Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
Overdrive (Libby) has announced its next Big Library Read, A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger. From November 2-16 readers around the world will have simultaneous access to the title and can use the hashtag #biglibraryread on social media to share their thoughts with other readers.
It’s no secret that it takes extraordinary effort and preternatural talent to achieve coveted, competitive positions at top universities, internships, or sports leagues. (Who you know and how much money you have certainly doesn’t hurt either.) Now consider a job that makes the task of getting into Harvard, or the NFL draft, or an internship at Vogue seem like a walk in the park. Give up? Try winning a seat as a professional tuba player in one of America’s full-time or part-time professional orchestras.
Find all the joy of the Bright Brown Baby board books in this beautiful picture book treasury! Bright Brown Baby: A Treasury by Andrea David Pinkney and Brian Pinkney is bursting with warmth & bounce. These mini stories about peek-a-boo, counting-to-love, and baby stars all shine so bright. They read like mini love songs to little ones.
"Everyone knows this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
A boy returns from school hurt that a friend drew a picture of their group and he has eyes like two lines stretched across his face. The others have big, round eyes with green, blue, brown or black irises. His Baba stood him in front of a mirror and said, “Your eyes rise to the skies and speak to the stars. The comets and constellations show you their secrets, and your eyes can foresee the future.
Lucha libre, diner lingo, and digging for secrets in a historical archive - what's not to like?
And this librarian LOVES Leo. These two companion board books about lovely Leo and his parents are complete joy. Follow Anna McQuinn's lilting rhyme about all the favorite things that Leo does with his mom and dad accompanied by brilliant illustrations of the pairs in action (including all of daddy's niftiest dance moves). Toddlers and their grown ups will smile and laugh at these familiar activities, inviting conversations about all the things they LOVE to do too and always end with a snuggle.
Magic, fantasy, romance, adventure… this graphic novel has it all! The Heartless Prince is the first book in a new exciting trilogy that takes readers into the world of orphaned princess, Evony. Her world is one destroyed by witches and familiars (servants to the witches). Readers join Evony as she and her love interest, Prince Ammon, join together to fight the familiars and the magical forces threatening their kingdom. When the witch, Aradia, steals Prince Ammon’s heart and captures his sister, Evony embarks on a journey to save them.
One was killed by drowning. A few succumbed to grief. At least one fell and broke his neck, while others went by hanging, or in battle, or were stabbed. Some deaths were quite singular—a ‘burning quotidian tertian’, a ‘Malady of France’, a bear’s meal, and even a death from a surfeit of joy. All told, the killer had some 250 victims, not including the nameless souls that died without notice. No, this isn’t some horrid tale of a serial killer run amok, but the casualty list from William Shakespeare’s plays.
The National Book Foundation announced their longlists for a number of National Book Award categories.
Dominican-American Alba Duarte is trying to do it all and is in danger of completely losing it as On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera opens. Alba is putting in the work towards her dream of being an interior designer and instagram influencer, but she's doing so on top of a full-time job and being a support to her immigrant family. Something's gotta give. And when Alba decides it's giving up her job as assistant to the arrogant Theo Ganas and moving to Dallas? Well that sets in motion a whole new set of complications in this fast-paced, sexy, and flirtatious contemporary romance.
It can sometimes be easy to forget how transformative World War I was to the course of history. A war that began with nineteenth century visions of cavalry charges to glory fatally collided with the reality of the technology of the twentieth century. The brutal carnage that the war became soon revealed that medicine, like army tactics, would have to change radically in order to address the wounds—physical and mental—of the casualties returning from battle.
This is your chance to dive into the mind of author Keanu Reeves! What's going on in there? Well, I'm not sure after reading the first volume in his Brzrkr series but I can tell you his comic debut is the most unapologetically violent thing I've ever read.
If the Shoe Fits is the first in the new “Meant to Be” series for adults inspired by classic fairy tales. What was “meant to be” in a Disney-way is now updated for modern sensibilities and women who aren’t waiting around for a Prince or Princess Charming. If they find one along the way, cool, but their lives are pretty awesome as is.
Well, heck, this is the cutest book about a 7th grader in West Texas who is adjusting to big changes in relationships, school, and just gosh darn everything. And she’s got a 15 pound cat named Cheese. What could be better?
Did you read Malibu Rising? Remember when tennis pro Carrie Soto threatened to light Brandon Randall’s clothes on fire? Well, fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid can rejoice! Because Carrie Soto is back!
The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. The winners were announced at Bouchercon, an annual mystery convention which was held in Minneapolis this past weekend. The nominees were published in 2021, so here's your chance to find a great read that my not have a long waiting list.
"Sharks that walk, sharks that speed, sharks that glow, sharks in danger… and baby sharks! Meet these sharks–and many more–in The Shark Book!”
In her stellar adult fiction novel debut Veronica Roth explores what happens when a totalitarian, dystopian regime falls and whether or not the society can rebuild without repeating the same patterns and mistakes. And she does all of this through the eyes of someone who was complicit in that regime's behavior.
When Billie James inherits a little money, her grandmother's cabin and her dog in Greendale, Mississippi, she decides on a visit in hopes of re-connecting with her past. She has few memories of the rundown (even more so now) Mississippi Delta town and its inhabitants, but has always been curious about the events of her last visit when she was four years old. It was then that her father died in a drunken accident. Or so she was told.
