2025 Staff Picks

2025 Staff Picks

December 2025

Kim recommends:

Just Like Millie by Lauren Castillo

Just Like Millie is a heartwarming story about a girl who is very introverted but opens up when she and her mother adopt a very friendly dog named Millie. It’s never stated whether the nameless protagonist, who tells the story, has social anxiety, but I think that makes the book more relatable for a wide variety of kids. The girl’s mother is very patient with her, just giving little nudges along the way but mostly meeting the girl at whatever level of interaction she’s ready for. In the end, when Millie makes a friend at the dog park, our narrator decides to befriend the other dog’s little girl.
The illustrations match the warmth, gentleness, and subtle humor of the story, with colors that suggest autumn, although it looks like this takes place in a sunny spring. The setting is a walkable city with an ethnically diverse population, including lots of kids. The initial endpapers show the narrator and her mother moving into their apartment, the girl looking uncertain and perhaps intimidated. Then the closing endpapers show that same block, with the two moms chatting, while their daughters walk the dogs and seem to be happily talking a mile a minute. There’s now a black cat in a window, and a bearded dad on a bike, his baby in the seat ahead of him. It’s like the whole world has opened up a little more for everyone.
Peggy recommends:
Shetland’s Jimmy Perez is back. Same mystery solving style, but in a different location and, with a new partner. After taking a years long break from her popular Shetland character, Ann Cleeves has revived him and moved him to the Orkneys with his new family. His partner, Willow, out ranks him professionally, but they still share equally in both work and home duties. When the death of a good friend finds Jimmy too close to the situation, a very pregnant Willow takes the lead in tracking down the murderer. In true Ann Cleeves fashion, this new Jimmy Perez/Willow Reeves novel is a real page turner.
Marina recommends:

Midnight Library by Matt Haig 

Trigger Warning for Suicide

Nora tries to take her own life and finds herself in a magical library between life and death. There she is guided by her old school librarian and discovers every book is a different life she could have lived based on choices she did or didn’t make. After seeing that no life she could have had would have been perfect, Nora has to choose what to do after she leaves the library.

Sarah recommends:

Hunger by Roxane Gay
Hunger is a memoir touching on Gay’s childhood, past trauma, and her relationship with her body. Painfully honest and incredibly insightful, it invites you to reflect on how we as a society view bigger bodies.

John recommends:

84 Charing Cross Road (DVD)

84 Charing Cross Road starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. I found this DVD when I was shelving Anne Bancroft’s autobiography.  No really it just fell open to the page where she described how her husband, Mel Brooks, purchased the film rights so that she could star in the film.  This DVD is a three-layer romance. 1. Bibliophiles (book lovers) 2. The correspondence between Helen Hanff in New York and Frank Doel at the bookstore located at 84 Charing Cross Road. There are delightful compassionate gifts of food (which was rationed after World War II). The entire staff at the bookstore benefitted from Ms. Hanff’s generosity. & 3. The amazing and wonderful thing that Mel Brooks did for his wife by buying the film rights. A very real love gift.  See it and enjoy 1986

September 2025 Picks

Amie recommends:

Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Evie and the Villain! Always and Forever!

You can watch Ms. Maehrer’s Author talk here:  https://libraryc.org/mendolibrary/88225

Citizen Ruth DVD & Election DVD

I just read an article about trilogies that aren’t billed as trilogies, and one was called The Omaha Trilogy: Citizen Ruth, Election, and About Schmidt. Not a huge fan of About Schmidt, but I highly recommend both Citizen Ruth and Election. Hilarious!

 

Peggy recommends:

Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind by Nate Bargatze

Let’s get this straight…although Nate is a hilarious stand-up comedian, this book is not just another of his routines. It is a heartwarming look into his upbringing and stories that make him the humorous storyteller he is. Nate always pokes fun at himself and his lack of “smarts”, but there is nothing stupid about this memoir. I listened to the audio version, narrated by Nate himself, and it was funny, sad, thought-provoking and endearing. I highly recommend.

You Belong Here by Megan Miranda

You Belong Here begins with a mother who reluctantly drops her daughter at her old alma mater, the same campus she had to flee before graduation do to a hazing incident that cost two people their lives. After returning home she receives a late night call sending her speeding back to campus where her daughter is in danger, a danger that may or may not be tied to her own past. Ms. Miranda has done it again, another page turner I couldn’t put down.

