Rebecca’s Pick: #murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil The year is 2017 and the hottest app is Alcatraz 2.0 – brought to you by the Postman and the United States Government. Convicted murderers are sent to the reopened island prison of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay and justice is served via their live-streamed deaths at the hands…
Girls with Sharp Sticks
Rebecca’s Pick: Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young Philomena and the rest of the girls of Innovations Academy are being taught how to enhance their beauty, practice obedience and be all-around perfect specimens of gentility and femininity. Mena understands that her tailored education is of the utmost importance and it’s her duty to maintain…
Normal People
Cori’s Pick: Normal People by Sally Rooney This book was published April 2019 and I don’t recollect a ton of buzz about it back then. But then a couple of months ago, I started hearing about it more and more. Come to find out, it was released as a Hulu original series in April 2020. …
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Rebecca’s Pick: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Pippa doesn’t believe that Sal killed Andie. The police closed the investigation after Sal “admitted” to the crime and then killed himself, presumably out of remorse. But things still didn’t add up (at least in Pippa’s mind) 5 years later. She can’t ignore her…
The Adventurer’s Son
Cori’s Pick: The Adventurer’s Son by Roman Dial The Adventurer’s Son is a memoir, written by Roman Dial. Roman is a professor, biologist, legendary Alaskan explorer, and National Geographic Explorer. And until the publication of this book (February 2020), the only other book he had written was a how-to guide on packrafting. Roman and his…
Florida
Jane’s Pick: Florida by Lauren Groff. It is a book of short stories – not quite magic realism…more like blurry dreams (well, more like nightmares) on top of harsh realities. Each story a new set of characters, but with underlying connections – most notably the extreme natural elements, flawed women and, of course, the State…
Last Kingdom
Bob’s Pick: The Last Kingdom (Season Four) on Netflix One of the best writers today of historical fiction is Bernard Cornwell. His current series of books are collectively known as the “Saxon Chronicles”. If you’re at all interested in the history of medieval England before it actually became England, I highly recommend this series of…
My Oxford Year
Cori’s Pick: My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan Did you read the JoJo Moyes Me Before You trilogy? Did you love it? If so, I highly recommend you snatch up Julia Whelan’s tasty debut (April, 2018), sit back and prepare to laugh and perhaps shed a tear – no spoilers here, but for me, the…
Pet
Rebecca’s Pick: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi Jam knows that there used to be “monsters” in the city of Lucille – monsters being those who did harm to others – but the “angels” eradicated them…right? Jam discovers more than she could have imagined when she meets Pet, an eerie beast-like being born from a painting. Pet…
The Gifted School
Cori’s Pick: The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger Wow. What a timely read! This book was published in July of 2019 – which coincidentally was just a few months after the massive college admission cheating scandal of a couple of famous actresses (Ms Huffman, Ms Loughlin – we’re talkin’ about you). This is a juicy,…
The Staff Recommends... 