Burlington Public Library

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.

Biographers often neglect the captive years of Mary, Queen of Scots, who trusted Queen Elizabeth's promise of sanctuary when she fled from rebels in Scotland and then found herself imprisoned as the guest of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his indomitable wife, Bess of Hardwick. The newly married couple welcome the doomed queen into their home, certain that serving as her hosts and jailers will bring them an advantage in the cutthroat world...

"Jessica Wilson Arnold is a superstar professional speaker whose husband and friends fret about the strain of her ambitions, while she hungers for more. When a medical crisis and some poor decisions bring her fast-track success to a screeching halt, Jessica is forced to admit that her life isn't as perfectly packaged as advertised. Her quest to restore her health and prioritize what matters most leads her to a crossroad. Will she revive her faith...

After a tumultuous year in which her mentor is murdered and her estranged father comes back into her life, Pia Grazdani, decided to take some time off from her medical studies and escape New York City. Intrigued by the promise of the burgeoning field of medical technology and the chance to clear her head in the cool air of Colorado, Pia takes a job at Nano, LLC, a lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology institute in the Rockies. Nano is...

"Commercial deep-sea diver Solvig has a secret. She wants to be one of the first human beings to colonize Mars, and she's one of a hundred people shortlisted by the Mars Project to do just that. But to fulfil her ambition, she'll have to leave behind everything she's ever known-for the rest of her life. As the prospect of heading to space becomes more real, thirty-seven-year-old Solvig is forced to define who she really is. Will she come clean to...

A century of unwise American military adventures is probed in this perceptive study of foreign policy over-reach from Woodrow Wilson's "hubris of reason" to George W. Bush's "hubris of dominance." In each case, Beinart finds a dangerous confluence of misleading experience and untethered ideology.

A girl sees a woman labeled as having too much ambition, but when the girl considers its definition she finds herself inspired and realizes ambition is required to make changes to the world and have her voice be heard.

A mother encourages her young daughter to always do her best, be a team player, try new experiences, and strive to help others who may be in need.

From the embers of the Second World War rose a family as ruthless as the forces that sought to destroy them. Guided by its indomitable matriarch, the Morfawitzes seek to build their own Olympus on the New York City skyline, in this engrossing tale from a winner of the Faulkner Society Award for Best Novel. After fleeing from Nazis in Germany-just as her parents fled from Cossacks in Russia-Hadassah Morfawitz arrives in New York to begin her own dynasty,...