Staff Suggestions
Enjoy "browsing" our popular staff recommendations and feel as if you’re in the store talking to one of our knowledgable booksellers. Have fun, they’re addictive!
Janis Joplin's heroin overdose at age 27 has come to define her for many. But between January 19, 1943 and October 4, 1970, Janis lived a life full of bitter sweet relations with friends and family, a tragic decision-making ability and, most of all, a soul born to sing the blues. With access to personal letters, confidants, and band members, George-Warren leads us through Janis' bumpy life. Her overdue and penultimate biography.
— Sharon
As in some of my favorite works of fiction, the characters in this novel are messy while the writing is impeccable. A master of relatably imperfect subjects, Jami Attenberg has produced a stunning family drama, with the thoughts, feelings, and circumstances of all involved members examined from every angle. You'll be hard pressed to find a more impressive and prolific chronicler of the shadows of family dynamics writing today.
— Kelly
From Snow White to Frozen, Nathalia Holt takes a look at the history of Walt Disney Animation through the eyes of the women who have worked there. Showing how the company has grown with regards to both technology and female employees, I thought this book was fascinating. I love how the author took the time to explain how each new piece of technology worked while also staying true to the mission of the book. It was incredibly interesting to see how women influenced beloved films, even if their names never made it into the credits. I also loved reading more about Mary Blair, a Disney icon who I didn't know much about past her work on It's a Small World. Perfect reading for Disney fans.
— Lindsey
I was first drawn to this book for its catchy title and as I read I was reminded of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” It is entertaining and informative and would be a great gift for anyone joining a Jewish family or just looking for deeper knowledge of the religion.
— Laura B.
Tate gets what many of us don’t: a second chance at her first love, a chance for things to go right. People have been telling me to read Christina Lauren’s book for years – don’t be me, pick it up now. Her characters grab you from the first page and propel you through a smart and funny romance, even if it took fourteen years and the acting role of Tate’s career to make it happen.
— Becky
The Crusades lasted from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, but the effects of this monumental clash of cultures and religions are still felt today. As with his other books, Dan Jones has taken this very complex history and presented it to us in a well organized, logical and (above all) entertaining way. Dive in and come away with broad understanding of the forces and motives from all sides, underlying so many centuries of hatred and bloodshed. One of Jones’s best!
— Gail
In 1930's England, as elsewhere, war has changed the role of women - even as society resists acknowledging either the necessity or the desire for change. Violet, a 30-something "surplus" woman, joins a society of broderers, and learns to make something serviceable, and even beautiful, from separate threads, in embroidery and life.
— Laura
An engaging memoir of an orphaned blue jay, and the wildlife artist and writer who rehabilitates it. Photos, drawings, facts, and anecdotes combine to offer a multi-faceted story that will appeal to veteran birdlovers and backyard novices alike.
— Laura
If The Westing Game is on your stack of favorites, this book is for you! With the death of eccentric, and rich, Vincent Pryce (note the Y), a mysterious game is set in motion with a coveted prize – to become one of Vincent’s heirs. As a huge fan of character driven novels, I quickly fell in love with the entire quirky crew of players as they learned more about each other and scoured Boston for clues. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is an emotionally powerful story of grief and self-discovery wrapped in humor and riddles, I couldn't stop reading until I got to the end.
— Lindsey
Ninth House thrusts readers headfirst into a dark portrayal of Yale and New Haven, CT, filled with secrets, ghosts, and unspeakable evil. It's a mystery, a ghost story, and a journey of understanding for a young woman who has lived a life twisted and tormented by forces she couldn't hope to understand. The world within this novel is propulsive and intense. You won't want to put this one down.
— Becky
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ first novel is eloquent and lyrical, with a touch of magical realism. It tells the story of Hiram, born in Virginia to a black mother, whom he barely remembers, and a white father, the owner of the plantation. It is also a story of the work of the Underground Railroad to free and try to reunite divided families, whose stories will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.
— Marilyn
One of the most anticipated books of the season, The Topeka School has so much going for it. Ambitious and thought-provoking, this novel is not only an impressive addition to the recent trend of autofiction, but a nuanced look at many of the social dynamics at play in present day America. Rooted in 1990s Kansas, you won't find a better novel about the dynamics of a specific family combined with the trajectory of our society.
— Kelly
I’m not one to judge a book by its cover, but the photo of Obama and Biden, smiling, simply enjoying each other’s company, pulled me right in. A thoughtful look back at the unique partnership of two men with very different leadership styles who firmly stood together to create history during their eight years in the White House, while forming a strong, enduring friendship. If you are feeling nostalgic, you’ll love this book!
— Marilyn
Cilka’s Journey, the much anticipated sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, tells the story of Cilka Klein after she leaves Auschwitz’s Birkenau concentration camp. When the camp is liberated at the end of the war, Cilka is found guilty of conspiring with the enemy and sent to a Siberian labor camp for 15 years where she is forced to live and work under deplorable conditions.
An inspirational and moving story of courage and resilience in the bleakest of circumstances.
