High Profile by Robert B. Parker

From Booklist:
*Starred Review* Walton Weeks is a one-man media empire. He hosts a popular national radio gabfest, writes a newspaper column, and churns out best-selling books. At least he did until someone shot him and left him hanging from a tree in Paradise, Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter, the body of Weeks' pregnant lover is discovered in a nearby dumpster. Paradise police chief Jesse Stone fends off pressure from the governor and the state police in order to solve the high-profile case with the resources of his 12-person force. The potential suspects include two ex-wives, a widow, a bodyguard, and assorted staff members. Stone's problem is determining a motive. In a parallel plot, Stone attends to the needs of his ex-wife, Jenn, who alleges she was raped and claims she is being stalked by her attacker. Unable to cope with the murders and the rape, Stone calls on private investigator Sunny Randall--a sometime lover--to help with Jenn. Obsessive, sometimes unhealthy love is a recurring theme in Parker's work. In his Spenser novels, the protagonist and his lover have come through the tough times intact. Stone and Jenn have a strong but deleterious bond and are in the midst of a trying emotional journey to an unknown destination. This is Parker's most complex, ambitious novel in years. Spenser is always the toughest, coolest guy in the room. Jesse Stone sometimes seems like the toughest, coolest guy in the room, but he knows he's not. Great reading from an old hand who hasn't lost his touch. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (February 6, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399154043
ISBN-13: 978-0399154041

Customer Review: 3.5/5

Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

From Publishers Weekly:
In this latest installment in Phillips's romance series starring the Chicago Stars football players (This Heart of Mine; Nobody's Baby but Mine), the bestselling novelist delivers a love story wrought with delicious sexual tension and charged banter. When debonair starting quarterback Dean Robillard, on a soul-searching road trip after a serious shoulder injury, happens across Blue Bailey, walking alongside the road wearing a beaver costume, he stops to help her. Blue is far from a Barbie-esque football groupie, but broke and stranded, she needs both a ride and a job, and the football all-star (driving a sexy Aston Martin) poses an interesting opportunity. As the two travel from Colorado to Dean's new farmhouse in east Tennessee, Blue resists his advances, and both athlete and vagabond struggle with deeply rooted trust and familial issues that are soon exacerbated by the unexpected presence of Dean's mother at the farm. While the verbal sparring in this textbook case of opposites attracting feels stagy at first, the rough edges come together in an alluring way. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (February 6, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060734574
ISBN-13: 978-0060734572

Customer Rating: 4/5

The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav

Amazon.com Review:
Gary Zukav's American Book Award-winning The Dancing Wu Li Masters masterfully introduces the layman to quantum and particle physics, as well as Einstein's relativity theories. With a similar dose of amiable, easy-to-understand prose, Zukav guides readers into the spiritual realm in his bestselling The Seat of the Soul. Zukav questions the Western model of the soul, alleging that the human species is in the midst of a great transformation, evolving from a species that pursues power based upon the perceptions of the five senses--"external power"--to one that pursues power based upon perceptions of the soul--"authentic power." He believes that humans are immortal souls first, physical beings second, and that once we become conscious of this transformation--once we align our personalities with our soul--we will stimulate our spiritual growth and become better people in the process. This insightful, lucid synthesis of modern psychology and new-age principles has been described as the "physics of the soul." Who better to explain such heady concepts than Gary Zukav? --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 17, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684865181
ISBN-13: 978-0684865188

Customer Review: 3.5/5

Most Likely to Die by Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton, Wendy Corsi Staub

Publisher's Weekly Review:
Despite individual success in the field of suspense, the first collaboration of Jackson (Fatal Burn), Staub (The Final Victim) and Barton (Dangerous Deception) is likely to disappoint their fans. The plot line will ring familiar to slasher movie buffs: a 20-year high school reunion triggers a series of brutal murders committed to avenge an old grievance. In this case, the original sin is the crossbow slaying of popular hunk Jake Marcott, the object of desire for much of the graduating class of Portland, Ore.'s St. Elizabeth's High School, on the night of the St. Valentine's Day Dance. The trauma has become a distant wound for the women who loved him until the 2006 reunion plans spark new killings, and three classmates, Rachel, Kristen and Lindsay, must race to unmask the murderer before they themselves fall victim. Unfortunately, the authors don't do very much to keep the identity of the murderer hidden from the reader, seriously hindering their efforts to wring suspense from the cookie-cutter scenario. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Zebra (February 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0821775766
ISBN-13: 978-0821775769

