staff picks:
 |
Heart And The Bottle Oliver Jeffers This beautiful picture book captures the experience of love and loss. A little girl comes to terms with growing up and letting go. Oliver Jeffer's illustrations are gorgeous and the story is captivating. A poignant read that soothes the soul of children and grownups alike. Recommended by: Mary - Broadway |
 |
Wizard's First Rule Terry Goodkind If you're interested in fantasy and enjoy George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan then you'll like Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series. The epic saga begins with a brutal murder and a mysterious woman. A young man named Richard takes up the fight of a realm and searches his soul to find the courage to survive torment, treachery, and betrayal. An engaging page turner which will leave you hungering for more. I'd recommended having the second two at your disposal before you begin. Recommended by: Mary - Broadway |
 |
Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris It's a memoir and it's not just funny. It's laugh out loud and disturb others with your hysterics hilarious. Read it. Recommended by: Mary - Broadway |
 |
It Chooses You Miranda July Filmmaker Miranda July has perfected the short story form. Have you ever wondered who takes the time to place an ad to sell a single leather jacket for $10? Or a live tadpole? Her book "It Chooses You" transports you into the worlds of the people who place ads in the Pennysavers (a free print publication of classifieds). Her prose and the photographs accompanying it are lively an entertaining. A great book for university students in the arts and people with an interest in film. Recommended by: Mary - Broadway |
 |
Magical Thinking Augusten Burroughs If you love Dave Sedaris' books you'll find lots to love about Augusten Burroughs' "Magical Thinking". The Pennsylvania born writer is best known for his New York Times bestselling memoir "Running with Scissors" where he recounts surviving the crazy of his childhood. In "Magical Thinking" he provides some hilarious and sometimes heartwarming anecdotes of his quest for love and escape from alcoholism. Recommended by: Mary - Broadway |
 |
This Is Your Brain On Music Daniel Levitin If you've ever wondered why certain songs get stuck in your head, why you can't resist a good rhythm, or why music doesn't sound like any old noise, this book is for you! Levitin uses his background as a psychologist and recording engineer to explain music in clear, engaging language suitable for a professional musician or someone with no musical training at all. The result is an intriguing look into the biology of the mind and of music. Recommended by: Anassa - Davie |
 |
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte I'm a big fan of Jane Eyre, the person and the book. She's smart, confident in herself, and full of personality -- a person of her age yet surprisingly modern. Her story's wonderfully textured too, blending gothic romance and coming-of-age narrative with social commentary. I cried, worried, and laughed along with Jane, and may have stayed up later than I should have to keep reading. There aren't many books I'll reread, but this is one of them! Recommended by: Anassa - Davie |
 |
Physics of the Impossible Michio Kaku TIME TRAVEL IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE! Neither are teleportation, warp speed, phasers, or forcefields, They may be far in our future (or not), but they're coming. The explanations why are clear, concise, and endlessly fascinating. Great for a pop scientist, sci-fi fan, and average non-fiction reader. Go on, take a look inside.... Recommended by: Anassa - Davie |
 |
Blackout Connie Willis Did you know that Connie Willis has won the Hugo and Nebula Awards more times than any other author? She's done it again with her epic two volume World War II time travelling odyssey Black Out and All Clear which brings together characters from To Say Nothing of the Dog and The Doomsday Book (also winners of Hugos and Nebulas), stranding her cast in the same time line, if not necessarily together, with history shifting around them. Willis is phenomenal with detail and I love the subtly she weaves into her endings. One of the beauties of time travel is that you don't need to read the previous books to enjoy the current volumes as all are set in different times. Recommended by: Darlene - Davie |
 |
Case Histories Kate Atkinson Not your usual suspects. Not your usual detective mystery series either. Kate Atkinson drops you into her quirky cast a chapter at a time so you get each one's unique perspective on the crime and on the other characters. They speculate, they digress and sometimes you wonder how she will pull all these threads together as perfectly as she does. I was so taken with her Jackson Brodie series that I read the whole set back to back! Atkinson has said she didn't want to write mysteries, she wanted to write a story about a bunch of people who all had crimes in their back-stories, but if she was going to have that, she needed a detective to move the plot along. We can all be very thankful she was so pleased with Brodie, a wonderful, angst-filled detective discovering as much about himself as anything else, that he continues for our reading pleasure. Case Histories is the first book in the series. Recommended by: Darlene - Davie |
Pages