Kim recommends:

Imagine a Day by Sarah L Thomson and Rob Gonsalves

Imagine a Day is a 2005 picture book that pairs poetic text by Sarah L. Thomson with surreal paintings by Rob Gonsalves.  Together, they create a dream-like world where children create, build, and explore.  The illustrations in particular are worth poring over, because they are like M.C. Escher’s art, bending dimensions and reality.  Recommended for children 4 and up, and any adults who recognize that picture books don’t have to be simple.

Valerie recommends:

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

I personally loved this book because I love the soulmates trope. In this book, Evelyn and Arden are reborn into new lives after their eighteenth birthday. This is because one of them ends up killing the other by their eighteenth birthday. Despite this violent end, they have a magnetic pull to one another. They often end up falling in love in every lifetime. Evelyn can never remember why this keeps happening to them, but Arden knows and refuses to reveal the secret. Finally, Evelyn is in a lifetime she refuses to give up. She plans on getting ahead of Arden this time and hopes to break their endless cycle of untimely demises.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Cassie had a unique childhood. Her mother was a “psychic,” and she taught Cassie everything she knew about reading people. Now as a teenager, her talent for reading and understanding people comes naturally to her. She can pinpoint people’s motives, their desires, and their thought process on just about anything. One day while dealing with some bullies at her waitressing job, she is contacted by a man from the FBI. He asks her to join his group of young adults who are naturally gifted in skills that help solve serial crimes. I enjoyed this book a lot because it dissected parts of human interaction and human nature that most of us don’t consciously understand, but subliminally pick up on.

Sarah recommends:

Twilight (DVD)

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Twilight by watching the movie adaptation that is somehow both the worst and best thing you’ll ever see. And yes, the skin of a killer is sparkly.

August 2025 Picks

Valerie recommends:

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Set in the 90’s right before the Y2K scare, Beth and Jennifer are two friends working at a newspaper. They joke over email and catch up on the goings-on of their personal lives. Without realizing it, their emails are being flagged by the computer system for inappropriate conversations at work. Lincoln, who is the night auditor, should have told them right away to cut back on their personal conversations. Instead, he’s intrigued and finds the email conversations funny and comforting. In fact, he’s so intrigued that he starts having feelings for Beth. The relationships and the character growth in this book are really fun, and I wondered all the way up to the end whether or not a happy ending was possible.

Peggy recommends:

James by Percival Everett

Being a Mark Twain snob, when people started recommending this novel to me, I pooh-poohed it. Nope, no one can touch Huck Finn. It’s a classic. But, after MANY recommendations, I broke down and put my name in the 300 + request queue. I got impatient, so when LibroFM (the audiobook app that benefits our local Gallery Bookshop) had it available on special, I said what the heck. What a wonderful surprise!

Told through the eyes of Huck’s friend and companion, James is a unique, eye-opening experience. Jim, or James, as he prefers to be called, is a runaway slave trying desperately to regain autonomy and save his family. James is action-packed and thought provoking, one of those “can’t put down” novels and well worth all the accolades it has received.

Amie recommends:

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

The friendship between a widow whose son was lost to the sea and a kidnapped octopus imprisoned for the majority of his life is not to be reckoned with. I suggest you listen to the audiobook, preferably in your car so that strangers can watch you sob in a parking lot.

 

The Woman in the Yard  DVD

After a terrible car accident, Ramona’s depression darkens every moment until a mysterious woman appears in the yard, forcing Ramona to choose—life or not. Heard terrible things about this, was surprised to not hate it.

 

Sarah recommends:

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir

This book is part mystery, part family drama, and weaves multiple POVs together in a way that will keep you intrigued.

 

Kim recommends:

Two D&D guidebooks:

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (published by Wizards of the Coast)

Strixhaven provides a setting, non-player characters, a few quick quests, and some other details for a DM to create a campaign set in a magical school.

 

The Wild Beyond Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure by Stacey Allan et al.,

The Wild Beyond Witchlight is a whimsical Dungeons & Dragon campaign, with a chapter about a carnival that works well as a stand-alone adventure.

Marina recommends:

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This is one of my favorite books. Told from the point of view of Enzo, who is the extremely wise family dog with a human soul. While this is a heart-wrenching story, Enzo is such a great character who is funny and loves his humans deeply.

