On the shelves — Feb. 16

These book are available at:

Clovis-Carver Public Library

Things Come Apart by Todd McLellan features unique photographs of 50 intricate objects, including an SLR camera, a mantel clock, an espresso machine, an iPad, a bicycle, and a grand piano whose inner workings are first displayed piece by piece, then exploding in midair to illustrate the childlike joy of taking something apart to see how it works.

The Road from Gap Creek by Robert Morgan paints an indelible portrait of modern American history as it played out in the Blue Ridge Mountains — a region cut off from mainstream life until World War II took the mountain boys to fight in far-off lands and changed their world forever.

If There’s Squash Bugs in Heaven, I Ain’t Staying by Stacia Spragg-Braude is a beautifully told tribute to Evelyn Losack, an eccentric matriarch and orchard farmer in the New Mexico village of Corrales who rolled out pie dough in the middle of the night and sang opera as they baked until the sun came up.

No Man’s Nightingale: An Inspector Wexford Novel by Ruth Rendell draws retired Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford into the investigation of murder of Sarah Hussain, a female vicar whose outspoken views on church reform have antagonized some in her congregation; but as Wexford delves into her murky past, he learns that there was more to Sarah than meets the eye.

Free Spirit: Growing Up on the Road and Off the Grid by Joshua Safran recounts with humor, detail, and compassion a mother’s well-intentioned but flawed search for utopia that led her son through a chaotic, impoverished, and rootless childhood from which he emerged resilient, resourceful, and wise.

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan brings together two women’s intertwined fates and their search for identity in a tale that spans 40 years and two continents from the lavish parlors of Shanghai courtesans to the mountains of a remote Chinese village.

Letters From the Dust Bowl by Caroline Henderson offers a first-hand account of a woman’s life in the Great Plains between 1908 and 1966, describing the rain, drought, dust storms, and blizzards that ravaged her farm in the Oklahoma panhandle and the perseverance that characterized the heart and soul of the American pioneering experience.

Portales Public Library

Divided we Fall by Trent Reedy: Danny Wright, 17, joined the Idaho Army National Guard to serve the country as his father had, but when the guard is sent to an anti-government protest in Boise and Danny’s gun accidently fires, he finds himself at the center of a conflict that results in the federal government declaring war on Idaho.

Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb: Roarke, a billionaire real estate mogul, is beginning a demolition project when he finds two skeletons wrapped in plastic behind a wall. He calls his wife, Eve Dallas to investigate. While Roark’s project is on hold, Eve discovers she has 12 murders to solve.

After a little digging, she’s discovered these bodies lived in this makeshift shelter for troubled and homeless teenage girls. Each of them had a story and they all lost out on better opportunities. The most troubling of this, is Eve believes the one person these girls have in common, is someone she knows.

How to by Julie Morstad: Explores imaginative and whimsical ways of doing things, such as how to wonder, how to see the breeze, and how to be brave.

How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens: Iris understands that grown-ups are afraid of lions, but when she finds one in her playhouse she knows he is kind so she keeps him hidden from her parents for as long as possible.

Things that Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics by Charles Krauthammer: America’s preeminent columnist presents his penetrating and surprising reflections on everything from embryo research to entitlement reform, from Halley’s Comet to border collies, from Christopher Columbus to Martin Luther King, from drone warfare to American decline.