Combining beloved classic novels with witty humor and delicious drink recipes, some of the charming recipes include Vermouth the Bell Tolls, Gin Eyre, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margarita, Bridget Jones’s Daiquiri, and more. Accompanying the 65 cocktail recipes are a list of tools and techniques, a spirits glossary, and a handful of drinking games and bar bites, making this cocktail book both fun and functional. With a special cover designed to look like a classic novel, whimsical illustrations, and a two-color design throughout, Tequila Mockingbird is a one-of-a-kind cocktail book. (description from publisher)

Walking is simple, but it can also be profound. In an increasingly complex and frantic world, walking can simplify our lives. It encourages intimate contact with places and people, promotes health, and is one of the most sustainable forms of recreation. Robert and Martha Manning invite readers to explore the pleasures of long-distance walking in their inspiring new book, Walking Distance.

At the heart of Walking Distance are firsthand descriptions of thirty of the world’s great long-distance hikes, spanning six continents and ranging from inn-to-inn to backpacking trips. Each entry – from Turkey’s Lycian Way to Vermont’s Long Trail – features personal anecdotes, natural and cultural history, and useful tips, including suggestions for preparing for hikes and for additional reading. Each trail narrative is richly illustrated with color photographs and maps. (description from publisher)

Each chapter of Bake It Like You Mean It is devoted to a technique of making different types of cake, beginning with the easiest recipe and moving to the more technically difficult as the chapter progresses. When the cakes are cut, they will reveal intricate layers of patterns and designs, such as hearts, checkerboards, helixes, and colorful stripes that will bring a smile to everyone who enjoys them. This compendium of gorgeous cake recipes and techniques will yield glorious meringues, sponge cakes, pound cakes, cheesecakes, and tarts for all levels of bakers.

With her trademark wit and enthusiasm for the world of confections and baking, Gesine’s latest book will delight her fans. (description from publisher)

Dan Brown - Inferno

Stephen Coonts – Pirate Alley

Clive Cussler – Zero Hour

Janet Dailey – Bannon Brothers: Triumph

Richard Paul Evans – A Step of Faith

Gail Godwin – Flora

Charlene Harris - Dead Ever After

Khaled Hosseini – And the Mountains Echoed

Dean Koontz – Deeply Odd

John Le Carre – A Delicate Truth

John Lescroart - Ophelia Cut

Mary Monroe - Lost Daughters

John Sandford – Silken Prey

Jeff Shaara – A Chain of Thunder

Fay Weldon – Long Live the King

For more new titles, be sure to check out Upcoming Releases on the Davenport Public Library webpage!

Off the Beaten Page

Inspired by years of excursions with her own book club, award-winning journalist Terri Smith offers lively, expert guidance through fifteen US destinations including Boston, Chicago, Austin, and Santa Fe. She describes each destination’s literary heritage and attractions and suggests three-day itineraries that include plenty of lit-inspired excursions – a tour of Santa Monica through the eyes of Raymond Chandler, a Devil in the White City view of Chicago in the Gilded Age, an exploration of Edith Wharton’s elite Newport, Rhode Island – while blending in “beyond the book” experiences such as Broadway shows, Segway tours and kayaking.

Practical, entertaining and inspirational, Off the Beaten Page is the ideal companion for adventurous readers or anyone looking to enrich a weekend getaway. (description from publisher)

However, Sugar’s plan changes when a suppressed aristocrat seeks out her services after being cut-off from his wealthy father and repeatedly pushed away from his mentally ill wife. She quickly creates a mutually beneficial relationship with William Rackham, played by Chris O’Dowd (of IT Crowd, Bridesmaids, HBO’s Girls), and soon finds herself the invisible force behind his personal and financial successes. Eventually, Sugar finds herself entwined with the women of the Rackham family and her control over William’s affections begins to slip away.

Now for the warnings: This series features nudity and explicit content which, I’ll admit, took me off guard at first, yet felt very appropriate to the era and environment. What I really want to warn viewers about is how this miniseries made me feel. The depiction of the historical treatment of women mentally, socially, and sexually left me in very dark moods after each episode. The storylines following Mrs. Rackham and her illness were particularly difficult to watch. However, Sugar’s overall strength of spirit left me aggressively hopeful as the final scene faded into light.

I highly recommend The Crimson Petal and the White to adult fans of period films and miniseries and to those who enjoy dramas targeting the female experience in relationships such as HBO’s Girls.

