Central Kansas Library System

A New York Times Bestseller An Indie Next Pick Jacob Tomsky never intended to go into the hotel business. With a philosophy degree and a lack of career direction, he became a valet parker for a luxury hotel in New Orleans. He ended up working in "hospitality" for over a decade, from supervising housekeeping to manning the front desk at an upscale Manhattan hotel. Now he pulls back the curtain to expose the crazy and compelling reality of a multi-billion-dollar...

"Governess Abigail Chantry will do anything to save her sister and two dearest friends from destitution, even if it means breaking into an empty mansion in the hope of finding something to sell. Instead of treasures, though, she finds the owner, Lady Beatrice Davenham, bedridden and neglected. Appalled, Abby rousts Lady Beatrice's predatory servants and--with Lady Beatrice's eager cooperation--the four young ladies become her "nieces", neatly eliminating...

Jack Parker knows all too well how treacherous turn-of-the-century East Texas can be. His parents did not survive a smallpox epidemic. His grandfather was murdered. Now his sister Lula has been kidnapped by a criminal who may believe wearing a dead man's clothes protects him from death. With bounty hunter Shorty, a charismatic and cunning dwarf, and Eustace, a gravedigging son of an ex-slave, the heartbroken young Jack sets off on an epic quest...

Varty's memoir of his life in the exquisite and vast refuge of the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Boyd Varty grew up on Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, a place where man and nature strive for balance, where perils exist alongside wonders. Founded as a hunting ground, it was transformed into a nature reserve by Varty's father and uncle, visionaries of the restoration movement. Cathedral of the Wild is a story of transformation and...

"The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community. The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hocky star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak...

When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer, Helen had never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk, but in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King...

Lady Philippa Marbury is . . . odd The brilliant, bespectacled daughter of a double marquess cares more for books than balls, for science than the season, and for laboratories than love. She's looking forward to marrying her simple fiancé and living out her days quietly with her dogs and her scientific experiments. But before that, Pippa has two weeks to experience all the rest - fourteen days to research the exciting parts of life. It's not much...

In this highly anticipated novel from the bestselling author of The Descendants, a grieving mother struggles to overcome her son's death, when a strange girl enters her life with a secret that changes them both forever.Sarah St. John, a single mother, is reeling from grief: Three months ago, her twenty-one-year-old son, Cully, died in an avalanche near their home in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. As Sarah tries her best to go through...

Wally Baker is no ordinary girl. Living in her grandparents' Brooklyn Heights brownstone, she doesn't like dresses, needlepoint, or manners. Her love of Wonder Woman comics and ants makes her feel like a misfit - especially in the shadow of her dazzling but unstable mother, Stella. Acclaimed author Elizabeth Gaffney's irresistible novel captures postwar Brooklyn through Wally's eyes, opening on V-J day, as she grows up with the rest of America....

Defined by their creative impulses, fierce independence, and sometimes reckless decisions, the fascinating characters in this new collection include Standard Oil heiress Joe Carstairs, aviator and writer Beryl Markham, Byron's illegitimate daughter, Oscar Wilde's niece, Edna St. Vincent Millay's sister, and James Joyce's daughter. Born in proximity to the spotlight, through Mayhew Bergman's stunning imagination they receive the attention they deserve....