Iranian president Akhmed teams up with the leaders of Venezuela and Cuba and their American intelligence agents to smuggle radioactive matzo balls into Miami Beach. But intelligence being as slippery a concept to these nincompoops as chicken fat on linoleum, when each member of the gang decides to ladle out his own personal nuke soup, holy terror Akhmed is left steaming. Will his plan to destroy America float like a fly or sink like a lead dumpling? Star-crossed lovers, conniving academics, and blustery social climbers collide with ravenous termites, international do-badders, and multi-level marketing in a plot as fast-paced and hilarious as a runaway mountain bus. Radioactivity has never been so much fun.

Akhmed and the Atomic Matzo Balls: A Novel of International Intrigue, Pork-Crazed Termites, and Motherhood

Literature & Fiction

Buslik, Gary

Humor & Satire

Travelers' Tales/Solas House

The Billy Gogan story is a fictional memoir told by an old Army general of his adventures as a young man. Billy Gogan, American, opens with recently orphaned Billy Gogan fleeing Ireland on the eve of the Great Hunger either because he is the son of a dangerous revolutionary, or because his cousin doesn't trust him around his daughter. Billy befriends a destitute Irish peasant named Máire and her young daughter Fíona, and together they endure a harsh passage to New York, America's greatest city. They get separated as they debark, and Billy searches tirelessly for them in the dangerous Five Points, ground zero in the collision of Americans, ex-slaves, and Irish refugees. Here, Billy completes his education. Already able to declaim Cicero and construe Aristotle, he learns voting fraud from Bill Tweed, the future head of Tammany Hall, and the numbers game from Charlie Backwell, Tammany's top bookie. Finally, Brannagh O’Marran, the beautiful mulatta daughter of the Irish madam of Gotham’s finest brothel, teaches him about love. Billy eventually finds Máire and Fíona, and the three of them plan their future together. But that future is taken in a cruel stroke, and nothing will ever be the same.

Billy Gogan, American: A Novel

Higgins, Roger

Genre Fiction

You Unstuck: Mastering the New Rules of Risk-taking in Work and Life

Self-Help

Gill, Libby

Success

“Knowledgeable, probing, and thoughtful.” ―Foreword Reviews Smokey Robinson • Barbara Kingsolver • Francis Ford Coppola • David Sedaris • Jane Goodall and other luminaries reveal the secrets to their creative success. Amy Tan talks about how she finds truth by writing fiction. Melissa Etheridge tells us how she channels her fire into her music. Pico Iyer shares how seeking stillness enhances his creativity. And Coppola discusses how he found the courage to make groundbreaking films. 
 In The Creative Spark, a collection of interviews prefaced by brief biographies, these luminaries join dozens of other voices to create a symphony of inspiration. Lucinda Williams talks about honesty and making every word count; Jane Goodall cites the value of persistence and believing in yourself; and Smokey Robinson heralds the timeless power of love songs.
 For more than a decade, award-winning author Michael Shapiro (A Sense of Place) has interviewed many of our brightest creators. In The Creative Spark, musicians, authors, explorers, and chefs speak about what drives them, what helps them see the world in fresh ways, and what inspires them to turn their visions into art. 
 Shapiro’s work as a music journalist has led to interviews with legends including Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Melissa Etheridge, Jake Shimabukuro, Merle Haggard, and Jethro Tull bandleader Ian Anderson. And he’s spoken with creative masters in other fields, such as comedian Joan Rivers and author Frances Mayes.
 Yet it’s not simply that Shapiro has had access to so many supremely talented people―it’s that he gets them to go deep. Moments into his penetrating conversation with Lucinda (her fans call her by her first name), she tells Shapiro about how decisions made about her mother’s funeral led to fissures in her family. From this achingly personal conversation, readers can glean fresh insights into why Lucinda has such a devoted following and why her songs open listeners’ hearts.
 Unexpected revelations pop up in every chapter of The Creative Spark. Iowa folksinger Greg Brown isn’t a household name, but his fellow musicians revere his poetic compositions. Then there’s San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow, who turns every broadcast into a work of art. Chefs, including SingleThread’s Kyle Connaughton, discuss how they’re transforming the way we approach fine dining and why social responsibility is essential.
 Each chapter starts with a short biography of the creative person being profiled, then segues into Q+A. This collection brings together some of the best-known artists of our time with others who may not be as famed but who have valuable insights about living an artful life. The Creative Spark stands as a testament to human achievement, showing how creativity illuminates our world. And how it resides in each and every one of us, just waiting to break out.

