September 22, 2025 - New Arrivals

September 22, 2025

Adult Fiction

Texas Lightning by Dusty Richards & Velda Brotherton.

An arsonist is on the loose in Saddler County, Texas, burning down ranch houses with the families still asleep in their beds-including children. When the local mercantile is set on fire and his town threatened, it's the last straw for Sheriff Dell Hoffman, who sets out on an all-out manhunt to run down the perpetrator. He's joined in the pursuit by young Rose Parsons, a bounty hunter with the temper of an angry badger and the trigger finger to match. She has her own reasons for tracking down the man she's come to call the Fire Starter. Her mother was one of his victims, and Rose has vowed to take his head in for the bounty if it's the last thing she ever does. Together, they set out on a high- stakes, hellbent-for-leather chase across the Staked Plains of the vast Texas Panhandle. But no matter how hard they ride, neither Del nor Rose are able to run the rampaging psychopath to ground. Desperate to put an end to this fiery trail of destruction and murder, they recruit a posse of the toughest hombres around to lend a hand. It's a rough and rowdy outfit, to be sure, including an Apache tracker, two outlaws, and a few of the toughest lawmen this side of the Red River, but they put their differences aside for the common good. On the vast plains of Texas, though, lighting can strike without warning. Can they run this outlaw to ground before he kills again? Or will he elude them once again and burn down everything they know and love before they can stop him?

A Catered Quilting Bee by Isis Crawford.

Quilts, quiet, and delicious food. That's exactly what Bernie and Libby expect as they build the menu for the Longely Sip and Sew Quilting Circle's first-ever exhibition hosted at the local library. The eclectic ladies of the group couldn't appear more harmlessly wholesome if they tried, especially mild-mannered kindergarten teacher Cecilia Larson, who hired A Little of Taste of Heaven to cater the event. So it's a complete shock when disturbing news drops about member Ellen Fisher, found hanging from a plant hook in her otherwise pristine sewing room . . .All are very quick to deem the tragic death a suicide. All except for Cecilia. She believes something else happened to her best friend-who was busy adding the finishing stitches on her greatest work yet in hopes of displaying it at the exhibition-and looks to Bernie and Libby to expose the truth . . . and the killer. As Ellen's patchy past comes into focus along with a mysterious connection to a missing seven-hundred-year-old quilt fragment, can the sisters unravel the victim's final thread before another turns up dead?

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower.

August 1856. The Dickinson family is comfortably settled in their homestead on Main Street. Emily's brother, Austin Dickinson, and his new wife are delighted when famous thinker and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to Amherst to speak at a local literary society and decides he and his young secretary, Luther Howard, will stay with the newlyweds. Emily has been a longtime admirer of Emerson's writing and is thrilled at the chance to meet her idol. She is determined to impress him with her quick wit, and if she can gather the courage, a poem. Willa Noble, the second maid in the Dickinson home and Emily's friend, encourages her to speak to the famous but stern man. But his secretary, Luther, intrigues Willa more because of his clear fondness for the Dickinson sisters. Willa does not know if Luther truly cares for one of the Dickinson girls or if he just sees marrying one of them as a way to raise himself up in society. After a few days in his company, Willa starts to believe it's the latter. Miss Lavinia, Emily's sister, appears to be enchanted by Luther; a fact that bothers Emily greatly. However, Emily's fears are squashed when Luther turns up dead in the Dickinson's garden. It seems that he was poisoned. Emerson, aghast at the death of his secretary, demands answers. Emily and Willa set out to find them in order to save the Dickinson family reputation and stop a cold-blooded fiend from killing again.

Adult Non-Fiction

Starting the School Year Well and What to Do If Things Go Awry by Brenda Smith Myles, Ph.D. & Diane Adreon, Ed.D.

Most students thrive on consistency and it’s especially important for autistic students. Without it, teachers can expect them to experience higher levels of anxiety and more meltdowns. Because of their neurology, autistic students learn best when they know exactly what they are going to do, when they are going to do it, and with whom they will do it. Starting the School Year Well provides a simple way for teachers to learn from past educators through the completion of three simple-to-use instruments.

Reading for Our Lives by Maya Payne Smart.

When her child went off to school, Maya Smart was shocked to discover that a good education in America is a long shot, in ways that few parents fully appreciate. Our current approach to literacy offers too little, too late, and attempting to play catch-up when our kids get to kindergarten can no longer be our default strategy. We have to start at the top. The brain architecture for reading develops rapidly during infancy, and early language experiences are critical to building it. That means parents' work as children's first teachers begins from day one too--and we need deeper knowledge to play our positions. Reading for Our Lives challenges the bath-book-bed mantra and the idea that reading aloud to our kids is enough to ensure school readiness. Instead, it gives parents easy, immediate, and accessible ways to nurture language and literacy development from the start. Through personal stories, historical accounts, scholarly research, and practical tips, this book presents the life-and-death urgency of literacy, investigates inequity in reading achievement, and illuminates a path to a true, transformative education for all.

Easy/Juvenile/Young Adult/Graphic Novel

Rabbit Tea by Cynthia Rylant.  E

A rabbit is having a tea party and needs lots of treats! Will Ginger, Piper, and Tom at the Mouse and Spoon Bakery be able to bake enough carrot cakes in time?

We Could Be Magic by Marissa Meyer.  YA GN

"When Tabitha Laurie was growing up, a visit to Sommerland saved her belief in true love, even as her parents' marriage was falling apart. Now she's landed her dream job at the theme park's prestigious summer program, where she can make magical memories for other kids, guests, and superfans just like her. All she has to do is audition for one of the coveted princess roles, and soon her dreams will come true. There's just one problem. The heroes and heroines at Sommerland are all, well... thin. And no matter how much Tabi lives for the magic, she simply doesn't fit the park's idea of a princess. Given a not-so-regal position at a nacho food stand instead, Tabi is going to need the support of new friends, a new crush, and a whole lot of magic if she's going to devise her own happily ever after... without getting herself fired in the process."-- Provided by publisher.

Brooke County Public Libraries Wellsburg (304) 737-1551 Follansbee (304) 527-0860