— Sue
A charming and off-beat look at witchcraft, house hunting and ownership, rural Connecticut life, and family. Augusten Burroughs is a wonderful storyteller and I was 100% invested in this piece of his life story from beginning to end. This was my first experience with his memoirs, but I'll certainly be looking into more.
— Lindsey
Ann Patchett is one of my favorites, with her Bel Canto in my Top 10 list. The Dutch House may have just jumped over that! Do not miss this wondrously woven tale of a brother and sister and their entanglement with their cursed family home. Patchett excels here in character development, plotting, and glorious use of language.
— Sharon
I have waited 20 years for Stephen Chbosky’s SECOND book! I was a huge fan of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and his second novel Imaginary Friend, a literary horror, did not disappoint. Chbosky has the ability to brilliantly blend his style of true heart and soul empathy for his characters that I fell in love with 20 years ago with bone tingling chills. I built a mystical treehouse beside a gang of 7-year-old best friends, I ran along with a mother fighting for her son’s life and her own, and I was charmed by the love an elderly man has for his brother that disappeared decades ago. Imaginary Friend is a mix of Stranger Things meets IT meets Stand By Me. A perfect Fall read—but let’s face it, I will probably find an excuse to read it during other seasons!
— Britt
This charming but bizarre book layers thoughtful insights on modern society with a bleak sense of humor. Keiko doesn't fit into the roles of society that she sees others slip into easily- for her, things make the most sense within the glass windows of the Smile Mart. Her struggle to reconcile what she wants for her life with the pressures she feels to conform to expectations is relatable even as her circumstances are stretched to darkly comic ends. An absolute gem of a book.
— Kelly
This debut story collection impressed me deeply. The stories within feel both modern and traditional, and are each unique and interesting, with a sly sense of humor woven throughout. The author's inventiveness delighted me, although all her stories remain grounded in history and humanity. You won't regret picking this book up for even a moment.
— Kelly
When reading an Alice Hoffman novel, I have to take time to pull myself back to our world from the one she has created, and her latest is no exception. This time, she brings magical realism to a story that begins in Berlin during the Nazi regime and follows Lea, a young girl, Ava, a mystical Jewish creature known as a golem, and Ettie, Ava’s creator. A remarkable book from a most gifted storyteller.
— Marilyn
Life. Death. Love. Resistance. Faith. Survival. A beautifully written, thoughtful, fairy-tale-esque novel about what people do for love, and what people do to survive, during the Holocaust. Looking down at these characters from a narrated distance, we are allowed the truth of what happens to each of them. I appreciated that much of the story focused on the French resistance, a topic that doesn't often make it into fiction. Though difficult to read at times, this heart-wrenching story was nevertheless one I'm glad I read and that I highly recommend.
— Lindsey
Are you looking for the perfect baby gift? Something to encourage a young reader? How to Raise a Reader is filled with advice and inspiration for all ages and stages of reading. With carefully selected titles that end each chapter, this book is the first on my list for new and expecting parents!
— Lindsay A.
America’s Test Kitchen has done all the experiments on techniques and ingredients for you. Then, they walk you through recipes that are almost guaranteed to succeed. I learned a lot, and would confidently try any of these recipes for the first time, bring it to an important event, and feel confident that it will impress. My favorite so far: Ginger-Cranberry-Pear!
— Jamie
I could rave endlessly about all the ways that Jacqueline Woodson's writing impresses me - the unparalleled prose, the depth of character, the lyricism woven throughout - but in the end, what always blows me away is how viscerally her books allow me to feel their events and emotions. Here, each alternating character, telling the story of an evolving family through times of love and conflict, resonates with depth and humanity. Another masterful work that you'll be drawn to read over and over.
— Kelly
Olga Tokarczuk is an established literary superstar in Poland - and for good reason. This smart, singular novel falls somewhere between murder mystery and ecological thriller. It manages to be warm, funny, and suspenseful while eliciting deep thoughts on the consequences of human involvement in nature. Through her eccentric, astrology-minded narrator, Tokarczuk paints a vivid picture of all the varying facets of life in a remote area of the European countryside, and all the many living creatures that populate it.
— Kelly
Do you want to read a simply wonderful story? You will sense Charles Dickens in the characters, Mark Twain in the adventure, and the lyrical prose of Pat Conroy in every paragraph. Follow the escape and journey of two brothers, a girl, and a mute Sioux boy....all young orphans running from an evil fate during the Great Depression. Their story, like the river they travel on, twists and turns and enchants. Loved it!!
— Barb
Rachel Cusk's brilliant essays, like her Outline Trilogy of novels, is philosophical, personal, and insightful. Reflecting on universal experiences, sometimes to unexpected ends, Cusk has an impressive knack for capturing and expressing certain truths of modern life. Later essays in this collection intelligently examine aspects of writing and fine art, and will quickly inspire you to immerse yourself in the works of all those mentioned. This, like any new writing that Cusk produces, is an exciting addition to the literary world.
— Kelly
Travel writer Pico Iyer’s cultural observations on Japan, a country where he has lived for over 30 years, serves as both a guidebook and reflections on a place that is full of contradictions. His sparse prose, sometimes only a one sentence description, captures Japanese life, which he calls “the home of collected inwardness.” Anyone with an interest in Japan will enjoy this book!
