Fayetteville Free Library Reading Room

Light of the Moon
By Luanne Rice

Fiction

Luanne Rice transports readers across the sea in this moving, magical tale of a lonely woman with a promise to keep. Set in a landscape of stunning natural beauty, Light of the Moon is a chronicle of mothers and daughters, friendship and family, and an electrifying love that illuminates a path through heartbreak and loss…and will shine in your memory long after the final page.

Spurred by her mother’s dying wish, Susannah Connolly has traveled from her lifelong home on the Connecticut shoreline to the fabled French Camargue, to see its famous white horses and find a mysterious saint linked to her family’s history. An accomplished anthropologist, Susannah has always been confident of her ability to navigate anywhere on the globe. But in the wake of a failed love affair and grieving the loss of her mother, she is adrift and uncertain, seeking only time alone to dig deeply into the personal archaeology of her own life.

American-born Grey Dempsey had come to the Camargue as a journalist, fell in love with a celebrated Romany rider, and suffered a devastating loss of his own. Now he operates a ranch as he struggles to raise his spirited but troubled young daughter who, after a terrible night years ago, fears the horses she once loved. Within their bittersweet private orbit, in the midst of the endless silvered marshlands, Susannah Connolly will find a part of herself she hadn’t known she had lost. And here she will find herself embraced by a circle of strong and passionate women bound together by their abiding faith in the legendary slave-saint Susannah seeks and in the miracles she is said to still perform for those who believe. Yet old secrets swirl within the fog-shrouded landscape, betrayals that may be beyond the power of any saint, or supplicant, to repair.

Released on January 29, 2008

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The Purrfect Murder
By Rita Mae Brown

Mystery/Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series

Autumn has arrived in cozy Crozet, Virginia, and that means the town’s inhabitants are hard at work in home and garden preparing for winter. Harry is planning to harvest her first crop of Petit Manseng grapes along with her beloved sunflowers. Meanwhile, her recent marriage to Fair and her friendship with Deputy Cynthia Cooper, who’s rented nearby Blair Farm, are flourishing. But even when peace descends on the idyllic countryside, murder is lurking.

Mrs. Carla Paulson is one of the diamond-encrusted “come-here” set who has descended on Crozet with plenty of wealth and no feeling for country ways. She’s determined to make her new house the envy of all her well-heeled friends—and enemies—and she’s hired architect Tazio Chappers to build it. From the start, the project—and Mrs. Paulson—turns into a major headache relieved only by a side trip to study Thomas Jefferson’s extraordinary summer home at Poplar Forest. Harry couldn’t foresee that a day later Mrs. Paulson would be found stabbed to death at a gala fund-raiser with Harry’s friend, Tazio Chappers, standing over her, holding the knife.

Now Harry must solve what seems to everyone else an open-and-shut case. Every other human, that is. For her four-legged friends see it Harry’s way. But will they have to choose between catching the purrfect killer or saving Harry?

Released on January 29, 2008

Look for on Rapid Reads at Fayetteville Free Library

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Bordertown
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Antonio Banderas and Martin Sheen
Rated R

Drama/Suspense

Lopez portrays Lauren Adrian, an American correspondent from a Chicago newspaper, who longs to cover the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Instead, Lauren’s mentor at the paper, George Morgan (Martin Sheen) reassigns her to Mexico. She is promptly shuttled off to Juarez, a troubled community on the Texas-Mexico border rattled by a series of brutal, unsolved homicides. The victims - all young women, employed in the maquilla plants that manufacture electrical components for exportation to the U.S. - are uniformly found raped and strangled to death. One of those women, Eva, manages to escape her captors (who believe her dead) and flees not to the corrupt police, but to the local newspaper. There, her life intersects with those of Lauren and Lauren’s former boyfriend and lover, the reporter Alfonso Diaz (Antonio Banderas). Suddenly, Lauren foresees, in the prospect of reporting Eva’s story, an assignment that could bring her closer to Iraq than she ever dreamed possible.

Released on January 29, 2008

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King of California
Starring Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood
Rated PG-13

Comedy

Michael Douglas stars as a treasure-hunting eccentric. Recently released from a mental institution and reunited with his teenage daughter, Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood), Charlie (Douglas) decides there’s century’s old gold buried near their lower-middle-class neighborhood, and sets out on an obsessive quest to find it. Along the way, the estranged parent and child rekindle a long-lost bond with each other.

Released on January 29, 2008

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The Invasion
Starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig
Rated PG-13

Sci-Fi/Thriller

A mysterious, mind-altering epidemic has infected mankind, and when a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist discovers that the outbreak seems to be extraterrestrial in origin, she struggles to save her son from infection. The space shuttle has crashed, and investigators assigned to explore the wreckage have found something unimaginable in the debris — something from the deepest reaches of outer space. Everyone who comes into contact with it soon begins to transform in ways that can’t be explained by modern science. While their physical appearance remains completely unaltered, their emotions seem to be drained and their actions become strangely inhuman. The only people who know the truth about this extraterrestrial epidemic are Washington, D.C. psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Kidman) and her longtime friend Dr. Ben Driscoll (Craig). It seems that the alien virus attacks people in their sleep, and by the time they awaken the transformation has already taken place. The contagion is spreading rapidly, and as more people fall victims to its eerie effects by the hour it becomes impossible to differentiate the infected from those who can still be trusted. When Carol realizes that her young son may hold the only hope for saving the human race, she struggles to remain awake long enough to find the boy and prevent planet Earth from becoming host to a terrifying new breed of extraterrestrials. Based on the book The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney.

