On the Shelves — June 29

The following books are available for checkout:

Clovis-Carver Public Library

John Wayne: The Genuine Article by Michael Goodman provides a treasure trove of memorabilia, stories, interviews, and letters to give readers a rare glimpse into the life of one of the most iconic movie stars of all time, tracing the rise of an ordinary man who became a box-office draw for six decades and who was known simply as the Duke.

While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell retells “Sleeping Beauty” from the perspective of Elise, a peasant girl who becomes a servant to the royal family and who, as a companion to the princess, is the only one who knows the truth of what happened many years ago.

Vietnam: The Real War collects images from scores of photojournalists for the Associated Press whose iconic photographs capture the experience of soldiers in battle and the travails of civilians caught in the war, depicting the human story that shaped the public perception of the conflict.

Gone With the Woof: A Melanie Travis Canine Mystery by Laurien Berenson throws dog lovers a treat as stay-at-home mom Melanie Travis agrees to help write the life story of a legendary dog breeder whose amorous adventures provide more than enough motives and suspects for the hit-and-run murder that ended his life.

Strength for the Sandwich Generation: Help to Thrive While Simultaneously Caring for Our Kids and Our Aging Parents by Kristine Bertini addresses the complexities that arise for the millions of middle-aged adults caring for both their children and their elders, showing how to balance their demanding and multiple roles while also finding meaning and genuine happiness in their complex world.

The Martian by Andy Weir shapes up like “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” as astronaut Mark Watney finds himself stranded on the planet and embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive with nothing but his ingenuity, engineering skills, and a gallows sense of humor to give him strength to survive.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone offers the definitive biography of the technology juggernaut who placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read.

Portales Public Library

The Arsonist by Sue Miller: In the small New Hampshire town of Pomeroy, nobody has ever needed to lock their door, because there has never been a need to distrust anyone. After working in East Africa for fifteen years, Frankie Rowley finally comes back to Pomeroy, to the farmhouse where she and her family had spent every summer. But on her first night back, one of the houses right down the road from Frankie burns to the ground. Soon, house after house is burned, and Frankie realizes that each house belongs to the summer people, the families who do not live year-round in Pomeroy. As this unknown and threatening arsonist continues to set fire to the houses in the community, each of the townspeople becomes suspect. Meanwhile, Frankie begins an affair with the editor of Pomeroy's newspaper, a passionate relationship that stands out in stark contrast to the menace that has the town in an uproar.

Scandal by Sarah Ockler: Lucy has learned a lot from reading the about the mistakes of celebrities in the tabloids: stay out of the spotlight, stay off of the internet, and keep your secrets close. These rules have steered Lucy through high school without any problems, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick right before prom and begs Lucy to step in as her boyfriend Cole's date, Lucy doesn't think twice about it-despite the fact that she is secretly in love with Cole herself. But things go wrong when Cole kisses Lucy at the prom's after-party, and somebody manages to put pictures of the evidence on Facebook before Lucy and Cole have a chance to confess to Ellie. Suddenly Lucy finds herself in the middle of a scandal and in danger of losing her best friend, but that isn't the worst of it-the Facebook hacker has put several other students' wild actions at the party online as well, causing massive mayhem throughout the school. But Lucy knows that the only way she will survive until gradation is to find and expose the hacker, and mend fences with both Ellie and Cole, who appears to return Lucy's feelings.

Nine Lives to Die, by Rita Mae Brown: The end of the year is coming up fast in Crozet, Virginia, and winter has brought snow and well as the town's usual seasonal activities for Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen and her husband Fair. As Harry and Fair work on distributing food to the local residents and shopping for the Silver Linings youth organization's yearly fundraiser, Harry and her animal sleuths, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tee Tucker, dig up something far more sinister from the past than the new fallen snow. Two mentors for Silver Linings are found dead, and then a pair of severed fingers are discovered in a pencil cup at one of the town's churches. Harry fears that they events are somehow tied to the 25-year-old disappearance of her high school Latin teacher, but are they? But as the animals make yet another grisly discovery near Harry's own farm, she suspects that not only have horrible murders occurred in Crozet, but someone has also done their best to cover them up. But Harry is determined to find out the truth, no matter what.