Publisher: Crown Publishers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/1999
ISBN: 9780609602331
ISBN-10: 0609602330

Best-selling author Erik Larson relates the gripping story of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, scene of unimaginable destruction and great loss of human life, much of which could have been avoided if warning signs had been properly heeded. Sound familiar?

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/15/1987
ISBN: 9780671207144
ISBN-10: 0671207148

This not so recent yet classic nonfiction work by the prolific Mr. McCullough details the disastrous dam failure that destroyed Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1889. This is a riveting account of a tragedy of epic proportions, and yet another tale of mostly avoidable disaster brought on by hubris and greed.

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Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2003
ISBN: 9780805072938
ISBN-10: 0805072934

Largely forgotten by history, the firestorm that destroyed Peshtigo, Wisconsin, took less than an hour to obliterate the town and kill more than 2000 people. Ironically, it took place on the same night in 1871 of the great Chicago Fire. This is an excellent account of a time, a place and a ghastly disaster.

Publisher: Miramax Books/Hyperion
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/6/2007
ISBN: 9781401352202
ISBN-10: 1401352200

What could be scarier than a tornado? How about multiple tornadoes occurring close together in time and space. Even scarier is the theory that with increased global warming, catastrophic tornado clusters like the ones that occurred in April 1974 may become ever more common. Levine does an excellent and absorbing job of detailing the countless lives that were changed forever by this outbreak of savage weather.

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Publisher: McGraw-Hill Co./International Marine
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/1998
ISBN: 9780070580527
ISBN-10: 0070580529

Unlike the stories of victims of a savage environment listed above, this book relates the story of a man who goes out of his way to test his mettle against the worst nature has to offer. Simon spends a year ice-locked on a boat in the Arctic, just because it's something he always wanted to do. With only his kitten, Halifax, to keep him company, he battles cold, loneliness, polar bears, and assorted other demons to survive his self-inflicted adventure.

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/1/1998
ISBN: 9780312968649
ISBN-10: 0312968647

Widow and small town bookstore owner Claire Malloy is hosting a reception for local romance author Mildred Twiller. When Mildred ends up strangled Claire finds herself a suspect in the case. Claire must find the true killer and prove her innocence to the handsome, yet irksome, detective Peter Rosen. With her teenage daughter distracting her will she solve the case in time? This is the first in the Claire Malloy mystery series, a great option for fans of light, fun mysteries.

Publisher: Avon Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2000
ISBN: 9780380796106
ISBN-10: 0380796104

When Lucy goes to a fortune teller with her friends she doesn’t expect to get any real portents of the future. However when her three friends find that their fortunes have come true Lucy begins to think that perhaps she will be getting married soon. The only problem is that Lucy doesn’t even have a boyfriend. This Irish novel is a great read for people who enjoyed Bridget Jones’s Diary.

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Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/1/1995
ISBN: 9780345483591
ISBN-10: 0345483596

Rowan Rover, Jack the Ripper expert and tour guide, has been hired to murder one of the members of his tour group. How can he quietly dispose of the disagreeable Susan when amateur sleuth, Elizabeth MacPherson is also part of the tour? Attempted murder was never so amusing.

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/1/2002
ISBN: 9781563979743
ISBN-10: 1563979748

Eddie’s favorite food is spaghetti. Not only does it taste great but it is surprisingly useful as well.

Publisher: Scribner Paperback Fiction
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/29/1995
ISBN: 9780684803869
ISBN-10: 0684803860

Inspector Alan Grant is bored. Laid up in the hospital with a broken leg he has nothing to do except stare at the ceiling or read books. None of the books seem to interest him. His savior comes in the person of Marta Hallard who brings him a stack of pictures of famous people. One face catches his attention. It is a medieval painting. The man seems to be worried. He looks like a man of great conscience and responsibility, like a judge. Alan is shocked to discover that he is looking at the face of one of the most notorious murderers of all time, Richard III, the wicked uncle who murdered his two little nephews in the tower. With the help of a university student, Alan begins to investigate the case against Richard III and starts to wonder if the king has been the victim of slander. Derek Jacobi also narrates a wonderful talking book edition of this story.

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Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/21/2007
ISBN: 9780374349462
ISBN-10: 0374349460

Noami has an accident in which she loses the last four years of her life. In an effort to gain, it back she comes to realize that maybe the person she was for that four years is not who she wants to be now. And who is this guy that keeps saying he’s her boyfriend? From the author of Elsewhere comes a powerful novel, a great read with an exciting ending.

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Publisher: Crown Publishing
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/2/2007
ISBN: 9781400083022
ISBN-10: 1400083028

This is truly one of the most amazing and sad love stories. Rob and Renee are meant to be. They are so in love with each other and many moments of their lives are documented with mix tapes. I loved all the lists of songs, mostly from the 80’s. The songs mean so much to Rob, especially when he loses Renee at an early age. You will reminisce, laugh and cry.

