Beach Reads :::

Albom, Mitch.  For one more day.   Charley Benetto, an alcoholic considering suicide is given the chance to spend one more day with his mother, who had died eight years earlier. (NC/SC)

Ambrose, June.   Effortless style.  Celebrity fashion stylist and designer, June Ambrose, shows how people can improve the way they look with minimal cost; and offers advice on fashion do's and don'ts, make-up, and accessories.  (SC)

Ang, Tom.   How to photograph absolutely everything. A comprehensive guide to digital camera photography that covers camera settings, focus, exposure, zoom, framing, light, color, brightness, contrast, and other elements.  (SC)

Bell, Taylor.   Glory days: legends of Illinois high school basketball . Ffty of the state's best high school basketball players from the past five decades sit down to chat with Taylor Bell, an award-winning journalist who documented the best teams, coaches, players, games, and events from the 1940s through the 1990s. (SC)

Binchy, Maeve.  Whitethorn woods.   When a new highway is planned that will bypass the town of Rossmore and cut through Whitethorn Woods, the town’s inhabitants are divided on whether or not the town will benefit or suffer from the construction, while Father Flynn worries about the fate of St. Anne’s Well an age-old shrine on the edge of the woods that is slated for destruction.  (NC/SC)

Bohjahlian, Chris.   The double bind. After surviving an attack while biking, Vermont college student Laurel Estabrook decides to volunteer at a homeless shelter where she meets and becomes infatuated with Bobbie Cocker, a mentally ill man who claims to have been an established photographer in his former life.  (NC/SC)

Boyle, T.C.  Talk, Talk. Stopped by the police for a minor traffic violation, deaf school teacher Dana Halter suddenly finds herself in jail and under suspicion for felony crimes in three different states.  A victim of identity theft, Dana and her boyfriend Bridger embark on a cross-country road trip to chase down the real criminal and clear Dana’s name.  (SC)

Bryson, Bill.  A Walk in the woods. In order to rediscover America by, as he puts it, "going out into an America that most people scarcely know is there," author Bryson set out to walk the length of the Appalachian Trail. His account of that adventure is at once hilarious, inspiring, and even educational.  (NC/SC)

Chavalier, Tracy.   Burning bright. The Kellaway family, newly arrived in London in 1792 where father Thomas has been offered work by circus entrepreneur Philip Astley, discovers they are neighbors to famous printer, poet, and political radical William Blake, who is inspired by the coming-of-age adventures of young Jem Kellaway and his sister Maisie to writer one of his most famous works. (SC)

Coben, Harlan.  Promise me.   Entertainment agent Myron Bolitar picks up a young teenage girl to protect her from getting a ride with a drunk driver.  But how do you clear your name when the girl disappears? (NC)

Croke, Vicki.  The Lady and the panda. This true adventure story recalls the 1936 exploits and successes of socialite zoological explorer Ruth Harkness and her Chinese guide Quentin Young in their quest to bring the endangered pandas from China to the United States.  (NC/SC)

Deen, Paula.   It ain’t all about the cookin.’ Anyone who's ever watched the author of this memoir pan-fry a pork chop on the Food Network will find lots to savor in her down-home life story: a single mom with two teenage sons who started a brown-bag lunch business with $200 and wound up with a thriving restaurant, a fairy-tale second marriage, and a wildly popular television show.  (SC)

Doctorow, E.L.  The March .  Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman's cruel march through Georgia and the Carolinas is depicted in this novel of the Civil War.  Doctorow is known for his memorable characters and this novel is no exception. Pearl a newly freed black girl and Arly a crafty rebel soldier are two of many that we cheer on. (NC) 
 
Fairstein, Linda.  Bad blood.   In the middle of a trial involving a businessman charged with murdering his wife, Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper is summoned to investigate an explosion of unknown origin 600 feet below street level when it is traced back to her case.  (NC/SC)

Hiassen, Carl.  Nature girl.   Sammy Tigertail, a half Seminole airboat pilot, must figure out what to do with the body of a tourist who dies of a heart attack on Sammy's airboat after being struck by a harmless water snake. In the meantime, Honey Santana cooks up an elaborate scheme to punish semi-competent telemarketer Boyd Shreave for nasty comments he made during his real estate phone pitch  that brings the three characters together.

Hiassen, Carl.  Skinny dip.   Chaz Perrone throws his wife overboard one night when she discovers he is helping in the illegal dumping of fertilizer into the endangered Everglades.  An accomplished swimmer, she survives to team up with former cop, Mick Stranahan to secretly turn the tables on him.

