On the shelves - April 30

The following are available for checkout at:

Clovis-Carver Public Library

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue is a masterfully written mystery of a young English nurse, Lib, hired as an outside observer to determine the validity of the claim that an eleven-year old girl, Anna, has not eaten for months, yet miraculously thrives. The priest, doctor, innkeeper, and the parents all want the phenomena to be found real, but Lib is skeptical. When Anna's simple purity of heart wins her over, the challenge becomes how to keep this child alive.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint takes place in a tight-knit working-class neighborhood in Queen, NY, as Ruth Malone, a single mother who works long hours as a cocktail waitress, wakes to discover her two small children have gone missing. When their bodies are later found, all fingers point to Ruth, and the detritus of her life is exposed. But did Ruth violently kill her own children, is she a victim of circumstance--or is there something more sinister at play?

The Guests on South Battery by Karen White invites you to explore the brick-walked streets of Charleston, where historic mansions house the memories of years gone by and restless spirits refuse to fade away. Melanie Trenholm is reluctant to return to work, especially when she has the uneasy feeling that the ghostly apparitions, both malevolent and benign, and silent for more than a year, are about to invade her life once more.

Sunshine and Shadows in New Mexico's Past by Richard Melzer presents two volumes, one covering 1912 - present, the other 1848 - 1912, with one main goal: to reveal the sharp contrasts in New Mexico history. In its admirable as well as deplorable moments, neither of which should be ignored or exaggerated at the other's expense, New Mexico's true character can only be understood and appreciated by acknowledging its varied history, blemishes and all.

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis blends two biographies, an intellectual collaboration of two Israeli psychologists whose work in the field of Behavioral Economics, a kind of wild west of the sciences filled with speculation, outlaws, and shenanigans, examined the workings of the human mind and reason, radically changing mankind's perception of reality.

Planting Design for Dry Gardens by Olivier Filippi acknowledges that green lawns are restful to the eye, provide an excellent backdrop to plants and trees and keep the weeds down, but in low-rainfall regions often end up looking scrappy and brown. Filippi offers low-level planting designs that are ecofriendly and beautiful, teaching how to build and maintain lawns that feature plants suitable for growing in dry climates, offering for each plant information about its origin, height and spread, hardiness, and propagation techniques.

Lessons From the Pack by Cesar Millan looks at the positive effects that having and training dogs have on their owners, and shares personal stories of how the dogs in his life have given him important lessons in respect, confidence, resilience, and authenticity.

Portales Public Library

Ominous by Lisa Jackson, Nancy Bush & Rosalind Noonan

When Shiloh, Kate and Ruth were teenagers, they are found one summer evening swimming in a lake by a dangerous man, who has been watching them from the nearby woods. After they are attacked brutally but are all able to escape and run away, the three friends form a pact to keep their encounter secret, swearing to never tell another soul, while the dangerous stranger disappears and is never seen again. Fifteen years later, Ruth and Shiloh have both returned home again to Prairie Creek, Wyoming, the scene of the incident and the town where Kat has remained throughout the years and is now the deputy sheriff. Although all three girls have tried to forget their shared secret, they all feel that something-or someone-is still darkening the otherwise peaceful town of Prairie Creek, and when a local teenage girl goes missing and a disturbing message is sent from the killer, they fear that it is the same man and vow to find the girl and stop him once and for all.

Golden Prey by John Sandford

In the latest installment in the Lucas Davenport series, Lucas has risen from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to work for the U.S. Marshals Service, due to saving some influential people that have given him crucial connections. Now he is allowed to pick his own cases, no matter where they are or what they entail, and his current case has led him to Biloxi, Mississippi, where a counting house for a drug-cartel has been robbed, multiple suitcases of cash have disappeared, and six dead bodies have been left behind, one of the victims being a six-year-girl. When Lucas takes the case, he finds himself in competition with the cartel itself-including someone called the “Queen of home-improvement tools”-to track down those responsible for attacking the counting house, a group known as the Dixie Hicks shooters. Although Lucas is just trying to do his job and find justice for the dead victims, neither the drug cartel nor the Dixie Hicks care whether he ends up as another casualty.

No Easy Target by Iris Johansen

Margaret Douglas has never been exactly normal, as she was raised in an abusive home off the grid and separated from other people, and she escaped her situation by taking refuge in the nearby forest. There she discovered the unusual gift of being able to understand and communicate with animals, making them her only real friends and family in a joyless childhood. As an adult, her only wish is to live a quiet, uneventful life, close to her animals and away from prying eyes, but unfortunately her unique abilities have made her the target for people that would use her for their own selfish devices. Margaret goes on the run, and is pursued by John Lassiter, a CIA operative who needs her help to free his men from an enemy who has taken them hostage-an enemy who has also zeroed in on Margaret. Although John doesn't mean Margaret harm, he does mean to use her as bait in order to catch their mutual enemy, but Margaret is unwilling to be caught, proving a much more difficult target than John ever anticipated.

— Summaries by library staff