Staff Choices

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe was an eye-opening account of a young girl’s summer living in the Chicago projects as they were being torn down around her. Wolfe describes the atmosphere of living in the housing projects of Chicago in 1999 with raw emotion. It’s a realistic depiction of what occurs in the inner city, from the poverty, the gangs, the violence, and everything else many struggle with on a daily basis. The main character, Fe Fe, and her friends learn to navigate the system as best they can. Their friendships are fragile, and their fear is evident as they are thrown into many life altering choices. This 224-page book packs a punch with its realistic, yet violent, story. I love that Wolfe shares in the similarity of her main character, as a strong female who made it out of the Robert Taylor Homes.

Reading this book had me Googling photos and videos to find out more about the Chicago projects. This short, yet moving novel, will stick with you and would make for a hearty book discussion.

Something very unusual has happened. Overnight, all around the world every adult age 22 and older has received an identical box with a length of string inside. Inscribed on each box is the phrase: "The measure of your life lies within." No one knows what it means. Is it a test? What do the different length of the strings mean? Should people open their box or ignore it? Of course, human nature, being what it is, creates its own intended and unintended consequences including deceit, broken trust, dashed hopes, discrimination,political maneuvering as well as a resurgence in exploring what is really important. The story is told through the point of view of the main characters via their own chapters, piecing their stories together. Their relationships and connectedness are what really appealed to me. Each character's reactions and interactions advance the story. By chance, two of them begin corresponding with each other anonymously through hand-written notes left inside a classroom. My favorite phrase in the novel is on page 276. "We are all strung together." 

The Measure by debut author Nikki Erlick is a reaction to something unexplained, raising many questions with parallels to issues in the world today. I think this is a good title for book discussion groups and will spark thought-provoking conversation.

Upgrade" is another great thriller- science fiction novel from from Blake Crouch.  Both creative and incredibly smart, "Upgrade" is fast paced from start to finish. I finished it in just a one night because I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. I was utterly captivated by Logan Ramsay's character and found myself filled with suspense as he faced the many challenges he encountered while trying to save human kind. This book is definitely a nail biter to the end!

Along with a completely engrossing plot, Crouch's story contains a warning to the human race as well as the very real solution to many of our current problems, climate change, division and war.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is a perfect gem of a novella that can easily be read in one sitting.  Bill Furlong is a coal merchant in 1980s Ireland, blessed with a wife and five daughters whom he adores. The country has hit extremely hard economic times, and Furlong witnesses the struggles in his community as he scrapes along to keep his business running. His wife Eileen chides Furlong for being "soft", taking pity on (and occasionally giving handouts to) the alcoholics and other less fortunate in their small town. 
But Furlong owes his own success to the charitable heart of his late mother's employer, Mrs. Wilson, a Protestant war widow. Furlong's mother was a teenage maid when she became pregnant with him, but Mrs. Wilson kept her on, allowing her to raise the boy in the household while taking the child under her own wing, helping to care and educate him, and eventually giving him the financial means to start his business.  
So when Furlong has a couple disturbing encounters with some of the unwed  pregnant girls working in the convent laundry, his conscience is troubled. Would this not have been his own mother's fate, had Mrs. Wilson not intervened?
This is a quiet story about a good person who must follow his own moral compass, despite the consequences. It is also a blistering attack on the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church. 

Sometimes described as a fantasy 1984, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune reads like a cross between Lemony Snicket and Harry Potter. While the main character is a bit dull (at least to start), this story, and the cast of characters are anything but.  

If you’re looking for a light, whimsical, and wholesome story that will leave you crying tears of happiness (I wouldn’t know anything about that personally of course...) this is the novel for you. 

Set in a world where magical beings must be monitored and registered, Linus Baker is a Case Worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. Overseen by Extremely Upper Management, a secretive and menacing group of individuals, Linus has memorized the rules; never stepping out of line. Having lived a solitary black and white life, very much under the radar, Linus is shocked when he is summoned by Extremely Upper Management. 

Linus is given a highly classified assignment; travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, a house next to the sea and far from his usual comforts. This particular orphanage is home to six dangerous children of varying magical abilities. Linus must closely observe them and determine if they should remain on the island with their caretaker, Arthur Parnassus. His final report should be thorough, complete and turned in exactly on time. 

Given only the barest of details, Linus embarks on a quest of self-discovery, learning things about himself only a protective caretaker, an ornery grounds keeper, a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, a green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist can teach him. Also, that perhaps Extremely Upper Management has ulterior motives, and the world isn’t as black and white as Linus has made it. 

A princess/almost nun, a witch, a fairy godmother, a dog made of bones, and an ex-knight walk into a boarding house... 

