The Polar Express
by Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Fiction
September 2009
Climb aboard and experience one of the most magical train rides ever. Your destination? The North Pole.
“The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg captures the spirit of the holidays with colorful, engaging illustrations and a clever storyline.
A holiday favorite, this Christmas classic will test your belief in Santa, as a young boy, dressed in only his pajamas, a robe and slippers, sets out on an unforgettable journey.
And if you don’t believe in Santa, actor Liam Neeson might just change your mind as he eloquently narrates this beautiful, dramatic tale.
Enjoy the new hardcover twentieth anniversary edition, along with a compact disc or cassette audio recording.
Enjoy the spirit of the holidays with a good book and a little imagination.
B. Smith Cooks Southern-Style
by Barbara Smith
Scribner
NonFiction
November 2009
It’s that time of year again — time to make a longer grocery list, pull out those oversized heavy duty pots and pans, and reinvent traditional family recipes.
The first Thanksgiving feast, according to food historian Kathleen Curtin, took place at Plimoth Plantation in 1921. The celebration included celebrating harvest and giving thanks for a bountiful crop. And much like today’s traditional cooks, pilgrims used flavorful spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Meat consumption consisted of goose, duck, crane, swan, eagles, partridges, and wild turkey.
And today, the Turkey still dominates as the most popular of family traditions. And over the years, turkey variations have caused family chaos, debates and debacle. Some turkey concoctions (the deep fried version) can result in a trip to the nearest emergency room.
Renew your Thanksgiving tradition with Barbara Smith, author of “B. Smith Cooks Southern-Style.” She is reigning “queen” of a home products empire and is proprietor of three restaurants in New York City, Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, and Long Island’s Sag Harbor.
Smith celebrates cooking with a touch of class by endorsing flavorful dishes that not only taste good, but are good for you. And for cooks who dare not buck the family tradition, the cornish hens with cranberry-chestnut stuffing is a Thanksgiving classic.
While praising the great flavor that fat adds to dishes, Smith encourages healthy eating by putting a wholesome spin on Southern dishes like alligator-stuffed eggplant, smothered chicken livers, and grilled okra and tomato salad, to name a few.
Heat up your kitchen with the comfort of Southern cuisine!
MORE COOKBOOKS PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT
My New Orleans: The Cookbook
by John Bess
Andrews McMeel Publishing
NonFiction
September 2009
Rose’s Heavenly Cakes
by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Wiley, John & Sons
NonFiction
September 2009
One Hundred Butterflies
by Harold Feinstein
Little, Brown and Company
Non Fiction
November 2009
The egg. The larva. The pupa. The adult butterfly. The complex life cycle of a butterfly occurs in four separate stages and what once was a colorless, wormlike caterpillar is miraculously transformed into one of the most beautiful insects in the world.
You can witness an endless array of winged beauty from Asia, Africa, and the Americas, thanks to celebrated photographer Harold Feinstein whose noted works are represented in collections at major museums and in numerous periodicals.
Feinstein is the author of “One Hundred Butterflies,” which offers a unique look at these stunning insects through 100 colorful photographs. Scientists estimate that there are approximately 12,000 to 15,000 species which leaves room for 14,900 more beautiful creations.
Ideal as a gift or an excellent visual tool for any classroom project, “One Hundred Butterflies” proves there’s much to learn about the wondrous butterfly. For example, did you know that butterflies play an important role as pollinators? Can you identify the Ruddy Daggerwing? The Blue Diadem? The Jungle Queen?
This unique, coffee table-style book will definitely spend more time in the hands of readers.
