At the Library, January 1, 2025
HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are currently collecting recipes from our local folks for the publication of a Hardy County Public Library Cookbook! Please put together your favorite tried and true recipes to share with others and drop them off at the front desk.
Events: Crochet, Thursday’s at 1:00 pm Story Time – Wednesdays at 10:00, every 1st Saturday at 10:00 New fiction:
Memorials : a novel by Richard Chizmar
1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another. But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents…or is something terrifying at work here?
The haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates
Everyone knows about Ashburn House. They whisper its old owner went mad, and that restless ghosts still roam the halls. But when Adrienne inherits the crumbling old mansion, she only sees it as a lifeline…until night falls. As she uncovers more of the house’s secrets, Adrienne begins to believe the whispered rumors may be horrifyingly true. Chasing the threads of a decades-old mystery, Adrienne realizes she’s become the prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful. She has no idea how to escape. Only one thing is certain: Ashburn’s dead are not at rest.
Variation : a novel by Rebecca Yarros
Elite ballerina Allie Rousseau is no stranger to pressure. With her mother’s eyes always watching, perfection was expected, no matter the cost. But when an injury jeopardizes all she’s sacrificed for, Allie returns to her summer home to heal and recover. But the memories she’s tried to forget rush in and threaten to take her under. As a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Hudson Ellis knows that hesitation can mean the difference between life and death. He’s always prided himself on being in the right place at the right time, especially when it came to Allie Rousseau–until the night he left for basic. After the biggest regret of his life, the secrets he keeps mean he can never be with the one woman he wants more than his next breath.
Ashes never lie by Lee Goldberg Vacant homes in a new housing development are erupting into flames in broad daylight with no apparent cause. It’s a perplexing mystery for dogged arson investigator Walter Sharpe and his restless new partner Andrew Walker, an ex-US marshal who craves action. But as they puzzle over the blazes, another home miles away burns to the ground, leaving a man’s corpse in the ashes and homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone demanding answers. The burn patterns and charred body tell
Sharpe a bizarre story that only creates more questions for Eve. So the four detectives team up to find the answers.
The teacher by Freida McFadden
Something isn’t right at Caseham High School. Last year, the school was rocked by scandal: a teacher was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Now, Addie is a pariah and will do anything to get through the year. More than that, she’s desperate to keep the truth from coming to light. Eve, a colleague of the disgraced teacher, is horrified to find Addie in her class. She knows the girl can’t be trusted and soon realizes she’s being watched–which is dangerous, considering she’s hiding something from her husband. But each has secrets about what happened last year. And someone in this school will do anything to keep them silent.
New Non-fiction
War by Bob Woodward
Woodward tells the behind-the-scenes story of three wars–Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency.
Haint country : dark folktales from the hills and hollers by Matthew R. Sparks
The hills of the Appalachian region hold secrets-dark, deep, varied, and mysterious. These secrets are often told in the form of eerie, hair-raising, and creepy folktales that reveal strange sightings and oddities, and they commonly serve as cautionary tales for eager and curious ears. These spine-tingling stories have been shared among family members and neighbors in eastern Kentucky for generations. This anthology explores ghosts or “haints,” strange creatures or “boogers,” haunted locations or “stained earth,” uncanny happenings or “high strangeness,” and humorous Appalachian ghost encounters.
American scary : a history of horror, from Salem to Stephen King and beyond by Jeremy Dauber
Dauber takes readers to the startling origins of the horror genre in the United States, from the lingering influence of the European Gothic to the enslaved insurrection tales and the apocryphal chronicles of colonial settlers kidnapped by Native Americans.
Heal your gut, save your brain : the five pillars of enhancing your gut and optimizing your cognitive health by Partha Nandi
Nandi highlights the latest research on the gut-brain connection, gives you a clear protocol for maintaining brain health and slowing or reducing the effects of neurodegenerative diseases as you age.
