The Ultimate Art Museum by Ferren Gipson
Gr 5 Up–Readers can rest their feet while they meander through an imagined art museum in this comprehensive review of human history and art through the ages. Produced in collaboration with art experts and educators, this volume presents exhibits from the Stone Age to the present. It is organized like a world famous museum. The table of contents is rendered as a color coded museum map–including three wings, several galleries, and over a hundred rooms that are grouped by time periods and themes. Each gallery includes a period overview and a colorful geographic map. The galleries are labeled with catchy titles such as “Holy Moly” and “Acting Out.” The panels include photographic views and descriptions of the most significant artifacts and structures of the era. Smaller panels provide magnified views and fascinating facts about the featured works. Critical thinking questions and activities will encourage students to make multifaceted connections. A museum guide, glossary, index, and picture credits are included in the back matter. The lack of formatting of the picture credits may cause confusion if source or location information is needed. This reference work does not have the visual appeal of Aaron Rosen’s A Journey Through Art: A Global History, which provides contextualized learning through its expressive illustrations; however, it covers more cultures and works of art from six continents of the world. Include both titles in your library to give readers a thorough overview of the history of civilization and art. VERDICT A recommended world art survey that can be utilized for art history instruction, school reports, and inquisitive browsing.–Rita Christensen, School Library Journal Review
Available as book on children’s nonfiction.
No Exit by Taylor Adams
College student Darby Thorne, the heroine of this nail-biting thriller from Adams (Our Last Night), braves a Colorado blizzard to try to reach her mother, who’s in the late stages of pancreatic cancer. But the weather is too much for Darby’s aged Honda Civic, and she’s forced to spend the night at a rest stop visitor’s center. The volunteer-run facility is nearly empty, except for four other stranded travelers-a quirky, but seemingly harmless group of strangers. That is, until Darby goes to the parking lot, in search of a cell signal, and finds nine-year old Jamie “Jay” Nissen-mouth duct taped, in a dog crate, locked inside a van. With no cell service and no prospect of the roads being cleared until dawn at the earliest, Darby has to figure out a way to save Jay. The only problem, she doesn’t know which traveler is the kidnapper or who can be trusted. The action drives to a climatic and emotionally charged ending. Only a predictable twist and moments when Jay’s maturity feels beyond her years mar this otherwise satisfying page-turner. Agent: Lorella Belli, Lorella Belli Literary. (Publisher’s Weekly Review, Jan.)
Available as an ebook.
Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook by Mary Berry
More than 650 classic recipes from Britain’s best-loved cookery writer.
Britain’s best-loved cookery writer, Mary Berry, is back with an updated edition of her bestselling complete cookbook. Learn to cook like your favorite TV chef with hundreds of delicious tried-and-tested recipes and must-know cooking techniques for you to give a whirl.
From mouth-watering classics like cheesy cottage pie, steak Diane, and salmon en croûte to family favorites such as lasagne, chili con carne, and three-cheese macaroni, you’ll find your belly full and your heart fuller. With some exciting twists and turns along the way – prawn tacos, Thai spiced soup, and stir-fried Chinese noodles – there is something for everyone! Not to mention a sumptuous collection of desserts guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth, including cakes, pastries, soufflés, and trifles.
In this book, you will find over 650 photographed recipes – from classic family favorites to dinners with a twist, and there is something for everyone in this much-loved cookery bible. It is packed with tasty dishes, with meat and vegetarian starters, mains, and desserts. Perfect for everyday cooks, baking enthusiasts, and Mary Berry fans alike, Mary Berry The Complete Cookbook is the crowning glory of every cook’s shelf.
Available as a book in New Nonfiction.
Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall
English writer Hall serves up twist after twist in her canny U.S. debut, a story of grief, love, and murder set in the Dorset countryside. The year is 1968 and Beth Johnson, wife of gentle sheep farmer Frank, remains shattered by the death of her nine-year-old son, Bobby, in an accident two years earlier. Her first love, Gabriel, a bestselling novelist who grew up wealthy on a nearby estate, returns with his young son, Leo, after separating from his American wife. Beth reconnects with Gabriel, fantasizing about rewinding her life to a simpler time, and she forges a bond with Leo, who reminds her of Bobby. An unreliable narrator, Beth provides a blinkered view of the action, mentioning early on that a farmer has been murdered and someone close to her is on trial for the crime, but neglecting to reveal the identities of these two characters until more than halfway through the narrative. As a result, readers are kept guessing about the precise consequences of Gabriel’s return and the circumstances behind Bobby’s death. Hall makes Beth a fascinatingly complex lead who vacillates between restlessness and contentment, and the other characters’ motivations prove to be different than they seem at first glance. This sharp morality tale will stay with readers. Agent: Hattie Grunewald, Blair Partnership. (Mar.)
Gideon the 9th by Tamsyn Muir
Queer necromancers vie for power, solve ancient puzzles, and cross rapiers while exploring haunted deep-space ruins in this madcap science fantasy romp that manages to be both riotously funny and heartbreaking. Eighteen-year-old orphan Gideon Nav has spent her life devising ways to escape indentured servitude to the Ninth House. When Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the sole daughter and heir to the Ninth, sees a chance to become a Lyctor, right hand to the Necromancer Divine, she needs a cavalier by her side if she hopes to beat out the other eight Houses-and only Gideon will do. Much as her necromancers do with human remains, Muir effortlessly compiles macabre humor, body horror, secrets, and tenderness into the stitched-together corpse of a dark universe, then brings it to life with a delightfully chaotic, crackling cast of characters and the connective tissue of their relationships. From the mad science joys of necromantic theory to the deliciously ever-evolving tension between Gideon and Harrow, this adventurous novel not only embraces its strangeness but wrings delight from it. The result is an addictive, genre-bending book that will wow readers with its vibrant energy, endearing cast, and emotional gut-punch of a finale. (Publisher’s Weekly Review, Sept.)
Available as a book, eaudiobook, and ebook.
A Fire in His Soul : Van Gogh, Paris, and the Making of an Artist by Miles Unger
Six hundred pages on two years in his life might seem excessive, until one starts reading.
Van Gogh (1853-1890) may be the only artist whose work is recognized by people with no interest in art. Biographies are plentiful, and journalist and art historian Unger, author of Picasso and the Painting That Shocked the World, insists that this is not another. Instead, it’s a close examination of 1886-88, the years that the artist spent in Paris with his brother after arriving as an obscure painter of drab scenes of peasant life. Unger delivers an account of the young artist that may unnerve readers accustomed to the colorful media portraits. His van Gogh is a cripplingly neurotic, perhaps mentally ill, figure who “found relief from his own pain by inflicting it on those closest to him” and who leeched unmercifully off his younger brother. Unger includes an expert history of France’s art scene over the previous century, dominated by the early struggle and later triumph of the avant-garde. Despite the traditional depiction of van Gogh as a solitary genius, he quickly joined a coterie of like-minded painters (Paul Gauguin, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac), and his work began to take on the vivid color and imagery he is known for. It didn’t hurt that his brother was an art dealer more willing than colleagues to patronize new work. By the time van Gogh left for the south of France, his work seethed with the nervous energy that attracted praise even during his lifetime. Despite abbreviated attention to the two years before his death, Unger delivers valuable insights into van Gogh’s person as well as his art.
An incisive inquiry into an immortal artist’s life. –Kirkus Reviews (12/24/2024)
Available as a book in New Adult Nonfiction.