MORE BOOKS BY PHOTOGRAPHER HAROLD FEINSTEIN
One Hundred Seashells
by Harold Feinstein
Bulfinch
Non Fiction
September 2005
One Hundred Flowers
by Harold Feinstein
Bulfinch
Non Fiction
March 2000
Must Have Boots Books For Fall
FICTION
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood (a Winnie-the-Pooh sequel), David Beneditcus, illustrator Mark Burgess, Penguin Group (USA), October 2009
Little Bird of Heaven, Joyce Carol Oates, HarperCollins Publishers, September 2009
The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood, Knopf Doubleday Publishing, September 2009
The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown, Knopf Doubleday Publishing, September 2009
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NON FICTION
Shooting Stars, LeBRON James and Buzz Bissinger, Penguin Group (USA), September 2009
29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life, Cami Walker, Da Capo Press, October 2009
Permission Slips: Every Woman’s Guide to Giving Herself A Break, Sherri Shepherd, Grand Central Publishing, October 2009
True Compass: A Memoir, Edward M. Kennedy, Grand Central Publishing, September 2009
The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King, James Patterson and Martin Dugard, Little, Brown & Company, September 2009
The Lion & The Mouse
by Jerry Pinkney
Fiction
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 2009
Pinkney’s wordless picture book will leave you speechless
Fall is fast approaching … and with cooler temperatures come festive fairs, irresistible carnival food, and a publishing frenzy of even cooler children’s books.
But the coolest book of them all is “The Lion & The Mouse,” by author and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. This captivating and incredibly artistic picture book boasts a wordless depiction of an unusual encounter between a lion and a mouse. This enduring story is portrayed with powerful illustrations in place of words, except for an occasional whooo, screech, squeak, roaarrr and scratch.
Pinkney revisits one of his favorite Aesop fables with this timeless adaptation about two creatures, exact opposites in size and presence, who engage in a venture that brings to light the gift of kindness.
Pinkney proves the popular theory, “pictures are more powerful than words.” Page after page, colorful pencils and watercolors paint a telling portrait of friendship.
You don’t need words to read this tale out loud. All you need is your imagination and an audience.
MORE PICTURE BOOKS FOR KIDS
Tarra and Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends
by Carol Buckley
Fiction
Penguin Group (USA)
September 2009
Waddle! A Scanimation Picture Book
by Rufus Butler Seder
Fiction
Workman Publlishing Company, Inc.
October 2009
The Last Song
by Nicholas Sparks
Fiction
Grand Central Publishing
September 2009
If you can’t go to the beach, let the beach come to you, in the guise of another fantastic read by Nicholas Sparks. The author of 15 New York Times bestsellers, Sparks does it again — he leaves you crying and celebrating.
“The Last Song” is, of course, a tear-jerker, but it’s so much more than that. This coming-of-age love story is also the ideal substitute for soft, white sand and a salty ocean breeze, without leaving the comfort of your favorite chair.
North Carolina’s Wrightsville Beach is the breathtaking setting where Steve, and his two kids, Ronnie and Jonah, get reacquainted after a three-year separation. This is their first summer together.
How does a father go about reclaiming the lost years? It’s not going to be easy, and his daughter Ronnie makes sure of that. Even as she settles in the old, out-of-place bungalow, situated amid oceanfront mansions, she too feels out of place. Compared to New York, it looks like one long, boring, hot summer. Then she meets up with a strange, rebellious girl called Blaze.
The two seem to hit it off at first; they do have at least one thing in common — Blaze and her mother don’t get along so well either. Their attempt at becoming friends is short lived. Who or what is standing in the way?
Well for starters, a few hoodlums, love, and a desire to do the right thing. Fire and water, opposing elements, play a memorable role, in this intensely emotional and impulsive tale.
As the summer heats up in more ways than one, Ronnie fears the worst, and protects her emotions from the two men she loves most, her father and now Will, with as much rigor as she protects the endangered sea turtle preparing to lay eggs at the water’s edge. Is this “thing” with Will just a summer fling or is it something way more serious?
In contrast, Jonah’s world is easygoing; it’s just a father and son getting to know each other, again.
A melody of music and self-realization, “The Last Song” gives you permission to reconnect with someone you love. As with all Spark’s novels, his memorable characters portray a wide range of emotions. Page after page, “The Last Song” hits the right notes by evoking feelings of fear and bravery, blame and forgiveness, hate and love, joy and grief.
And how does the Carolina coast figure into these miracles? Maybe it’s the serenity of the beach … the long, barefoot walks; the private conversations with God; the captivating, endangered sea turtles; or maybe it’s the peace that comes with the rise and fall of the miraculous ocean tide.
MORE BOOKS PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT
Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Memoir
by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
Non-fiction
Penguin Group (USA)
September 2009
The Eleventh Victim
by Nancy Grace
Fiction
Hyperion
August 2009
Thug Lovin’
by Wahida Clark
Fiction
Grand Central Publishing
August 2009