Customer Review: 4/5

The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer

My Review:
The Tender Bar is full of atmosphere! The people portrayed in the story are true characters, from Joey D. and his "mouse" (he talks in the general direction of his pocket so J.R. decides he must keep a pet mouse in there) to Chas who speaks like Yogi Bear, to Uncle Charlie who loves his booze almost as much as his gambling.

J.R. grows up in his grandparent's dilapidated old house in Manhasset, NY with his grandparent's, his mother, his Uncle Charlie and at different times, his aunt and cousins--where the general goal of most of them is to move out. He spends many of his boyhood evenings and summer days listening to his radio in search of The Voice that belongs to his father, who DJ's for various stations throughout the years and imagines that he is just like his radio personality.

Through much struggling, J.R. and his mother finally move out and head for Arizona. But it is on his summer visits back to NY that J.R. discovers the camaraderie of Publicans, the neighborhood's favorite bar where his Uncle Charlie works. It is there that J.R. finds the acceptance of men that he searched for his whole life.

As the years go on, J.R. continues to grow, learn and mature. He takes us on his journey through high school, college, first love and first career--always entwined with Publican's Bar and it's regulars. At times in his life he struggled with his writing, using too many words...to big of words...and not making "true" with his characters. His mother tells him to tone down and simplify, and apparently he has learned to do just that. The Tender Bar is his first book and it's a wonderfully put together story. Every word, every character rings true and real.

My Rating: 5/5

Hardcover: 384 pages
ISBN-10: 1401300642
ASIN: B000JGWE36

Customer Review: 4.5/5

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren

From Publishers Weekly:
In this engaging if unbalanced survey, the author of the acclaimed Six Days of War finds continuity in U.S. relations with the Middle East from the early 19th-century war against the Barbary pirates to today's Iraq war. As America's power grew, he contends, strategic considerations became complicated by the region's religious significance, especially to the Protestant missionaries whose interests drove U.S. policy in the 19th century and who championed a Jewish state in Palestine long before the Zionist movement took up that cause. Meanwhile, Oren notes, Americans' romantic fantasies about the Muslim world (as expressed in Mideast-themed movies) have repeatedly run aground on stubborn, squalid realities, most recently in the Iraq fiasco. Oren dwells on the pre-WWII era, when U.S.-Mideast relations were of little significance. The postwar period, when these relations were central to world affairs, gets shoehorned into 127 hasty pages, and the emphasis on continuity gives short shrift to the new and crucial role of oil in U.S. policy making. Oren's treatment views this history almost entirely through American eyes; the U.S. comes off as usually well intentioned and idealistic, if often confused and confounded by regional complexities. Oren's is a fluent, comprehensive narrative of two centuries of entanglement, but it's analytically disappointing. Photos. (Jan. 15)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hardcover: 672 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton (January 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393058263
ISBN-13: 978-0393058260

Customer Review: 4.5/5

The Alexandria Link: A Novel by Steve Berry

From Booklist:
Berry, author of several big-selling high-concept thrillers, including The Templar Legacy (2006) and The Third Secret (2005), is back with another paranoid fantasy for fans who like their heroes to face unimaginable dangers in a variety of glamorous locations. Berry's hero, Cotton Malone (recently retired from the Department of Justice's Magellan Billet, which specializes in extra-sensitive international investigations), has reinvented himself as a seller of rare books in Copenhagen. Trouble, of course, finds him even in Denmark--first in the person of his ex-wife, who bears the news that their son has been kidnapped. Then the kidnappers convince Malone of their seriousness by torching his bookstore. The central conflict here comes from the fact that what the kidnappers want--"the Alexandria link," the key to locating the remains of the vanished library of Alexandria--is the one thing Malone, who knows the whereabouts of the link, cannot give them. So, with the conflict firmly established, and the villains showing their mettle, the plot is off and running across the globe, the story driven by a series of short chapters, each acting as a little time bomb. Trite characters and a formulaic plot (drawing, yet again, on The Da Vinci Code) get in the way, but Berry does make intriguing use of ancient history, and the action certainly zooms along. Fun reading if you keep moving and don't take time to digest. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 30, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345485750
ISBN-13: 978-0345485755