Typical of T. Kingfisher novels, Nettle & Bone is a darker Grimm fantasy. Nevertheless, Kingfisher weaves a magical story that will have you falling in love with and rooting for the underdogs. The banter between characters, and worldbuilding make this story one to remember. 

Coming in at just 245 pages, Nettle & Bone is a considerably smaller time commitment than your average fantasy tome. But don’t be fooled, this novel packs a punch and delivers plenty of visual fuel.  

Nettle & Bone follows Marra, the youngest of three princesses from the Harbor Kingdom who has spent half of her life embroidering and delivering babies at an Abbey far from home. Caught between two feuding and powerful kingdoms, the Queen marries her oldest daughter Damia off to the Northern Kingdom’s prince. When Damia suddenly dies, Marra’s middle sister Kania takes her place. It becomes clear to Marra that not all ever-afters are happy in the Northern Kingdom. Married to an abusive and paranoid man, Kania is trapped in a game of politics that Marra will inherit should Kania befall the same fate as Damia. 

Embarking on a quest to save her sister, Marra enlists the help of a dust-wife who agrees to help only if Marra can complete three impossible tasks: 

• Build a dog from bones 

• Weave a cloak of nettles 

• Capture moonlight in a jar of clay 

Surprising herself and annoying the witch, (“No. Child, you give someone an impossible task so that they won’t be able to do it.”) Marra completes all three. Now they just need to get there in time, figure out how to kill a prince protected by a powerful godmother, and make it out alive. Easy enough. 

Along the way, Marra is joined by a troop of outcasts and learns that everyone has their demons, even chickens, and especially puppets. That, perhaps, she is capable of a great deal more than she gives herself credit for. 

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and woman merely players.” 

M.L. Rio’s debut novel If We Were Villains really takes those words to heart. As a Shakespearean scholar herself, it’s not shocking that the world she weaves is entirely Shakespeare centric. Hopping between the present and past, Rio weaves an elegant mystery that will leave you wondering what is true and what is just good acting.  

If We Were Villains is a story of friendship, love, loss and betrayal. Fans of Shakespeare will not be disappointed in how thoroughly the bard’s work is woven into the plot. Anyone scarred by their high school English paper on Romeo & Juliet, you’ve been warned. 

Ten years ago there was a murder at a small but elite arts college in Illinois.  

Oliver, one of only seven students to have made it to their senior year, makes his way back to campus and what he considers his true home. Having successfully navigated the brutal culling of students, the remaining seven theatre majors are unsurprisingly a tightknit group. Having spent the past 3 years perfecting their Shakespearean delivery, all seven know their prescribed roles (whether they are happy about them is another story): 

As the year goes on and the instructors switch up the roles, things begin to fall apart. 

Ten years later, Oliver, who has just been released from prison, is finally ready to tell the lead investigator, who never really believed he got the full story, what really happened.  

The ending will break your heart while simultaneously giving you hope for Oliver’s future. 

I genuinely enjoy that Quirk gives a new story line and character pretty much every time. This one is no exception. A bit terrifying when you realize that he may not be too far off with the scenario presented. We find Sam Hudson in a race against the clock with basically no one to trust. I wasn't sure who to trust either, and at times I thought it may even be Sam himself...does one ever really know. A page turner indeed.

The latest in the excellent Gabriel Allon spy series. Gabriel has finally retired from the Israeli spy agency, Mossad. Allon along with his wife, Chiara and his twins have moved to Venice. Gabriel is devoting his time to work as a master art restorer. Allon is asked by old friend and art gallery owner, Julian Isherwood to look into the sale of an old painting which he suspects is a forgery.

The case leads to a look into the dark side of the forgery business of the lucrative art world market. There is plenty of action and seedy criminals along the the way. The case leads Gabriel to the glamorous locales of Venice, London, Paris, New Yorl and Corsica. A fast paced and entertaining thriller.

When I heard the premise of this book; "A novel tracing a widows unlikely connection with a giant pacific octopus", I admit I was skeptical. Thankfully due to the magic of a well written book, I was pleasantly surprised.

After Tova Sullivan's husband dies she starts to work the nightshift at the Puget Sound Aquarium. Keeping busy is what she does to help her through grief, which is what she has done since her beloved son disappeared 30 years ago. While there, she becomes acquainted with Marcellus, a masterful all knowing octopus. Sensing the loneliness and needs in each other, they come to depend on Tova's nightly cleaning shifts as they navigate life's next steps.

Many friends, local townspeople and characters weave their way into Tova's life, at the same time she starts to see the effects of growing old and being alone. Remarkably, Marcellus sees things that others cannot see, and decides to do everything in his power to help Tova find solace. Remarkably Bright Creatures is a terrific debut story by author Shelby Van Pelt. Let's hope she has a few more meaningful stories to share.