Staff Picks

If you attended 7th grade in a Texas middle school, chances are you learned the heroic story of the Texas Revolution. Glorious uprising against an evil, tyrannical Mexican government through armed rebellion has been the tale every Texan child has learned as part of their state-mandated education on the matter. The problem? Well, most of these larger than life characters and legends are just that: legends.

 

The most cherished heroes of the ultimately pointless battle were drunks, conmen, failed politicians, and avowed white supremacists who failed to heed an early warning that Santa Ana's forces were amassing. They were very explicit that they were fighting against Mexico's attempts to end their practice of slavery and land theft, believing that whites alone had the right to own human beings and foreign lands for profit. The authors weave a fascinating narrative of the historical events that happened at the Alamo Mission and the story of how generations of Texans have molded this myth for their own (often racist) purposes. Who should get to tell the story of the Alamo? It is a Native burial site, a historic Spanish mission, the site of famous sit-ins during Jim Crow, and of course the site of the ill-fated battle. Strangely enough, some people have decided that Phil Collins is a good answer to this question.

 

This book was a wild ride through history that could not feel more relevant with the current political fighting in Texas. Despite the title, the authors argue that instead of forgetting the Alamo altogether, we should take another look at it without the rose-tinted glasses of American mythos and use it as a symbol of a shared history instead of racist division.

Publisher's description:
Three noted Texan writers combine forces to tell the real story of the Alamo, dispelling the myths, exploring why they had their day for so long, and explaining why the ugly fight about its meaning is now coming to a head. Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war. However, that version of events owes more to fantasy than reality. Just as the site of the Alamo was left in ruins for decades, its story was forgotten and twisted over time, with the contributions of Tejanos, Texans of Mexican origin who fought alongside the Anglo rebels, scrubbed from the record, and the origin of the conflict over Mexico's push to abolish slavery papered over. Forget the Alamo provocatively explains the true story of the battle against the backdrop of Texas's struggle for independence, then shows how the sausage of myth got made in the Jim Crow South of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. As uncomfortable as it may be to hear, celebrating the Alamo has long had an echo of celebrating whiteness. In the past forty-some years, waves of revisionists have come at this topic, and at times have made real progress toward a more nuanced and inclusive story that doesn't alienate anyone. But we are not living in one of those times; the fight over the Alamo's meaning has become more pitched than ever in the past few years, even violent, as Texas's future begins to look more and more different from its past. It's the perfect time for a wise and generous-spirited book that shines the bright light of the truth into a place that's gotten awfully dark.

 

If you're looking for a book that will immediately change your life--this is it! Breathing is something we do thousands of times each day, but Nestor's research and insights about how we breathe can fundamentally change the way we live, and how a simple repetitive act can alter our health.

 

Publisher's description: 

No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how resilient your genes are, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and wellbeing than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Science journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong with our breathing and how to fix it. Why are we the only animals with chronically crooked teeth? Why didn't our ancestors snore? Nestor seeks out answers in muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He tracks down men and women exploring the science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe. Modern research is showing us that changing the ways in which we breathe can jump-start athletic performance, halt snoring, rejuvenate internal organs, mute allergies and asthma, blunt autoimmune disease, and straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is. Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

 

This sweeping family saga, told from multiple perspectives, is perfect for readers who loved Tommy Orange's bestselling novel, There There, or Kali Fajardo-Anstine's latest, Woman of Light. Publisher's Weekly's starred review calls it a "captivating debut" that offers "striking insight into human nature and beautiful prose," while Luis Alberto Urrea (The House of Broken Angels) calls Hokeah "the real deal. A new voice with ancient music."

 

Publisher's Description:

Oscar Hokeah's electric debut takes us into the life of Ever Geimausaddle, whose family--part Mexican, part Native American--is determined to hold onto their community despite obstacles everywhere they turn. Ever's father is injured at the hands of corrupt police on the border when he goes to visit family in Mexico, while his mother struggles both to keep her job and care for her husband. And young Ever is lost and angry at all that he doesn't understand, at this world that seems to undermine his sense of safety. Ever's relatives all have ideas about who he is and who he should be. His Cherokee grandmother, knowing the importance of proximity, urges the family to move across Oklahoma to be near her, while his grandfather, watching their traditions slip away, tries to reunite Ever with his heritage through traditional gourd dances. Through it all, every relative wants the same: to remind Ever of the rich and supportive communities that surround him, there to hold him tight, and for Ever to learn to take the strength given to him to save not only himself but also the next generation. How will this young man visualize a place for himself when the world hasn't made room for him to start with? Honest, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting, Calling for a Blanket Dance is the story of how Ever Geimausaddle finds his way home.

 

 

I really enjoyed this! I loved the style and voice, and the story and characters. It was sweet and languid, a great coming of age book that's very relatable to me, a girl who was shy and quiet in high school. I related a lot to the main character. But the dialog was also witty and fun. This is one of my favorite types of books--beautifully written and not much really happens, but still affecting me in a profound way.

