Staff Choices

It may seem like everyone is jumping on the romantasy bandwagon these days, and you’d have every right to be skeptical of an author’s first go at the genre. I was certainly apprehensive of the hype Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry was getting, but its place on the New York Times Bestseller’s list held steady and swayed me to dig in. And I’m certainly glad I did! Even though this is over 500 pages, it never felt long or drawn out. While the plot twists were fairly easy to figure out from the get-go, the satisfaction of being right in the end is worth it in my book. 

A slow burn fantasy romance, Shield of Sparrows follows Princess Odessa, the eldest daughter of the Kingdom of Quentis as she is torn from the life she knows and thrust into one of danger around every bend. Bound by the Shield of Sparrows treaty, Odessa’s sister was raised from birth to wed Prince Zavier of Turah. However, when they arrive in Quentis, Prince Zavier chooses Odessa as his bride and whisks her away on a perilous journey across the sea. Before their departure, Odessa’s father tasks her with discovering the secret location of the Turan capital of Allesaria. When she arrives in Turah, what she finds is a place cursed by nightmarish beasts and abandoned by its King. 

Along the way, Zavier’s trusted friend and advisor, the Guardian, keeps a constant eye on Odessa. As they spend more time together, forbidden feelings begin to arise.  

This book is full of action and what I can only describe as Lisa Frank inspired monsters (but 500x more terrifying). You’ll leave with questions, but not on a cliffhanger, thankfully. This is the first book of a planned trilogy. 

At 97 years old, George E. Johnson has written an inspiring memoir about his success at founding the Johnson Products Company. And I am so glad that he did. 
Created on Chicago's south side in 1954, Johnson Products was the first Black-owned company to be traded on the American Stock Exchange. The book tells of Johnson using hard work and strong character to start a business that filled in a gap in the haircare industry and supported the Black community in expressing their authentic beauty.

The book is filled with his coming of age story how without a formal education, he pushed through racial barriers to achieve success. Starting out by working odd jobs as a teenager, he learned that practicing the Golden Rule was the key to growing his multi-million dollar business. His impact is is inspiring and captivating as he highlights how courage and perseverance can create a legacy. 

The Next Conversation by Jefferson Fisher is a non-fiction, self-help book. Fisher is an attorney and the son of an attorney. Communication in the courtroom and with clients is an important skill in his profession. In this book, the author provides examples of real situations, often his own situations, where you might encounter tense moments that can easily go wrong in situations within your personal or work life. By providing language suggestions in how to respond, he demonstrates how to preserve the dignity of both yourself and the other person while clearly communicating boundaries and asserting yourself. Escalating conflicts can often be defused by remaining calm and not trying to "win" an argument.

I first heard of this author on social media and found him to be an affable speaker. Pick up a copy of his book if you'd also like to read some of his kernels of wisdom.
 

Memories can be beautiful, sad, terrifying or even the last remaining pieces of those we once held dear. And in Dissolution by Nicholas Binge, a weapon.  

Told in alternating timelines, Dissolution is a beautifully woven and fast-paced technothriller that will have you guessing until the very end. One half of the story follows Stanley Webb, a loner genius sucked into a world of memory experimentation. The other half, a present-day conversation between Stanley’s wife, Maggie, and a mysterious stranger, Hassan, as time ticks down to dissolution. 

Over the past decade Maggie has had to watch her beloved husband Stanley slowly lose the memories of their life together. His dementia is only getting worse, and their daughter has seemingly without reason cut ties, leaving Maggie feeling terribly alone. One day Maggie wakes up in an empty swimming pool, hooked up to a machine and sitting across from a man named Hassan, who wants nothing more than for Maggie to recall exactly how they met and the details that followed. Apparently, Stanley does not have dementia. In fact, his memories are being stolen, and Maggie must go in and retrieve them before it’s too late. 

The ensuing action brings up questions regarding the ethics of scientific advancement, who you can actually trust, and the importance of memory in the retelling of historical events. As someone who loves it when seemingly disparate pieces of a puzzle come together, there were very satisfying moments in this story. 

