Staff Picks
January 2021
Salem’s Lot
by Stephen King
The creeping dread of this tale makes it perfect for the dark cold days of winter. The sleepy Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot is infiltrated by a vampire, who gradually drains the inhabitants. The everyday townsfolk are caught in the grip of the vampire’s infection, which spreads slowly at first, then builds to a terrifying crescendo. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook.
Recommended by: Peter Tew, Adult Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Adult Fiction
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories
by B. J. Novak
B.J. Novak, one of the writers and stars of the TV show The Office, has compile several short stories in this collection. The stories spread for a rematch between the Tortoise and the Hare to a Las Vegas intervention gone wrong to a cereal box sweepstakes worth $100,000. Often with short story collections, you get some kind of mixture of hits and misses. I will say that a majority of these stories were hits. For a special treat, check out the audiobook and hear Novak and some of his celebrity friends narrate the stories. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Brandi Smits, Youth Services Manager
Posted in: Adult Fiction
Clean Getaway
by Nic Stone
William “Scoob” Lamar is on a remarkably interesting and confusing RV trip with his grandmother. Between talking in her sleep, taking him to unusual places and telling him things she never had before, Scoob is confused and sometimes frightened but is ultimately enlightened. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Fiction
The Push
by Ashley Audrain
A Good Morning America book club pick that keeps the reader engrossed as you learn more about Blythe and her unhappy childhood and her unhappiness as a mother. Blythe felt she never loved her daughter Violet. Is the problem Blythe has with being a mother stemming from her or is there something wrong with Violet? Then Blythe has Sam, who she adores.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Adult Fiction
The Girl in the Mirror
by Rose Carlyle
A book full of greed, jealousy, and lust as the twist and turns involving twins, Iris and Summer Rose reach an explosive conclusion. Iris has always been jealous of twin, Summer, who seems to live a charmed life. When asked to help sail the family yacht with Summer’s hunky husband, Iris jumps at the chance. Unfortunately for Iris plans change and she finds herself in the middle of the ocean with Summer. When the yacht arrives, there is only one twin on board.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Adult Fiction
Just Like That
by Gary D. Schmidt
Set in the 1960s just as earlier books such as The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now, Schmidt has written another gem of a book with compassion and humor. Meryl Lee Kowalski and Matt Coffin meet at a Maine boarding school run by Mrs. Nora MacKnockater. Both are working through life events that have caused them unhappiness. As they work their way to growth and change, they find that they need help from each other and others to overcome the past.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction
To Night Owl From Dogfish
by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Avery and Bet are being sent to camp together by their fathers who want to take a motorcycle trip to China. They agree NOT to become friends or see each other at all in person. As the plot moves forward they, of course, become friends and that dynamic creates quite a bit of drama. Written entirely through email and letter exchanges, this book is highly entertaining. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Fiction
Ahimsa
by Supriya Kelkar
Based on the author’s great grandmother’s experiences in India, this historical fiction book deals with prejudice and the fight for independence. The main character, Anjali, is unhappy when her mother tells her she is joining Gandhi’s peaceful rebellion. As her mother makes adjustments to help improve her country, Anjali slowly comes around to her mother’s way of thinking.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Fiction
None Shall Sleep
by Ellie Marney
After narrowly escaping a vicious serial killer, Emma is desperately trying to find normalcy in her life. That normalcy is pushed aside when Agent Cooper from the FBI approaches her to join a new task force of teens assigned to interview teen serial killers in hopes of getting insight adults are not privy to. Emma teams up with Travis Bell, the son of a US Marshall killed by a suspect who hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the FBI. Their assignments begin as busy work, but soon the duo is right in the middle of an ongoing investigation regarding a spree of murders. There is a surprise asset to this case. The serial killer that killed Travis’s dad has inside information and it’s up to Emma to get him to share what he knows before someone else dies. This book may seem a bit unbelievable at times, but it is a thrilling and exciting story. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Brandi Smits, Youth Services Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
The Canyon’s Edge
by Dusty Bowling
A novel in verse by the author of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Nora and her father go hiking in a slot canyon on the anniversary of Nora’ mother’s death in a restaurant shooting. A flash flood separates them and leaves Nora with no supplies. As she struggles to survive the desert, Nora must also survive the Beast who has haunted her dreams for the past year. This is a page turning book full of action and emotion as Nora struggles to survive her inner and outer demons. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction