A new month brings new books! Our February picks really illustrate the great gamut of genres our titles encompass.
Like detective stories? You’re going to love our first selection for this month: The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C. Kasasian, a historical detective story set in Victorian England. The book introduces a brand-new investigative duo: 21-year-old March Middleton and her godfather, Sidney Grice, London’s preeminent personal detective. The plucky Middleton and her feisty, gin-swigging godfather make quite a team as they join forces to solve a local murder. Publishers Weekly gave it a star, calling it a “sparkling debut” and said “clever sparring, the appealing secondary characters, and an ingenious plot bode well for future installments.” The book was a big hit with the librarians at last month’s ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia, and it’s sure to become a new favorite for readers of detective stories.
You’ve heard of biographies of people, but what about biographies of things? John Dvorak’s Earthquake Storms is essentially the biography of the San Andreas Fault, a geological feature that is almost impossible to see unless you know where to look, but that has the power to change the lives of millions after it breaks. It runs the entire length of California, from the redwood forests to the east edge of the Salton Sea, slicing through both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Yet few understand the San Andreas Fault or the network of subsidiary faults it has spawned, which zigzag through Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Earthquake Storms, which Library Journal called “a must-read for earthquake buffs” tells the story of its fascinating history — and its volatile future.
