Library Lines January 17th

We Were Strangers Once by Betsy Carter. On the eve of World War II Egon Schneider--a gallant and successful Jewish doctor, son of two world-famous naturalists--escapes Germany to an uncertain future across the sea. Settling into the unfamiliar rhythms of upper Manhattan, he finds solace among a tight-knit group of fellow immigrants, tenacious men and women drawn together as much by their differences as by their memories of the world they left behind. They each suffer degradations and triumphs large and small: Egon's terminally acerbic lifelong friend, bestselling author Meyer Leavitt, now wears a sandwich board on a New York street corner; Catrina Harty, the headstrong daughter of a dirt-poor Irish trolley driver, survives heartbreak and loss to forge an unlikely alliance; and Egon himself is forced to abandon his thriving medical practice to become the "Cheese Man" at a Washington Heights grocery. But their spirits remain unbroken, and when their little community is faced with an existential threat, these strangers rise up together in hopes of creating a permanent home. With her uncanny ability to create indelible characters in unforgettable circumstances, bestselling author Betsy Carter has crafted a gorgeous novel that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt adrift and longed for home. 

Veteran crime writers Pacholik and Pruden are back with more true tales of tangled plots, foul deeds and conniving cons in the heart of the Canadian prairies. In their second collection of Saskatchewan true crime stories, Pacholik and Pruden uncover a number of little-known or long-forgotten tales from Saskatchewan's history, including chilling homicides, daring robberies, shocking frauds--and even a suicide bombing and an airplane hijacking. From the first execution to the never-before-revealed details of one of Canada's largest drug busts, from frozen gold to poisoned porridge, Paper Cows is guaranteed to surprise, shock, and fascinate. 

More Abandoned Manitoba by Gordon Goldsborough. Armed with a drone and a deep curiosity about local history, Gordon follows up the runaway success of 2016’s bestselling Abandoned Manitoba with even more compelling abandoned sites from across the province. Exploring everything from abandoned quarries to dance halls to schools, Gordon connects our present with the architecture of our past.