One Golden Summer is the sequel to Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After, which I absolutely loved—and this one is another hit. You don’t need to read the first one to appreciate this one, but you should – it’s fantastic! 

Alice Everly is a photographer based out of Toronto. She owes her career to a photo she took when she was 17 during a visit to her grandmother’s cottage on Barry’s Bay. The photo of three teenagers in a yellow speedboat changed her life. Many years later, when Nan breaks her hip, Alice heads to Barry’s Bay to spend the summer with her. But their R&R is interrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow speedboat—and the man driving it, Charlie Florek. Soon, Alice and Charlie strike up a friendship, but there’s something more between them. A lustrous summer story featuring found family, grief, hope and love in all forms. 

Charlie and Alice’s story builds to a heartfelt and satisfying conclusion. It blends the forced proximity and friends-to-lovers tropes with humor, heat, and heart. It is ode to summers at the lake and the nostalgia of being young and carefree. This page turner is the perfect summer beach read to bring on vacation. 

Another excellent book from Tess Gerritsen. I checked it out and finished it in a night. Well written story, interesting characters, plenty of whisky, twists and turns but satisfying ending.

I would suggest reading the first book in this series The Spy Coast , although this does work as a stand alone. I don't think there is a sub genre called cozy spy novels but if there was this would qualify.

I think it is also a great summer read set in a small and beautiful town on the Maine coast. I was hooked the the series name, The Martini Club. Great entertainment led by Maggie Bird and her fellow retired spies.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the moon suddenly, and with no conceivable explanation, turned to cheese? No? That’s okay, because John Scalzi has and you can read about it!  

Following some related, but many unrelated characters, When the Moon Hits Your Eye brings us on a journey of scientific, spiritual and technological discovery. While the story is often laugh-out-loud funny, it's also surprisingly poignant in its observation of the human experience. From astronauts navigating what it means to have trained their entire lives to land on the moon only to have their dreams dashed mere months from the finish line to three old friends discussing the end of the world at their usual booth at a diner in Oklahoma, this book may inspire some self-reflection. 

Unfortunately, the eAudiobook is an Audible original and unavailable to the library. But if you have some available credits, Wil Wheaton narrates, which I thought was a nice touch. 

Set in Brussels, the story revolves around the inhabitants of a Beaux Arts apartment building in the early years of the Nazi occupation. In this debut novel, Alice Austen builds her unique cast of characters with care and reverence. Having lived in the building at one point in her life, neighbors shared stories of what had gone on during the years of the occupation. She listened as they told stories of this small community, trying to survive one of the darkest times in history.

Art student Charlotte who lives in 4L with her father who is a prominent architect, is a quiet observer of people. Julien Raphael in 4R, lives with his family of art collectors, and with Charlotte, creates films of the world around them. They, as well as the others, are confronted with cruel choices of loyalty and survival.

Ann Patchett calls 33 Place Brugmann "Beautiful and deeply " engaging, and I completely agree. 
  

The newest entry in the Cotton Malone series. It is well written and the history is well researched. I get to read a great Cotton Malone story and have a history lesson included with my fiction! This book is also filled with great locales and is a nice escape novel.

Kate & Frida is a story about two young women who meet by chance because of a book and an old-fashioned hand-written letter. In 1991, Frida is living in Paris and wants to become a journalist. She writes a charming letter to a bookstore in Seattle seeking to buy a particular title. Kate, who works at the bookstore responds in kind. From there, a friendship develops as the two continue to write each other. Their letters evolve into sharing what is happening in their lives, seeking each other's advice and acting as each other's sounding board - almost as if they'd always known each other. The story takes on a serious tone when Frida is compelled to travel to Sarajevo during the outbreak of the Bosnian war. Her brief and traumatic experience there deeply affects her and drives her subsequent actions. Over the course of years, Kate & Frida's friendship strengthens as they mature and grow from their life experiences. 

In the vein of the first book in the series, Love & Saffron, friendship and food are also key to this heartwarming second book in the series. An internet search indicates this series will be a trilogy.

For fans of author Kim Fay, of epistolary fiction and of historical fiction. The book is a salute to kindness and self-discovery.