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Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley may have been born a slave, but she was not destined to remain one.  Her exceptional skill as a seamstress won for her both freedom and the acquaintance of many of society's elite, the most notable of these, Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln.  The focus of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker is on Elizabeth's life and that of her family, then turns to the relationship between she and Mrs. Lincoln as they navigate the stormy waters of Lincoln's presidency.  An up close and personal look at the White House and behind-the-scenes dealings while the Lincolns were in residence, this book is

Things are going pretty well for Colleen O'Rourke:  she co-owns a tavern with her twin brother, Conner; has made more than a few love matches between the good people of Manningsport, NY; and is great at giving advice. Well, things were going well until Lucas Campbell comes back to Manningsport to see his dying uncle. Ten years ago they were in love—​Lucas living in Chicago gearing up to go to law school, Colleen in Manningsport to be close to her family while becoming a nurse. They had their life together planned out until secrets damaged their four-year relationship beyond repair. In their

If you’ve ever felt uncertain or uncomfortable about giving or serving in your community or abroad, but could never quite put your finger on why, this book is for you. Toxic Charity explores how charity can often be detrimental to those it purports to benefit. Featuring stories of organizations’ and people’s successes and failures, it offers both negative and positive examples of where community service and giving can help or harm, what some rules of thumb are, and best practices. Whether your focus is secular or religious, this book addresses what’s working in charity, what isn’t, and gives

In The Bully Pulpit, Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses the Progressive Movement through the eyes of three principal actors—Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Samuel S. McClure—along with the remarkable contributors to McClure’s Magazine, notably Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White.

As in her previous histories of Lincoln, the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and Lyndon Johnson, Kearns Goodwin provides rich descriptions of the relationships among the many players in her books. This makes her writing so much more compelling than histories that merely

In 1928, sixteen-year-old Minka has to make a decision that will affect her life forever: to give up her newborn daughter Betty Jane for adoption. At a sewing class picnic, Minka was assaulted in the woods by a stranger and becomes pregnant. The family has no way to support the baby, so against her strongest desires, she chooses a better life for Betty Jane. But she can't ever forget her little girl, and for twenty years she writes the adoption home trying to find information about her precioius daughter. At every point in her life, she thinks about how old her daughter would be and what she

Mary Roach strikes it big again with Bonk: the Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. Like her two previous books, Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the After Life, Roach explores an often under-discussed yet extremely fascinating and history rich topic—in this case, sex—that proves both educational and entertaining at the same time.

Some of the various topics addressed in Bonk include self-willed orgasms, cross-cultural (cringe worthy) approaches to treating erectile dysfunction, and fetal masturbation. Roach looks at the classic sex researchers

The Devil's Workshop is the third in Grecian's Murder Squad series. Inspector Walter Day, and his partner, Nevil Hammersmith are joined by Day's former mentor, retired detective inspector Adrian March. After a train derails and sets loose convicted murderers on the London streets, these three inspectors must investigate the accident and prison, trying to determine just how many former prisoners are now on the loose. One of these escapees is the former police tailor, turned murderer, Cinderhouse, which Hammersmith and Day captured in The Black Country. Unsure whether they are looking for 4 or 5

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital is a much longer and expanded version of the Pulitzer Prize winning article Sheri Fink wrote about the suspicious deaths in a New Orleans hospital following hurricane Katrina. The author has collected the accounts of surviving doctors, patients, and rescuers, as they tried to save patients when the hospital was flooded, then lost power, and finally lost almost all access to communication to the outside world.  The book can be divided into two sections: the first, stronger half is about the storm and immediate aftermath.  The

Another beautiful, intelligent, sensitive teenager has killed her self. The media blames the bullies at Emma Putnam's new school that refused to accept her, that kept her on the fringe. The used words like slut and whore, they left notes and signs on her locker, they found her on social media...they drove her to suicide.



But that is just one side of the story.



Sara Wharton's life came crashing down the day Emma committed suicide. Identified as one of the bullies, Sara faces some very serious charges in court. But it wasn't her fault, Emma wasn't exactly nice to her, and even though Sara

When I was in elementary school, I read many, many books on monsters and the paranormal. Books about ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, mummies, werewolves...and vampires. Outside of books, there wasn't a lot to see with vampires at the time. You might catch classic Universal monster movies or the later, bloodier Hammer horror movies on late night TV (assuming you could convince your parents to let you stay up that late). Scooby-Doo and other Saturday morning cartoons would have vampires (usually just cranky old men in costumes), there were some horror comics that had vampires in

