The Girls of Atomic City
by Denise Kiernan
At the height of WWII, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians--many of them young women from small towns across the South--were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. That is, until the end of the war--when Oak Ridge's secret was revealed. Drawing on the voices of the women who lived it--women who are now in their eighties and nineties-- The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of American history from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. Combining the grand-scale human drama of The Worst Hard Time with the intimate biography and often troubling science of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks , The Girls of Atomic City is a lasting and important addition to our country's history.
And The Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini
An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else. Khaled Hosseini, the New York Times bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe; from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos; the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.
Amanda Knox
Waiting to Be Heard
A Memoir
In October 2007, twenty year old Amanda Knox, a college student from Seattle, moved to Perugia, Italy to study abroad. That November, one of her roommates, British student Meredith Kercher, was murdered in their apartment. Amanda was arrested for the murder, and a media firestorm erupted around her. The subsequent investigation and legal proceedings exposed her to international scrutiny and speculation and she became a tabloid staple. After an extremely controversial trial, she was convicted in 2009. But in October 2011, after Amanda spent four years in an Italian prison and following a lengthy appeals process, the conviction was overturned. Amanda immediately returned home to the U.S. For the very first time since her trial for murder, her four-year incarceration in Italy, and her appeal and acquittal of all charges, Amanda Knox will share the truth about her terrifying ordeal. She will give a full and unflinching account of the events that led to her arrest in Perugia and her struggles with the complexities of the Italian judicial system. She knew no Italian when she arrived and had only been in the country for one month. Aided by journals she kept and letters she wrote during her imprisonment, Amanda will discuss her harrowing experience at the hands of the Italian police and later prison guards and inmates. She will speak intimately about what it was like, at twenty years old, to find herself imprisoned in a foreign country for a crime she did not commit, and the impact it had on her family and her loved ones as they traveled back and forth to be at her side so that there was always someone with her. She will reveal never before-told details surrounding her case, and describe how she used her inner strength and strong family ties to cope with the most challenging time of her young life. With grace and maturity, Amanda will describe the aftermath of the ordeal and her return to the States, as well as her hopes for the future.
Little Green
by Walter Mosley
When Walter Mosley burst onto the literary scene in 1990 with his first Easy Rawlins mystery, "Devil in a Blue Dress"--a combustible mixture of Raymond Chandler and Richard Wright--he captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of readers (including future president Bill Clinton). Eleven books later, Easy Rawlins is one of the few private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called iconic and immortal. In the incendiary and fast-paced "Little Green," he returns from the brink of death to investigate the dark side of L.A.s 1960s hippie haven, the Sunset Strip. We last saw Easy in 2007s "Blonde Faith," fighting for his life after his car plunges over a cliff. True to form, the tough WWII veteran survives, and soon his murderous sidekick Mouse has him back cruising the mean streets of L.A., in all their psychedelic 1967 glory, to look for a young black man, Evander "Little Green" Noon, who disappeared during an acid trip. Fueled by an elixir called Gators Blood, brewed by the conjure woman Mama Jo, Easy experiences a physical, spiritual, and emotional resurrection, but peace and love soon give way to murder and mayhem. Written with Mosleys signature grit and panache, this engrossing and atmospheric mystery is not only a trip back in time, it is also a tough-minded exploration of good and evil, and of the power of guilt and redemption. Once again, Easy asserts his reign over the City of (Fallen) Angels.
The Tooth Tattoo
by Peter Lovesey
Peter Diamond, head of the Criminal Investigation Division in scenic Bath, England, is investigating the murder of a young woman whose body has been found in the canal. The only clue to her identity is a tattoo of a music note on one of her teeth.