John recommends:

Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies and Couriers who Fought the Nazis by Suzanne Cope.

This book is written from a feminist perspective and credits the women partisans with initiating the fight for women’s rights in Italy. Four women fighters are chosen to have biographies of their wartime exploits and postwar influence.  Some of the accomplishments of these women are nothing short of astounding. Enjoy

Kim recommends:

The Beatles Get Back (DVD)
I’ve been a Beatles fan for over 40 years. I was born the year of The White Album and the movie Yellow Submarine, so I definitely grew up with them, but I didn’t consciously delve into them until the 20th anniversary of their American debut came along in 1984. I listened to as many record albums as I could, buying some vintage copies at what now seem amazing bargain prices of $5 or less, while other albums I got in the more modern format of cassettes. I got Beatles books as gifts and bought a few myself.  Eventually, the Beatles faded back into a strand of my life, always there in the background. I did get the Magical Mystery Tour movie on VHS later in the ’80s, and much later A Hard Day’s Night and Yellow Submarine on DVD. (I never warmed up to Help!, so the copy taped off of cable was good enough for that movie.)
All that time, I avoided the Let It Be movie, even though I of course had the record. Why would I want to watch the band fight for a couple of hours? Finally, a few months ago, I decided I should face up to it. And, yes, the Beatles argue but it’s also about the fun they had playing music together.  When I read John & Paul by Ian Leslie (see below), I belatedly heard about the 2021 documentary mini-series The Beatles: Get Back, and I knew I had to see what got left out.
Peter Jackson took about 60 hours of footage and edited it down to about eight hours, in three parts. He shaped a different story than director Michael Lindsay-Hogg told in 1970, in part a documentary about a documentary. Yes, George Harrison still quits, after not just days but years of John Lennon and Paul McCartney dismissing and underestimating his song-writing, but that’s not all that happens. We see how aimless the band is without “The Quiet One,” and how they start to get back on track after his return.  When long-time friend Billy Preston drops by, his sunny energy and keyboard talent transform the energy of the group, and the movie. Lennon offers to make him “the fifth Beatle,” but McCartney says it’s hard enough with the four of them.
Eight hours is a long time (although much less than 60 of course), but I would argue that it’s necessary to show not only the progress, and setbacks, of the musicians, but of the music. We can hear and see them trying to find just the right lyrics and instrumentation, sometimes giving each other advice, good and bad. The Beatles sing those songs and others (especially rock & roll from their adolescence) in various styles, often goofing around (especially John). They make each other laugh, and they irritate each other (especially Paul bugging George and John), but they also work hard to make magic look easy.
And there are always other people around, like the staff who bring endless plates of toast and fend off police who have had “thirty noise complaints” about the rooftop concert. There’s Lindsay-Hogg himself, coming across as clueless (“Let’s take an audience with us to Greece, on a boat!”) and annoying, while also somehow sympathetic, because what he was trying to do wasn’t easy. There are the ordinary people on the street, and those poor young bobbies who are trying to do their jobs but just not up to this. “Couldn’t they overdub it?” one suggests helpfully, and Debbie (the deflecting receptionist) replies, “Well, you see it has to be live.”
There are the Beatles’ girlfriends and wives, and Paul’s adorable not-yet step-daughter Heather. There are friends, from the old days in Liverpool, and from Swinging London, like Peter Sellers, who actually gets weirded out by John, which is saying something.
But always, there are the Fab Four at the center, with their old but still evolving dynamic. I haven’t mentioned Ringo Starr yet, and he’s easy to overlook at first. He’s just quietly doing his job, providing a steady drumbeat through a range of styles. He doesn’t argue here, or lose his temper. But when he simply says, “I want to go on the roof,” after weeks of back-and-forth debate about what sort of climax to give the movie, that’s enough to quiet the doubts of the others. And messy magic happens on the rooftop. The Beatles don’t get arrested, but as Lennon quips, they “pass the audition.”
 

They get back to where they once belonged, so even as they go through a very long break-up process, they remain the act you’ve known for all these years.  And yet, they’re as you’ve never seen them before.