Customer Review: 5/5

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by Rafe Esquith

From Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. Esquith might be the only public school teacher to be honored by both Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama; he is the only school teacher ever to receive the president's National Medal of the Arts. For the past 25 years, Esquith has taught fifth graders at Hobart Elementary in central Los Angeles. Like most progressive educators, Esquith is outraged by the tyranny of testing, the scripting of teaching under "No Child Left Behind" and the overwhelming bureaucratization of the education industry. Still, he's done wonders with the basic curriculum—developing a hands-on arts program, a money-management curriculum and a sports-based statistics unit. Esquith and his Hobart Shakespeareans are world famous for the rock opera they create every year. Throughout each school day, Esquith teaches life skills: how to think about problems, how to plan a strategy to solve them and, most important, how to work together and be nice to each other. While his goals are inspiring, he's also practical—most chapters include affordable, how-to directions for a variety of his most effective classroom activities; he's even got a few tips for revamping those inescapable "test prep" sessions. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (January 18, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670038156
ISBN-13: 978-0670038152

Customer Review: 4.5/5

Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About by Kevin Trudeau

Book Description:
Kevin Trudeau blows the lid off a nest of deception and double standards concerning general and individual health in this new book, "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You To Know About." Kevin has risked government prosecution to bring you the full story of an intricate conspiracy.

From the retail supermarket outlets of huge, publicly traded corporations comes processed, manipulated, engineered "food products" – produced by other wings of the same corporation. These artificial, toxic treats are then sold with the blessings of the Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration – government organizations charged with safeguarding the public good – laying the foundations for future disease and chronic ill-health for the consumer, and a guaranteed source of revenue for the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.

Kevin reveals the shocking truth of how drugs – which are being advertised directly to the consumer, pushing their use to an all-time high – are actually the cause of illness and disease climbing to near epidemic levels.

And, though it sounds dire, Kevin offers a light in the darkness and directs the reader to scores and scores of alternative therapies, medical practices, philosophies and – most importantly – potential cures that help your body regain its natural state of health and vibrancy.

So follow Kevin on an amazing journey through the behind-the-scenes world of corporate sponsored "nutrition" and "health," and learn about "Natural Cures 'THEY' Don't Want You To Know About." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Hardcover: 572 pages
Publisher: Alliance Publishing; Updated edition (June 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0975599518
ISBN-13: 978-0975599518

Customer Review: 3.5/5

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, Kevin Hawkes

From School Library Journal:
Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2–Miss Merriweather, head librarian and decorum-keeper, first meets Lion when he saunters past his stone counterparts and into the stacks. Scowling circulation assistant Mr. McBee seems intent on having the enormous cat ejected, but his boss declares that as long as he breaks no rules, he is welcome. The beast does misbehave though, roaring loud displeasure when storytime ends. At Miss Merriweather's reprimand, the contrite-looking lion promises to reform. In fact, he becomes something of a fixture in the building, dusting with his tail, licking envelopes, and serving as a stepstool for small patrons. Everyone appreciates him–except Mr. McBee. When Lion lets out another tremendous RAAAHHHRRR!, the man bursts into Miss Merriweather's office to snitch–and there he finds her in distress, having fallen from a stool and broken her arm. Lion, à la Lassie, has saved the day, but he is so chagrined by his own rule-breaking behavior that he doesn't return to the library. People miss him. Even Mr. McBee. A feel-good ending and a reminder that Sometimes, there is a good reason to break the rules bring the story to its most-satisfactory conclusion. Hawkes's deft acrylic-and-pencil pictures have appeal for generations of library lovers. They are rich with expression, movement, and detail. The lordly, lovable lion is a masterful mix–regal beast and furry friend–and the many human characters are drawn with animation and emotion. This winsome pairing of text and illustration is a natural for storytime and a first purchase for every collection.–Kathy Krasniewicz, Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Candlewick (July 25, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0763622621
ISBN-13: 978-0763622626

