THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

There are no shortages of true accounts and novels based on WWII. The Lioness of Leiden (GreenleafBookGroupPress) is a historical novel written from first-hand memories of author, Robert Loewen's mother-in-law, Hetty, along with her roommate, Mimi and 17-year-old, Maria. These ladies took on roles they never could have imagined during WWII in the Netherlands. They became Dutch resistance fighters fighting the Nazi Gestapo in the Netherlands, taking on more and more dangerous assignments. When the Nazis invade the Netherlands, these three women, at great risk carry documents, secret messages and cash to protect Jews, downed pilots and others in hiding. They're always on edge that they may be turned in to the Nazis by collaborators on the lookout for resistance fighters. Like most WWII novels, The Lioness of Leiden is not an easy read. Knowing that actual people suffered the consequences to fight fascism is difficult to process.  Complicated family relationships, tragedy suffered...

  Suicide is a topic many would rather not talk about it, but you can hear the whispers. Perhaps you or someone in your family has a problem with mental illness, what do you do? Author Clancy Martin shares in his new book, HOW NOT TO KILL YOURSELF: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind (PantheonBooks) the desire to kill oneself is like any other destructive behavior and it is almost always temporary and avoidable. But make no mistake, depression and a person's lack of hope can make suicide seem like an option. It never is. Clancy Martin has tried to kill himself ten times, most recently in the basement of his home with a dog leash.  Martin chronicles his multiple suicide attempts in an intimate depiction of the mindset of someone obsessed with self-destruction. He argues that, for the vast majority of suicides, an attempt does not just come out of the blue, nor is it merely a violent reaction to a particular crisis or failure, but is the culmination of a host of long-standing i...

  A defense attorney is prepared to play. But is she a pawn in a master’s deadly match? HER DEADLY GAMES (Thomas&Mercer) i a twisting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni. Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career. Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to...

  Julie Langbein's brilliantly funny debut novel, AMERICAN MERMAID (Doubleday) that follows a writer lured to Los Angeles to adapt her feminist mermaid novel into a big-budget action film, who believes her heroine has come to life to take revenge for Hollywood's violations. Broke English teacher Penelope Schleeman is as surprised as anyone when her feminist novel  American Mermaid  becomes a best-seller.  Lured by the promise of a big payday, she quits teaching and moves to L.A. to turn the novel into an action flick with the help of some studio hacks. But as she's pressured to change her main character from a fierce, androgynous eco-warrior to a teen sex object in a clamshell bra, strange things start to happen. Threats appear in the screenplay; siren calls lure Penelope’s co-writers into danger.  Is Penelope losing her mind, or has her mermaid come to life, enacting revenge for Hollywood’s violations? American Mermaid  follows a y...

  Paris, 1974. Radha is now living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents. She has an exciting and challenging position working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her. Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully ma...

  What makes a psychopath? A young woman delves into her family’s shadowy legacy in a terrifying novel, THE FAMILY BONES (Thomas&Mercer) by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author, Elle Marr. Psychology student Olivia Eriksen’s family is notorious among true-crime buffs. Faced with a legacy of psychopathy that spans generations, Olivia has spent much of her academic life trying to answer one chilling question: Nature or nurture? Although she’s kept a safe distance from her blood relatives for years, Olivia agrees to attend a weekend reunion. After all, her fiancé is eager to meet his future in-laws, and the gathering may give her a chance to interview her elusive grandfather about the family traits. But nothing is ever peaceful among the Eriksens for long. Olivia’s favorite cousin is found dead in a nearby lake. Then another family member disappears. As a violent storm isolates the group further, Olivia’s fears rise faster than the river. And an uninvited guest is about to join...