Please enjoy this selection of some of the favorite books that our librarians in Adult Services read this year. Stop by the reference desk and talk to us about them!
Alex:
Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism by Sebastian Smee
From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, “The Terrible Year” as coined by Victor Hugo, Parisians were under siege by forces of the North German Confederation. This siege would result in the surrender of the French Army, the establishment of a socialist Commune rejecting the French Government, and, ultimately, the burning of central Paris as the French Army crushed the Commune. This tumultuous period served as the backdrop for the rise of the Impressionist movement. Sebastian Smee follows the paths of the great figures of Impressionism: Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet, amongst others. This was an absolutely fascinating look at the time period. Very well researched and written, Paris in Ruins would be excellent for any readers interested in French history as well as Art History, especially history of Impressionism.
James by Percival Everett
This one will grace innumerable “Best of 2024” lists so I will keep it brief. Anyone who has ever read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn owes it to themselves to read James. One of the most noteworthy characters in American literature gets a novel that furthers and lifts his story to new heights. Highly recommended.
You Like It Darker by Stephen King
It’s a bit on the nose to recommend a Stephen King horror novel and yet, here I am. King is a prolific writer and his creativity really shines in short fiction. This collection of 12 short stories collects several stories and novellas that were previously published with new works that have never been seen. Personal highlight for me was Rattlesnakes, a novella follow-up to King’s 1981 novel Cujo, one of the most terrifying books I’ve ever read.
Natalie:
The Dead Cat Tails Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Magic! Murder! Mayhem! Eveen the Eviscerator, a member of an undead league of assassins, has never missed a mark or lost a contract. But her latest mission brings her face-to-face with her forgotten past and she’s on a deadline to find a way to save herself and her target. I flew through this novella and was hooked on every page. While parts are heavy on the violence, most of the book works to unravel the mystery of Eveen’s past and her mysterious target.
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Tainted Cup follows an eccentric detective and her assistant as they work to unravel a series of murders placing an entire city at risk from the giant Leviathans that threaten the land. Most of the story follows the assistant, Dinios Kol, as he investigates on behalf of his very new and very odd boss. If you like classic crime novels with some magic added in, this is a great choice.
Sara:
Pixar: The Official Cookbook by Tara Theoharis and S.T. Bende
I instantly fell in love with Pixar: The Official Cookbook by Tara Theoharis and S.T. Bende which came out in September of this year. The book is organized by decade, highlighting each project the studio has put out since 1984. There are expected crowd favorites like the Pizza Planet pizza from the original Toy Story (1995) and Rat-atouille from Ratatouille (2007), because anyone can cook! There are also out of the box recipes such as Never-Expired Cake, a play on Twinkies, inspired by Wall-E (2008) and Ember’s Lollipops, named after a main character from the Academy Award winning Elemental (2023). I truly think Pixar enthusiasts of all ages would enjoy this vibrant and playful cookbook!
Kim:
The Stolen Child by Ann Hood
For decades, Nick Burns has been haunted by a decision he made as a young soldier in World War I, when a French artist he’d befriended thrust both her paintings and her baby into his hands, and disappeared. In 1974, with only months left to live, Nick enlists Jenny, a college dropout desperate for adventure, to help him unravel the mystery. I picked this book up from the shelf on a whim when I was trying to decide what to read, and I am so glad that I did. The Stolen Child is very touching. I absolutely loved the intergenerational, slow-building friendship between curmudgeon Nick and eager Jenny. I also got a bit of arm-chair travel with the luscious descriptions of settings including Paris, Rome, Tuscany, and Naples. It helps that I’ve always wanted to travel to Italy. After I read the book, I also found out that the author lost her own daughter at 5 years old to a severe form of strep, which explains how she was able to so vividly capture the emotions around giving up a child. I highly recommend this one.
The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave
Family drama with mystery elements from New York Times Bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me. Estranged siblings discover their father, who has died suddenly and mysteriously in an accident, has been keeping a secret for over fifty years, one that may have been fatal. The story’s pace is slow, so I definitely wouldn’t call it a thriller, but it is very engrossing. I think one of the highlights of the book is the shifting dynamic between brother and sister Sam and Nora who have to put aside their differences for the objective of getting to the bottom of what happened to their father. It was encouraging to see these siblings do what they needed to do to get along and find commonality. In the story, you also get to see flashback’s to their father, Liam’s, earlier years, which was fun and helped me understand some of the choices he made in his life. Love and family are the two major themes, and that’s what kept me reading.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
While part of a small space exploration crew on an abandoned planet, psychologist, Ophelia Bray, confronts a gruesome murder and twisted secrets as she races to prevent history from repeating itself in the form of a space-borne madness. I loved the tension and uneasiness in this book. I do not typically read a lot of sci-fi because of the technical jargon and scientific concepts that I find confusing, but that wasn’t the case with this book. I appreciated that It was easy to understand. S.A. Barnes writes in a way that is a good introduction for those just dipping into sci-fi. In terms of the plot, Ophelia’s crew isn’t the first to explore the planet, so they are trying to figure out why the previous crew left so abruptly, which brings the creepiness level up. Fittingly, Ghost Station is described as a sci-fi horror novel. To me, though, it also felt a lot like a psychological thriller, which I love, as Dr. Ophelia is studying the prevalence of ERS, a space-based condition that can cause those who are afflicted to start going crazy and becoming violent. I’ve also read Barnes’ first book, Dead Silence, which was equally as gripping.
We love helping people find books, movies, and more.
Tell us about your preferences, and our librarians will create a list of titles selected specifically for you.
