The SEK Library Newsletter October 2024

When her sister Naomi, about to graduate from Princeton, is found dead on campus, Maya, believing it was no accident, discovers Naomi joined the same underground society she did years ago and now every clue is leading her back to the past?—?and to the secrets she’s kept all these years.

On the run from a grisly secret, a desperate mother and her teenage daughter hide out in the foothills of Colorado unaware that they have entered the orbit of a gruesome serial killer who drains victims of blood.

Cordelia is a serial killer who kills unscrupulous men, and she never had a problem with it, until she starts to become not so sure about the new man her best friend, Diane, is dating.

Diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, author Libby Weeks, known as F.T. Goldhero to the fans of her fantasy series, realizes she needs help finishing her long anticipated final book, and turns to an unlikely source for support.

In 1972, 12-year-old Tomoko is sent to stay with her affluent aunt’s family in a coastal town in Japan where she, beguiled by her devoted aunt, her German great-aunt, her charming uncle and her cousin, Mina, who draws her into an intoxicating world of secrets and storytelling, soon discovers the truth behind their glittering façade.

When she, after making a wish, wakes up in the ideal world of her favorite 2000s teenage soap, Brynn soon discovers Carson’s Cove is not as perfect as seen on TV and when there’s a plot twist, she must choose between sticking to the script, or let love change the story forever. Original.

Outliving the expectations of her Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis, Nicola Laughton marries Anton, but after his death in a car crash goes viral as a supernatural event, a group of spiritualists offering closure hold a séance that unleashes a terrifying force.

Aspeth Honori, a noble’s daughter, must join the Royal Artifactual Guild and marry a surly minotaur to retrieve lost magical artifacts and save her family, all while concealing her identity and navigating increasingly complex challenges.

“An action-packed, inventive novella about a toxic polycule consumed by jealousy and their attempts to survive on a hostile planet. After fleeing her controlling and murderous family with her fiancâee Vinh, Amara embarks on a colonization project, New Belaforme, along with her childhood friend, Jesse. The planet, beautiful and lethal, produces the Gray, a “self-cleaning” mechanism that New Belaforme’s scientists are certain only attacks invasive organisms, consuming them. Humans have been careful to do nothing to call attention to themselves until a rival colony wakes the Gray. As Amara, Vinh, and Jesse work to carve out a new life together, each is haunted by past betrayals that surface, expounded by the need to survive the rival colony and the planet itself. There’s more than one way to be eaten alive”

Sent on an undercover mission to a small village in the Spanish countryside in the early 19th century, far behind enemy lines, the formidable Captain Sharpe and his group of men—with their cunning and courage to rely on—must stop two French armies from meeting on the Almaraz bridge.

A murder mystery is set in a seaside town filled with pirate lore, family secrets, unforgiveable grudges, secret societies and, of course, a treasure lost to time.

In a new series from a pair of best-selling authors, a legendary gunslinger tries to outrun his past and start a new life. But after so many years, so many bullets—and so much bloodshed—he finds old habits die hard.

In 1870s New Mexico, the territory is at a crossroads. After escaping jail, William Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid, is a seventeen-year-old orphan who’s been on the run for the better part of two years. Billy falls in with a gang of ruthless rustlers and murderers, but when Billy crosses one of the members, the gang sets out to kill him. Billy narrowly escapes, finding refuge under the tutelage of English immigrant and businessman John Tunstall. When Tunstall is murdered, the Kid becomes determined to seek revenge.

While defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother, town lawyer Bob Burgess falls into a deep and abiding friendship with acclaimed writer, Lucy Barton, and together they meet the iconic Olive Kitteridge and spend afternoons in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories, which imbues their lives with meaning.

Zo Grey is reeling from the death of her mother when she receives word of an inheritance. But to receive it, Zo must live in a mansion, alone, for three years. What she doesn’t yet know is that her own roots lie in this very house and that in order to awaken her dormant powers, she must face off against sinister forces she doesn’t quite comprehend.

Exposes 10 harrowing tales of innocent Americans unjustly found guilty and convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, shedding light on the flaws within the legal system that led to their imprisonment and the relentless battles for exoneration that ensued.

“Our engagement with digital technology connects us to people but can also cause anxiety, distraction, imbalance, and suffering. This book offers a unique Buddhist approach to develop a clear understanding of our inner lives and the world of digital communication to lessen our suffering and deepen our happiness. Dza Kilung Rinpoche, a respected contemporary Tibetan Buddhist teacher, skillfully addresses these widespread issues in modern life geared toward his Western students and readers. He offers straightforward Buddhist strategies and tools to clear away the distractive clutter that prevents us from advancing in our careers and relationships. The book also explores deeper issues like the nature of wisdom, question of karma, and importance of lovingkindess and compassion. The practices and meditations in this book will appeal to anyone who enjoys mindfulness apps like Ten Happier, Insight Timer, and Headspace. By calming our minds, we can clearly see the sources of our inner and outer problems and begin to work on them for the benefit of ourselves, others, and the earth”

Drawing on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters and interviews with leading booksellers, this ode to bookstores discusses its central place in American cultural life and offers a captivating look at this institution beloved by so many. Illustrations.

A marine biologist and co-founder of Minorities in Shark Sciences shares how she flourished outside of academia by remembering the important lesson she learned from sharks: keep moving forward, in this guidebook to respecting and protecting some of nature’s most misunderstood and vulnerable creatures—and grant the same grace to ourselves. Illustrations.

“The brain and the gut are neurologically and biochemically connected via millions of nerves and the trillions of microbes that populate the intestines. Known as the gut-brain axis, this communication network between the two systems is vast and complex. Although scientists have known about this axis for some time, the assumption was that the gut needed the brain in order to function. Only recently has science given the gut its due credit in this relationship. As a gastroenterologist with a personal and professional interest in understanding the role the gut plays in brain health and in employing targeted treatments that can prevent cognitive decline, Dr. Nandi is poised to deliver this information to consumers. Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain explains the emerging science, including the pathophysiology between the gut and disorders, in lay terms. It also shows readers how simple changes to improve gut health-most of which are not currently part of a neurologist’s standard treatment protocol-can help them to achieve excellent brain health; preserve brain health to help prevent neurological disease; and dramatically improve recovery from devastating neurological disorders such as: stroke, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s Dr. Nandi’s accessible and simple program is based on five pillars, which include nutrition, movement, purpose, spirituality, and community, and offers an holistic approach to helping prevent and mitigate cognitive decline”

A paranormal investigator collects stories rooted in history and recipes from haunted hotels, ghost towns and includes scary-good eats like Villisca Ax Murder House Skillet Cornbread. Old Absinthe House Frappe and Grand Hotel Pecan Balls. Illustrations.

“DIY Thrift Flip teaches how to shop and sew sustainably by providing how-tos for finding, upcycling, and customizing secondhand clothing with basic sewing instructions”