Friday, January 20, 2012

New This Week


Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Cannot Stop Talking by Susan Cain (Crown)

Susan Cain demonstrates how introverted people are misunderstood and undervalued in modern culture, charting the rise of extrovert ideology while sharing anecdotal examples of how to use introvert talents to adapt to various situations. 


The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey (Harper)

Overcoming a life of hardship and loneliness, Gemma Hardy, a brilliant and determined young woman, accepts a position as an au pair on the remote Orkney Islands where she faces her biggest challenge yet.  


Available Man by Hilma Wolitzer (Ballantine)

Inadvertently attracting several single women while mourning the death of his adored wife, 62-year-old Edward Schuyler is profiled in a singles ad by his stepchildren and goes on several unsettling dates before a chance encounter leads to a promising new relationship.   

Heft by Liz Moore (W.W. Norton)

Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career-if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel's mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur's. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene's unexpected phone call to Arthur-a plea for help-that jostles them into action. Through Arthur and Kel's own quirky and lovable voices, Heft tells the winning story of two improbable heroes whose sudden connection transforms both their lives.

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