John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie
 
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie is about how two teenage boys met almost seventy years ago and changed each other’s lives, and eventually the world. It would be tempting to use the modern word “bromance” to describe their relationship, because John Lennon and Paul McCartney connected immediately through music and later helped each other laugh and cry, including about losing their mothers tragically. The term “bromance” would be an oversimplification, however, because John and Paul were complex, deeply flawed people, who had a complex, deeply flawed friendship, including years of miscommunication and years of estrangement.  John had a cruel streak and Paul could be emotionally closed off. And yet, they were connected even when apart.
Leslie shows how the music, one song per chapter, not only drew them together—with the famous Lennon-McCartney writing credit, even for relatively solo works—but documented the different phases of their relationship. Even when they wrote songs “at” each other in the wake of the band’s break-up, most viciously in Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?”, they were usually each other’s main audience. Even when the songs were about other relationships, like “Hey Jude,” they were talking to each other through the lyrics and instrumentation. McCartney even told Lennon, in essence, “She Loves You,” when he took on the surprising role of trying to reconcile John and Yoko in the mid ’70s.
One of the appeals of the Beatles is that they feel like an “in group” that sometimes lets us in on the in-jokes, and yet there’s something elusive and hard to define about them, even now. While Leslie doesn’t ignore George or Ringo, his focus remains on the two men who challenged each other to be the best musicians and lyricists they could, and sometimes the best people they could. We think we “know” John and Paul, and I have read many books about the Beatles, but I can say that I still found this one thought-provoking and moving, as when Leslie says in one spot that John was only happy when he was making music with the Beatles, and in another place that when performing on the rooftop (their last “concert” together), Paul was happy because John was happy.

July 2025 Picks

Valerie recommends:

Dirty Laundry by Roxanne Emery and Richard Pink

In recent years, there has been an increase in ADHD diagnoses. The stigma around ADHD is lessening, and for that reason more people have been willing to share their stories. In Dirty Laundry, you hear both perspectives of someone with ADHD and someone who has a loved one with ADHD. The helpful back and forth perspectives allow readers to see into the thought processes and actions of an ADHD mind and then hear how a loved one might misinterpret their actions and words. This book does a great job of coming up with solutions of how to work together on balancing out the “complications” and “superpowers” of ADHD.

Peggy recommends:

Coram House by Bailey Seybolt

Coram House, based on a true crime, is about a writer who investigates the mystery of two deaths, decades apart, at a crumbling Vermont orphanage. Told through flashbacks and police interviews, this story is riveting and has a bit of a twist at the end.

To read more about the crimes the novel is based on, check out Christine Kenneally’s Ghosts of the Orphanage: a Story of Mysterious Deaths, a Conspiracy of Silence, and a Search for Justice.

Amie recommends:

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

This book is so fantastic that I put off the last 10 pages just so I could stay in its world! Eveen the Eviscerator is a dead assassin with a heart of gold, though it doesn’t pump, cuz…dead, and a blades of fire. Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!

 

Strange Darling DVD

Um, strange is the key. A one-night-stand turns into a crazy ride that’s not so rom-commie.

 

Sarah recommends:

Monkey Man (DVD)

Written by, directed by, and starring Dev Patel, Monkey Man is an epic action movie. Lots of great fight scenes and some cover-your-eyes levels of violence, but also a meaningful and moving message at the heart of it all. If you like John Wick, you should definitely give this a go.

 

Marina recommends:

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Evie is the ultimate sunshine character who ends up working for (and crushing on) the infamous Villain of Rennedawn. Evie discovers and embraces her villainous side while helping her boss find out who is trying to take down his empire. This book (and the next in the series, Apprentice to the Villain) is such a fun read that had me laughing out loud. It’s a lighthearted and funny read with hilarious characters.

John recommends:

Circles in the Snow by Patrick F McManus

This is the last of the Bo Tully mysteries, Bo being the sheriff of Blight County. This one involves international intrigue in Mexico and a subplot about endangered plants. And of course, there is the apparent ghost of an Indian who uses eagle feathers to fletch his arrows. When you finish this one you can read the rest of the the Bo Tully mysteries and then read the semi-autobiographical tales of McManus’ childhood. Not quite fiction but very worthwhile and funny.  Four years after this book was published Mr. McManus died, a great loss to all enjoy outdoor writing.

June 2025 Picks

Peggy recommends:

Heartwood by Amity Gaige

An experienced hiker gets lost while hiking the Appalachian Trail, and it takes the determination of the local park ranger and a distant armchair detective to locate her before the elements take her life. As one reader said, “Heartwood is suspenseful, frantic, and wildly dark.” Indeed, it is! It is also addictive and unforgettable.