Customer Review: 5/5

What a Party! by Terry McAuliffe (Author), Steve Kettmann

Book Description:

“I thought I knew Terry McAuliffe as well as anyone, but this time he surprised even me. Who knew Terry could sit still long enough to give us a book this good? What a Party! is a must-read for all of us who love politics, believe in public service, and know that laughter is often the best survival strategy.”

—President Bill Clinton

“No one knows more about American politics than Terry McAuliffe. He gives
us some remarkable insights and knows how to make his accounts both humorous
and informative.”

—President Jimmy Carter

“I’ve often said Terry’s energy could light up a city, and readers of this book will know why. Terry’s excitement for politics—and life—is evident on every page.”

—Senator Hillary Clinton

For more than twenty-five years, Terry McAuliffe has been at the epicenter of American politics. Just out of Catholic University in Washington, Terry took a position with the Carter-Mondale campaign and quickly became one of the campaign’s chief fund-raisers—and hasn’t looked back since. The list of Terry´s former mentors, friends, and close associates in the nation’s capital reads like a who’s who of legendary Democrats: Tip O’Neill. Jimmy Carter. Dick Gephardt. Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton. Al Gore. The list goes on and on. Terry has fought hard for the Democratic Party his entire life and, as Bill Clinton reveals here for the first time, he was the first one in the party to see opportunity in the Republican gains in the 1994 Congressional elections.
Without question the most successful fund-raiser in political history, Terry established himself as a heavyweight Democratic strategist and leader who was George W. Bush´s most vocal and persistent critic during the first four years of the Bush 43 presidency. He earned rave reviews even from former critics for his groundbreaking work as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, pulling the DNC out of debt for the first time in its history. Terry has served as a confidant and adviser to President Clinton and countless presidential candidates, a mediator among party leaders, the chairman of a national convention and presidential inaugural, and a forceful spokesman for the party—all without losing his reputation as a colorful, fun-loving character liked and respected even by his Republican adversaries.
What a Party! is a fascinating, hilarious, and provocative look at the life of one of Washington’s legendary figures. From wrestling an alligator to running the Democratic National Committee to his friendship with President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe’s wonderful memoir covers it all and is, without doubt, the political book of the year.

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (January 23, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312357877
ISBN-13: 978-0312357870

Customer Review: 4.5/5

The Castle in the Forest: A Novel by Norman Mailer

From Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. Mailer did Jesus in The Gospel According to the Son; now he plumbs the psyche of history's most demonic figure in this chilling fictional chronicle of Hitler's boyhood. Mailer tells the story through the eyes of Dieter, a devil tasked by Satan (usually called the Maestro) with fostering Hitler's nascent evil, but in this study of a dysfunctional 19th-century middle-class Austrian household, the real presiding spirit is Freud. Young Adolph (often called Adi) is the offspring of an incestuous marriage between a coarse, domineering civil servant and a lasciviously indulgent mom. The boy duly develops an obsession with feces, a fascination with power, a grandiose self-image and a sexually charged yen for mass slaughter (the sight of gassed or burning beehives thrills him). Dieter frets over Hitler's ego-formation while marveling at the future dictator's burning gaze, his ability to sway weak minds and the instinctive führerprinzip that emerges when he plays war with neighborhood boys—talents furthered by Central Europe's ambient romantic nationalism. Mailer's view of evil embraces religions and metaphysics, but it's rooted in the squalid soil of toilet-training travails and perverted sexual urges. The novel sometimes feels like a psychoanalytic version of The Screwtape Letters, but Mailer arrives at a somber, compelling portrait of a monstrous soul. (Jan. 23)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Random House (January 23, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0394536495
ISBN-13: 978-0394536491

