staff pick of the week

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Staff Pick of the Week: Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Two of our staffers read this book, and they loved it.  It has secret societies, an unsolvable puzzle (supposedly), and characters you’ll absolutely adore.  Once you get involved in Clay’s story, you won’t want to put it down.  We definitely recommend this winner of the Alex Award, finalist for the […]

Staff Pick of the Week: Maya Angelou

  This week’s staff pick isn’t an individual work, but the entire collection of Maya Angelou, who passed on this week.  Maya was a strong civil rights supporter and voice, and her work has affected millions.  She was a truly great literary voice, and will be missed. We have several […]

Staff Pick of the Week: “Al Capone Does My Shirts” by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is this week’s staff pick, chosen by one of our superb Children’s Librarians! “In this appealing novel set in 1935, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island where his father gets a job as an electrician […]

Staff pick of the week: Delicious! by Ruth Reichl

“Billie Breslin has traveled far from her California home to take a job at Delicious, the most iconic food magazine in New York and, thus, the world. When the publication is summarily shut down, the colorful staff, who have become an extended family for Billie, must pick up their lives […]

Staff pick of the week: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

In The Sparrow, it’s 2019, and “humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes […]

Staff Pick of the Week: My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

In My Father’s Dragon, “Elmer Elevator (narrator’s father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of […]

Staff Pick of the Week: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver is an amazing writer, and the staff member who recommended her loves all of her work (except The Poisonwood Bible, but try that too).  We recommend her work, especially Animal Dreams which is a stand alone novel about a woman returning home to confront her past and her distant […]