Staff Picks

Follow Huda and her family as they take a road trip from Dearborn, MI to Disney World in Florida. Being visibly Muslim, Huda and her family experience the park a bit differently than others. Where does one pray in Tomorrowland? How does one stay cool in abaya? A witty & heartfelt romp of a story.

 

Publisher's description:

This summer's exercise in Fahmy family sisterly bonding involves a trip to Disney World--which seems like it's headed for disaster when Huda gets into a fight with a boy making fun of her hijab.

 

This coming of age novel weaves together the stories of three young men in a powerful narrative. We travel to different time periods when each of the characters is at the cusp of becoming a man. In 1968, there is the raw emotion from the journal of the young Marine, William, stationed in the bush in Vietnam; In 1979, the impact on Vincent working a construction site with two Vietnam vets; and in 2016, the ability of Vincent's son to deal with life's unpredictability. An emotional book that is hard to put down.

 

Publisher's description: 

In 1979, Vincent Bianco has just graduated high school. His only desire: collect a little beer money and enjoy his final summer before college. So he lands a job as a laborer on a construction crew. Working alongside two Vietnam vets, one suffering from PTSD, Vincent gets the education of a lifetime. Now forty years later, with his own son leaving for college, the lessons of that summer--Vincent's last taste of innocence and first taste of real life--dramatically unfold in a novel about breaking away, shaping a life, and seeking one's own destiny.

 

In this gentle read, Sampson explores how integral libraries are. Her prose is lovely, and the story itself shows what can happen when a community comes together in a combined effort. While all is not sunshine and roses, this book is definitely a library lover's delight.

 

Publisher description:

June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way. Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother. Joining a band of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand. The kindhearted lawyer's feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won't believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way. To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life. For once, she's determined not to go down without a fight. And maybe, in fighting for her cherished library, June can save herself, too.

 

Need a cozy, sometimes creepy, read for the depths of winter (April is the second snowiest month in Colorado)? Agatha Christie has you covered with this assortment of tales, many with a winter setting, some of which feature beloved characters, including Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Get your cocoa and your blanket ready!

 

An all-new collection of winter-themed stories from the Queen of Mystery, just in time for the holidays--including the original version of "Christmas Adventure," never before released in the United States

 

This young adult novel is a high stakes adventure that takes place on one unforgettable night after two best friends, Kat and Stevie, travel into New York City and get separated, with no money, no cell phones, and no way of reuniting. Kat is desperate to prove her dedication to theater by attending her theater teacher's one man show, but also can't seem to stop running into the cute boy she met earlier in the night. Stevie wants nothing to do with her step siblings after her father cancels at the last minute on their birthday dinner together, and yet learns to trust and love them after a series of unfortunate events leads to her needing their help to reunite a lost Pomeranian named Brad with his mother. Morgan Matson is a wizard at imbuing her novels with tiny details that make the characters, plot, and setting feel incredibly lived in and real. The reader is left giddy with her sense of humor, and fresh and clever wit. I would recommend this novel to fans of Jenny Han, Jenn Bennett, or Maureen Goo.

 

Publisher's description: 

Two girls. One night. Zero phones. Kat and Stevie—best friends, theater kids, polar opposites—have snuck away from the suburbs to spend a night in New York City. They have it all planned out. They’ll see a play, eat at the city’s hottest restaurant, and have the best. Night. Ever. What could go wrong? Well. Kind of a lot? They’re barely off the train before they’re dealing with destroyed phones, family drama, and unexpected Pomeranians. Over the next few hours, they’ll have to grapple with old flames, terrible theater, and unhelpful cab drivers. But there are also cute boys to kiss, parties to crash, dry cleaning to deliver (don’t ask), and the world’s best museum to explore. Over the course of a wild night in the city that never sleeps, both Kat and Stevie will get a wake-up call about their friendship, their choices...and finally discover what they really want for their future. That is, assuming they can make it to Grand Central before the clock strikes midnight.

 

Chinese American twins Billy and Milly are struggling to support their restaurant while their immigrant parents visit. But their mom Ipo keeps chain-smoking and glaring at the empty house next door while their father Keon seems more on-edge than usual. What's up with them and that creepy, old house?

 

Publisher's description: 

Chinese American twins, Milly and Billy, are having a tough time. On top of the multiple failures in their personal and professional lives, they're struggling to keep their restaurant afloat. Luckily their parents, Ipo and Keon, are in town for their annual visit. Having immigrated from Hong Kong before the twins were born, Ipo and Keon have supported their children through thick and thin and are ready to lend a hand--but they're starting to wonder, has their support made Milly and Billy incapable of standing on their own? When Ipo forces them to help her clean up the house next door--a hellish and run-down ruin that was the scene of a grisly murder--the twins are in for a nasty surprise. A night of terror, gore, and supernatural mayhem reveals that there is much more to Ipo and her children than meets the eye.

 

Recommended by a friend of mine, this book is among my favorites so far. It tells the story of an aging veteran who reads news from newspapers at public gatherings, and is transporting back to her family a 10-year old girl who was a captive of the Kiowa. An unforgettable tale.

Publisher description:

In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust. In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence. In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna's parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows. Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act "civilized." Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land. Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember--strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become--in the eyes of the law--a kidnapper himself.

 

Writing in 1933, the author, who fled Germany, focuses on a successful Jewish family in Berlin reluctant to accept the reality of the rise in Nazism. The novel was written in real time as a warning, and its pace is as fast and devastating as the changes happening in Germany.

 

Publisher's description: In the foment of Weimar-era Berlin, the Oppermann brothers represent tradition and stability. One brother oversees the furniture chain founded by their grandfather, one is an eminent surgeon, one a respected critic. They are rich, cultured, liberal, and public spirited, proud inheritors of the German enlightenment. They don't see Hitler as a threat. Then, to their horror, the Nazis come to power, and the Oppermanns and their children are faced with the terrible decision of whether to adapt--if they can--flee, or try to fight. Written in 1933, nearly in real time, The Oppermanns captures the day-to-day vertigo of watching a liberal democracy fall apart.

 

Few people realize just how much inspiration Nabokov drew from real life for his notorious novel, but by researching extensive legal and public records, interviews, and investigations, Weinman is able to reveal that the subject of Nabokov's novel was heavily influenced by the real-life abduction of Sally Horner in 1948. She shows just how much Nabokov drew on this case for his book, and how much he tried to disguise his knowledge of the crime throughout his writing process. The story is a thrilling one, weaving together cultural history with a suspenseful, investigative narrative, and lending a voice to Sally's story.

 

Publisher's description:

Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is one of the most beloved and notorious novels of all time. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of 11-year-old Sally Horner.

Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner’s full story for the very first time. Drawing upon extensive investigations, legal documents, public records, and interviews with remaining relatives, Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita.

Sally Horner’s story echoes the stories of countless girls and women who never had the chance to speak for themselves. By diving deeper in the publication history of Lolita and restoring Sally to her rightful place in the lore of the novel’s creation, The Real Lolita casts a new light on the dark inspiration for a modern classic.

Find The Real Lolita in our online catalog