September is the time for the Kansas Talking Books staff to reread old favorites and try something new. Find out what the staff has been reading this month.
Michael Lang, Director
DB 104524 Once there were wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists reintroducing fourteen gray wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but also Aggie, who is traumatized by the secrets that drove them out of Alaska. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
Maggie Witte, Outreach Librarian
DB 100535 The big door prize by M. O. Walsh
The residents of Deerfield, Louisiana, are intrigued when the mysterious DNAMIX machine appears in their local grocery store. With just a quick swab of your cheek and two dollars, the device claims to use the science of DNA to tell you your life's potential. Explicit descriptions of sex, strong language, some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB 128356 Custodians of wonder: ancient customs, profound traditions, and the last people keeping them alive by Eliot Stein
"A vivid look at the ten key people who are maintaining some of the world's oldest and rarest cultural traditions. Eliot Stein has traveled the globe in search of remarkable people who are preserving some of our rarest cultural rites. In Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive, Stein introduces readers to a man saving the secret ingredient in Japan's 700-year-old original soy sauce recipe. In Italy, he learns how to make the world's rarest pasta from one of the only women alive who knows how to make it. And in India, he discovers a family rumored to make a mysterious metal mirror believed to reveal your truest self. From shadowing Scandinavia's last night watchman to meeting a 27th-generation West African griot to seeking out Cuba's last official cigar factory "readers" more than a century after they spearheaded the fight for Cuban independence, Stein uncovers an almost lost world. Climbing through Peru's southern highlands, he encounters the last Inca bridge master who rebuilds a grass-woven bridge from the fabled Inca Road System. He befriends a British beekeeper who maintains a touching custom of "telling the bees" important news of the day and crunches through a German forest to find the official mailman of the only tree in the world with its own address--to which countless people all over the world have written in hopes of finding love. These are just some of the last people on Earth still in touch with quickly vanishing rites. Let Eliot Stein introduce you to all of them."-- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
DB 72629 A discovery of witches: All Souls trilogy, book 1 by Deborah Harkness
After scholar and witch Diana Bishop requests an alchemical manuscript from the depths of Oxford's Bodleian Library, she finds the magical power within the leather cover disturbing and hastily sends it back. But the book's reemergence causes a chain reaction through the paranormal community. Descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2011.
DB 75214 Shadow of night: All Souls trilogy, book 2 by Deborah Harkness
Diana and Matthew, from A Discovery of Witches (DB 72629), find themselves in Elizabethan England. Court intrigues demand their attention as they search for the enchanted Ashmole manuscript and Diana struggles to understand her powers. Descriptions of sex and some violence. Bestseller. 2012.
DB 79442 The book of life: All Souls trilogy, book 3 by Deborah Harkness
After the events of Shadow of Night (DB 75214), Diana and Matthew return to modern-day Sept-Tours. The Congregation hunts them to demand answers regarding Diana's change in powers. They race against time to find the final pages of the Book of Life. Explicit descriptions of sex and some violence. Bestseller. 2014.
Nataly Renfro, Machine Clerk
DB 125873 Blood of the Earth: Soulwood, book 1 by Faith Hunter
"When Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she was almost alone in the world, exiled by both choice and fear from the cult she was raised in, defending herself with the magic she drew from her deep connection to the forest that surrounds her. Now, Jane has referred Nell to PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency policing paranormals, and agent Rick LaFleur has shown up at Nell's doorstep. His appearance forces her out of her isolated life into an investigation that leads to the vampire Blood Master of Nashville. Nell has a team, and a mission. But to find the Master's kidnapped vassal, Nell and the PsyLED team will be forced to go deep into the heart of the very cult Nell fears, infiltrating the cult and a humans-only terrorist group before time runs out."-- From publisher. -- Some violence and some strong language.
DB 125696 Curse on the land: Soulwood, book 2 by Faith Hunter
"Set in the same world as Faith Hunter's New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock novels, the second Soulwood novel tells the story of a woman whose power comes from deep within the earth... Before Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she had no one to rely on, finding strength only in her arcane connection to the dark woods around her. But now she has friends in the newly formed PsyLED team to keep her grounded--even if being part of the agency responsible for policing paranormals comes with dangers of its own... After training at the PsyLED academy, Nell returns home to her woods to find the land feeling sick and restless. And that sickness is spreading. With the help of her team, under the leadership of agent Rick LaFleur, Nell tries to determine the cause. But nothing can prepare them for the evil that awaits: an entity that feeds on death itself. And it wants more..."-- From publisher. -- Violence and some strong language.
