On the shelves - Sept. 30

The following are available for checkout at:

Clovis-Carver Public Library

“Game and Hunting” by Kurt Q. Bluchel is a beautiful two-volume set given in memory of Ron Kline. The first book deals with the development and significance of hunting, from its earliest beginnings to the present day. Volume 2 portrays European fauna through hundreds of photographs of game species in their natural environment.

“The Great Stain” by Noel Rage draws on personal accounts from the transatlantic slave trade era, from its origins in Africa to its abolition at the end of the Civil War. Firsthand narratives that span hundreds of years bring the reader face to face with slavery's everyday reality, from the brutal treatment and squalid conditions onboard a slave ship to families torn apart, illuminating the resistance in a society based on the exploitation of the cheapest labor and fallacies of racial superiority.

“A Death in Italy” by John Follain recounts the behind the scenes investigation of the actual November 2007 Meredith Kercher case, from her murder to the acquittal of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox. Based on multiple exclusive interviews plus the drama of the trials and appeal hearings that played out amid chaotic scenes in front of the world's media, Follain reveals a true Italian dream turned into a nightmare.

“Songbird of the West” by James Clay sweeps through the old West, as Skeet Jones rescues thirteen-year-old Angela, purchased by the most powerful man in Calhoun. Seven years later, Angela is a famous singer known as the Songbird of the West and going by the name of Carrie Whiting. She agrees to sing at Skeet's new saloon in Dry Creek to repay her debt, but threats arise, and Detective Rance Dehner is determined to keep her safe.

“Justice Betrayed” by Patricia Bradley opens with Memphis homicide detective Rachel Sloan unsure if her day could get any stranger. After aging Elvis impersonator Vic Vegas then presents her with a photo of her murdered mother with four Elvis impersonators — one of whom had also been murdered soon after the photo was taken — she's forced to reevaluate. When another person in the photo turns up dead, Rachel must solve the cases before the murderer makes her victim number four.

“The Lost Queen of Crocker County” by Elizabeth Leiknes offers up a fantastic, yet still wholly honest, tale of redemption and self-discovery. Jane Willow, a tough and abrasive Hollywood movie critic, is forced to return home to True City, Iowa. She's managed to stay away from home and her terrible secret until the one thing happens that she can't hide from. While forced to face tragedy and find humility, she realizes that even though she currently hails from Hollywood, it's in Iowa that she finds "where the stars are."

Portales Public Library

“Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit” by Amy Stewart

Constance Kopp, New Jersey's first female deputy sheriff, has been on the force for a year now and has had to work harder than her male coworkers in order to prove herself, as she runs down criminals, demands justice for wronged women in the area and pushes ahead in her career despite the general perception of women in the working world in 1916. As the country prepares to enter into the fray of World War I, Sheriff Heath also prepares to run for Congress; the outcome of the election meaning not only his own future, but Constance's as well, should his possible replacement as sheriff believe that having women on the police force hinders rather than helps. Constance knows that now is the time to be careful and as non-controversial as possible so as not to jeopardize either of their careers, but when she takes a woman named Anna Kayser to the insane asylum and later begins to suspect that Anna may not actually be insane, she can't stop herself from digging deeper. When a second inmate bound for the same asylum tries to escape, Constance believes that something bigger may be going on, and career or not, she springs into action to find out the truth and do what is right.

“Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli

The basis for the newly released movie “Love, Simon,” Becky Albertalli's debut novel focuses on sixteen-year-old high school junior Simon Spier, who is as ordinary and geeky as anyone else in his small town outside of Atlanta, Georgia, expect for one small, or not-so-small, detail. He has loving parents, two sisters that he adores and a close-knit support system in his best friends Leah, Nick and Abby, and he lives a comfortable existence at school, but no one knows that secretly, Simon is, in fact, gay. Although he knows that deep down his family and friends will still accept him as he is, Simon fears change and doesn't want to rock the boat at school. However, he has also been emailing back and forth with an anonymous student called “Blue” at school-through fake email accounts, who recently came out as gay himself on Tumbler, despite no one, including Simon, knowing Blue's true identity. When another student discovers Simon's and Blue's emails, he blackmails Simon to set him up with Abby in exchange for not outing Simon at school, leaving Simon trapped in the decision to either give in to the blackmail and lie to his friends, or to be honest and stand up for himself.

“Dark Tide Rising” by Anne Perry

When wealthy real estate developer Harry Exeter's wife Kate is kidnapped and held for ransom, Harry turns to William Monk and the Thames River Police to secretly accompany him to the location of the ransom exchange to ensure that no harm comes to either him or his wife. Monk and his men agree and go to the site, Jacob's Island, a slum fitting for a hiding place for criminals, but they are ambushed on arrival and Monk and five of his best men are attacked. Afterward, while Monk follows leads from Kate's cousin and a clerk from the bank where Exeter withdrew the ransom money, it becomes clear that one of his men must have tipped off the kidnappers, as no one else knew that they were going to Jacob's Island. As he investigates the very people that he works with day after day, he realizes that he doesn't know any of them as well as he thought he did, including John Hooper, his right-hand man and the one person Monk was sure he could trust.

— Summaries by library staff