Lost in the Stacks

Sourdough is a magical story. The sourdough culture is alive, the bread is amazing, and the story is rollicking.

This summer NPR's Science Friday Book Club is reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time.

Ancient Roman detective Gordianus the Finder investigates the murder of a politician on the Appian Way, supposedly at the hands of a rival. But everyone gives a different account of what happened, and Gordianus doesn't know what to believe. As he attempts to solve the murder, he faces physical danger, as well as a crisis in his family. This mystery is inspired by actual events, and features appearances by Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Cicero, and other famous Romans.

Sixty-nine year old Arthur Pepper has been grieving the loss of his wife for nearly a year. He follows a very strict daily routine, cutting himself off from friends and family with his most prominent social interaction being with his fern, Frederica. Then one day, as he is cleaning out his wife's clothes to take to the charity shop, he stumbles across a gold charm bracelet which he's never seen before. Arthur starts tracking the origins of the charms and heads down a path to a place where he isn't sure he ever really knew his wife.

Midnight in the Piazza is a delightful art mystery written for children ages 8-12, even though anyone can enjoy it. Thirteen-year-old Beatrice Archer moves to Rome when her father gets a job there, and she falls in love with the turtle fountain in the piazza outside her apartment. Then one night she sees someone trying to steal the turtles from the fountain. Beatrice and a new friend, an Italian boy who speaks English, decide to investigate, and they discover a ring of international art thieves.

Scottish journalist Alan Taylor writes about his friendship with Muriel Spark, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, during the last decade and a half of her life. We learn about her life in rural Tuscany, her estrangement from her only son, her complex feelings about her native Scotland, and the teacher who inspired the character of Miss Brodie.

A group of down on their luck characters (a librarian, a teen, and a Wall Street high roller) provide unexpected support and friendship to each other during the summer of 2010 at a small town public library. This is the story in Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern.

In this World War II thriller, a parachutist falls to his death in a field outside Farleigh, the stately home of Lord Westerham and his daughters. The dead man's uniform leads people to believe he is a German spy, sent to contact a traitor at Farleigh or in the nearby village. Lord Westerham's middle daughter, a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, works with an MI5 agent who is a family friend to discover who the traitor could be.

Ancient Roman private eye Marcus Didius Falco investigates a mystery involving his dead brother Festus. It seems that Festus, who died in battle, might not have been such a hero as everyone was led to believe. When a soldier who had accused Festus of involvement in a shady business deal is found murdered, Falco becomes the prime suspect. To clear his name, he must work with his estranged father to find the real murderer.

As Venice lies in the grip of the acqua alta, the high tide that floods the city every winter, Commissario Guido Brunetti investigates a brutal beating at the home of an art historian and the murder of the director of the museum at the Doge's Palace. At the same time, he worries that he has not been a good father to his teenage son.