Released on January 29, 2008

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Race of the Century: The Heroic True Story of the 1908 New York to Paris Auto Race
By: Julie M. Fenster

Non-Fiction

February 12 marks the centennial anniversary of the world class endurance race of the French, German, Italian and American men and their automobiles across more than 21,000 miles, three continents and six countries. Curious to know how they made it through Syracuse in the middle of winter? How did they manage in both Arctic freeze and desert heat along the route? Many people in the towns and villages had never even seen an automobile in 1908. How did they respond? Read how a spirit of adventure along with tenacity, skill and leadership determined the outcome of the race. Local author Julie Fenster acknowledges the services of our own Onondaga County library system in her research. For more information about the race, visit www.thegreatautorace.com.

Linda Ryan
Local History Librarian

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The Hunting Party
Starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard
Rated R

Action

A young journalist (Eisenberg), a seasoned cameraman (Howard) and a discredited journalist (Gere) embark on an unauthorized mission to find the no. 1 war criminal in Bosnia; they find themselves in serious jeopardy when they are mistaken as a CIA hit squad and their target decides to come after them.

Released on January 22, 2008

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The Game Plan
Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kyra Sedgwick
Rated PG

Comedy

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in this sports-themed family comedy concerning a football superstar who abandons the gridiron to answer the call of fatherhood. Joe Kingman (Johnson) was a star quarterback destined for greatness; not only is the Boston-based team he plays for well on their way to the championships, but he’s got all the money and fame that a man could want out of life. A perpetual bachelor whose one brief marriage ended many moons ago, Kingman is stunned to learn that a long-forgotten youthful fling had more permanent consequences than he ever anticipated. Now, just as his career is set to blow up bigger than ever, this perpetual bachelor learns that he has a seven year-old daughter named Peyton (Madison Pettis). Whatever road he chooses to take it certainly won’t be easy, especially since his ruthless, goal-oriented agent Stella (Kyra Sedgwick) would rather see her client scoring touchdowns than cementing familial bonds.

Released on January 22, 2008

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The Secret Between Us
By Barbara Delinsky

Fiction

Deborah Monroe and her daughter, Grace, are driving home from a party when their car hits a man running in the dark. Grace was at the wheel, but Deborah sends her home before the police arrive, determined to shoulder the blame for the accident. Her decision then turns into a deception that takes on a life of its own and threatens the special bond between mother and daughter.

Released on January 22, 2008

Look for on Rapid Reads at Fayetteville Free Library

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Killer Year: Stories to Die For
By: Lee Child

Mystery/Suspense

Killer Year is a group of 13 debut crime/mystery/suspense authors whose books will be published in 2007. The graduating class includes such rising stars as Robert Gregory Browne, Toni McGee Causey, Marcus Sakey, Derek Nikitas, Marc Lecard, JT Ellison, Brett Battles, Jason Pinter, Bill Cameron, Sean Chercover, Patry Francis, Gregg Olsen, and David White. Each of the short stories displaying their talents are introduced by their Killer Year mentors, some of which include bestselling authors Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen and Jeffrey Deaver, with additional stories by Ken Bruen, Allison Brennan and Duane Swierczynski. Bestselling authors Laura Lippman and MJ Rose contribute insightful essays. Inside you’ll read about a small time crook in over his head, a story told backwards with a heroine not to be messed with, a tale of boys and the trouble they will get into over a girl, and many more stories of the highest caliber in murder, mayhem, and sheer entertainment.

Released on January 22, 2008

Look for on Rapid Reads at Fayetteville Free Library

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Good Luck Chuck
Starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba
Rated R

Comedy

It all started when Charlie Kagan was ten years old. Breaking the cardinal rules of spin-the-bottle, Charlie refused to lip-lock with a demented Goth girl – and she put a hex on him. Now, twenty-five years later, Charlie (Dane Cook) is a successful dentist… and still cursed. While his plastic surgeon best friend, Stu (Dan Fogler), pursues as many of his patients as possible, Charlie can’t seem to find the right girl. But a life filled with all sex and no love has Charlie lonelier than ever – that is, until he meets Cam (Jessica Alba). An accident-prone penguin specialist, Cam is as hard-to-get as she is beautiful. But when a genuine romance develops, Charlie realizes he’s got to find a way to break his good-luck curse… before the girl of his dreams winds up with the next guy she meets.

Released on January 15, 2008

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Mr. Woodcock
Starring Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon
Rated PG-13

Comedy

Every junior-high geek’s worst nightmare becomes a reality in this comedy. John Farley (Seann William Scott) grew up as a chubby kid with no athletic skills and poor self-esteem, and during his early teenage years his nemesis was Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), his junior-high gym teacher, who took a sadistic glee in tormenting John and others like them. Years later, John has slimmed down, come to terms with his self-image, and become a best-selling author, publishing a self-help book on overcoming the specters of the past. John comes home to visit his widowed mother, Beverly (Susan Sarandon), and discovers she has a surprise for him — she’s getting married again, and her new fiancée is none other than Mr. Woodcock. Horrified, John is determined to keep Beverly from walking down the aisle with Woodcock, and along the way finds himself struggling to settle some old scores.

Released on January 15, 2008

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