Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Books

By David Martindale Cold weather makes the timing ideal to pick up a copy of Snowblind.This paranormal horror novel by Christopher Golden is about the creepy things, and evil things, that manifest in a New England town during a deadly blizzard.First, the spirits of those who died or disappeared 12 years earlier in the storm of the decade return, inhabiting the bodies of the living.Then there’s an old-school, translucent ghost that presents itself, bringing an ominous warning for residents of Coventry, Mass.Finally, the arrival of malev

By Diana Andro They say behind every great man is a great woman, and true love knows no limits. Bestselling author Nancy Horan takes these sayings to heart when she shares an amazing couple’s incredible life together in her new novel, Under the Wide and Starry Sky.This is the powerful love story of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and his Indiana-born wife, Fanny Osbourne, 10 years his senior.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share

By John Henry It’s much too simplistic — not to mention sarcastic — to say that Mayhem will be in bookstores just in time for a good Valentine’s Day read.You know, your standard love story about a woman who marries the man of her dreams, only to find out he is the host to the most vile demon, which attached itself through a drink of water taken out of a river in the countryside in Poland.No thanks, you say?Indeed it’s no love story, but if you enjoy a true crime-novel combo, don’t pass on the newest work

Here’s what’s new in bookstores this week:• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking, $27.95) — The author (a TCU grad) follows her bestselling debut novel, 2002’s The Secret Life of Bees, and 2005’s The Mermaid Chair with the newest selection in Oprah’s Book Club 2.0.

By Julia Heaberlin One thing I’ve learned is that in the face of tragedy you are powerless to prevent, there is no greater empathy than quiet.— David R. Dow, attorney and author of Things I’ve Learned From DyingOne of the most heartrending moments in David Dow’s new book involves a boy and his dog.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share

Hazardous Duty marks the eighth novel in the “Presidential Agent” series by W.E.B. Griffin and third with son William E. Butterworth IV. It’s one of six bestselling series in Griffin’s arsenal.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share

By Lisa Smandt and Wendy Dunn Though the “Harry Potter,” “Hunger Games” and “Percy Jackson” series have been modern hits, it’s important to remember that great stories have existed for ages.

Here’s what’s new in bookstores this week:• Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir (Ballantine, $30) — The bestselling author known for historical biographies ( Mary Boleyn, The Lady in the Tower) re-creates the life and times of Elizabeth, the first Tudor queen, who helped unite the kingdom and was mother of Henry VIII and grandmother to Elizabeth I (yes, today’s royals are descendants).

Here’s what’s new in bookstores this week:• Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich (Bantam, $28) — The bestselling author offers the 20th novel in her popular Stephanie Plum series. The New Jersey bounty hunter extraordinaire is hot on the case of mob boss Salvatore “Uncle Sunny” Sunucchi, who has disappeared in Trenton.

By John Henry A casual conversation about Franklin Roosevelt’s life-changing struggle with the polio virus included a question from a learned companion.“Now, did he contract that as a child?”It’s one of a number of many.Few know of the circumstances surrounding FDR’s exposure to the virus and its devastating effects, which left the once robust man from New York’s other Roosevelt family without the use of his legs and put his almost certain climb to the nation’s highest office in jeopardy.If it had been up to his domineerin