Legendary

Garber, Stephanie. Legendary. Book 2 of the Caraval series. 2018. 451p. ISBN 978-1-25009531-2. Available at FIC GAR on the library shelves.

In Caraval, sisters Scarlett and Donatella traveled to Caraval to escape from their evil governor father, and to participate in an amazing and magical game put together once a year by Legend, Caraval's master. While Scarlett won the game and gained her freedom, Tella was a participant in the five day game and actually died, before being brought back to life. This book was told from Scarlett's perspective.

In Legendary, it's Tella's turn to participate in a sooner than anticipated game. Told from her perspective, barely a day since the week-long party on Caraval occurred. It is suddenly announced that the entire company is traveling to Valenda, the seat of the Meridian Empire to celebrate the Empress' 75th birthday. When she was a child, Tella stumbled upon a strange deck of cards containing a picture of each of the Fates. Her mother chided her and made her promise never to touch it again. Tella had already stolen the Oracle, however, but she promised anyway. Soon after, her mother vanished.

Tella is doubly motivated to play. Her mysterious patron who got her tickets to the last games is back again, dangling the promise of reuniting her mother, but this time his price is higher. He wants Legend's true name. But the only way she can find this information is by winning this new edition of Caraval. Helped, or hindered, by Dante, one of Legend's performers, Tella sets forth on this new adventure. She immediately complicates her own life, however, when she finds herself not on the guest list at the Empress' palace. On Dante's suggestion, she informs the matron that she is the fiancee to the heir of the throne, a man ruthlessly known for killing every fiancee he has had as he has climbed the steps of power. When it turns out that her patron, Jack, and the heir to the throne are one and the same, and that said Jack also happens to be the Prince of Hearts newly freed from the Deck of Fates, Tella is no longer sure that Caraval is only a game.

Facing the impossible choice of revealing Legend's identity to Jack, which would lead to the downfall of the Master of Caraval, or giving the Deck of Fates to Legends and seeing her chance of freeing her mother end forever as he plans on destroying it, Tella must decide where her loyalties lie....

The UFO Cover-Up: What World Governments Don't Want You to Know

Friedman, Stanton T. and Kathleen Marden. The UFO Cover-Up: What World Governments Don't Want You to Know. Part of the Alien Encounters series. 2018. 211p. ISBN 978-1-50817699-2. Available at 001.94 FRI on the library shelves.

Conspiracies abound about the presence (or absence) or Unknown Flying Objects (UFO). Many encounters have been proven as fake, but just as many have never been truly disproven. This book seeks to make the case that a conspiracy to deny the mere existence of UFOs has taken place throughout Earth's societies, with powerful government officials and scientists using misinformation and bully tactics to denigrate and deny that UFOs had ever been to Earth.

Though references in the Bible and in other holy books indicate that aliens visited Earth in the past, the advent of the nuclear age seems to have attracted attention from outside our solar system, with more and better documented encounters, especially in the United States. This book explores several encounters and how, despite the evidence presented, scientific and government authorities ridiculed witnesses and ignored the science.

Readers interested in UFOs and aliens will appreciate the research examined by the authors that reveal how government agencies, scientists, and mainstream media created a campaign of denying alien visitations. Conspiracy theorists will enjoy the case laid presented that a vast conspiracy is not only possible, but has actually happened. Even readers who don't believe in aliens and in UFOs will be puzzled by the evidence accumulated over the last seventy years of the nuclear age.

Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 11

Adachitoka. Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 11. 2016. 200p. ISBN 978-1-63236-252-0. Available in the Graphic Section of the library.

After the battle with the gods, Yato has finally figured out what he wants to do with his life. He wishes to become the god who can make people happy. But happiness is often fleeting, and Hiyori herself is not feeling happy. Wanting to please her, Yato drags her and Yukiné to Capyper Kingdom, an amusement park where he can celebrate his weird attraction to Capyper. But all she wants is for Yato to want to spend more time.

Meanwhile, Kazuma is confronted by Bishamon about his interventions on behalf of Yato, supporting him financially by purchasing items from him over the decades. Kazuma reveals that he feels bad for Yato because he never had a shrine and has had bad luck with his choices of shinkis. However, now that Yato has chosen a blessed vessel, Kazuma feels he's in better shape.

Daikoku and Kofuku's background is also explored, especially their desire to have a child. But the god of bad luck manages to ruin Yato's experience at the park. And the crafter, he who can draw Ayakashis and make them real, hovers around Hiyori ...

The story continues in Noragami: Stray God, Vol 12.

The Gathering

Poblocki, Dan. The Gathering. Book 1 of the Shadow House series. 2016. 217p. ISBN 9780545925501. Available at FIC POB on the library shelves.

Poppy’s mother disappeared when she was six, so she ended up at the Thursday House for orphan children. Everytime she looks in a mirror she sees another girl in the background looking at her. The girl looks sad and never talks to her, but she shows her small objects. When Poppy wakes up in the morning, she discovers these objects on her pillow. The other children believe her to be crazy, and, in the cruel way of children, name her Crazy Poppy. On the day she’s had enough of their bullying, she snaps and it lands her in the director’s office. There, in her file, she discovers a letter a great aunt sent her a letter inviting her to live at her mansion, Larkspur. Polly is thrilled and decides to leave the orphanage and find the only family she has.

