Selected New Books in Ekstrom Library: 2019

In Enchanted Ground, Sharon Hatfield brings to life the true story of a nineteenth-century farmer-turned-medium, Jonathan Koons, one of thousands of mediums throughout the antebellum United States. In the hills outside Athens, Ohio, Koons built a house where it was said the dead spoke to the living, and where ancient spirits communicated the wisdom of the ages. Koons himself were part of a larger, uniquely American moment that still marks the cultural landscape today.

Why has a tiny old mining town -- Crestone, Colorado -- become home to twenty-five spiritual centers representing nearly all the brand-name faiths of the world? Paine explores Crestone's wintry, oxygen-thin mountain geography and introduces a cast of spiritual mavericks and unlikely visionaries. Paradoxically, the town's amazing spiritual diversity highlights fundamental commonalities in a way that will strike and even inspire believers, agnostics, and searchers of every stripe.

Philip Almond reveals that - whether in Judaism, Christianity or Islam - God is seen to be at once utterly beyond our world yet at the same earnestly desiring to be at one with it. In the Christian chapter of this story the paradox arguably reaches its improbable zenith: in the fragile form of a human being the infinite became finite, the eternal temporal. Expertly placing the narrative of divine presence within the wider history of ideas, Almond suggests that the notion of a deity has been the single greatest conundrum of medieval and modern civilization.

At the dawn of the radio age in the 1920s, a settler-mystic living on northwest coast of British Columbia invented radio mind: Frederick Du Vernet--Anglican archbishop and self-declared scientist--announced a psychic channel by which minds could telepathically communicate across distance. Retelling Du Vernet's imaginative experiment, Pamela Klassen shows us how agents of colonialism built metaphysical traditions on land they claimed to have conquered.

Taylor focuses on the eight-mile stretch of Elkhorn creek from the Forks of the Elkhorn to Knight's Bridge to provide a glimpse into the economic, social, and cultural transformation of Kentucky from wilderness to its current landscape. He explores both the natural history of the region and the formation of the Forks community. A beautiful blend of creative storytelling and historical exploration of one of the state's beloved waterways, Elkhorn celebrates a gem in the heart of central Kentucky.

Chronicling the rise and fall of Sex Money Murder, one of the most violent gangs of its era, in this engrossing work of gritty urban reportage, Jonathan Green offers a visceral and devastating portrait of a New York City borough going down in flames, and of the detectives and prosecutors struggling to stem the tide of violence. Drawing on first-person interviews, police reports and court transcripts, Sex Money Murder, gives an extraordinary perspective on modern-day America.

Spanning the 130-year period between the end of the Tokugawa Era and the end of the Cold War, this book introduces students to the formation, collapse, and rebirth of the modern Japanese state. It demonstrates how, faced with foreign threats, Japan developed a new governing structure to deal with these challenges and in turn gradually shaped its international environment. This book will be an essential resource for students of Japanese modern history and politics.

Higher education is no longer suited for the role it was intended to play in society. Who Are Universities For? argues for change in the organization of higher education in the United Kingdom, both how it relates to work and fits into students' lives. It proposes a system that is more diverse, democratic, and connected to the outside world. A short but deeply practical book, Who Are Universities For? will be of interest to anyone currently working or studying in higher education.

How art has made the effects of radiation, the lives of atomic bomb survivors, and the politics of the atomic age a relevant topic. Artwork created in response to the events of the nuclear era allow us to see them in a different way. Decamous explores the atomic age from the perspective of the arts, investigating atomic-related art inspired by the work of Marie Curie, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the disaster at Fukushima, and other episodes in nuclear history.

Walls Turned Sideways accompanies the largest museum presentation to investigate the criminal justice system in the US. What is the social role and responsibility of the artist in times of political urgency? What functions can only art and artists fulfill in the political landscape? This catalog discusses artists who address the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex.