 

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Set during the Covid pandemic, Bat Eater is a brutal reminder of just how evil some members of our “society” can be. Cora is a young American-Chinese woman who suffers the abuse thrown at her by the haters who blamed the disease on the Chinese eating bats and hence, were vile and unkind to anyone who wasn’t white. It’s a difficult read, but well worth it.

The Beatles Get Back (DVD)

Watching this documentary was a breathtaking experience. Having grown up in the Beatles era (9 year-old me, 6 inches from the big black and white TV, got sucked in for life with their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was one of those rare times my father let us kids have a say about to watch on TV that night…thank you, Dad!) this show blew me away. Getting a glimpse into the inner workings of the world’s most popular band, incredible! Just the scene where Paul writes the song, Get Back, right there and then was amazing. I recommend this DVD for anyone who has ever listened to the Beatles and wondered how their music has endured for so long. A+ documentary.

Sarah recommends:

Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy 
A fun, magical adventure with a splash of mystery. I couldn’t put it down and am looking forward to the sequel!

 

 

Valerie recommends:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The Murderbot Diaries is an exciting science fiction series that focuses on a transhuman robot. In the first book, All Systems Red, we’re introduced to the hero, Sec Unit. Sec Unit is different from other transhuman robots because he has hacked his own system and is no longer under the thumb of the corporation who made him. His love for tv shows has him analyzing his organic matter more than his machine parts. He realizes that maybe he’s becoming more human than he thought. He’s both terrified and amazed at the feelings he’s experiencing. I love this series because the books are short and action packed, and give you a glimpse into the potential of human evolution.

John recommends:

The Almighty Johnsons (DVD)

I am recommending The Almighty Johnsons, a 3 season TV show from New Zealand. This one is really strange bordering on weird.  I loved it to the extent of binge watching. The basic premise is that a family, the Johnsons, are actually Norse Gods. No really, and as odd as it sounds, it actually works. Has good character development, great locations, and unexpectedly good special effects. The only quibble I had was a character was left hanging at the end, but again that is just a quibble. This one is very unusual, ENJOY!

Amie recommends:

Father’s Day by Simon Van Booy

As always, Simon’s writing is so gorgeous you never want his worlds to end.

 

Mickey 17 (DVD)

Odd but heartwarming but odd show about the 17th version of a man who’s not the best version, but the best version. I’d only seen the shimmery vampire in 2 things before this. This changed my mind about him.

 

Marina recommends:

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

A secret apothecary that sells poisons to women to help them silently take care of oppressive men their lives. I loved how this story was told with a dual timeline narrative-modern day and 1700s London.   In the 1700s, you meet the mysterious Nella, who runs the apothecary, and 12-year-old Eliza, who accidently puts the apothecary at risk. 200 years later in modern day London, you follow Caroline as she uncovers clues about the unsolved apothecary murders.  This is great book for those who love mystery and historical fiction.

Kim recommends:

Two D&D guidebooks:

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (published by Wizards of the Coast)

Strixhaven provides a setting, non-player characters, a few quick quests, and some other details for a DM to create a campaign set in a magical school.

 

The Wild Beyond Witchlight: A Feywild Adventure by Stacey Allan et al.,

The Wild Beyond Witchlight is a whimsical Dungeons & Dragon campaign, with a chapter about a carnival that works well as a stand-alone adventure.

May 2025 Picks

Valerie recommends:

Oliver Burkeman delves into the many fallacies of time management. He talks about realistic ways that people can manage their time by reflecting on the things that are not only important to them, but are given the most chance to succeed. I enjoyed listening to this book on audiobook because it not only gave me plenty of ideas of reorganizing my systems, but it validated my feeling that people should be giving themselves the opportunity to do things just for fun.

 

Sarah recommends:

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning is the first in the Darkest Powers series and follows a teenage girl who is sent to a group home after she starts seeing ghosts. I liked that this book has a little bit of everything: mystery, fantasy, action, romance. I found that I couldn’t put it down once I started!

 

Peggy recommends:

33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen

Set in Brussels as WWII is building up, this is the story of apartment dwellers who, dependent on the choices they are forced to make, are faced with the realities of who they really are vs who they thought they were in this riveting debut novel. Ms Austen is great at developing characters you can relate to and the plot twists…oh, my! I think you’ll like this new voice of literature.

