Jump to navigation Jump to main content
Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
I loved the snowy Scottish Highlands setting of Lucy Foley's last murder mystery, The Hunting Party. If you haven't read it, save it for New Year's. It's about a group of college chums reuniting for a holiday of drunken mayhem and murder - a delightfully frightening way to bring in the new year.
Anna Tromedlov hasn't had a gig in weeks from her temp agency so she jumps at the chance for a data entry position that might last a few weeks - even though she'll have to work on site (she prefers working from home). An offer to do some field work is unexpected but makes for a nice change of pace and she is promised that it's safe. Only it's not so much and what should have been a routine press conference by her villain boss turns into a violent attack when a hero crashes the event.
Bea Schumacher has had some rough mornings, but nothing quite like the one she wakes to after a particularly harrowing wine-filled evening. The plus-size fashion blogger and One to Watch heroine wakes after her hazy, booze-fueled tweet storm righteously demolishes the premiere of the popular Bachelor-esque dating show Main Squeeze, calling out the reality show’s obviously unreal portrayal of women’s bodies and beauty. Reeling from a heartrending breakup, Bea expects the resulting Twitter furor to blow over, but to her surprise, she gets a call from the show’s producer.
This is the time of year for top 10 lists. Booklist puts out various top 10 lists throughout the year, including Top 10 Sci-Tech Books. Are you looking for a good science or technology book to read? Then check out the below titles. These works of popular science cover a wide range of topics including birds, cats, whales, the universe, and much more.
Raven Leilani's Luster wins The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize for best debut novel.
If you ask anyone they'd probably tell you that 2020 wasn't their best year. I won't get into all the ways in which it was not good and really it was probably not good for each of you in different ways. But what was good was the books that were published. It's really been a stellar year for reading as demonstrated by all the awesome "best" lists that are coming out. If you don't believe me - and I'll admit to being a bit biased as I was on a panel that helped select some of the titles on one of these lists - take a look at a few of the lists that have come out so far.**
If you missed this morning's lunar eclipse, I've got just the thing for you - and it doesn't require being up at 2 am or special glasses. He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly is more than just a mystery novel: it stars a pair of eclipse chasers!
Every January (like many people who fear failure), I set an easily achievable reading goal in a popular book tracking app. Then, I read. Sometimes I read a lot. Sometimes I go weeks without picking up a book. Sometimes, now that I’m older, I start a book and decide not to finish it. Sometimes I read books that prompt me to examine the way I live my life, to learn about the ways other lives are lived, to acknowledge the ways I use my power to the advantage of people I love.
Virgil Wounded Horse tells himself he is doing the right thing. The half Lakota, half White Virgil is the Rosebud Reservation’s unofficial enforcer at the heart of David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s literary crime debut Winter Counts. For a few hundred dollars, Virgil will provide families with some sense of justice, delivering with his fists the verdicts that will never come from a federal government that neither allows the Lakota to hold their own trials, and rarely prosecutes in federal courts those crimes committed on reservation lands.
I'm a fan of historical romances but it's getting harder and harder to find the meaty, complicated ones that I sometimes like to sink into. Current publishing trends seem to have veered more towards lighter, sparkly fare (which I also enjoy, don't get me wrong). So in order to get my angsty fix, I decided to delve into the backlist of an author I enjoy.
