Staff Picks

Some people kickbox, some people eat their feelings. Sadie Wen writes scathing emails but never sends them, and everything is perfect. Until it's not. Fans of Jenny Han and Mindy Kaling will eat up this story of academic rivals and clamor for more.

 

Publisher's description:

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course--she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings--but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work. All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain ... I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft ..." Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them ... that is, until they're accidentally sent out. Overnight, Sadie's carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare--now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate ...

 

The critics say it's an enemies-to-lovers story--I'd more likely call it a grumpy/sunshine. Whichever way you look at it, Into the Woods is smart (I had to use a dictionary sometimes), funny (yes, I LOLed), and sweet (sigh) all in a lovely settings of the Northwoods of Minnesota. There's adventure, dancing, singing around the campfire, and did I mention dancing? This spicy romance will make you want to go into the woods yourself.

 

Publisher’s description
Teddy Knight's band has just broken up in spectacular fashion after his longtime bandmate and--he'd thought--closest friend decides to go solo. So when he's offered a last-minute gig to fill in as an artist-in-residence at a summer arts camp--which comes with a lake cabin and lots of free time to work on a revenge album--he takes it. No matter that he knows nothing about nature, dislikes kids, and is generally a grump. Gretchen Miller is having a mid-life crisis. Luckily, her summer job as the dance teacher at Wild Arts summer camp will allow her to drop out of society for a while. Having sworn off dating, she decides she'll go into the woods and become a crone. She might skip the "luring innocent children to their death" part of cronedom, but she's all for the "curse men" aspect. Teddy and Gretchen clash from the get-go when he mistakes her for a fan, and she relegates him to the "entitled jerk" ash heap. Despite their determination to dislike each other, a wary friendship blooms as the magic of the woods starts to unwind them, and they spend long hours by the campfire talking about art, being stuck, and the idea of starting over. But woods are often filled with monsters, and Teddy and Gretchen will have to face their fears if they want to start over together

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The writing is so beautiful and the stories are deliciously scary. You'll have to read Never Whistle at Night in the morning to avoid sleepless nights, and it's so worth it. Every story in this anthology will keep you riveted.

 

Publisher's description:

A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection of horror, fantasy, science fiction, and gritty crime by both new and established Indigenous authors that dares to ask the question: "Are you ready to be un-settled?" Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief ranges far and wide and takes many forms; for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai'po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls a Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl and snatch the foolish whistlers in the dark. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear-and even follow you home. In twenty-five wholly original and shiver-inducing tales, bestselling and award-winning authors including Tommy Orange, Rebecca Roanhorse, Cherie Dimaline, Waubgeshig Rice, and Mona Susan Power introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples' survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

 

Taking a leaf from My Side of the Mountain and weaving it with Braiding Sweetgrass, Ash's Cabin is a graphic novel that's like a breath of fresh air for anyone who's needed to escape civilization. It's a quick read that will stick to your bones like oatmeal.

 

Publisher description:

Ash has always felt alone. Adults ignore the climate crisis. Other kids Ash's age are more interested in pop stars and popularity contests than in fighting for change. Even Ash's family seems to be sleepwalking through life. The only person who ever seemed to get Ash was their Grandpa Edwin. Before he died, he used to talk about building a secret cabin, deep in the California wilderness. Did he ever build it? What if it's still there, waiting for him to come back...or for Ash to find it? To Ash, that maybe-mythical cabin is starting to feel like the perfect place for a fresh start and an escape from the miserable feeling of alienation that haunts their daily life. But making the wilds your home isn't easy. And as much as Ash wants to be alone...can they really be happy alone? Can they survive alone?

 

Shoo-ee, set you right down, grab a glass of sweet tea, and settle in for a sweet and upliftin' southern LGBTQ+ romance of the finest kind. It'll charm the socks right off ya.

 

Publisher's description:

Returning home to Pennywhistle, Tennessee, for her beloved daddy's funeral, PJ Spoon, abandoning her PhD program at Vanderbilt, impulsively takes a job as a fry cook at the Chickie Shak, where she meets and falls for Boof, a talented singer-songwriter searching for her birth mother.

 

I got hooked on the first page, and I didn't put the book down for a long time after.  There's nothing more powerful than memory, and Rubin does an amazing job of capturing the memories of the last living WWI Veterans. Learn more about WWI from the mouths of those who fought it.

 

Publisher's description:

In 2003, eighty-five years after the armistice, it took Richard Rubin months to find just one living American veteran of World War I. But then, he found another. And another. Eventually he found dozens, aged 101 to 113, and interviewed them. All are gone now. A decade-long odyssey to recover the story of a forgotten generation and their war led Rubin across the United States and France, through archives, private collections, battlefields, literature, propaganda, and even music. But at the center of it all were the last of the last, the men and women he met: a new immigrant, drafted and sent to France, whose life was saved by a horse; a Connecticut Yankee who volunteered and fought in every major American battle; a Cajun artilleryman nearly killed by a German airplane; an eighteen-year-old Bronx girl "drafted" to work for the War Department; a machine gunner from Montana; a marine wounded at Belleau Wood; the sixteen-year-old who became America's last World War I veteran; and many more. They were the final survivors of the millions who made up the American Expeditionary Forces, nineteenth-century men and women living in the twenty-first century. Self-reliant, humble, and stoic, they kept their stories to themselves for a lifetime, then shared them at the last possible moment so that they, and the war they won-the trauma that created our modern world-might at last be remembered. You will never forget them. The Last of the Doughboys is more than simply a war story; it is a moving meditation on character, grace, aging, and memory.

 

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Medusa wasn't always a monster... Or should I say, what if we looked at Medusa as a hero instead of a monster? Compelling and well-written, this novel brings a fresh new perspective to an old story. Fans of Madeline Miller's Circe will love Stone Blind.

Publisher’s description:
Attacked by Poseidon in Athene's temple, Medusa, the most beautiful of the Gorgon sisters, is punished for his actions and transformed into a monster whose gaze will turn any living creature to stone, forcing her into a life of solitude until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest.

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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.