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Publisher: Memory Makers Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/6/2006
ISBN: 9781892127945
ISBN-10: 1892127946

The art of scrapbooking is revolutionized in a colorful guide that offers pages that capture the true essence of real, everyday life, including motherhood, the hard work of marriage, the heartbreak of divorce, and the challenges of aging. Original. 25,000 first printing.

Publisher: Tor
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/20/2007
ISBN: 9780765315977
ISBN-10: 0765315971

Cooper's first solo novel is an engrossing tale of six young outsiders growing up on a colony planet. They were left behind as young children, descendants of a group of "altered" (genetically modified) people who landed on the planet and ultimately fought with its original colonists. Now 12 years have gone by, the "altered" children are teens, and many members of the colony are profoundly uneasy about them. It’s an adventure story, because life on this planet can be treacherous, but it is also a story about the relationships between insiders and outsiders, between adults and the teens who are about to surpass them, and between people who need each other in order to survive.

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Publisher: Delacorte Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/26/2006
ISBN: 9780385733137
ISBN-10: 0385733135

Hattie is an orphan who, at the age of 16 in the year 1918, comes into an inheritance: some land in Montana. It seems too good to be true for a girl who has never really had a home of her own, and, of course, it is. Shortly after arrival, she learns that in order to keep the land, she must cultivate at least 40 acres, and fence the property. It's a daunting job, but Hattie is determined to succeed, even in the face of bad weather, grueling work, and people who would prefer she give up.

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Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/1/2007
ISBN: 9781400065103
ISBN-10: 1400065100

Berg's latest novel features three sisters in Chicago during the later years of World War II. It's a tale of war as seen from the home front, filled with letters to and from soldiers, USO dances, rationing, and defense plant work. a

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Publisher: Oxford University Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/1991
ISBN: 9780195067958
ISBN-10: 0195067959

The letters in Dream When You're Feeling Blue reminded me of this book, a collection of actual letters from the home front during World War II. It's a great little slice of history told from the personal point of view. Letters from women of all ages and types to their husbands, sons, brothers, and friends in the war give a picture of what life was like in the United States at this particular point in time. Great for reading straight through or just dipping into.

Publisher: W. Morrow
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2002
ISBN: 9780060081966
ISBN-10: 0060081961

Both of the World War II books above reminded me of another interesting tale of the home front. Greene reconstructs the story of North Platte, Nebraska, a town situated on the major cross-country rail line that millions of soldiers took on their way to and from deployment overseas. The townspeople organized themselves, and met every train from December 1941 until well after the end of the war, saving up their own ration coupons so they could offer the boys cakes, cookies, and other home-made foods, as well as cigarettes and magazines, and even dances with the local girls.

Publisher: AdHouse Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/26/2006
ISBN: 9780976661016
ISBN-10: 0976661012

Bumperboy has a dog, affectionately known as Bumperpup. They travel via borp holes to visit other lands. On one of their trips, they find a sad, lonely mountain. While keeping the mountain company, Bumperboy and Bumperpup find the mountain is not alone, and is in danger!

Publisher: Hyperion Paperbacks for Children
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2005
ISBN: 9780786851348
ISBN-10: 0786851341

After a stack of fashion magazines falls on Kiki Kitty's head while she is blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, Kiki turns into Fashion Kitty, a feline superhero who saves other kitties from fashion disaster.

Publisher: Hyperion Paperbacks for Children
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2007
ISBN: 9780786837267
ISBN-10: 0786837268

In the sequel to Fashion Kitty, our heroine must show the school how to have their own fashion sense, rather than following the mean but popular Cassandra. Will Fashion Kitty show the school the way to fashion freedom of expression?

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/11/2007
ISBN: 9780689876868
ISBN-10: 0689876866

This sequel to the Fog Mound series starts with a harrowing near miss and rescue. Thelonious and friends travel back outside of the Fog Mound and follow clues from Bill the Human. They build a ship, meet new friends, run into more dangerous ratminks, and discover a new enemy!

Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/1/2003
ISBN: 9780525471332
ISBN-10: 0525471332

This is a story of Miss Smith, a cool new teacher who reads to her class. Whenever she does read, the characters in the book come to life. One day, the class decided to read aloud from the book on their own. Suddenly, the characters who come to life won't return back to the book!

Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/20/2006
ISBN: 9780525477228
ISBN-10: 0525477225

This is the sequel to Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook. Zack and the class follow Miss Smith as she reads from a book about dinosaurs. Watch out as a tyrannosaurus rex comes by! Read the story to find out if Zack, the class, and Miss Smith survive this latest book!

Publisher: H. Holt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/8/2006
ISBN: 9780805073942
ISBN-10: 0805073949

This picture book is a great introduction to the field of science for preschoolers. The book answers the question of, "What is science?" with bright pictures and rhyming text.