Amie recommends:

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Maehrer

Further adventures of The Villain and Evie! These books are fantastic! And now we have to wait for the third. Super sad face! I literally laughed out loud 5 times in the Prologue alone!

 

The Sadness of Beautiful Things by Simon Van Booy

Mr. Van Booy breaks your heart in the most beautiful way: quietly, gently, completely. Each of these stories, though slight in stature, leave massive scars on your soul and unapologetically live rent-free in your mind for days. I suggest you read everything he writes, including his grocery list.

 

April 2025 Picks

Peggy recommends:

Odder by Katherine Applegate

I absolutely loved The One and Only Ivan, Ms Applegate’s first novel for kids. So much so, I decided to read more of her works. Odder does not disappoint. Odder is a sea otter who spends most of his time frolicking in the water, looking for food and just enjoying life. Until one day when a great white shark appears and Odder learns about mortal danger and the kindness of strangers. It’s a bit of a tough read for an animal lover who doesn’t like to read about animals in danger. But the story is well written and sure to appeal to those 8 years old and older.

**Katherine Applegate is one of our Virtual Authors for the month of June. Register here, then join us for her online talk June 24th at 1 pm.

Lupines of California by local author, Teresa Sholars

I had so much fun identifying lupines on my mini trip to Pinnacles National Park awhile back. This book is so informative and the pictures are perfect for spotting every kind of lupine imaginable. It’s not an easy book to find on your own at the library, so chat with one of the staff to locate it for you in the Local section under 583 Sholars. You won’t regret checking it out.

March 2025 Picks

Amie recommends:

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Typical boy-meets-girl-accidentally-locked-in-a-cage-with-a-dead-body-will-they-won’t-they love story. I read this in 2 days. It was super fun in a serial-killer kinda way. AND the boy is Irish, so win.

 

Darby O’Gill and the Little People (DVD)

Always the best film for St. Patrick’s Day! For he is me dear me darling one.

 

Secret of Roan Inish (DVD)

Beautiful tale of a girl and her selkie.

 

Valerie recommends:

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Alice is turning 40. She lives in her hometown and works at the same high school that she went to as a teen. She’s an artist who doesn’t make art. She’s in a relationship with a man who she doesn’t see a future with. Most of her current life is visiting her dying father in the hospital. On the night before her birthday, she stumbles back to her childhood home after a drunken evening and ends up falling asleep in her father’s garden shed. When she wakes up in the morning, she’s back in time to her sixteenth birthday. Her dad is young and healthy. The world feels full of promise and purpose. This Time Tomorrow is an emotional story that explores choices, regrets, and the relationship between a single parent and their only child. I loved this story and I admit it made me cry more than once even after I had finished reading it.

Sarah recommends:

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Celebrate Women’s History Month by reading this collection of writings from the late Audre Lorde, celebrated intersectional feminist, civil rights activist, professor, and poet.

 

Kim recommends:

Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder

Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life is a fascinating look at the “woman behind the man” who wrote Animal Farm and 1984.  Eileen O’Shaughnessy was witty and clever, brave and practical, but she was also self-effacing to the point that it cost her her life, in two ways.  She would die before she was forty, from a hysterectomy when she was so anemic that doctors urged her to wait for a month of blood transfusions, but she was afraid that she couldn’t afford such a long hospital stay.

For almost a decade before that, she worked hard in and out of the home, doing everything from writing radio shows to cleaning out the latrine of the isolated country cottage her husband insisted on buying so he could write in peace.  Eric Blair was very talented but self-absorbed, which made him a worse writer and a worse husband than he could’ve been.  His novels that show the most empathy and the most style are ones that he discussed with his wife, and that she typed and edited.  It was her idea to make Animal Farm a fable instead of an essay.  And even after her death in 1945, he took inspiration from a poem she wrote in 1934, called “1984,” about a police state that uses mind control.

“George Orwell,” as Eric is best known, minimized Eileen’s help and influence, and sometimes even presence, in his autobiographical writings.  To take the most glaring example, Eileen saved lives with her bravery and ingenuity during the Spanish Civil War, but Orwell glossed over this, as do his major biographers.  Funder’s work is a complicated act of making Eileen’s shadow visible and solid.  Funder dug deeper, below passive tenses and vague descriptions, using other sources as well, like photographs, letters, and visits to places the Orwells lived, to make the story of this difficult marriage very present.