The Creative Spark: How musicians, writers, explorers, and other artists found their inner fire and followed their dreams

Shapiro, Michael

Humor & Entertainment

A rolling stone may gather no moss, but one thing it does gather is funny stories, as this collection of goofy travel essays shows. The perfect trip, where nothing goes wrong, is surely not the memorable trip, which is where "everything" goes wrong and one lives to tell the tale and laugh about it.

There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled : The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers' Tales Guides)

Dave Barry

Alan Zweibel

Rory

Lansky, Doug (editor) (Doug Lansky

Lara Naaman

Humor

We all have our favorite aphorisms, our family myths, our wise words that help us get through tough times. Stories to Live By is a collection of inspiring stories meant to offer solace, provide guidance, and illuminate pathways to change. These short tales explore the human condition and illustrate through anecdotes how people have found joy in life. They look at human foibles and help us understand how to accept and avoid them, and point us toward a greater sense of tranquility and happiness.

Stories to Live By: Wisdom to Help You Make the Most of Every Day

Motivational

San Francisco Bay Area gardeners know that the region has its own unique rewards and challenges. The mild weather is ideal for year-round gardening, but chilly fogs, frequent droughts, heavy clay soil, and a host of microclimates can vex even the greenest of thumbs. Written by local master gardeners, this collection of articles addresses the subject of Bay Area gardening in a no-nonsense manner that places an emphasis on environmentally friendly solutions. The book covers important issues ranging from garden design and landscaping to improving soil and managing garden pests with minimal toxic chemicals. Topics include fire safe landscaping; planting under oaks and redwoods; drought tolerant plants; gardening for butterflies and songbirds; as well as individual garden species, including ferns, heucheras, fuchsias, and California native bulbs.

Bay Area Gardening: 64 Practical Essays by Master Gardeners

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Gardening & Landscape Design

Imagine sitting down with a group of friends who are also expert gardeners. That’s the effect of this useful, accessible book, which features professionals sharing their knowledge of a wide range of topics including design and maintenance, tips on flowers, foliage, and garden produce, how to establish habitat gardens or low-water/low-maintenance ones, and controlling weeds and other pests. Here is authoritative advice on specific choices from alstroemerias to orchids, along with seasonal suggestions and ideas. The book's conversational tone gives inspiration and insider knowledge to enthusiasts at all skill levels.

Gardening Among Friends: Practical Essays by Master Gardeners

The stories in this remarkable collection detail the experiences of women who work in a variety of outdoor professions including smoke jumping, river running, professional falconry, and horse packing. A celebration of women making their way in the wild, the stories in these pages include rescuing sea turtles amidst a swarm of nude bathers, driving cattle across Texas, and tracking a pair of fugitive Montana mountain men. A Mile in Her Boots is a chance for readers to enjoy rough-hewn adventures with a diverse, welcoming group of wild women.

A Mile in Her Boots: Women Who Work in the Wild

Travel

Encounters with the Middle East collects 30 rich, engaging travel stories that capture uplifting scenes from everyday life and deliver sensitive, bittersweet renderings of people and landscapes often shaken by conflict. This book, with black and white photographs throughout, features original takes on commonplace "things to do" for the traveler in the Middle East — from marveling at the brilliance of the bazaars to drifting down the Nile in a felucca. It also provides intimate portrayals of people and traditions too often absent from books on the region.

Encounters with the Middle East: True Stories of People and Culture that Help You Understand the Region (Travelers' Tales)

World Literature

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Books by Travelers' Tales/Solas House