The weather is getting cooler and that’s a perfect excuse to curl up with one of these excellent books and a warm beverage of your choice! We have some new selections for you coming from Adult Services, Administration, Technical Services, and Building Services! If you’re still looking for more, consider checking out last week’s list of titles.
Carla (Adult Services) recommends: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Category: Juvenile Fiction
Carla says: The Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud is mid-grade fiction, and it’s perfect for anyone who loved the spooky parts of Harry Potter or wanted to be a Ghostbuster. Set in alternate-reality London, the world of Lockwood & Co. is filled with ghosts and spirits whose slightest touch means sudden death. Only young people can see these spirits, so kids and young teens work as ghost-catchers, keeping the citizens of London safe…ish. The first book of the series, The Screaming Staircase, introduces us to our narrator, Lucy Carlyle, and her colleagues George Cubbins and Anthony Lockwood. As the series progresses (there are five books in all), the skills of the three will be tested as they unravel mysteries and work to solve the question of why the dead won’t lay quiet in their graves.
Chad (Adult Services) recommends: Red Pill by Hari Kunzru
Category: Adult Fiction
Chad says: The Deuter Center is nestled in the scenic Berlin suburb of Wannsee, known for its picturesque lake and walking trails. It was also the setting for the infamous meeting where the Nazis decided on the Final Solution. An unnamed narrator has just won a fellowship to study at the Center. After he arrives, at what is supposed to be a unique opportunity the narrator’s life begins to unravel. He begins to take increasingly longer walks and withdraws from his responsibilities at the Center. He fills his hours binge watching a violent television show called Blue Lives. On an off chance the narrator meets the producer and becomes obsessed with him, the television show, and the deeply embedded nihilistic philosophy. The narrator trails the Blue Lives producer online and around Europe trying to discover the meaning of this political philosophy, but also what it means for himself. Fans of Kunzru’s earlier work will enjoy this and people interested in deep dives of the psychology of characters will certainly find much to like in this one.
Robin (Technical Services) recommends: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Category: Adult Fiction
When she’s just a child, Rose learns she has an unusual gift after biting into her mother’s homemade chocolate-lemon cake. She can taste her mother’s emotions in the food. But, what seems like an amazing talent soon becomes a burden, as Rose learns so much more about people than she ever wanted to know, through the taste of their food. Family secrets and struggles soon come to light, as with each bite, Rose uncovers hidden secrets. At times emotionally heartbreaking, but also funny and sweetly sad, this is a beautiful book about family and secrets and how to love someone when you know too much about them.
Nancy (Building Services) recommends: Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food by Trey Radel
Category: Adult Biography
Nancy says: I usually read fiction, but when I saw the “crazy” and “finger food” in the title, I decided to give this autobiography a try. Trey Radel loves politics. We get to see the inside workings of Washington from this Florida Congressman’s point of view. He tells his story with wit and raw honesty, revealing political absurdities and his own failings.
Guy (Administration) recommends: Chiefs by Stuart Woods
Category: Adult Fiction
Guy says: Stuart Woods is a very prolific American writer. His Will Lee series (starting with Chiefs) is fantastic. The story was inspired by a police chief’s badge Woods had found in his grandmother’s home. Woods is a private pilot and a yachtsman.