Customer Review: 4.5/5

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

From Publishers Weekly:
The birth of a baby—"the one and only ever you"—causes jubilation throughout creation in this quietly celebratory picture book from newcomer Tillman. Polar bears dance, giraffes weave to the sound of brass horns, and "the moon smiled with such wonder/ that the stars peeked in to see you/ and the night wind whispered,/ 'Life will never be the same.' " Tillman successfully sidesteps the soft-focus sappiness that can accompany this genre. Her writing has the authenticity of whispered conversation; occasionally, she pauses in her exaltations of the baby to address the subject directly: "I think I'll count to three so you can wiggle your toes for me." Her strong, assured paintings truly set this book apart. The pictures subtly radiate golden glints of moonlight, and her almost sculptural rendering style gives her characters a hefty physicality that counterbalances the ethereal sentiments being expressed. Although one suspects that grown-ups will be most taken with the topic and treatment, this is one of those rare baby books that should make both skeptics and sentimentalists of all ages happy. All ages. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (October 17, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312346069
ISBN-13: 978-0312346065

Customer Review: 5/5

Younger You by Eric R. Braverman

From the Back Cover:

Break the aging code and feel 15 years younger—from the inside out.

In the constant battle to stay young and feel fit, we will try any of the quick fixes that come on the market, including so-called miracle products, fad diets, trendy exercise programs, and untested supplements. Many even risk elective surgical procedures just to look young again. But you don't need surgery, pricey cosmetics, or starvation to look and feel 15 years younger. The secret to living a longer, more vibrant life has at last been discovered, and the proverbial fountain of youth is right in your hands.

Younger You shows you step by step how to:

• Get a restful, restorative night's sleep and have
• Improve your mood by increasing your natural hormone levels
• Help your heart with natural supplements
• Use herbs and spices to help prevent heart disease
• Continue to enjoy an active sex life
• Increase your muscle mass, boost your memory, build your bones, save your skin, and much more!

Dr. Eric Braverman, a leading expert in anti-aging medicine, has skillfully combined conventional wisdom with his unique knowledge of the workings of the brain to unravel the mystery of what makes us age and how disease in one area affects the entire body. By identifying the distinct parts of your body that are aging most rapidly, you can crack your own aging code and turn back time. While the aging code is our biological destiny, it can be broken by affectively treating these weakest links. Serious health conditions including heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, and even Alzheimer's disease are no longer inevitable. The more subtle signs and signals of aging can be prolonged and even reversed, so you never have to deal with obesity, wrinkles, age spots, deteriorating strength, diminished libido, or other symptoms of aging. Dr. Braverman gives you all the information you need to break your own aging code and start living a healthier, longer life now.

Younger You has doctors talking . . .

"Dr. Braverman zeroes in on a very important concept: the need to keep all organ systems healthy and functional. Most important, he also offers provocative methods for doing just that."
--Julian Whitaker, M.D.
Founder, Whitaker Wellness Institute and author of Health & Healing Newsletter

"Focusing on the critical role of hormones produced by the brain, Dr. Braverman outlines a totally integrative program to restore hormonal balance and thereby restore readers to a younger, healthier, and more vital self, regardless of chronological age."
--Nicholas Perricone, M.D., FACN
Bestselling author of 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity, The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet, The Perricone Promise, The Perricone Prescription, and The Wrinkle Cure

"Just as Dr. Braverman says, we are only as young as our oldest part. This book is not just for us, but for our children, who can make changes to their diet and lifestyle now and reap the rewards later."
--David Perlmutter, M.D.
Director, Perlmutter Health Center and author of The Better Brain Book

"Younger You is an interesting and logical approach to preventing, diagnosing, and modifying the aging process. . . . Baby boomers will find much in these pages to protect and reassure them.”
--Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D.
Rossi Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine, New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center, and author of Live Now, Age Later, Power to the Patient, and Doctor, What Should I Eat?

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 27, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0071466134
ISBN-13: 978-0071466134

Customer Review: