Brisk Winds Bring Cool Books

Strong gusts of winds are blowing through town today, inspiring me to post our Feb. and March Picks; seeing as how no one wants to go outside for the next few weeks, one should have a few good reads on the nightstand!

The School of Essential Ingredients
by Erica Bauermeister
Gathering at Lillian's Restaurant for a weekly cooking class, a young mother struggles with the growing demands of her family, an Italian kitchen designer works to adapt to life in America, and a widower mourns the loss of his wife to breast cancer.

Addition by Toni Jordan Carefully controlling her world through obsessive counting practices, OCD sufferer and former teacher Grace finds herself increasingly unable to relate to others and estranged from her family, a life that is disrupted by potential romance when a kind stranger invites her to share a cafe table.

Thai Die
by Monica Ferris
The owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, Betsy Devonshire must put her sleuthing talents to work when one of her regular customers unwittingly becomes embroiled in a deadly delivery of exotic antiquities.

Shadowbridge
by Gregory Frost
Fleeing a violent past, Leodora, a young shadow-puppeteer, and her companions roam the Shadowbridge, an enigmatic and magical world, collecting the tales and myths of each place she passes.

Lamentation
by Ken Scholes
While a young survivor struggles with the devastating destruction of the city of Windwir, Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, realizes that war is approaching the Named Lands and witnesses the chaotic dissolution of alliances throughout the Kingdoms.


Teashop Girls
by Laura Schaefer
Although their friendship has waned as they have grown, eighth-grader Anne knows she can always count on Zoe and Genna to be there in her time of need, thus when a coffee chain threatens her grandmother's little teashop, Anne turns to her best friends for help in getting business booming once again.

Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S.King
In the late 17th century, famed pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping pirate life with her one true love and nfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with the dust of 100 dogs, dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.
Now she's a contemporary American teenager, and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.Movie coming soon from the director of "Nightmare Before Christmas." Neil Gaiman just won the Newbery Award for the previously recommended Graveyard Book.

Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson An unstinting personal account by the humorist and advice columnist for "Ask Amy" describes her inspirational, haphazard experiences with divorce, traveling throughout the country, and resettling in her hometown, where her extended family helped her to raise her daughter.

What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis Draws on the examples of the thriving Internet company to counsel business leaders on how to address the unique challenges of today's professional world, in a guide that covers such strategies as building on strengths, networking effectively, and learning from mistakes.

Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett When a bestselling author is found murdered in her bookstore, and the police and media demand answers, Tricia Miles must read between the lines to solve this mystery before it's too late.* This is the second in a series set in a town of indie bookstores...what could be better???