 

Publisher's description: 

Seventeen is nothing like Codi Teller imagined. She’s never crashed a party, never stayed out too late. She’s never even been kissed. And it’s not just because she’s gay. It’s because she and her two best friends, Maritza and JaKory, spend more time in her basement watching Netflix than engaging with the outside world. So when Maritza and JaKory suggest crashing a party, Codi is highly skeptical. Those parties aren’t for kids like them. They’re for cool kids. Straight kids. But then Codi stumbles upon one of those cool kids, Ricky, kissing another boy in the dark, and an unexpected friendship is formed. In return for never talking about that kiss, Ricky takes Codi under his wing and draws her into a wild summer filled with late nights, new experiences, and one really cute girl named Lydia. The only problem? Codi never tells Maritza or JaKory about any of it.

 

Find Late to the Party in our online catalog. 

One of Us is Lying is one of the best books I've ever read. I enjoyed the mystery, and I think that every teenager should read it. Unlike other mystery books I've read I couldn't guess how it would end! It is also going to be a trilogy when the third book comes out. Content warning: Drugs.

- Jules, ninth-grade teen volunteer

 

Publisher's description:

 

Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

 

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

 

The Thursday Murder Club is a snappy, funny book written by the comedian Richard Osman. I normally don't reach for mystery or crime books, but this book does it wonderfully. The story follows four friends living in a retirement village. They take great interest in going through old unsolved crime cases, and they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. One day, a murder happens within the village, and the four use their wits to try to get to the bottom of the case. The book travels through many different perspectives and has pretty short chapters, which make the pages fly by. If there's one word to describe this book, it's charming. The characters have their own lovable personalities that are developed skillfully as the plot develops, and the tone remains light, witty, and sarcastic, but also has its serious moments when needed. This book is great for anyone looking for a lighthearted introductory book to the mystery genre. 

- Anonymous tenth-grade teen volunteer

 

Publisher's description:
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. There's Red Ron, the infamous former socialist firebrand, still causing trouble; gentle Joyce, widowed, pining for another resident, but surely not as innocent as she seems; Ibrahim, a former therapist who understands the darker side of human nature; and Elizabeth? Well, no one is quite sure who she really is, but she's definitely not a woman to underestimate. When a local developer is found dead, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. The friends might be septuagenarians, but they are cleverer than most. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before its too late?

 

In Scoundrel, journalist Sarah Weinman once again introduces a generation of true crime readers to a sensational case that has largely faded from cultural memory. While a bare-bones retelling would be fascinating in itself--how, exactly, did the late conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. find himself successfully lobbying for the release of a convicted murderer?--Weinman probes beyond the bizarre facts of the Edgar Smith saga to highlight the debris left in his wake. Smith, she argues, did not simply take the lives of the women he victimized, but took also their right and ability to narrate their own stories, a project in which Buckley Jr. and other enablers gladly participated. This thoughtful and thorough journalistic account is a must for true crime readers interested in the re-centering of victims in the genre, especially those who are fans of Weinman's acclaimed The Real Lolita.

 

Publisher's description: 

In the 1960s, Edgar Smith, in prison and sentenced to death for the murder of teenager Victoria Zielinski, struck up a correspondence with William F. Buckley, the founder of National Review. Buckley, who refused to believe that a man who supported the neoconservative movement could have committed such a heinous crime, began to advocate not only for Smith’s life to be spared but also for his sentence to be overturned. So begins a bizarre and tragic tale of mid-century America. Sarah Weinman leads us through the twists of fate and fortune that brought Smith to freedom, book deals, fame, and eventually to attempting murder again. In Smith, Weinman has uncovered a psychopath who slipped his way into public acclaim and acceptance before crashing down to earth once again. From the people Smith deceived—Buckley, the book editor who published his work, friends from back home, and the women who loved him—to Americans who were willing to buy into his lies, Weinman explores who in our world is accorded innocence, and how the public becomes complicit in the stories we tell one another. Scoundrel shows, with clear eyes and sympathy for all those who entered Smith’s orbit, how and why he was able to manipulate, obfuscate, and make a mockery of both well-meaning people and the American criminal justice system. It tells a forgotten part of American history at the nexus of justice, prison reform, and civil rights, and exposes how one man’s ill-conceived plan to set another man free came at the great expense of Edgar Smith’s victims.

Find Scoundrel in our online catalog.

Producer Victoria Shepherd documents an interesting psychological phenomenon through ten case histories in this new book based on her BBC Radio 4 documentary series. Although the cases themselves are fascinating, Publisher's Weekly, in a starred review, is careful to note, "Shepherd opts for empathy over prurience, highlighting the humanity of her subjects and lucidly drawing out the dream logic by which their delusions operate." This thought-provoking work should appeal to fans of such Oliver Sacks titles as Hallucinations and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

 

Publisher's Description:

The extraordinary ways the brain can misfire
- The King of France--thinking he was made of glass--was terrified he might shatter...and he wasn't alone.
- After the Emperor met his end at Waterloo, an epidemic of Napoleons piled into France's asylums.
- Throughout the nineteenth century, dozens of middle-aged women tried to convince their physicians that they were, in fact, dead.

For centuries we've dismissed delusions as something for doctors to sort out behind locked doors. But delusions are more than just bizarre quirks--they hold the key to collective anxieties and traumas. In this groundbreaking history, Victoria Shepherd uncovers stories of delusions from medieval times to the present day and implores us to identify reason in apparent madness.

Find A History of Delusions in our online catalog.