Staff Picks

What if you knew that your life was limited to only 21 years? What if Earth no longer has the resources needed to sustain a full human life? The premise of Logan's Run, a short read that contemplates a society of control rather than freedom, and possibly a foreshadowing of Earth's future state.

 

Publisher's description:

In 2116, it is against the law to live beyond the age of twenty-one years. When the crystal flower in the palm of your hand turns from red to black, you have reached your Lastday and you must report to a Sleepshop for processing. But the human will to survive is strong--stronger than any mere law. Logan 3 is a Sandman, an enforcer who hunts down those Runners who refuse to accept Deep Sleep. The day before Logan's palmflower shifts to black, a Runner accidentally reveals that he was racing toward a goal: Sanctuary. With this information driving him forward, Logan 3 assumes the role of the hunted and becomes a Runner.

 

There would have been no Mexican revolution without the women. Las Soldaderas: women of the Mexican Revolution compiles stories and photographs from some of the most infamous Soldaderas, offering a glimpse into the back story of the fight for Mexican civil rights.

 

Publisher description:
The photographs of Las Soldaderas and Elena Poniatowska’s remarkable commentary rescue the women of the Mexican Revolution from the dust and oblivion of history. These are the Adelitas and Valentinas celebrated in famous corridos mexicanos, but whose destiny was much more profound and tragic than the idealistic words of ballads. The photographs remind Poniatowska of the trail of women warriors that begins with the Spanish conquest and continues to Mexico’s violent revolution. These women are valiant, furious, loyal, maternal, and hardworking; they wear a mask that is part immaculate virgin, part mother and wife, and part savage warrior; and they are joined together in the cruel hymn of blood and death from which they built their own history of the Revolution.

 

I Heard The Owl Call My Name is deeply moving and subtly powerful. This story reconciles two cultural ways of being present in the world. Through respect, love for community, and keen observation, a reverent voice emerges for a Native American way of life that is now lost.

 

Publisher's description: 

Amid the grandeur of the remote Pacific Northwest stands Kingcome, a village so ancient that, according to Kwakiutl myth, it was founded by the two brothers left on earth after the great flood. The Native Americans who still live there call it Quee, a place of such incredible natural richness that hunting and fishing remain primary food sources. But the old culture of totems and potlatch is being replaces by a new culture of prefab housing and alcoholism. Kingcome's younger generation is disenchanted and alienated from its heritage. And now, coming upriver is a young vicar, Mark Brian, on a journey of discovery that can teach him--and us--about life, death, and the transforming power of love.

 

A delightful, atmospheric, and healing story told through the perspective of beekeeper Sergey Sergeyich. This book, written before the current 2022 conflict, offers glimpses into the cultural lives of Ukrainians, Tartars of Crimea, Russian occupiers, and the complex relationship between loyalist and separatist forces in Ukraine's Grey Zone. "Wherever he goes," Kurkov writes, "Sergeyich's childlike simplicity and strong moral compass disarm everyone he meets. But could these qualities be manipulated to serve an unworthy cause, spelling disaster for him, his bees and his country?"

 

Publisher's description: 

Little Starhorodivka, a village of three streets, lies in Ukraine's Grey Zone, the no-man's-land between loyalist and separatist forces. Thanks to the lukewarm war of sporadic violence and constant propaganda that has been dragging on for years, only two residents remain: retired safety inspector turned beekeeper Sergey Sergeyich and Pashka, a rival from his schooldays. With little food and no electricity, under constant threat of bombardment, Sergeyich's one remaining pleasure is his bees. As spring approaches, he knows he must take them far from the Grey Zone so they can collect their pollen in peace. This simple mission on their behalf introduces him to combatants and civilians on both sides of the battle lines: loyalists, separatists, Russian occupiers and Crimean Tatars. Wherever he goes, Sergeyich's childlike simplicity and strong moral compass disarm everyone he meets. But could these qualities be manipulated to serve an unworthy cause, spelling disaster for him, his bees and his country?

 

 

This beautifully-written memoir will transport you to a slower place and time. An adventure that gives voice to living simply while providing glimpses into the rich traditions of the First Nations of British Columbia.

 

Publisher's description:

After her husband died in 1927, leaving her with five small children, everyone expected the struggles of single motherhood on a remote island to overcome M. Wylie Blanchet. Instead, this courageous woman became one of the pioneers of "family travel," acting as both mother and captain of the twenty-five-foot boat that became her family's home during the long Northwest summers. Blanchet's lyrically written account reads like fantastic fiction, but her adventures are all very real. There are dangers-rough water, bad weather, wild animals-but there are also the quiet respect and deep peace of a woman teaching her children the wonder and awesome depth of the natural world. "Filled with observations on natural history and the wonders of the wild, (Blanchet's) prose, like the waterfall she describes, sings."-Kliatt