Jonathan Miles crafts three separate stories in this novel of loss and desire. Micah and Talmadge are freegan lovers who invite an old friend into their New York City squat and their dumpster diving lifestyle.  Dr. Elwin Cross wants his wife back, wants his father to be whole again and swims through his grief with 100 extra pounds and a compassionate heart.  And Dave Masoli gathers debt and repels the love of his trophy wife Sarah and her wounded daughter.       Along the way Miles masterfully weaves in minor characters and memories with such ease the reader desires both the beaten path and

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume I is a creative, charming compilation of 1-5 sentence stories, poems, and artwork. The dainty book features 67 of the more than 8500 contributions originally submitted for the volume. Some made me laugh, others made me pause and reflect, and I kept flipping back to certain illustrations just to savor them a little longer. My favorite tiny story:

One day before breakfast, an

orange rolled off the counter

and escaped its fate, bounding

happily through the kitchen door.

Filled with hope,

the egg followed.

You can thumb through it in a matter of minutes

Darrow has the most dangerous job on Mars. He is the helldiver of Lycos, running the drill deep underground that mines Mars for valuable natural resources. Helldivers to not generally live long lives, like his father who died when he was a child. But Darrow has other plans, he is going to make something of himself, and his clan. But he can only rise so far, the caste system of society keeps his people down. They are Reds, deemed to be good at nothing but hard labor. They are ruled over by the Blues, Greys, and at the top...the Golds, the apex of human evolution. 

To celebrate a

Josh Bell, known as Filthy McNasty to those on the court, is one of top two players on his middle school basketball team. The other player is his twin brother, Jordan. The two are expected to become big stars as their father was an amazing basketball player before he retired, known to his fans as Da Man!



Filthy and Jordan are ready for an epic year on their team, taking them all the way to playoffs, when things are complicated by a new girl, who captures Jordan's eye and their father's heart problems. 



This book is an amazing example of poetry crossing all the boundaries! What a

Samantha is discovered stumbling along a highway, dirty, dehydrated and bloody, three days after she and her best friend Cassie went missing. Cassie still hasn't been found and Samantha suffers from amnesia and can't remember anything before the police picked her up. 



Samantha tries to return to her normal life, the daughter of an old money family in a east coast town, hoping something in her old life will trigger memories to help the police find Cassie before it is too late. But soon she discovers that her old life isn't something she wants to return to. A classic mean girl, Sammy and her

In the age of tumblr, fanfiction and fanart, Cath is a relatable character for any teen who has geeked out over a book, tv show or movie. Starting her freshman year of college, Cath is facing several new obstacles. Her twin sister Wren doesn't want to room with her so “they can meet other people.” She is dealing with her father’s mental illness. And college has taken time away from completing her epic online fanfiction Carry On written in the world of Simon Snow (a character reminiscent Harry Potter). On top of it all, Cath might be falling in love with her roommate's boyfriend.



A tender

Imagine having your worst moments caught on film, and your best moments edited out. When he was five years old Gerald Faust’s mother auditioned the family for Network Nanny, a reality tv show. In one-hour on network TV, Gerald became a national phenomenon for taking a dump on the family’s kitchen table. Twelve years later, Gerald is still haunted by the actions of his five-year-old-self. Ostracized at school, bullied by his older sister and left alone by his parents, Gerald attempts to control his anger through boxing workouts and trips to Gersday (an imaginary land where everything is made of

An amazing and unique retelling of Hansel and Gretel this story is narrated by the Jacob Grimm himself, caught in the plane between life and death. Jacob has become rather fond of Jeremy Johnson Johnson, who has the unique ability to hear spirits, a gift that has ostracized him from many in his small town of Never Better, unfortunately suffering from a rash of missing persons. Luckily it does not deter the friendship of the enigmatic and problematic Ginger Boultinghouse, who’s thirst for adventure has gotten them both in trouble on more than one occasion. Ginger's plans, and Jeremy's unique

When Kyra, the youngest and most talented potions master in the kingdom, has a vision of the soon-to-be-married Princess destroying the land, she knows what she must do: kill the princess…her best friend. Kyra is distraught at the thought of killing her best friend, which must be what causes her poisoned dart to miss it’s target and send Kyra running for her life from the Crown’s justice. Looking for another chance to save the kingdom, Kyra acquires a tracking pig from the King of Thieves, and a boisterous traveling companion, Fred. This strange have many misadventures, including a run-in with

The main character in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series is a type of heroine I like to call “the flawed hero who can’t stop herself from helping those in trouble even if it gets her into trouble; sometimes potentially fatal trouble.” There are a number of supernatural series that feature this type of character - Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Rachel Morgan from Kim Harrison’s Hollows, Sookie Stackhouse from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse, the women in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld.

These people have weaknesses, faults, and limitations that they don’t

May was National Photo Month, so I picked up a few books light on words but chock-full of story.  Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project About Dogs and Physics is like a pictorial version of a couple of my favorites, John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways.  This is another take on touring the country to discover America.

