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  May is a great month to drag a comfortable deck chair into your favorite spot, sit outside for the sun and breeze, and delve into a great book.

Parrot and Olivier in America (Hardcover)

By Peter Carey

$26.95

ISBN-13: 9780307592620
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Knopf, 4/2010

Other Editions of this Title

Through a series of unfortunate events Oliver, the son of aristocrats who survived (barely) the French Revolution, ends up heading to America accompanied by a reluctant servant, Parrot.  Poor Parrot survived fire, the Australian penal colony, and a variety of mishaps only to be saddled with keeping the snobbish Oliver out of harm’s way.  America is a bit of a shock to Oliver’s upper class sensibilities.  But it is just the type of environment for Parrot’s talents to thrive.  The story is great fun, told with humor and verve.

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What Is Left the Daughter (Hardcover)

By Howard Norman

$25.00

ISBN-13: 9780618735433
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 7/2010

Other Editions of this Title

On the same day, from two separate bridges, Wyatt’s parents jumped into the cold, turbulent water leaving him orphaned.  Only 17, Wyatt needs the comfort of family; his uncle offers him an apprenticeship in his toboggan shop.  Tilda, his bodacious cousin, claims his heart.  The course of young love rarely runs smooth; Wyatt’s cousin gives her heart to a young German.  Fear and rumor make being a German difficult during WWII in the small burg of Middle Economy.  Howard Norman masterfully blends fact and fiction in this stunning novel.

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Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World (Paperback)

By Seth Stevenson

$15.00

ISBN-13: 9781594484421
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Riverhead Trade, 4/2010

Other Editions of this Title

Have you ever wanted to escape?  Leave all the hustle and bustle, go walk about for a good long time?  Seth Stevenson and his wife go around the world, afoot, afloat, on bikes or other time honored conveyances other than jumbo jet.  It sounds like fun!  Sure there is hardship, but what an excellent adventure!

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Private Life (Hardcover)

By Jane Smiley

$26.95

ISBN-13: 9781400040605
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Knopf, 5/2010

Other Editions of this Title

Margaret was introduced to tragedy early in life, with the deaths of her brothers followed closely by the loss of her father.  A woman in the l880’s was expected to marry, preferably finding a good provider.  Margaret’s sisters follow the program but at 27 Margaret is still unclaimed.  Andrew Early proposes and moves her from Missouri to California. Their lives will span a lot of history, the 1911 fire and Earthquake in San Francisco and two world wars. Andrew is a difficult man, wrapped up in a quest to understand the order of the universe.  Affable when he is questioning but rigid once he thinks he has the answer.  Arrogance and hubris cause much damage in the world.

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Black and Blue (Paperback)

By Anna Quindlen

$15.00

ISBN-13: 9780812980493
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 3/2010

Other Editions of this Title

Bobby Benedetto used to make Fran’s skin flame red as he heated every nerve ending in her young body. Now he turns that delicate skin a different hue, black, blue and broken.  Fran tries, she tries so hard.  She tries to learn his moods, to dress the way he wants, keep everything just the way he likes it and avoid those powerful fists.  She resists the knowledge that in order to live, she must run.  Turn her back on everything familiar, she take her son Robert, and heads into the unknown stripped of her identity.

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