ALAMOSA — New books are always coming in at the Alamosa Public Library! Here are 10 of our most intriguing arrivals. For more information, or to have a book reserved for you, check alamosalibrary.org or call 719-589-6592. 

Fiction 

• The Serpent and the Rose by Catherine Butterfield

In a scheme to unite France during the raging religious wars of the 16th century, the queen decides to marry her Catholic daughter Marguerite to Protestant Henri, Prince of Navarre. When her plan backfires Henri barely escapes, and Marguerite finds herself a newlywed without a husband. 

• Eddie Winston is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin

Eddie Winston is ninety years old. He has lived and loved, but he has never been kissed. At the charity shop where he volunteers, Eddie meets Bella, who, at twenty-four, has just lost the love of her life. When Bella learns that Eddie is yet to have his first kiss, she resolves to help him find love. 

• I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kandler

With her younger sister’s wedding rapidly approaching, forty-year-old Eve is on the verge of panic. She can’t bear to attend the event alone. That’s when she recalls a story her Yiddish grandmother once told her - and accidentally creates a golem. 

Local 

• A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons

In the grisly aftermath of a botched bank heist, Anne Heller has no choice but to return to her family’s cabin - a secluded shack in the San Luis Valley. Along for the ride are Jessup, Anne’s badly wounded partner, and Dutch, the police officer she’s taken hostage. As they wait for help, Anne discovers strange relics of her mother and begins to unfold the mystery of her childhood. 

Mystery 

• Denver City Justice by J. v. L. Bell

Colorado, 1864. Millie and Dom Drouillard are barely settled into newly-wedded bliss when their neighbor the Widow Ferris is found dead with an icicle piercing her cold heart. Millie's new husband soon becomes the main suspect. 

Nonfiction 

• Aflame by Pico Ayer

Pico Iyer has made more than one hundred retreats to a small Benedictine hermitage high above the sea in California. He’s not a Christian, but his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence. In “Aflame”, he shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other nonmonastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness.  

• The First and Last King of Haiti by Marlene Daut

Born to an enslaved mother, Henry Christophe fought to free slaves in Haiti. Yet, in an incredible twist of fate, he ended up siding with Napoleon's forces against the very men and women he had once helped. 

• Outraged by Kurt Gray

Our minds are hard-wired to perceive threats in the world around us, and we are quick to react. In “Outraged”, Gray’s grand unifying theory is that all morality stems from our perception of threat and harm, and who’s being harmed in a given situation. 

• Solo by Peter McGraw

In a world built for two, Solos break the rules and hold space for every type of individual - single and not. Meet the thriving “Just Mays,” who welcome romance if it comes their way, the determined “No Ways,” who prefer life unpartnered, and the bold “New Ways,” who redefine and redesign what relationships even mean. Which one are you? 

• A More Perfect Party by Juanita Tolliver

When actress and singer Diahann Carroll opened the doors of her opulent Hollywood home to Shirley Chisolm and her guest list of Black Panthers, musicians, movers and shakers, and philanthropists, she knew they were in for a fabulous party. “A More Perfect Party” explores this unreal coming together of Diahann Carroll, Huey P. Newton, Goldie Hawn, Berry Gordy and more, and what their conversations tell us about our current political landscape.