And the hits just keep on coming!
Julie’s Top Picks of 2017 are:
Determined to rid herself of the family curse that has doomed her family, Esther encounters a new phobia that is the worst one of them all: the fear of loving. Read all about it in A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland.
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon is the story of two students who meet at a Stanford University summer program. Dimple endures pressure from her parents to find a suitable groom, and Rishi is encouraging her to enter an arranged marriage agreement with him. Trying to navigate culture, family, and love read to discover what Dimple decides to do.
As the author of a popular webcomic much of Eliza’s life is spent online. When a new boy enters her life, Eliza begins spending more time offline, but will that destroy her online life? Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia delves into the struggle to balance a teenager’s online life with her offline reality.
The keeper of secrets, love letters, and memories, a bookstore is the setting of this love story by Cath Crowley. Follow the story as teenagers Rachel and Henry find each other in Words in Deep Blue.
Graphic novel Saga Volume 7 by Brian Vaughan finishes Julie’s list.
Cyndi’s Top Picks:
Modern Death: How Medicine Changed the End of Life by Haidar Warraich explores the process of dying over the last one hundred years and the impact modern medicine has had on the process for better or for worse.
A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking In the Information Age by Daniel J. Levitin discusses misinformation and reliable information and argues that science is the foundation in critical thinking.
The alliance between Earth and Luna is threatened and an android, Iko, joins the hunt for the rogue leader that desires to end the alliance. If you enjoy graphic novels, and even if you don’t, give Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer a try.
Is it a book or is it a graphic novel? Most of the staff have read Thornhill by Pam Smy, and it made it onto Cyndi’s top picks list. Two stories told in parallel, one uses words and the other pictures.
Shape-shifters, zombies, and ghosts – what’s not to love? The Dire King by William Ritter is the last in the Jackaby series. Begin at the beginning with Jackaby or skip it and just see what happens in the end!
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck: a Counterintuitive Approach To Living a Good Life by Mark Manson wraps up Cyndi’s list. The problem of happiness, realizing you’re not special, choices, genetics, victimhood, and the value of suffering are just a few of the ideas grappled with in this thought-provoking book.
Dave’s Top Picks:
Setting Free the Kites by Alex George delves into the friendship of two young men. Set in Maine in 1976, Robert and Nathan begin their friendship on the first day of eighth grade. They are faced with family tragedies, and through the struggles they learn about how far friendships can stretch.
If the debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, is any indication, Gail Honeyman will be a favorite author to many. Eleanor is a bit socially awkward, says what she thinks, and lives by a strict timetable, but when she meets Raymond, the IT guy, her world gets a little messy.
Another in the ever popular Three Pines Mystery series, Glass Houses by Louise Penny does not disappoint.
Knife Creek by Paul Doiron also made Dave’s list. The adventures continue for Mike Bowditch, Maine Game Warden, when he discovers the body of a baby while he is out hunting feral hogs. Rumor is that the mother died years earlier, but as Mike investigates, he discovers nothing is certain.
Lydia, a clerk at a bookstore, is shocked when a favorite patron kills himself. Through the possessions he bequeaths to her, Lydia looks for answers and attempts to get to know him. What she unearths surprises her and brings to light long forgotten memories from childhood. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is the first novel written by Matthew Sullivan.
In The Stolen Girls by Patricia Gibney, it all begins with the discovery of the body of a pregnant woman. Then another victim is discovered by the same person who discovered the first body. More girls go missing. Detective Parker has to work fast before more end up dead.
Sara Paretsky is author of the V.I. Warshawski mystery series. In Fallout, Warshawski leaves Chicago and heads to Kansas on the trail of a missing film student.
Cat’s Top Picks:
Wonder Woman (movie). She watched this in the theater 5 times!
The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Devastating and intricate story about an apocalypse, with geology-based magic and beautiful language. The books in order are: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky.
Peel Away the Ivy by The Pattern Forms (album). They sound like a melancholy Radiohead song mixed with the Blade Runner soundtrack.
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. A very grumpy boy goes to a Lord of the Rings-esque magic school, shenanigans ensue.
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine. A retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses set in the Prohibition era.
Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick. In a sci-fi dystopia where rebellious women are sent to a dedicated prison planet, a group of prisoners stage a break out.