Contrary to the subtitle, I didn’t learn much about dogs or physics, nor is it super serious.  Instead I got to witness Theron Humphrey’s heart-warming journey of discovery and growing fondness for Maddie, the rescue coonhound

If you like country music this is a great summer read.  Bailey and her sister Julie have been singing together as long as she can remember.  But now, Bailey has been relegated to playing back-up to costumed country singer impersonators at the mall while her sister and parents are off promoting Julie's solo career.  But, country music is in Bailey's blood and she'll play any gig she can get, as long as her parents don't find out.  They're afraid she might steal the limelight from Julie.  When Bailey meets Sam he invites her to join his band.  Sam has big goals and dreams and he wants Bailey to

This is a very well-written thriller!  The action starts when a plane goes down and Robert Harland, the only survivor, hears a cell phone ringing in the East River.  He wades to the sound and finds his old friend from the CIA dead. Harland uses the phone and takes his friend's wallet, which just happens to contain some discs, for his widow.  Robert Harland is a former British spy, now working for the UN.  The explanation for the crash does not ring true to him and he suspects sabotage. But why? The answer lies in Harland's past!

The plotting is first rate, grounded and realistic. The action

No one thought the exiled half-goblin son of the emperor would ever inherit the throne. Not even Maia himself. But when his father and three brothers are killed in an airship crash (which may not have been an accident), Maia is thrust into an environment for which he is ill prepared. With no friends nor allies to guide him, the new emperor struggles to find supporters amidst those who would see him deposed, or worse dead...

I love The Goblin Emperor. It's not your standard fantasy story. You will not find an epic quest to right wrong here, nor an end of the world prophecy to fulfill, nor a

In a spotless suburban home in Ireland, a man and two children are found dead, and a badly-wounded woman is rushed to the hospital. They are residents of Broken Harbor, a nearly-abandoned new development left in the lurch after the housing crisis. This is how Detective Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy finds the Spain family, and has his chance to be top detective on the murder squad. In addition to taking on the biggest case of the year, he has a rookie, Richie Curran, to break in.

Detective Kennedy, a scrupulous man who holds fast to the rules, seems to be the one for the job. His new man, Curran, is

This memoir recounts the story of Malika Oufkir, whose father was the closest aide to the King of Morocco. We follow Malika from the age of five, as she is raised in the palace as the princess’ companion. While life in the harem is a kind of imprisonment itself, it is nothing compared to what awaits her, her mother, and her siblings after her father is executed for an attempt to assassinate the King.

She and her family spend the next 20 years in prisons. Sixteen years into their ordeal, sickly, starving, and desperate to the point of suicide, Malika and some of her siblings manage to dig a

Holly George-Warren’s new biography on Alex Chilton, A Man Called Destruction: the Life and Music of Alex Chilton From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man, is a true cautionary tale, especially if you’re planning on becoming a rock star. Talent and hard work don’t always translate to success. What you do, no matter how good it is, can be so anachronistic as to render your hard work audience-less for decades. Drugs and alcohol can really mess things up (duh). You only have a small amount of control over success, recognition and financial rewards. But despite all this, you may still be

In the late 1980's, a quiet young man with began working as a nurse in a burn ward in New Jersey.  Whether initially tempted by pity or a need for control, it was there that Charles Cullen, dubbed by the media as the Angel of Death, murdered his first patient with an insulin overdose.  Over the course of the next sixteen years, he murdered many more, possibly over three hundred people all told, all within the sterile confines of hospital wards.  Journalist Charles Graeber first encountered Cullen while writing an article about the murderer's desire to donate a kidney from prison, and now uses

Some readers like their fictional friends kept safe, never truly in harm’s way, despite immediate apparent dangers; you just know they’ll make out just fine in the end. I am not one of those readers—I like it when happy endings are not guaranteed, and the protagonist gets knocked around a bit.

And hoo boy does October “Tobey” Daye, protagonist of Seanan McGuire’s Rosemary and Rue, get knocked around. A lot. The half-Fae private investigator was once a knight of the Fae court, until she lost 14 years of her life in the line of duty; now she wants nothing to do with them. Unfortunately, she

This is the autobiography of Frank White, the 8-time Gold Glove second baseman for the Kansas City Royals. White describes his childhood and the loving support of his family while growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, his high school days at Lincoln High School, and playing baseball as a young teen. He was a pretty good pitcher in those days. Interestingly, he describes fearful moments when visiting relatives in his birthplace, Mississippi, during the 1950s and 1960s when he and his friends dashed away from roadsides when cars filled with white people sped along the roads.

White describes