Staff Picks - October 2020

By Sherman Alexie
Recommended By Amy B., Children's Librarian

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all–white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

By Josh Bazell
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian

In this debut thriller, an intern at a run-down Manhattan hospital who's atoning for his former life as a mob hit man encounters in the course of a single day a patient with a mystery illness, a 21-year-old girl about to have a leg amputated, and a former mob associate.

By Veronica Roth
Recommended By Jessikah Chautin, Community Engagement Specialist

On the 10th anniversary of the Dark One’s defeat, one of the Chosen Ones – who brought the Dark One down—dies and the remaining four discover the Dark One’s ultimate goal was much bigger than they, the government or even prophecy could have foretold.

By Andrew Rea
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

Eat What You Watch recreates more than 40 recipes from classic and cult films.

By Louise Penny
Series Chief Inspector Gamache Mysteries
Recommended By Sonia Grgas, Reference Librarian

When a mysterious figure travels through Three Pines and leaves a dead body in its wake, Armand Gamache pursues a difficult investigation that yields unexpected consequences and forces him into a battle with his own conscience.

By Therese Fowler
Recommended By Lisa H., Readers' Services Librarian

The single mother of a mixed-race college student and a thriving business owner with a troubled daughter clash over a historic oak tree on their property line and the blossoming romance between their children.

By Saul Bellow
Recommended By Donna Burger, Readers' Services Librarian

A multifaceted portrait of a modern-day hero, a man struggling with the complexity of existence and longing for redemption.

By Grady Hendrix
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager, Kaye Spurrell, Readers' Services Librarian

After strange things start happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, three employees volunteer to work an overnight shift to investigate, but what they discover is more horrifying than they could have imagined.

By Emily Belden
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian

Hiding the fact that she is a widow from those around her, 29–year–old Charlotte Rosen searches for answers and forgiveness when her late husband’s ashes land on her doorstep five years after his death.

By Curtis Sittenfeld
Recommended By Amy B., Children's Librarian

Hannah Gavener's fantasies about family, romance, and love collide headlong with the challenges, complexities, and realities of adult life and relationships, in an insightful coming-of-age novel.

By Chris Grabenstein
Series John Ceepak Series
Recommended By Jackie, Head of Readers' Services

Learning that a former crush, Katie, is happily employed as a magician's assistant, Sea Haven police officer Danny Boyle is shocked by Katie's subsequent murder and teams up with partner John Ceepak in a race against time to find the killer.

By Jessica Simpson
Recommended By Lisa H., Readers' Services Librarian

An unstinting memoir by the pop artist and fashion icon traces the story of her life before and after fame, the role of faith in her achievements and her difficult decision to step out of the limelight.

By Philip Roth
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director, Donna Burger, Readers' Services Librarian

In a novel of alternative history, aviation hero and isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, negotiating a cordial accord with Adolf Hitler, accepting his conquest of Europe and anti-Semitic policies, and igniting a storm of fear for Jewish families throughout America.

By Daphne Du Maurier
Recommended By Ed Goldberg, Head of Reference

A classic novel of romantic suspense finds the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter entering the home of her mysterious and enigmatic new husband and learning the story of the house's first mistress, to whom the sinister housekeeper is unnaturally devoted.

By Christopher Bohjalian
Recommended By Audrey Honigman, Library Clerk

Falling in love with a wounded former patient and accompanying him on a cycling trip to Vietnam, an emergency-room doctor uncovers a bizarre series of deceptions that culminate in her boyfriend’s unexplained disappearance.

By Patricia Briggs
Series Mercy Thompson Novels
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

Centuries after the banishment of the fae allows magical creatures to run wild, a violent escaped shape-shifter is pursued by a were-coyote and her pack of protective half-humans.

By Kiley Reid
Recommended By Lisa H., Readers' Services Librarian

Seeking justice for a young black babysitter who was wrongly accused of kidnapping by a racist security guard, a successful blogger finds her efforts complicated by a video that reveals unexpected connections.

By Ami McKay
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

A tale inspired by Manhattan's 19th-century witchcraft revival finds a celebrated teahouse proprietress and a gifted medium teaming up with a dream interpreter in the aftermath of a psychic colleague's disappearance.

By Lee Child
Series Jack Reach Novels
Recommended By Jackie, Head of Readers' Services

In the corn country of Nebraska, ex-police officer Jack Reacher runs afoul of the local Duncan clan—and its criminal connections—when he investigates a decades-old, unsolved case of a missing child.

By Patricia Marx
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian

A New Yorker writer presents humorous illustrated tips and rejects time-worn clichés for handling conflict between partners.