— Marilyn
This grounded and stirring collection of poetry radiates the familiar ache of heartbreak. Abdurraqib possesses a special and talented voice, and has a knack for weaving strands of emotion, nostalgia and pop culture together to impressive effect. In reading these poems you'll feel embraced by their ideas and imagery, and comforted by their depth of feeling.
— Kelly
Necromancers… in space. Intrigued? Gideon the Ninth is the classic “strangers meet at a haunted house” mystery, with a fun twist. The gathering is between the heirs of eight necromancer houses and their cavaliers, and they must solve riddles in order to learn new necromancy techniques. But then people start dying. I absolutely loved Gideon and her necromancer Harrowhawk. Their love/hate relationship was hilarious, moving, and filled with snarky humor that made me grin. Mix all of that with skeleton monsters, abandoned scientific laboratories, sword fights, and spaceships… and you have a unique, amazing book that I can’t stop thinking about.
— Lindsey
This small volume is proof that a book need not be lengthy to have an impact. Set during and in the year following the Korean War, it is based on a real event. In February 1954, Marilyn Monroe visited Korea to perform for American troops. The fictional Alice J. Kim is chosen to be her translator. A compelling story of the horrors of war and two women who bond under extraordinary circumstances.
— Marilyn
This one’s for all the people out there watching as their dreams come to a crashing halt around them. For anyone struggling to pick themselves up when everything in their love life and careers ends up going nowhere. This novel is smart, fresh, and hilarious; a serious must-read that'll leave you with the motivation to keep going.
— Becky
A coming of age story, a fantasy of many worlds through many doors, and a novel of finding home. Though not particularly easy to describe, this book is a quick read with fascinating world building. Taking place in the early 1900s America, January Scaller discovers that there are doors that lead to other places, doors that other people are trying to keep closed, and ends up on a journey to find her family, and her home, despite the people and creatures that are trying to stop her.
— Lindsey
Meet Toby Fleishman, 41 years old, separated from his wife, practically addicted to his dating app, and full of lust. Narrated with a sharp wit by a longtime friend, who is herself going through a mid-life crisis, this is at times laugh-out-loud funny, skewering relationships, social climbing, yoga clothes, and just about everything else in its path. A terrific debut novel!
— Marilyn
Once I started this tension-filled mystery, I realized nothing short of a major catastrophe would stop me from reading it. In this latest Billy Boyle mystery I “slipped” into Nazi occupied Paris with Billy and felt the terror, the gravity, the horror of war as well as hope. With thorough research and authentic characters, James R. Benn always bring his stories to life for me. And what a cliff-hanger ending! I can’t believe I have to wait a year to find out what happens next.
— Susan
If you are a woman reaching a boiling point, and have always wondered why we think about daughters, mothers, and wives the way we do – read this book. In her compulsively readable, feminist manifesto, Sady Doyle takes a sharp look at mythology, pop culture, and real women through a lens to see how patriarchy was, is, and always has been how we see women. I loved how she took familiar movies and mythologies and tied them to real women and situations. Completely fascinating.
— Lindsey
What Red Was is a poignant debut novel about the depth of friendship and how its balance is threatened by privilege and trauma. Best friends since University, Kate and Max are inseparable. His wealthy and connected family is opposingly different from her’s, and yet she is welcomed by all of them. One night at a party in Max’s parent’s home, Kate is violently attacked and tells no one. Her silence has a devastating effect on her health and relationships until an unlikely source encourages her to seek help and finally tell her story. Applause for this young(26 yr old) author!
— Sue
If you’re a fan of Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbo or enjoyed the Kurt Wallander series then you will love The Chestnut Man!
Written by the creator of Netflix’s The Killing, this is a brilliant and creepy thriller. When several gruesome murder scenes all have handmade dolls made from matchsticks and chestnuts pointedly displayed, detectives fear there is a serial killer on the loose and try to piece together the Chestnut Man’s clues before he strikes again.
I stayed up late into the night to finish this one!
— Sue
I thoroughly enjoy a good noir-ish detective novel - but never thought East Texas was a venue I would find comfortable. This is brilliant stuff, I can almost smell it and hear the reeds in the salted air. These people are alive, from the main characters to the chef at the Rosemont. The story itself is grand, with lots of interesting side pieces. It takes a bit of time for this New England girl to get into the timbre of the place, but it sings and the word sashay springs to mind.
— Nancy
Usually being kidnapped is a bad thing…
Blistering with humor, Calvin’s aunt (the kidnapper) is just the charismatic bad guy that Calvin (the kidnapped) needs on his journey to manhood (somewhere in his late 40’s). Unexpected twists and theatrical characters make this novel pure fun.
— Jamie
This gripping novel opens with the mysterious kidnapping of a CDC scientist and doesn’t let up. A violent white supremacist group, hidden deep in the Appalachian Mountains, is planning an attack on American soil. Think The Handmaid’s Tale, Jonestown, and the anthrax attacks all rolled into one suspense-filled story. Disturbing? Yes, but also a contemporary thriller that will pull you in.
— Marilyn
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