New York Times Bestseller - Stormy Daniels tells her whole story for the first time: what it's like to be a leading actress and director in the adult film business, the full truth about her journey from a rough childhood in Louisiana onto the national stage, and everything about her interaction with Donald Trump that led to the nondisclosure agreement and the behind-the-scenes attempts to intimidate her. People can't stop talking about her fresh, surprising, completely candid book.

In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. Ten years after the war has ended, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat.

A spy is dead. A legend is born. This is how it all began. The explosive prequel to Casino Royale, from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz. Forever and a Day is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking readers into the very beginning of James Bond's illustrious career and the formation of his identity. The book recounts Bond's first mission as a double-0 agent, his status recently earned by killing a wartime traitor in Stockholm.

When Fiona Lawson arrives home to find strangers moving into her house, she is plunged into terror and confusion. She and her husband, Bram, have owned their home on Trinity Avenue for years; how can another family possibly think the house is theirs? And why has Bram disappeared--along with their two young children--when she needs him most? Fiona begins to untangle the lies that led to a devastating crime and a betrayal so shocking it will teach her to keep her own secrets behind locked doors.

Three families have each lost a young girl. When the story of a miracle involving a lifeless young girl being pulled out of the Thames only to breath again a couple of hours later begins to make it way from town to town, each of these families hope that this young girl is their own. The story explores each of the claims on the young girl, the motivations and histories of these claimants, and many the townspeople who are drawn to the young girl and the mystery behind her apparent miracle.

Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock finds herself lost and alone after a recent move to Melbourne, brokenhearted by the decisions she's had to make. Her new workplace is a minefield and she doesn't get along with her new partner, Detective Sergeant Nick Fleet. Then Sterling Wade, an up-and-coming actor, is murdered in the middle of an action-packed shot, forcing Gemma and Nick to put aside their differences to unravel the mysteries surrounding the actor's life and death.

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. As a flight attendant, her job makes it easy to find adventure. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room next to a dead body, she is afraid to call the police – she’s a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home, so she begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it’s too late to come clean or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai.

When Detectives Nick Fourcade and Annie Broussard enter the home of Genevieve Gauthier, the bloody crime scene that awaits them is unexpected. Genevieve's seven-year-old son, KJ, has been murdered by an alleged intruder, yet Genevieve is fine, a witness left behind. The next day KJ's babysitter, twelve-year-old Nora Florette, goes missing, creating panic. With pressure mounting from a new sheriff, the media, and the parents, how far will Nick and Annie have to go to uncover the truth?

When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he's determined to cling to power. Soon, his illness becomes serious enough to require a dramatic diversion--war with the West. Upon learning of Krupin's condition, the CIA director understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation that could leave millions dead is to send operative Mitch Rapp to Russia under impossibly dangerous orders--killing Krupin.

New York Times Bestselling Author
In this novel spanning from World War II to the present, three generations of the Wise family--Evelyn, Laura, and Grace--hunt for contentment amid chaos of their own making. In A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl we see these women and their trials, small and large: social slights and heartbreaks; marital disappointments and infidelities; familial dysfunction; mortality.

In Iran, protests are growing against the oppressive regime, but a spy of questionable loyalty senses something is amiss. Meanwhile, with the United States reeling from a string of natural disasters, Russian troops and ships are massing on the borders of the Ukraine, bringing the two ever closer to war. Across the globe a conspiracy is brewing, so brilliant that no one has yet joined the dots. The distracted President Ryan doesn't have much time to play catch-up.

Rachel's current troubles--a middle-aged son mining digital currency in her basement, a scientist granddaughter trying to peek into her genes--are only the latest in a litany spanning dozens of countries, scores of marriages, hundreds of children, and 2,000 years, going back to Roman-occupied Jerusalem. Only one person shares her immortality: a lover who pursues her through the ages. But when her children develop technologies that could change her fate, Rachel must find a way out.

Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned. They were presumed dead until a decade later when the son appears. He is sent to a psychiatric facility where Maya Stark, a psychologist, is charged with making a connection to him. No matter how hard she tries he refuses to answer her questions. But Maya has secrets, too, and as she's drawn closer to him, she'll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.

New York Times Bestseller
The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father's disappearance. At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge--for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle. The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome?

Kate Bowler specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God's disapproval. At thirty-five, everything in her life seems to point toward "blessing." Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live.

In 1942, the Allies were losing, Germany seemed unstoppable, and every able man in England was on the front lines. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was forced to do something unprecedented: recruit women as spies. Thirty-nine answered the call, leaving their lives and families to become saboteurs in France. In D-Day Girls, Sarah Rose draws on recently declassified files, diaries, and oral histories to tell the thrilling story of three of these remarkable women.

Discerning Experts assesses the studies that many governments rely on to help guide environmental policy and action. Through their close look at environmental assessments involving acid rain, ozone depletion, and sea level rise, the authors explore how experts decide on the scientific facts about problems like climate change. This book reveals their strengths and weaknesses, and explains what assessments can--and cannot--be expected to contribute to public policy and the common good.

Renowned spy novelist Kit Carradine is approached by an MI6 officer with an assignment: to track down a mysterious woman in Marrakesh. Lara Bartok is a leading figure in Resurrection, a group whose brutal attacks on prominent right-wing figures have spread hatred and violence across the world. Intelligence services are desperate to find her after she disappears. But as Carradine edges closer to the truth, he finds himself drawn to her and faces an awful choice: to abandon her, or to risk everything trying to save her.

Alicia Berenson's life is seemingly perfect--she's a famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer. One evening Alicia shoots her husband five times in the face, and then never speaks again. Alicia's refusal to give any explanation, captures the public imagination and casts her into notoriety. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who is determined to unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband, taking him down a twisting path into his own motivations.

Ruth Hartland is a psychotherapist with years of experience, struggling with her own grief. The mother of grown twins, she is haunted by the fact that her son, Tom, disappeared a year and a half ago. She cannot give up hope of finding him, but feels she is living a kind of half-life, waiting for him to return. Enter a new patient, Dan--unstable and traumatized--who looks exactly like Tom. She is determined to help him, but her own complicated feelings, about how she has failed Tom, cloud her professional judgement.

Detective Amos Decker is visiting his hometown when he's approached by a man named Meryl Hawkins. Hawkins is a convicted murderer--the first killer Decker ever put behind bars. But he claims he's innocent; now suffering from terminal cancer, his dying wish is that Decker clear his name. But, the case was open and shut, with rock solid forensic evidence. Then Hawkins turns up dead and even Decker begins to have doubts. Is it possible that he really did get it wrong, all those years ago?

A man is dead, shot three times in his home and when the cops arrive, his pregnant wife is holding the gun. Detective D. D. Warren arrives on the scene and recognizes the woman--Evie Carter. Evie's father was killed in a shooting ruled as an accident. Detective Flora Dane sees the murder of Conrad Carter on the TV news and immediately knows his face. She remembers a night when she was a victim and her captor knew this man. D.D. and Flora are about to discover that in this case the truth is elusive.

Attorney Dismas Hardy's trusted secretary, Phyllis, has been acting out-of-character and suddenly disappearing. Hardy learns that her brother--a man who served 25 years in prison--has just been released. Phyllis is suddenly arrested for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a man smuggling women into the country. He was shot to death--the same day that Phyllis first disappeared from work. If his colleague has any chance of going free, he needs to put all the pieces together.

Detective Caleb Rooney comes under investigation for a murder he is accused of committing in the line of duty--as a Major Crimes detective for the New Orleans Police Department. Has his work at the Killer Chef food truck given him a taste for murder? While fighting the charges against him, Rooney makes a discovery--his beloved city is under threat of attack. As crowds of revelers gather, Rooney follows a trail of clues, racing from outlying districts into city center.

Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. She can easily stroll through ritzy Bel Air neighborhoods and pick out the perfect home. But after stumbling upon a triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around--somebody is searching for her. As Elle realizes that her knowledge of the high-profile murder has made her a target, she races to solve the case before becoming the next casualty.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering--whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle's support. One night, Rochelle finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve's investigation confirms it wasn't an OD--Lyle was pumped full of poison. Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run.

Clayton Deese is muscle for hire when his loan shark boss needs to teach someone a lesson. Now, seven months after a job that went south and landed him in jail, Deese has skipped out on bail, and the U.S. Marshals have come looking for him. It's his boss they want--but Deese is their best chance to bring down the whole operation. Then, they step onto a dirt trail behind Deese's rural Louisiana cabin and find a jungle full of graves. Now, Lucas Davenport is trailing a serial killer who has been operating for years without notice.

For over forty years, Art Keller has been on the front lines of America's longest conflict: The War on Drugs. Now Keller is in the highest ranks of the DEA, only to find that in destroying one monster he has created thirty more that are wreaking even more chaos and suffering in Mexico and America. Keller finds himself surrounded by enemies: men who want to kill him, politicians who want to destroy him, and an incoming administration that's in bed with the very drug traffickers that Keller is trying to bring down.

It's 1921--Alice James has just arrived in Oregon with a bullet wound after battling the New York Mafia and fifty thousand dollars in illicit cash. She meets Max, a black Pullman porter who takes Alice to the Paragon Hotel. Her sanctuary turns out to be an all-black hotel in a Jim Crow city, and its lodgers seem terrified of a white woman on the premises. The Ku Klux Klan has arrived in Portland in fearful numbers and only Alice and her new Paragon "family" are searching for a missing black child.

Wynn and Jack have been best friends since freshman orientation, bonded by their shared love of mountains, books, and fishing. They decide to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada, but a wildfire is making its way across the forest. When they hear a man and woman arguing on the riverbank and decide to warn them about the fire, their search for the pair turns up nothing. But: The next day a man appears on the river, paddling alone. Is this the man they heard? And, if he is, where is the woman?

In her debut novel, Etaf Rum tells the story of three generations of Palestinian-American women struggling to express their individual desires within the confines of their Arab culture in the wake of shocking intimate violence in their community--a story of culture and honor, secrets and betrayals, love and violence. A Woman Is No Man is an intimate glimpse into a controlling and closed cultural world, and a universal tale about family and the ways silence and shame can destroy those we have sworn to protect.

Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most. But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core. As her world falls apart, Nina begins to see the men in her life-her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael-in a new light. Soon Nina finds herself caught between the world she loves, and a passion that could upend everything.

Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears, she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.

After nearly a decade overseas as a war reporter, the acclaimed journalist Dahr Jamail returned to America to renew his passion for mountaineering, only to find that the slopes he had once climbed have been irrevocably changed by climate disruption. In response, Jamail embarks on a journey to the geographical front lines of this crisis--from Alaska to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, via the Amazon rainforest--in order to discover the consequences to nature and to humans of the loss of ice.

China's 'Great Firewall' has evolved into the most sophisticated system of online censorship in the world. Even as the Chinese internet grows and online businesses thrive, speech is controlled, dissent quashed, and any attempts to organize outside the official Communist Party are quickly stamped out. As censorship, distortion, and fake news gain traction around the world, James Griffiths takes a look inside the Great Firewall and explores just how far it has spread.

Anne Ashburn is a woman consumed by her bitter family legacy, her scorched career as a firefighter, her obsession with department bad-boy Danny McGuire, and by a new case that pits her against a fiery killer. Danny McGuire is a premiere fireman, best in the county, but in the midst of a personal meltdown. Danny is taking risks like never before and seems to have a death wish until he teams up with Anne to find the fire starter. As Anne narrows in on her target, the arsonist begins to target her.