Staff Picks

This book was absolutely marvelous. The voice in the writing was captivating. I was taken into a corner of the world I knew nothing about, and was exposed to the timeless controversies of the value of money vs. the value of pride, and if voiceless people who know what's "right" are still wrong.

 

Publisher description:

Budd Schulberg's celebrated novel of the prize ring has lost none of its power since its first publication almost fifty years ago. Crowded with unforgettable characters, it is a relentless exposé of the fight racket. A modern Samson in the form of a simple Argentine peasant is ballyhooed by an unscrupulous fight promoter and his press agent -- and then betrayed and destroyed by connivers. Mr. Schulberg creates a wonderfully authentic atmosphere for this book that many critics hailed as even better than What Makes Sammy Run? The wrongs of the boxing business that the book illuminates are still with us.

 

This beautifully written and poetic book addresses the complexities that came about for Palestinians and Jews before, during, and after the establishment of Israel. Ultimately revealing the human nature that ties us all together, this deeply moving and profound novel shines light on the ripple effect that harm can do to a person, a city, a state, a culture, and a world. The book begs the reader to determine that passion can blur the lines of love and hate and blind us to an exit of a cycle.

 

Publisher description:

This is Amal's story, the story of one family's struggle and survival through over sixty years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, carrying us from Jenin to Jerusalem, to Lebanon and the anonymity of America. It is a story shaped by scars and fear, but also by the transformative intimacy of marriage and the fierce protectiveness of motherhood. It is a story of faith, forgiveness, and life-sustaining love. Mornings in Jenin is haunting and heart-wrenching, a novel of vital contemporary importance. Lending human voices to the headlines, it forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining political conflicts of our lifetimes

This book was an excellent depiction of the complexities of life when you are working to provide for yourself and those you love and how that can be exploited. Written with such distinct voice that allows you to deeply empathize with the characters, Mottley has created a wonderfully insightful read.

 

Publisher's description:

Kiara Johnson and her brother Marcus are barely scraping by in a squalid East Oakland apartment complex that calls itself, optimistically, the Royal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison. But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent-which has now more than doubled-and to keep the 9-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. What begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger one night soon becomes the job Kiara never wanted but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. And her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland police department.

 

 

Publisher description:

At night when you are sleeping. There's a party in your house, It's a pumping, jumping, funky bash. When all the lights go out. When the sun goes down, the Kitchen Disco starts up and all the fruit in the fruit bowl come out to play. There are lemons who break-dance, tangerines who twirl and some very over-excited apples. Kitchen Disco is a zany and hilarious rhyming picture book for young children

 

This was a more challenging book than I had anticipated. Reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, this book addresses good vs. evil, power, and conformity among a group of high school boys. It requires you to consider what you would do in such a situation and what your outlook on life would be. To sum it up, one must consider: is it worth it to disturb the universe? And if so, under what circumstances and at what costs?

 

Publisher description:

A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and arousing the wrath of the school bullies.

 

 

Publisher's description:

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the Midwest ... His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels ... In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this ... novel uses to tell that tale is a series of ... letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies.

 

Everyone should read this book as it is so insightful and timely. This explores many of the issues that technology has brought to life, specifically how it has affected younger generations, how we can overcome these challenges, and how we can interact with generations raised in a technology boom.

 

Publisher description:

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on most measures. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the "play-based childhood" began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the "phone-based childhood" in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this "great rewiring of childhood" has interfered with children's social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies. Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the "collective action problems" that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood. Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes-communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children-and ourselves-from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.

 

Looking for a story unlike anything you've ever read? This cast of characters will shock, dazzle, and disgust you. With a blend of dark humor, horror, and a touch of magical realism, readers are transported inside a family's power-struggle to be anything but "normal."

 

Publisher's description: 

Nominated for the National Book Award, Geek Love is mesmerizing, daring, and unconventional. Award-winning novelist Katherine Dunn fascinates and amazes much the same way tornados, earthquakes, and volcanos do. No one wants to be a victim, but most find the event too hypnotic to ignore. In order to save their traveling carnival from bankruptcy, the Binewskis are creating their own brood of sideshow freaks. Under Al's careful direction, the pregnant Lil ingests radioisotopes, insecticides, and arsenic to make her babies "special." As the oldest daughter, albino dwarf Olympia, puts listeners in the ring side seat, her family's incredible drama erupts and spills over into the "normal" world. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart, this brilliantly daring novel is shocking and delightful. Christina Moore's vibrant narration conspires with Katherine Dunn's evocative, energetic prose to shock us at seeing something of ourselves in these exotic characters.