Iles, Greg.  True evil. A young Natchez doctor is recruited by the FBI to investigate a successful local divorce attorney.  He always wins--especially when his client's spouses end up dead. (SC)

Kimmel, Haven.  A Girl named Zippy.  Haven Kimmel has written a rare and welcomed treat: a memoir of a happy childhood.  She shares stories of growing up in the 1960’s in small town Mid-America.  Her book is filled with good humor, fine storytelling, and acute observations of small-town life. (SC)

Kinsella, Sophie.  Shopaholic & baby.   Becky's life is perfect, a perfect job, marriage and baby on the way.  But what if the obstetrician is having an affair with her husband?  (NC)

Kinsella, Sophie.  Shopaholic ties the knot. Personal shopper Becky Bloomwood's life reaches the peak of perfection when her entrepreneurial boyfriend Luke proposes, but the couple sees trouble looming on the horizon when both their mothers try to seize control of the wedding plans.  (NC/SC)

Kriegel, Mark.   Pistol: the life of Pete Maravich. Examines the life and achievements of basketball player Pete Maravich, discussing his relationship with his father, time spent playing at Lousianna State University, professional career, and family life.  (SC)

Kuegler, Sabine.  Child of the jungle.  In 1980, when Kuegler was seven, she accompanied her German linguist parents into the Papuan (New Guinea) jungle to live with the Fayu, a Stone Age tribe of naked people with bones through their noses. She felt immediately at home and had an idyllic childhood until she was 17 and sent to a Swiss boarding school, where she faced trouble adapting to Western culture. Now a woman, she is faced with the decision of either returning to the primitive life of the jungle or joining modern society. (SC)

Millard, Candice.   River of doubt.    Recounts Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 expedition to the Amazon, where he became the first person to descend the unmapped tributary of the Amazon. (NC)

Pelasara, Janet.  Love you more: the Taylor Behl story. Three weeks after her daughter began her freshman year at Virginia Commonwealth University, the phone rang at 3 a.m. at the author’s home. Taylor had not been seen since Monday evening, the police officer told her. Two days later, after a frantic search, Pelasara confronted the man who would later be charged and convicted of Taylor's murder. "You don't know anything about your daughter," he said. "She's not the good little girl you think she is." (SC)

Rapp, Emily.   Poster child: a memoir.   Emily Rapp chronicles the first thirty years of her life, describing how her life has been defined by the birth defect that left her with only one leg and made her the poster child for the March of Dimes. (SC)

Rash, Ron.  The world made straight.   High school drop out Travis Shelton discovers a neighboring tobacco farmer’s hidden stash of marijuana plants while out fishing in Madison County, North Carolina.  After a violent encounter with the farmer, Travis forms an unlikely and mutually beneficial friendship with Leonard, a former high school teacher now living working as the local drug dealer.  (SC)

Shields, Charles.   Mockingbird: a portrait of Harper Lee.   In this first-ever biography of the elusive writer Harper Lee, Shields conducts extensive research combined with innumerable interviews and correspondence with Lee's acquaintances. Starting with Lee's childhood in Monroeville, AL, Shields depicts the people and events that inspired To Kill a Mockingbird's characters. (SC)

Shreve, Anita.  Wedding in December.   Gathering to attend a wedding in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, seven classmates find the reunion marked by the death of a spouse, traumatic past event, a shocking secret, and health issues.  (NC)

Siglag, Lisa, ed.  The best of American Dream Homes.   Thirty outstanding homes are featured in full color photos chosen from the pages of the nation's premier home magazine. (SC)

Sparks, Nicholas.  True believer.  Science journalist Jeremy Marsh may have fallen for the daughter of a psychic, but will he become a “true believer”?  (NC)

Thomas, Abigail. A Three dog life.   hen Abigail Thomas's husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. (SC)

Vreeland, Susan.  The Forest lover.   Presents a fictional portrait of pioneering artist Emily Carr, whose independence, boldly original artwork, and unconventional approach to life overcame Victorian restrictions to blaze a new path for twentieth-century women artists.  (NC)

Woodruff, Lee & Bob.   In an instant: a family’s journey of love and healing.  Lee and Bob Woodruff share the story of their life together and tell of their experiences after Bob suffered a critical head injury in an attack while covering the war in Iraq for ABC News. (NC/SC)