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Staff Picks

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Cosmo recommends 20th Century Men by Deniz Camp
07/02/2025
Boulder Library
graphic novels, science fiction, .Cosmo's reviews
Cover ArtThis sci-fi alternate history of the Soviet Afghanistan War is one of those works of art that feels like it can barely contain itself. It switches between art styles and page formats multiple times per issue and is dense with ideas concerning the weight of history, the ideals of communism, and the horror of U.S. imperialism. Despite these topics, it never becomes ponderous or leaden and is consistently entertaining and beautiful to look at. Fans of Alan Moore's work will find a lot to enjoy.
 
Publisher description:
At the end of the 20th Century, superheroes, geniuses, madmen and activists rush towards WWIII! A Soviet "iron" hero; a super-powered American President; an insane cyborg soldier; an Afghan woman hellbent on building a better life for her people-these strange yet familiar beings collide in a story that mixes history, politics, and comic book mythology into something totally new. Welcome to 20th CENTURY MEN, where the edges of our reality and fiction touch, then explode.
 
Find 20th Century Men in our online catalog
Cosmo recommends Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti
12/20/2022
Boulder Library
adult fiction, horror, literary fiction, short stories, psychological fiction, .Cosmo's reviews
Cover ArtOtherworldly psychological horror stories in the vein of Edgar Allan Poe or H. P. Lovecraft that conjure a dense dream-like atmosphere through rich, beautifully constructed prose. Strangely cathartic, despite the eerie subject matter. I would recommend reading right before going to sleep for the best experience.
 
Publisher's description: 
Thomas Ligotti's debut collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and his second, Grimscribe, permanently inscribed a new name in the pantheon of horror fiction. Influenced by the strange terrors of Lovecraft and Poe and by the brutal absurdity of Kafka, Ligotti eschews cheap, gory thrills for his own brand of horror, which shocks at the deepest, existential, levels.
Ligotti's stories take on decaying cities and lurid dreamscapes in a style ranging from rich, ornamental prose to cold, clinical detachment. His raw and experimental work lays bare the unimportance of our world and the sickening madness of the human condition. Like the greatest writers of cosmic horror, Ligotti bends reality until it cracks, opening fissures through which he invites us to gaze on the unsettling darkness of the abyss below.
 
Find Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe in our online catalog. 
Cosmo recommends Mordew by Alex Pheby
10/14/2022
Boulder Library
adult fiction, fantasy, horror, literary fiction, .Cosmo's reviews
Cover ArtAn intriguing and surreal novel that genuinely surprised me multiple times, with a richly detailed setting that reads at times like Charles Dickens crossed with gothic fantasy. Though this is planned as the first of a trilogy, Mordew explores the possibilities of its characters and setting thoroughly enough that it doesn't feel like anything was held back for later books in the series. If you like your fantasy on the stranger side with a bit of class-consciousness thrown in, this book is for you.
 
Publisher's description:
God is dead, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew. In the slums of the sea-battered city, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns. Until one day his desperate mother sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew. The Master derives his magical power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan, despite his fear and lowly station, has his own strength--and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy everything the Master has built. If only Nathan can discover how to use it. So it is that the Master begins to scheme against him--and Nathan has to fight his way through the betrayals, secrets, and vendettas of the city where God was murdered, and darkness reigns.
 
Find Mordew in our online catalog. 
Cosmo recommends Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
06/06/2022
Boulder Library
adult fiction, historical fiction, literary fiction, political fiction, .Cosmo's reviews, biographical fiction

Cover ArtThough historical fiction isn't a genre I have much familiarity with, this book was engrossing enough to get me out of my comfort zone. Awareness of the Tudor England time period might give the book a greater sense of irony, but I found the characters and their various political maneuvers were plenty interesting without prior knowledge. The terse and quietly expressive writing makes the setting feel uncertain and alive without the characters feeling like modern 21st century inserts. You might learn something by accident after reading this book, but it never feels like homework.

Publisher's description:
Assuming the power recently lost by the disgraced Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell counsels a mercurial Henry VIII on the latter's efforts to marry Anne Boleyn against the wishes of Rome, a successful endeavor that comes with a dangerous price. Employing a vast array of historical characters, and a story overflowing with incident, the author turns Tudor England into a compelling piece of fiction. Mantel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairsbreadth, where  success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.
 
Find Wolf Hall in our catalog.

 

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