DB 125697 Flame in the dark: Soulwood, book 3 by Faith Hunter
"Nell Ingram has always known she was different. Since she was a child, she's been able to feel and channel ancient powers from deep within the earth. When she met Jane Yellowrock, her entire life changed, and she was recruited into PsyLED--the Homeland Security division that polices paranormals. But now her newly formed unit is about to take on its toughest case yet. A powerful senator barely survives an assassination attempt that leaves many others dead--and the house he was visiting burns to the ground. Invisible to security cameras, the assassin literally disappears, and Nell's team is called in. As they track a killer they know is more--or less--than human, they unravel a web of dark intrigue and malevolent motives that tests them to their limits and beyond."-- Provided by publisher. -- Violence, some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
DB 125698 Circle of the moon: Soulwood, book 4 by Faith Hunter
"Nell can draw magic from the land around her, and lately she's been using it to help the Psy-Law Enforcement Division, which solves paranormal crimes. PsyLED head agent Rick LaFleur shifts into a panther when the moon calls him, but this time, something has gone wrong. He calls Nell from a riverbank--he's naked, with no memory of how he came to be there, beside a black cat killed by black magic. Then more animals turn up dead--a blood-witch is out to kill. But when it seems as if their leader is involved in the crime, the bonds that hold the team together could shatter at any moment."-- From publisher. -- Violence, some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
DB 125699 Spells for the dead: Soulwood, book 5 by Faith Hunter
"Nell Ingram is a rookie PsyLed agent, using the powers she can channel from deep within the earth to solve paranormal crimes. Together with her team, she's taken on the darkest magic and the direst foes. But she'll need to tap into every ounce of power she has for her newest case. Nell is called to the Tennessee mansion of a country music star and finds a disturbing scene--dead bodies rapidly decaying before everyone's eyes. The witch on her team, T. Laine, knows this can only be one thing: death magic, a rare type of craft used to steal life forces. PsyLed needs to find this lethal killer fast. But when a paranormal-hating FBI agent tries to derail the investigation, they find themselves under attack from all sides."-- Provided by publisher. -- Some violence, some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
DB 125700 Rift in the soul: Soulwood, book 6 by Faith Hunter
"Nell Ingram draws her powers from deep in the earth, and uses them to help Psy-LED, the Psychometric Law Enforcement Division, which solves paranormal crimes. When a local vampire calls to report a dead body on her compound, Nell knows she and her team have to be ready for anything. But the dead body is just the beginning of a mystery that involves supernaturals of all kinds, including some of the most powerful vampires in the country. As Nell gets closer to the truth, she begins to understand that the perpetrator is tracking her too and that there is something personal about this crime. Something with roots that go almost as deep as those in Soulwood."-- Provided by publisher. -- Some violence, some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
Dylan Calhoon, Patron Services Manager
DB 35894 Along came a spider: Alex Cross, book 1 by James Patterson
At 5 a.m. Deputy Chief Alex Cross, detective and psychologist, is investigating a brutal triple murder in southeast Washington. Later that day, Washington Day School teacher Gary Soneji kidnaps two students. Secret Service agent Jezzie Flanagan is called in to work with Cross. They realize the killer of more than 200 people may be a psychopath with a split personality. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. Bestseller.
DB 81077 Deathworld by Harry Harrison
On the planet Pyrrus all the beasts, plants, and other natural elements were designed for one specific purpose--to destroy humans. The settlers there were supermen, twice as strong as regular men. It's up to Jason dinAlt, interplanetary gambler, to discover why Pyrrus had become so hostile. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 1983.
Troy Arndt, Circulation Clerk
DB 61197 A man without a country by Kurt Vonnegut
Eighty-two-year-old writer comments on life, art, politics, America's soul, war, music, and the destruction of the planet, among other topics. Reminisces about personal experiences. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2005.
Sarah Bruemmer, Library Assistant
DB 130031 Immaculate conception by Ling Ling Huang
"Mathilde is a dizzyingly talented yet tortured artist whose star is on the rise-and Enka, struggling to make art that feels original, is immediately drawn to her. The two strike up a close friendship that soon turns codependent. But when Mathilde's fame reaches new heights, Enka becomes desperate to keep her best friend close-no matter the cost. Enka quickly falls in love with and marries a billionaire whose family's company is funding a cutting-edge technology purported to enhance empathy, and which could allow someone else to inhabit Mathilde's mind and absorb the trauma from her brain. Soon, the boundaries between Mathilde and Enka begin to blur even further, setting in motion a haunting series of events that forever change their lives."-- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
