Briefly Noted | Chapter 16

Defiance

C.J. Redwine

Balzer + Bray
432 pages
$9.99

“In this distinctively imagined dystopian fantasy, Rachel and Logan must throw their lots together in order to fight for justice against a cruel city-state dictator known as the Commander. At 15, Rachel possesses qualities normally forbidden to girls, such as fighting skills, self-confidence, and a nurtured belief in her own independence. …In alternating voices, Redwine unfolds the adventures, threats, deep disappointments, and hard-won gains the two teens experience. Logan is a tech whiz who places logic and planning above quick response, while Rachel’s passionate disposition has her reaching further than she can readily grasp. … Fans of Ursula K. Le Guin will be excited to meet this new but skilled fantasist.”

–Booklist

Behind the shattered Glass

Tasha Alexander

304 pages
$24.99

“Lady Emily Hargreave’s latest case presents itself, literally, on her doorstep with the abrupt collapse of handsome Archibald Scolfield, her newest neighbor and latest in a line of victims who “have no sense of decorum at all.” Scolfield arrived to claim his inheritance as the new marquess of Montagu, and his demise in this isolated location is extremely awkward. Lady Emily, whose intrepid personality rivals Elizabeth Peters’ fearless Amelia Peabody, chooses at once to investigate Scolfield’s new household and, surprisingly, when clues lead her there, to grill her own house staff. … This delightful addition to Alexander’s Victorian series, with its requisite cast of aristocrats, locals, and disgruntled staff, is an eminently readable romantic puzzler reminiscent of Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey novels and the mysteries of Georgette Heyer.”

–Booklist

Southern as a Second Language

Lisa Patton

Thomas Dunne Books
304 pages
$24.99

“Reading Southern as a Second Language is like sitting with a keen-eyed, witty best friend while she whispers her secrets that seem meant only for you. Lisa Patton writes with profound intimacy as she reveals the wonder of love and acceptance and its transcendent power to change a life.”

–Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of And Then I Found You

Blitzkrieg

John Gosslee

Rain Mountain Press
57 pages
$10

“Enter the war room by reading the book and discover how the poem ‘Portrait of an Inner Life’ was systemically posted throughout the United States in six months by organized street teams. See photographs of the posted stickers and follow the fates of the poem-filled glass bottles that were set adrift in Blitzkrieg.”

–from the publisher

The Splendour Falls

Sam Pickering

Mercer University Press
224 pages
$20

“.. For three decades Sam Pickering has written essays, his words rolling in a fine frenzy over ordinary life discovering the marvelous and the absurd. His curiosity ranges, but it also rumpuses and rollicks. He wanders the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, rural Connecticut, farmland in Nova Scotia, and islands in the sun. Strangers tell him their life stories—tales that are almost as odd as the fictional characters he meets. … Add smiles and laughter, a smidgen of melancholy, and a pinch or two of happy lies, and you have Pickering the essayist.”

–from the publisher

Simple Dreams

Linda Rondstadt

Simon & Schuster
256 pages
$26

“Ronstadt’s memoir is remarkable but not for reasons that readers might think; it is remarkable because of its very ordinariness. There are no tales of parental cruelty or substance abuse. She is lucky that her life has been exceedingly normal, or as normal as it can be for someone as talented and famous as she is, having sold more than a million records. … She writes about her work with the folk-rock band the Stone Poneys, becoming a solo act, exploring the Great American Songbook, recording traditional Mexican folk songs with Rubén Fuentes, and her famous musical friendships, including those with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Ronstadt’s fans will love this refreshingly nice and gracious musical memoir.”

–Booklist