In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier takes readers back to the tapestries’ creation, giving life to the men who designed and made them, as well as the wives, daughters, and servants who exercised subtle (and not so subtle) influences over their men. Like the many different strands of wool and silk that were woven together into one cloth, the lives and fates of these people entwine in complex patterns, crisscrossing as they seek desires sensual and spiritual, temporal and eternal.

An extraordinary story exquisitely told, Tracy Chevalier’s The Lady and the Unicorn weaves history and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry that rivals in grace and grandeur the masterpiece that inspired it. (description from publisher)

In this charming cookbook, Khoo demystifies French cooking with 120 enticing recipes for simple, classic, and fresh French dishes, from gouter (snacks) to elegant desserts. More than 100 breathtaking photos shine a spotlight on the delicious food and the City of Light, and capture Khoo interacting with her purveyors and friends.

We all can’t have springtime in Paris, but we all can enjoy this delectable, do-able food! (description from publisher)

1878 Paris. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventeen francs a week, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modeling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. There she meets a wealthy male patron of the ballet, but might the assistance he offers come with strings attached? Meanwhile Antoinette, derailed by her love for the dangerous Émile Abadie, must choose between honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde.

Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.” In the end, each will come to realize that her salvation, if not survival, lies with the other. (description from publisher)

Hyde Park on Hudson – Bill Murray, Laura Linney

As Great Britain faces an imminent war with Germany, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor, invited the King and Queen of England for a weekend at their home in upstate New York. But during the first-ever visit of a reigning British monarch to America, international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal trip an unforgettable one. Rated R

Jack Reacher – Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike

Ex-military investigator Jack Reacher leaps off the pages of Lee Child’s bestselling novel and onto the big screen in this explosive thriller. When an unspeakable crime is committed, all evidence points to the suspect in custody who offers up a single note in defense: ‘Get Jack Reacher!’ The law has its limits, but Reacher does not when his fight for the truth pits him against an unexpected enemy with a skill for violence and a secret to keep. Rated PG-13

Safe Haven – Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough

Based on the novel from Nicholas Sparks, a young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina, where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her. PG-13

May 14

Cloud Atlas – Tom Hanks, Halle Berry

An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present, and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. The story is a time-shifting weave of six interlinking narratives with diverse settings, from the savagery of a Pacific Island in the 1850s to a dystopian Korea of the near future. Rated R

May 21

Promised Land – Matt Damon, Frances McDormand

Corporate salesman Steve Butler has been dispatched to the rural town of McKinley with his sales partner to offer much-needed relief to the economically hard-hit residents in exchange for drilling rights to their properties. As they grapple with a surprising array of both open hearts and closed doors, the outsiders soon discover the strength of an American small town at a crossroads. Rated R

Parker – Jason Stathman, Jennifer Lopez

Parker is a thief who has an unusual code. He doesn’t steal from the poor or hurt innocent people. He is asked to join four other guys, one of whom is related to a known mobster. They pull off the job flawlessly and Parker wants to part ways with them. When he refuses to join them for another job, they try to kill him. They dispose of his body, but someone finds him…still alive. After recovering, he sets out to get back at the ones who tried to kill him, another one of his codes. Rated R

Stand Up Guys – Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin

Val is released from prison after serving twenty-eight years for refusing to give up one of his close criminal associates. He’s reunited with his two best friends Doc and Hirsch. But one of the friends is keeping a dangerous secret. He’s been put in an impossible quandary by a former mob boss, and his time to find an acceptable alternative is running out. As the sun rises on the guys’ legendary reunion, their position becomes more and more desperate. Rated R.

Last Stand – Arnold Schwarzenegger; Johnny Knoxville

After leaving his LAPD narcotics post, Sheriff Ray Owens moved and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Juction. That peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez, one of the most notorious drug kingpins, makes an escape from the FBI. Cortez begins racing towards the US-Mexico border, straight through Sommerton Juction. Rated R

Beautiful Creatures - Jeremy Irons, Violet Davis

When newcomer Lena arrives in the small town of Gatlin she quickly captures the attention of Ethan, who only wants to escape what he views as a boring and dead end town. He quickly gets more than he bargained for. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town. Rated PG-13

May 28

Dark Skies – Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton

Dark Skies is a supernatural thriller that follows a young family living in the suburbs. As husband and wife Daniel and Lacy Barrett witness an escalating series of disturbing events involving their family, their safe and peaceful home quickly unravels. When it becomes clear that the Barrett family is being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, Daniel and Lacy take matters in their own hands to solve the mystery of what is after their family.