NCW Libraries

"In the glittering hotbed of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Vienna, one woman's life would define and defy an era ... Gustav Klimt gave Alma her first kiss. Gustav Mahler fell in love with her at first sight and proposed only a few weeks later. Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius abandoned all reason to pursue her. Poet and novelist Franz Werfel described her as "one of the very few magical women that exist." But who was this woman who brought these most...

In Orfeo, Powers tells the story of a man journeying into his past as he desperately flees the present. Composer Peter Els opens the door one evening to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab-- the latest experiment in his lifelong attempt to find music in surprising patterns-- has aroused the suspicions of Homeland Security. Panicked by the raid, Els turns fugitive. As an Internet-fueled hysteria erupts, Els-- the " Bioterrorist...

Music and war, war and music-these are the twin motifs around which Bradford Morrow, recipient of the Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has composed his magnum opus, a novel more than a dozen years in the making. In the early days of the new millennium, pages of a worn and weathered original sonata manuscript-the gift of a Czech immigrant living out her final days in Queens-come into the hands of Meta Taverner,...

"Arky Levin has reached a creative dead end. Guilty and restless after an unexpected separation from his wife, almost by chance he stumbles upon an art exhibit that will change his life. Based on a real piece of performance art, the installation that the fictional Arky Levin discovers is inexplicably powerful. Visitors to the Museum of Modern Art sit across a table from artist Marina Abramović for as short or long a period of time as they choose....

Young Marvin loves music and playing the piano but does not like practicing pieces by people named Ludwig or Wolfgang, until he receives valuable advice from his father on the day of a big audition.

"The dynamic trio is back When their friend Gordie is about to give up on math class (what is it with Xs and Ys, anyway?), Lucky, Rudy, and Red take another trip back in time to meet Ludwig van Beethoven. After all, if anyone can help Gordie persevere, it's the man who composed his greatest music even after losing his hearing. Can Gordie find the perseverance to push through?"--

Once More With Feeling: "Musician Raven Williams was devastated when Brandon Carstairs broke her heart five years ago. Now he's back, asking for her help cowriting the score for a major film--an opportunity she can't refuse. Despite the undeniable heat between them, Raven vows to keep things strictly professional. But it's as if no time has passed at all--and with so much lust hanging between them, it's hard not to melt..." -- Page [4] cover. Reflections:...

"When a musician's new song hits a political nerve, he finds himself in the crosshairs of Spanish nationalists' ire, and it's up to Bruno to track down the extremists who seem ready to take deadly measures, in another delightful installment of the internationally acclaimed series featuring Bruno, Chief of Police. Les Troubadours, a folk music group that Bruno has long supported, go viral with their new number, "Song for Catalonia," when the Spanish...

"A treasure of a novel, a deliciously enveloping musical mystery which I read with marvel and gusto. A virtuoso performance!"--Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeeper's Wife Music and war, war and music--these are the twin motifs around which Bradford Morrow, recipient of the Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has composed his magnum opus, The Prague Sonata , a novel more than a dozen years in the making. In the...

Talented songwriter Shawn Gallagher claims to be content with his life even though his music is full of loneliness and longing, but it is only when he gives in to the mysteries of magic that Shawn discovers the love that has been right in front of him for years.