Fresh Picks  
August 2018
Still lives : a novel
by Maria Hummel

Kim Lord is an avant-garde figure, feminist icon, and agent provocateur in the L.A. art scene. Her groundbreaking new exhibition Still Lives is comprised of self-portraits depicting herself as famous, murdered women―the Black Dahlia, Chandra Levy, Nicole Brown Simpson, among many others―and the works are as compelling as they are disturbing, implicating a culture that is too accustomed to violence against womenAnnotation
Treeborne
by Caleb Johnson

Wedged between the bluffs and the river for which it's named, there's a small and all-but-forgotten town. Janie Treeborne lives on an orchard at the edge of Elberta, Alabama, and in time, she has become its keeper. A place where conquistadors once walked, and where the peaches they left behind now grow, Elberta has seen fierce battles, violent storms, and frantic change--and when the town is once again threatened from without, Janie realizes it won't withstand much more. 
The Sioux chef's indigenous kitchen
by Sean Sherman

Here is real food--our indigenous American fruits and vegetables, the wild and foraged ingredients, game and fish. Locally sourced, seasonal, "clean" ingredients and nose-to-tail cooking are nothing new to Sean Sherman, the Oglala Lakota chef and founder of The Sioux Chef. In his breakout book, The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen, Sherman shares his approach to creating boldly seasoned foods that are vibrant, healthful, at once elegant and easy.
The Lives of the Surrealists
by Desmond Morris

Surrealism did not begin as an art movement but as a philosophical strategy, a way of life, and a rebellion against the establishment that gave rise to the First World War. In Lives of the Surrealists, Desmond Morris concentrates on the artists as people--as remarkable individuals.
Good trouble : stories
by Joseph O'Neill

From bourgeois facial-hair trends to parental sleep deprivation, Joseph O’Neill closely observes the mores of his characters, whose vacillations and second thoughts expose the mysterious pettiness, underlying violence, and, sometimes, surprising beauty of ordi­nary life in the early twenty-first century.
The real Michael Swann
by Bryan Reardon

Part family drama, part tragic love story, and part disaster narrative that hits terrifyingly close to home, The Real Michael Swann is a deftly plotted suspense novel with an unflinching portrait of a marriage at its heart, challenging us to confront the unthinkable--both in our country and in our own homes.
Waterfront Manhattan : From Henry Hudson to the High Line
by Kurt C. Schlichting

For hundreds of years, the shorefront of Manhattan Island served as the country's center of trade, shipping, and commerce. With its maritime links across the oceans, along the Atlantic coast, and inland to the Midwest and New England, Manhattan became a global city and home to the world's busiest port. It was a world of docks, ships, tugboats, and ferries, filled with cargo and freight, a place where millions of immigrants entered the Promised Land. In Waterfront Manhattan, Kurt C. Schlichting tells the story of the Manhattan waterfront as a struggle between public and private control of New York's priceless asset.
Ike and Kay
by James MacManus

Reimagines the affair between General Eisenhower and Kay Summersby as they traveled through Europe together on the eve of the final assault on Nazi Germany.
State Bird Provisions : a cookbook
by Stuart Brioza

In the debut cookbook from this acclaimed restaurant, Brioza and Krasinski share recipes for their most popular dishes along with stunning photography, and inspire readers to craft an unforgettable meal of textures, temperatures, aromas, and colors that excite all of the senses
Broken Places
by Tracy Clark

Former cop Cass Raines has found the world of private investigation a less stressful way to eke out a living in the Windy City. But when she stumbles across the dead body of a respected member of the community, it's up to her to prove a murderer is on the loose.
When Einstein Walked With Godel : Excursions to the Edge of Thought
by Jim Holt

In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth.
Hell's Princess : The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
by Harold Schechter

The shocking true story of one of the twentieth century's most prolific female serial killers.
Happier Now : How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Everyday Moments - Even the Difficult Ones
by Nataly Kogan

Nationally recognized happiness expert Nataly Kogan teaches readers how to stop searching for some elusive “big happy” in the future and start finding more joy in everyday moments. Drawing from science, Eastern traditions, her experience as a refugee, and her own failing search to find lasting happiness through career success, Nataly shares simple practices to help readers live happier and have greater resilience when times get tough.
Tell me lies : a novel
by Carola Lovering

A thrilling, sexy coming-of-age story exploring toxic love, ruthless ambition, and shocking betrayal, Tell Me Lies is about that one person who still haunts you--the other one. The wrong one. The one you couldn't let go of. The one you'll never forget.Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she's never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer--new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco.
Everyday watercolor : learn to paint watercolor in 30 days
by Jenna Rainey

A contemporary paint-every-day watercolor guide that explores foundational strokes and patterns and then builds new skills upon the foundations over the course of 30 days to create finished pieces.