Current Interest

Description: When Carter Shaw's wife died five years ago, he was left to pick up the pieces not only of his own broken heart but also that of his devastated eight-year-old daughter, Gabby--But recently, Carter has noticed women again and soon even begins dating. No one has stuck around for long, mostly thanks to one very angry Gabby. Nora Hayes has worked as Carter's assistant for years. Recently divorced herself, Nora spends many hours at the office and helping Carter with his daughter whom she adores. Despite loving her job and being wrapped up in the Shaw family, Nora's never given her handsome, kind workaholic boss a second thought, especially in the romance department. But, then the snowstorm of the century hits, and Nora finds herself stranded at work with Carter overnight. And suddenly, she sees Carter in a whole new, sexy light. The sadness that's lived in his eyes for so long has now been replaced with pure, unadulterated lust--and Nora isn't quite sure what to do about it. For after the pain of her divorce, she never thought she would give love a second chance.-- Provided by Publisher.

Description: "Liliana Cruz is a hitting a wall—or rather, walls. There’s the wall her mom has put up ever since Liliana’s dad left—again. There’s the wall that delineates Liliana’s diverse inner-city Boston neighborhood from Westburg, the wealthy—and white—suburban high school she’s just been accepted into. And there’s the wall Liliana creates within herself, because to survive at Westburg, she can’t just lighten up, she has to whiten up. So what if she changes her name? So what if she changes the way she talks? So what if she’s seeing her neighborhood in a different way? But then light is shed on some hard truths: It isn’t that her father doesn’t want to come home—he can’t...and her whole family is in jeopardy. And when racial tensions at school reach a fever pitch, the walls that divide feel insurmountable. But a wall isn’t always a barrier. It can be a foundation for something better. And Liliana must choose: Use this foundation as a platform to speak her truth, or risk crumbling under its weight" -- Provided by publisher.

Description: "For Englischer Julia Rose, starting her first handmade-soap store almost makes up for her lost dreams of marriage and children. With patience and care, Amish carpenter Martin Hostetler renovates the dilapidated building Julia inherited--and sparks her interest in his community's peaceful ways. But their families' objections make romance between them impossible...unless faith and love can light their holiday way home."--Amazon.

Description: A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She never makes it home. In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: a police officer has shot and killed Shea Tatum, an unarmed thirteen-year-old black girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter demonstrators. -- adapted from jacket

Description: Neon Words is a book that will illuminate the writer in you. By using the tools and activities here, you'll connect the word-organizing part of your brain with your free-ranging imagination--and you'll love what you've captured on the page! It's an exciting, confidence-boosting, and deeply satisfying experience. Whether you want to be a writer, or just want to explore what it's like to create with language, you'll discover that playing with words can help you be more present in your life and, have lots of fun.

Description: "Haylah Swinton is an ace best friend, a loving daughter, and an incredibly patient sister to a four-year-old nutcase of a brother. Best of all, she's pretty confident she's mastered making light of every situation--from her mom's new boyfriend to unsolicited remarks on her plus-sized figure. Haylah's learning to embrace all of her curvy parts and, besides, she has a secret: one day, she'll be a stand-up comedian star. So when impossibly cool and thirstalicious Leo reveals he's also into comedy, Haylah jumps at the chance to ghost-write his sets. But is Leo as interested in returning the favor? Even though her friends warn her of Leo's intentions, Haylah's not ready to listen--and she might just be digging herself deeper toward heartbreak. If Haylah's ever going to step into the spotlight, first she'll need to find the confidence to put herself out there and strut like the boss she really is" --Amazon.

Description: "In these pages, Platt shares how he found a deeper, fuller hope on the other side of foundation-shaking questions like, 'Is Jesus really the hope of the world after all?' Platt realized that soul-piercing questions don't just demand answers. They require action. And that action, as we change our lives to resemble the way of Jesus, brings hope, light, and life to the world. This is your call to risk more, to let what breaks God's heart break yours, and to take action where God has placed you."--Dust jacket flap

Description: For at least 20,000 years, we have led not just an earthly existence but a cosmic one. Celestial cycles drove every aspect of our daily lives. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are--our art, religious beliefs, social status, scientific advances, and even our biology. But over the last few centuries we have separated ourselves from the universe that surrounds us. Our relationship to the stars and planets has moved from one of awe, wonder and superstition to one where technology is king--the cosmos is now explored through data on our screens, not by the naked eye observing the natural world. Jo Marchant's parade of the ways different cultures celebrated the majesty and mysteries of the night sky is a journey to the most awe inspiring view you can ever see--looking up on a clear dark night. That experience and the thoughts it has engendered have radically shaped human civilization across millennia. The cosmos is the source of our greatest creativity in art, in science, in life. Marchant takes us to the Hall of the Bulls in the caves at Lascaux in France, and to the summer solstice at a 5,000-year-old tomb at New Grange in England. We discover Chumash cosmology and visit medieval monks grappling with the nature of time and Tahitian sailors navigating by the stars. We discover how light reveals the chemical composition of the sun, and we are with Einstein as he works out that space and time are one and the same. A four-billion-year-old meteor inspires a search for extraterrestrial life. The cosmically liberating, summary revelation is that star-gazing made us human.-- From statement provided by publisher.

Description: When bookshop owner Sarah Smith is offered the opportunity for a job exchange with her Parisian friend Sophie, saying yes is a no-brainer--after all, what kind of romantic would turn down six months in Paris? Sarah is sure she's in for the experience of a lifetime--days spent surrounded by literature in a gorgeous bookshop, and the chance to watch the snow fall on the Eiffel Tower. Plus, now she can meet up with her journalist boyfriend, Ridge, when his job takes him around the globe. But her expectations cool faster than her café au lait soon after she lands in the City of Light--she's a fish out of water in Paris. The customers are rude, her new coworkers suspicious and her relationship with Ridge has been reduced to a long-distance game of phone tag, leaving Sarah to wonder if he'll ever put her first over his busy career. As Christmas approaches, Sarah is determined to get the shop--and her life--back in order ... and make her dreams of a Parisian happily-ever-after come true.