On the shelves - Aug. 25

The following books are available for checkout:

Clovis-Carver Public Library

“Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces” by Jan Johnsen was recently donated in memory of Helen Drake. Garden lovers will be delighted with over 130 lushly illustrated landscape design and planting suggestions. Packed with loads of hands-on information, Gardentopia offers individual tips for enhancing any size landscape using “real world” solutions for the experienced gardener or landscaping novice.

“The Spies of Shilling Lane” by Jennifer Ryan twists and turns through the WWII tale of a village busybody. Mrs. Braithwaite, self-appointed queen of her English village, finds herself dethroned, despised, and dismissed following her husband's selfish divorce petition. Never deterred, she sets off to find the only person she has left-her daughter. Arriving in London, Betty's landlord, the timid Mr. Norris, informs her that Betty hasn't been home in days. And with the chaos of the bombs, there's no telling what might have befallen her.

“Little Green Kitchen” by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl shares how the authors love to cook together along with their three children. But like most families, they still struggle to get a nutritious and delicious meal on the table every night, that also satisfies their hunger for creative, globally-inspired food. The 50 vegetarian recipes included are all colorful, kid friendly, and simple, most using eight ingredients or less and taking under 30 minutes to prepare.

“The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” by Kim Michele Richardson explores the fascinating and unique blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave Packhorse librarians. Not everyone is keen on Cussy Mary Carter's family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. Yet to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, Cussy's going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachians and suspicion as deep as the holler.

“Damnation Island” by Stacy Horn digs through city records, newspaper articles, and archival reports to reveal the secrets of what was conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen. New York's Blackwell's Island, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals, quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, "a lounging, listless madhouse." Told through the stories of the poor souls sent there, Horn delivers a compelling and chilling narrative.

“Courting Mr. Emerson” by Melody Carlson pens the story of two delightfully eccentric characters who get a second chance at life and love. When the fun-loving and spontaneous artist Willow West meets buttoned-up, retired English teacher George Emerson, it's not exactly love at first sight. Though she does find the obsessive-compulsive man intriguing, she makes it her mission to get him to loosen up and embrace life. She embarks on what seems like a lost cause--and finds herself falling for him in the process.

— Summaries provided by library staff