Marcus loves to play the piano, but between his siblings and his mother, he can’t find enough time that don’t disturb the others. He hears a haunting music in his mind that inspires him. His mother is thrilled when he receives a scholarship to a prestigious music school called Larkspur Academy of the Performing Arts. Marcus can’t believe his own luck. He’ll be among other musicians driven like himself.

Azumi needs to leave her Seattle home. Ever since her older sister disappeared during a trip to Japan to visit their grandmother, Azumi has been heartbroken. In her nightmares she keeps reliving her disappearance. She wants a change of scenery, and an internet search keeps returning one website, that of the Larkspur Boarding School.

Twin actors Dylan and Dash have just finished their seven year run as a child named Scooter in a family sitcom, and they are looking for work. An opportunity presents itself when they are invited to become the stars of a horror flick to be filed at Larkspur. They readily accept, and Dash sees this as his opportunity to escape Dylan’s shadows.

These five children all come to Larkspur for their own reasons, sustained by specific hopes. But what they discover instead is the horrors that haunt the old mansion. For the Shadow House seems intent on consuming them all. Once inside, they discover they can’t leave. There are strange children haunting the house. Dolls that look like them are scattered throughout the house. And everywhere they feel the malevolence of Shadow House. What evil forces called the children here? And what must they do to escape with their lives?

The Gross Science of Sneezing, Coughing, and Vomiting

Gluckstern, Rachel. The Gross Science of Sneezing, Coughing, and Vomiting. Part of the Way Gross Science series. 2019. 48p. ISBN 978-1-5081-8174-3. Available at 612.2 GLU on the library shelves.

The human body is a marvelous machine, carefully balancing many functions at once to ensure that everything works normally. But there are times where things stop working so well, and suddenly the body is sick, or is out of balance. Three of the grossest bodily functions we frequently encounter are sneezing, couching, and especially vomiting. Though these are unpleasant to witness, and even more annoying to experience, they all have the important purpose to make us feel better.

Sneezing helps remove foreign particles from the airways, allowing more oxygen to flow to the lungs. Even on normal days, the body produces over a liter of snot a day, and sneezing helps dislodging snot and other foreign objects that have accumulated inside the body. Coughing serves a similar function, loosening the lungs and projecting matter out. Wet cough generally moves mucus out of the lungs, while a dry cough is often related to environmental causes such as a dusty environment or asthma. Finally, vomiting is the body's way of removing bad or spoiled food from the gastro-intestinal track, though it can sometimes be related to motion sickness.

While we all suffer from these and experience unpleasant sensations, the purpose of sneezing, couching, and vomiting is the same: forcing something inside the body out. Full of information about these three gross bodily functions as well as instructions on how to take care of one's body, this book is a wonderful guide to learn more about how our body works!

Confessions of a Murder Suspect

Patterson, James and Maxine Paetro. Confessions of a Murder Suspect. 2012. 312p. 364 mins. ISBN 978-0-316-20698-3. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Tandy is rudely awakened when the doorbell rings in the middle of the night to their Manhattan Penthouse. Police officers are at the door, and demand to be let in. Inside, Tandy and the cops discover that her parents, Malcolm and Maud, are dead, sprawled in their bed with no sight of foul play. Nothing is missing, and there appears to have been no signs of breaking into the apartment. The only suspects are the Angel children, Matt, and their mother’s live in assistant, Samantha. Being the last one to see them alive, Tandy is their prime suspect.

To clear her name, Tandy decides to investigate their death, even if it means she discovers she did it. You see, Tandy does not remember a certain part of her life, which has been blacked out with medication and therapy. Both parents were perfectionists. Malcolm owned a pharmaceutical company, while Maud ran a hedgefund. Her upbringing has emotionally and mentally shaped the teen to be a ruthless and efficient investigator. As she starts poking around in her parents’ businesses, however, Tandy realizes that anyone could have killed them, from jealous neighbors to their own children. With embezzling charges pending for both parents, there are just too many suspects, and the public is fascinated by the Angel family’s fall from grace. Can the family pull together to discover what really happened, or will it end up tearing them apart?

Fats and Cholesterol

Perritano, John. Fats and Cholesterol. Part of the Know Your Food series. 2018. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4222-3734-2. Available at 613.2 PER on the library shelves.



Over the last forty years, Americans have been getting bigger. Obesity is now considered a national issue, and several policies have been passed to address a large increase in overweight people. The rest of the world is also affected by this problem, and fingers have pointed at a diet rich in fats and carbohydrates. But what are fats? How do they affect humans?

This short book discusses the role that fat plays in the average human diet. Fats are defined and explained, and their impact on levels of cholesterol are described. The history of fat is then presented. Of particular interest is how the problem of fat being perishable was solved by the creation of margarine, which lasted longer and cost less than butter. This led to several "butter wars" in the 1880s and 1890s, until laws were passed imposing color restrictions to ensure that people would not confuse margarine and butter. The process of hydrogenating oil under intense heat and pressure created Crisco, a cooking fat which doesn't spoil and can be used as an alternative to butter. Crisco and margarine became more popular during the Second World War, when severe shortages of butter led to rationing. The growth of the fast-food industry also provided more demands for fats, increasing their overall presence in our food supply.

Medical concerns related to fats are then reviewed. Though our body absolutely needs fats to survive, too much of them lead to an increase in both the number of fat cells as well as the overall size of the cells. Finally, fat consumption is discussed, including problems with low-fat diets and school cafeteria lunches. Possible solutions to decrease fat consumption are presented. Readers interested in where our food comes from and how we can eat better will appreciate the information in this book.