Friday, January 13, 2012

Staff Picks

Staff Picks


At our staff meetings we take a few minutes to talk about the books we are reading. This is a list of recent favorites.

STAFF PICKS





500 Years of Black History

This year, Martin Luther King Day will be celebrated on January 16, an occasion to commemorate King’s leadership of the Civil Rights movement. King's influence on African-American history is pivotal, and one way to appreciate his role is by understanding the bigger picture. Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Life Upon These Stores chronicles the most important figures and events, both famous and overlooked, in African-American history. This comprehensive volume begins before the first shipment of slaves to America and ends with America's first black president. Reading Life Upon These Shores will help to place King and his accomplishments in the broader spectrum, thus making the day all the more relevant.



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This Beautiful Life
This Beautiful Life
By Schulman, Helen
2011-08 - Harper
9780062024381 Check Our Catalog

The events of a single night shatter a Manhattan family's sense of security and identity--and, ultimately, their happiness--in this gripping, provocative novel by the author of "A Day at the Beach." …More

Heartwishes
Heartwishes
By Deveraux, Jude
2011-08 - Atria Books
9781439108000 Check Our Catalog

Gemma Ranford wants the job cataloging the documents of the Frazier family so much that she is ready to do battle to get it. Fascinated with history, and desperately trying to finish her dissertation, she's hoping against all hope that the papers will yield new information to invigorate her research. What she didn't expect to find is references to the Heartwishes Stone - believed by most to be pure legend - and said to grant wishes to anyone named Frazier. …More

The Help
The Help
By Stockett, Kathryn
2009-02 - Amy Einhorn Books
9780399155345 Check Our Catalog

BookPage Notable Title

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.

HPL patron: Best book I've read in a long time. Love it.

HPL patron: Four stars. Quite a look at our history.

HPL patron: Loved this book, a true aspect of the past.

…More

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: (and Other Concerns)
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: (and Other Concerns)
By Kaling, Mindy
2011-11 - Crown Archetype
9780307886262 Check Our Catalog

Kaling shares her observations, fears, and opinions about a wide-ranging list of the topics she thinks about the most. From her favorite types of guys to life in the "The Office" writers' room, her book is full of personal stories and laugh-out-loud philosophies. 224 pp. …More

Crossed
Crossed
By Condie, Ally
2011-11 - Dutton Books
9780525423652 Check Our Catalog

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his certain death--only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. 250,000 print. (Children's - Young Adult) …More

The Best of Me
The Best of Me
By Sparks, Nicholas
2011-10 - Grand Central Publishing
9780446547659 Check Our Catalog

Sparks' latest is the heart-rending story of two small-town former high school sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks. Now middle-aged, they've taken wildly divergent paths, but neither has lived the life they imagined--and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever altered their world. When they are both called back to their hometown for the funeral of their mentor, they will be forced to confront the choices each has made, and ask whether love can truly rewrite the past. 288 pp. (General Fiction) …More

Interpreter of Maladies
Interpreter of Maladies
By Lahiri, Jhumpa
1999-06 - Mariner Books
9780395927205 Check Our Catalog

Navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and a baffling new world, the characters in Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations. …More

Mourning Gloria
Mourning Gloria
By Albert, Susan Wittig
2011-04 - Berkley Publishing Group
9780425239131 Check Our Catalog

After a woman is killed in an arson-homicide, Jessica Nelson, an intern-reporter at the local paper, is assigned to cover the story. When Jessica disappears, China Bayles is determined to find her, before she becomes a headline herself.

HPL patron: Entertaining mystery.

…More

Changes
Changes
By Lackey, Mercedes
2011-10 - Daw Books
9780756406929 Check Our Catalog

The orphan Magpie pursues his quest for his parents' identity with burning urgency--while also discovering another hidden talent and being trained as an undercover agent. Shy Bardic Trainee Lena has to face her famous but uncaring father. And Healing Trainee Bear must struggle against his disapproving parents. …More

The Ogre of Oglefort
The Ogre of Oglefort
By Ibbotson, Eva
Illustrator Weber, Lisa K.
2011-08 - Dutton Books
9780525423829 Check Our Catalog

For excitement-hungry orphan Ivo, a mission to save Princess Mirella from the dreaded Ogre of Oglefort is a dream come true. Together with a hag, wizard, and troll, Ivo sets out for adventure. But after they get to the ogre's castle, the rescuers are in for a surprise: the princess doesn't need saving, but the depressed ogre does! 25,000 print. …More

The Marriage Plot
The Marriage Plot
By Eugenides, Jeffrey
2011-10 - Farrar Straus Giroux
9780374203054 Check Our Catalog

BookPage Notable Title

It's the early 1980s--the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels. But real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes. 416 pp. 400,000 print. (General Fiction) …More

We Have Always Lived in the Castle
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
By Jackson, Shirley
Introduction by Lethem, Jonathan
2006-10 - Penguin Books
9780143039976 Check Our Catalog

Alone since four members of the family died of arsenic poisoning, Merricat, Constance, and Julian Blackwood spend their days in happy isolation until cousin Charles appears. …More


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