and interstellar kidnapping.

Featured this month is Mickey Zucker Reichert’s I, Robot to Protect, the first book of an estate-authorized trilogy based on Isaac Asimov’s, I, Robot. When Science Fiction master, Asimov, wrote the original I, Robot, it existed as a series of short stories that described the rise of Asimov’s robot history. In this new prequel to Asimov’s history, Reichert fills in the backstory of main character, Dr. Susan Calvin, a surgeon who begins to notice unwelcome changes in patients who are part of a secretly funded experiment that involves nanobots. Part medical drama and part science fiction thriller, Reichert holds true to the concepts of the original stories while updating the science and technology, including, Asimov’s classic ‘Rules of Robotics’ to suit a more contemporary society.

You can find I, Robot to Protect, along with any of the other titles listed below on the New Science Fiction Shelf below or you can click on the following link for more titles on the New Science Fiction Shelf.

Submitted by Matt on Tue, 12/13/2011 - 8:20pm

New to the Graphic Novel Shelf

Check out the New Graphic Novel Shelf for these tales of a mad houses in the middle of a star, kung fu vigilantism, a cibopathic FDA agent coping with extraterrestrial sky writing, a death-ray located by a troubled teenager, the race to solve the holiday homicides, ABC's Richard Castle, DC Comics last event before its relaunch, and Tommy Taylor in the land of stories.

Featured this month is the seventh volume of Mark Waid's Plutonian Saga, Irredeemable. In the same vein as Arcudi's A God Somewhere and Alan Moore's Watchmen, Waid explores what would happen if the world's most powerful superhero became the world's greatest supervillian.

Eventually, power and responsibility can crush a person. In Irredeemable, it just happens to crush Plutonian (the Superman of this world) and in a matter of days he nearly takes Earth of the map. Previously in the series, the remaining heroes of the world devized a plan that resulted in Plutonian being kidnapped by Aliens and sent to an insane asylum hidden inside of a star. In this volume, Plutonian attempts to escape the star with the help of a mysterious ally so he can make Earth pay for the crime of kidnapping him. Ever the master of balancing Silver Age concepts with modern sensibilities, Mark Waid, has continued to mold Irredeemable, into one of the best books out there.

Continue reading for a full plot description of Irredeemable along with any of the titles below or click on the following link to check out some more books on the New Graphic Novels Shelf this month.

Submitted by Matt on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 4:38pm

Magic, Love, and the Circus: More Books for Reveurs of 'The Night Circus'

Did you enter the world of Le Cirque des Rêves and never want to leave?

In, Emily Morgenstern’s, The Night Circus, young magicians Celia and Marco, enter into a mysterious competition set up by their mercurial guardians. The challenge is set through the venue of the circus and the rules are not defined. As the two competitors face off, their creations become performances which are wondrous, exhibits that are mysterious, and attractions beyond this world. If you found yourself enchanted with the Night Circus and want to find some more books similar to it, then check out some of these titles.

In Stacy Carlson’s historical novel, Among the Wonderful, you can watch the P.T. Barnum’s makeover of the circus from glassed-in exhibits to wonderful stage performers, animals and wonders. Carlson captures how the magical setting of the circus in enhanced through fan interactions and participation as well as mood enhancing illusions. If you found yourself fascinated by the side performers and the everyday dealings of Le Cirque des Rêves, then you may want to check out The Circus in Winter, by Cathy Day. However, if it was the magic and the magician competitions of The Night Circus that drew you in, then check out Susanna Clarke’s, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norwell. Similar to Morgenstern, Clarke sets up a magic and a magic history that is somewhat explained through tomes and glyphs but still remains mysterious, secretive, and elusive. In Daniel Wallace’s, Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician, the life of a downtrodden illusionist (similar to Celia’s father, Prospero) and the secret to his magic is uncovered after he disappears. Maybe it is the actual history of the circus and circus performers that you are interested in, if so check out Circus Mania, by Douglas McPherson. If the love story gave you goosebumps, then the circus-based tale, Water for Elephants, and the fantastic-based, Kingdom of Ohio, might be up your alley.

You can find the Night Circus along with any of these tales in the Library today, or you can continue reading for a full plot description of all of the titles listed below.

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 3:06pm

New Science Fiction and Fantasy for October

Check out the New Science Fiction Shelf for these tales of elder gods on the silver screen, steampunk detectives, a newly developing society, the inspiration for fighting robot movies, imminent meteors descending toward armageddon, a high ranking matter manipulator who fell from grace, and a smuggler trying to go legite.

Featured this month is H.P. Lovecraft Goes to the Movies, a collection of 13 of the short stories by the horror master and Cthulhu creator, that have been made into film. Complete with tales of monsters beyond time and space, alien invaders, ghouls lingering uder city streets, and a mad scientist determined to raise the dead, H.P. Lovecraft has served as an inspiration, albiet a strange one, for film makers still a generation after his premature death. Included in the book is the story Herbert West: Re-animator, whose big screen adaptation Re-animator, by Stuart Gordon, served as my introduction to the Lovecraft mythos.

Continue reading for a full plot description of H.P. Lovecraft Goes to the Movies, along with any of the other titles listed below or click on the following links for more titles on the New Science Fiction and New Fantasy shelves this month.

Submitted by Matt on Tue, 10/11/2011 - 4:55pm

New to the Graphic Novel Shelf

Check out the New Graphic Novel Shelf this month for these tales of a mysterious and supernatural house, a vengeful nueromanced boyfriend, Billy the Kid versus Jack the Ripper, a creative deal with devils, gritty detectives in a superhero world, the exploits of a Noble Prize-winning Quantum Physicist, escaped animal experiments, the death of Rasputin, and a near-future Civil War decimated America.

Featured this month is the fourth volume of the 2011 Eisner-award winner for Best Writer in Comics, Joe Hill’s Locke & Key series, Keys to the Kingdom. The storyline features the Locke siblings Tyler, Kinzie, and Bode, who after their father is murdered, return with their mother to the old family home of Keyhouse. There, they’ve discover a whole collection of magical keys with bizarre and unearthly powers – and they’ve also come under threat from the creature that used to be trapped in the Keyhouse well. In this volume, the pitch-perfect horror environment that Hill has created with the previous volumes meshes great with the further mysteries that develop as part of the plotline. Combine that with some great artistic experimentation by Gabriel Rodriguez, which includes a Bill Watterson-inspired issue, and what you find is probably the best volume of Locke & Key so far.

Continue reading for a full plot description of Keys to the Kingdom or any of the other titles listed below or click on the following link to check out some more books on the New Graphic Novel Shelf.