| "To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all of the miseries of life." ~ W. Somerset Maugham Popular May Books | Science-Fiction & Fantasy | Romance | Biographies & Memoirs | Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award | Book Giveaway Popular May Books  | In this finale to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest roars with an explosive storyline that blows the doors off the series and announces that the very best has been saved for last. A familiar evil lies in wait for Lisbeth Salander, but this time, she must do more than confront the miscreants of her past; she must destroy them. Learn more | | |  | From the author of the signature bestseller Liar’s Poker comes a brilliant account of the U.S. current economic downturn. Michael Lewis’s splendid cast of characters includes villains, a few heroes, and a lot of people who look very, very foolish. In this trenchant, raucous, irresistible narrative, Lewis writes of the goats and of the few who saw what the emperor was wearing, and gives them, most memorably, what they deserve. Learn more | | |  | Amazon Canada’s First Novel Award Winner. This delightfully offbeat story features an opinionated tortoise and an IQ-challenged narrator who find themselves in the middle of a life-changing mystery. Audrey Flowers is living quietly in Oregon with Winnifred, her tortoise, when she finds out her dear father has been knocked into a coma back in Newfoundland. When Audrey disarms an Air Marshal en route to St. John’s we begin to realize there’s something, well, odd about her. Learn more | | |  | WAR by Sebastian Junger From the bestselling author of The Perfect Storm. Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat-the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. Learn more | | |  | National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist M. Glenn Taylor impresses with this second novel-a satisfying and substantive story of a man determined to create his own utopia in the hardscrabble and racially-divided West Virginia of the post-war years. Within the novel’s historic context, the small Marrowbone community, comprised of unique and open-minded souls is, like the marbles it produces, a perfect microcosm within a very imperfect world. Learn more | Science Fiction & Fantasy  | Changes by Jim Butcher The newest addition to the New York Times bestselling Dresden Files. Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden’s lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Now Arianna Ortega has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace his own untapped dark power. Harry’s not fighting to save the world. He’s fighting to save his child. Learn more | | |  | New York Times bestselling author China Mieville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other-real or imagined. When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined. Learn more | | |  | The second book in New York Times Bestselling author Robin Hobb’s Rain Wild Chronicles. Returning to the territory of her beloved Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, Robin Hobb creates a lush and ultimately triumphant tale set in an imaginative world of magic and wonder as compelling and emotionally resonant as our own. Learn more | | | Find other Science Fiction & Fantasy books on the Science Fiction Masterworks community list. | Romance  | Wedding baker Laurel McBane is surrounded by romance working at Vows wedding planning company. But she’s too low-key to appreciate all the luxuries that their clients seem to long for. What she does appreciate is a strong, intelligent man, like Delaney, on whom she’s had mega-crush since childhood. When Laurel’s quicksilver moods get the better of her-leading to an angry, hot, all-together mind-blowing kiss with Del-she’ll have to quiet the doubts in her mind to turn a moment of passion into forever. Learn more | | |  | Rachel Watkins has her hands full. Her mother had been the town midwife, but when her daughter Alice died under her care, she refused to assist in a childbirth ever again. Since then Rachel has assumed the work. She also takes care of Alice’s six-year old, Charlotte. One day, Charlotte befriends a stranger ill with influenza. Although badly scarred by wounds suffered in the War, he is strong and slowly recovers. Rachel is drawn to him despite his disfigurement, and his voice is comforting, vaguely familiar. Learn more | | |  | On the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him. In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final, impossible request. I want you to marry again. And to that end she’s chosen three women she asks him to consider. During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne, and Macy, learning more about each of them and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He’s a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. Learn more | | | AmazonEncore Presents: |  | On the surface Herb and Lorna Piper are a typical, sunny 1950s American couple. Their story seems like an American myth: small-town origins, Jazz Age romance, Depression trials, postwar prosperity. But this book begins with the shocking, wondrous discovery, made by their grandson after their death. And from that moment the story of Herb and Lorna takes on a tone of mingled awe and delight, propelled by a pair of secrets that dovetail at the end into a luscious and bawdy revelation. Learn more | AmazonEncore identifies exceptional yet overlooked books and works with the author to reintroduce their books to readers. | Find other Romance books on the Romance Suspense Novels, Harlequin Blaze or Restoration Era Romances community lists. | Biographies & Memoirs  | Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed him-the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York’s Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood-he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. Learn more | | |  | In this brave, beautiful, and deeply personal memoir, Laura Bush, tells her own extraordinary story. Born in the boom-and-bust oil town of Midland, Texas, she grew up as an only child in a family that lost three babies to miscarriage or infant death. She vividly evokes Midland's brash, rugged culture, her close relationship with her father, and the bonds of early friendships. When Laura first left West Texas in 1964, she never imagined that her journey would lead her to the White House. Learn more | | |  | Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation. Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world. Learn more | | | AmazonEncore Presents: |  | In 2003, Kay Bratt’s life changed dramatically. A wife and mother of two girls in South Carolina, Bratt relocated her family to rural China to support her husband as he took on a new management position for his American employer. Seeking a way to fill her days and overcome the isolation she experienced upon arriving in a foreign country, Bratt began volunteering at the local orphanage. Within months, her simple desire to make use of her time transformed into a heroic crusade to improve the living conditions and minimize the unnecessary deaths of Chinese orphans. Learn more | Vote for 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Winners Amazon is days away from announcing the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award finalists. On May 25th, three finalists will be announced in the General Fiction category and three in the Young Adult Fiction category. Visit the official contest page at www.amazon.com/abna to read extended excerpts from each of the finalists, and reviews from industry experts and Amazon customers. Voting will start on May 25th, and run through 11:59PM EST on June 2nd. Make sure to vote for your favorite in each category. You may vote once in each category and must have an Amazon.com account to vote. Good luck to all six finalists. Book Giveaway! We’re giving away 10 copies of Elizabeth Street by Laurie Fabiano to the first 10 members who post in this discussion thread.  | Laurie Fabiano tells a remarkable, and previously unheard, story of the Italian immigrant experience at the start of the twentieth century. Culled from her own family history, Fabiano paints an entrancing portrait of Giovanna Costa, who, reeling from personal tragedies, tries to make a new life in a new world. This intoxicating story follows Giovanna as she finds companionship, celebrates the birth of a baby girl and takes pride in a growing business. However, these modest successes are rewarded with the attention of the notorious Black Hand, a gang of brutal extortionists. As the stakes grow higher and higher, readers share with Giovanna her desperate struggle to remain outside the fray, and then to fight for-and finally to save-that which is important above all other: family. Learn more | _____________________
Happy Reading,
Amanda & the Shelfari team |
