New Bookshelf

Harper Blaine was slogging along as a small-time P.I. when a two-bit perp's savage assault left her dead. For two minutes, to be precise.
When Harper comes to in the hospital, she begins to feel a bit ...strange. She sees things that can only be described as weird-shapes emerging from a foggy grey mist, snarling teeth, creatures roaring.
But Harper's not crazy. Her "death" has made her a Greywalker-able to move between our world and the mysterious, cross-over zone where things that go bump in the night exist. And her new gift (or curse) is about to drag her into that world of vampires and ghosts, magic and witches, necromancers and sinister artifacts. Whether she likes it or not.

Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, has written a majestic, sweeping, and emotionally powerful story that provides the reader with a most telling window into Afghan society over the past thirty-odd years. It's also a moving story of friendship and sacrifice, giving Western readers a rare glimpse into the suffering and mistreatment of Afghan women that began long before the Taliban came to power. All things considered, following up on a successful first novel is probably harder than coming up with the original effort and Hosseini could have rested on his laurels in the manner of Harper Lee, but as "A Thousand Splendid Suns" amply proves, this native of Kabul has more stories to tell about the land of Afghanistan. This engrossing read, with its richly descriptive prose, could likely be remembered as one of 2007's best novels.

You might not know that audiobooks count toward your Summer Sleuthing goal. Give these mystery titles a listen!

Get started on your summer reading assignment. We've ordered copies of all the books on the Riverside-Brookfield High School Summer Reading General List, and they're shleved in the YA department.

We've got these books, and many more...

This just in! In The Deadly Bride , Editors Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg have compiled 21 stories by today's best mystery and crime fiction writers, including Jeffery Deaver, Anne Perry, and J.A. Jance. The book also includes a couple interesting essays on recent developments in the genres.

Love Poetry Out Loud: 100 Passionate Poems to Stir the Heart (edited by Robert Alden Ruben)

Inkblot and Altar (by local poet Laura Van Prooyen)

Poets of the Civil War (edited by J.D. McClatchy)

American Wits: An Anthology of Light Verse (edited by John Hollander)