Orwell comes across very badly in this book, to the point that I was glad when he died and could no longer propose to women he hardly knew, in order to find someone to manage his life as well as Eileen did, while admitting that his health was so bad that he was really shopping for a widow.  (Well, one did accept, Sonia Brownell, tempted by his promise to be his literary executor.)  And yet, Funder’s goal is not to “cancel” Orwell but to show that this man who popularized the term “doublethink” himself had huge blind spots.  He was a serial cheater (and possibly an attempted rapist), but tried to tell people that his wife didn’t mind, a lie that his major biographers are eager to embrace, to get their hero off the hook.  Funder admires Orwell’s writing but uses some of his concepts for her own purposes.

The result is a story about stories, with layers that interweave.  It is about Funder’s realization and quest, and it is about Eileen’s disappearance in plain sight.  It jumps across time, and it sometimes turns into historical fiction, as Funder imagines what Eileen and Eric, and their friends, were thinking over the years.   Funder also shares conversations she had with her own children, who are trying to understand the “why” of misogyny.

All that said (and sorry for spoilers about things that happened 80 or 90 years ago), I’m not exactly sure who I’d recommend this to, beyond people who are fascinated by words and stories and the complexities of both fiction and real life.  For what it’s worth, I read it in less than 24 hours, a real page-turner.  (Well, it was an eBook, so it was itself un-solid.)

Peggy recommends:

How to Survive the Loss of a Love by Melba Colgrove, Harold Bloomfield and Peter McWilliams

Half psychology of loss and how to work through the 5 stages of grief and half poetry based on the 5 stages. This book helps anyone experiencing loss, of any kind (death, break-up, job, money) to understand the stages and know there is relief, in time. I give copies of this book to family and friends when they experience a loss to help them through the grieving. It’s better than a cheap card and genuinely offers insight into getting through the grief.

It’s spring garden time and I would be remiss as the seed librarian not to mention a few good gardening books.

Gardening: the complete guide by Miranda Smith

All you need to know about how to plant, grow, and maintain flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs in different types of gardens.

 

Sunset Western Garden Book by Kathleen Norris Brenzel

Everything you need to know about gardening in the West, including information on what grows well here, on the coast.

 

February 2025 Picks

February is Black History Month and we invite you to join us in celebrating the triumphs of the Black Freedom Struggle. Browse this unique ProQuest resource, a curated selection of primary resources highlighting the challenges & triumphs in the pursuit of equality. If you’re looking for a good Black History book, check out this selection in the catalog Black History.

 

January 2025 Picks

Valerie recommends:

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North  (available as eAudio and eBook)

Harry August never expected to be born again after his death. Yet he comes back and can remember all of his previous life. It turns out that he is an Ouroboran, a subspecies of humans that are reborn over and over unless their cycle is broken. One day he’s contacted by another of his kind. It’s a message from the future. The world is ending. I was very surprised by this book. The audiobook narrator is great. There are several moments from this book that I randomly think of to this day. It’s compelling and unique from other Science Fiction titles out there.

Sarah recommends:

Megan – Megan thee Stallion (CD)

From Southern rap to a Japanese collaboration turned internet hit, Megan shows the range and diversity of Megan the Stallion’s creative talents.

Peggy recommends:

Monk – TV series on DVD

Adrian Monk is my favorite OCD germaphobe EVER! Monk is the most hilarious saddest sack ever, but he’s also genius and Tony Shalhoub plays him brilliantly. I binged every season multiple times on Netflix and am devastated they removed them from their lineup. Guess I’ll have to go back to the DVDs. But that’s okay cuz “it’s a jungle out there” and “it’s a blessing…and a curse”. Check out Monk. You won’t be disappointed.

You can also check out the Monk series of books written by bestselling author, Lee Goldberg. They are just as much fun as the show.

Any Eyewitness Travel Guide by Dorling Kindersley publishing

These are THE BEST travel guides! They have beautiful color photos and include detailed maps of block by block areas of important city sites. They even have floor by floor, room by room details of what to look for in the most popular tourist attractions. Plus, they include valuable travel details and historical background for the areas you’ll be visiting. I love these books!

2024 Staff Picks

2023 Staff Picks

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