Staff Picks

Snacking Cakes

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Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings: A Baking Book Cover Image

Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings: A Baking Book (Hardcover)

By Yossy Arefi
$24.00
ISBN: 9780593139660
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Clarkson Potter - October 27th, 2020

Recently I've been baking a treat for the week every Saturday morning (a practice I highly recommend). I'm not a particularly skilled baker, but every cake I've tried from this book has been easy and turned out perfectly, no stand mixer required. Arefi offers flavor variations for every recipe so the options are pretty endless - I can't wait to start baking with farmer's market produce in the spring and summer. Favorites so far are the Black- and Blueberry Ricotta Cake (p 36 - I used frozen berries and added some raspberries as well), and Almond Butter Banana Cake (p 87 - better than the best banana bread you've ever had).

Katie

The Sanatorium

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The Sanatorium: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Sarah Pearse
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593296677
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Pamela Dorman Books - February 2nd, 2021

Something is amiss at Le Sommet, and Elin Warner can feel it...or at least, she thinks she can. Is it just trauma-induced paranoia, or is danger really lurking in this sanatorium-turned-luxury-hotel? Dive into Sarah Pearse’s gripping debut novel, and I swear: you won’t want to put it down until you find out the truth.

Aria

Endpapers

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Endpapers: A Family Story of Books, War, Escape, and Home (Hardcover)

By Alexander Wolff
$28.00
ISBN: 9780802158253
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press - March 2nd, 2021

Endpapers is a thoroughly captivating book that at first seems to be a family
memoir but is really an extraordinary look at the intellectual milieu of 20th
century German literary culture and its collision with the historical upheavals of the first half of the century. Wolff continues the story postwar delving into the complexities of how those upheavals play out in the dynamics of his own family.

Dale

Thirsty Mermaids

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Thirsty Mermaids (Hardcover)

By Kat Leyh
$29.99
ISBN: 9781982133573
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Gallery 13 - February 9th, 2021

In search of booze, three mermaids venture onto shore, where they have to navigate everything from walking and clothes, to jobs and purpose. Thirsty Mermaids is the adult female friendship comic for everyone who's trying to balance their Little Mermaid nostalgia with their feminism.

Marika

The Blackbird Girls

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The Blackbird Girls (Paperback)

By Anne Blankman
$8.99
ISBN: 9781984837370
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Puffin Books - January 19th, 2021

I often find it hard to sink into a historical fiction MG title, but this one absolutely sucked me in. The Chernobyl disaster isn't something widely addressed in kids' lit, and this title handles it so well. The interwoven political and social dynamics are heartbreaking, but the friendship the two main characters develop despite everything is so lovely. (This is also now a Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medalist)

Stacey

Invisible Ink

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Invisible Ink: A Novel (The Margellos World Republic of Letters) (Hardcover)

By Patrick Modiano, Mark Polizzotti (Translated by)
$24.00
ISBN: 9780300252583
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Yale University Press - October 27th, 2020

Considered one of France’s most important authors, Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2014.  His latest novel, Invisible Ink, takes us back to Paris in the night – of lost identities, mixed memories and the search for the illusive truth.

Nathan

We Are the Ashes We Are the Fire

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We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire (Hardcover)

By Joy McCullough
$18.99
ISBN: 9780525556053
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dutton Books for Young Readers - February 9th, 2021

When her older sister's rapist is sentenced to no jail time--and her own comment about learning to use a sword gets taken out of context--Em takes inspiration from a 15th-century woman who defended the women of her era.

Sarah

The Valley and the Flood

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The Valley and the Flood (Hardcover)

By Rebecca Mahoney
$18.99
ISBN: 9780593114353
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Razorbill - February 23rd, 2021

Almost a year after the death of her best friend, Rose Cutter finds herself broken down in the desert. After following a message no one but her should have towards a distant radio tower, she finds herself in Lotus Valley and quickly becomes embroiled in an impending disaster that somehow centers on her.  For a book about dealing with grief and PTSD, with a sense of doom hanging over the whole town, this book is filled with a lot of levity and forgiveness, with a sort of surrealist horror vibe to this book but like, funny. Also, I would literally die for multiple characters in this book.

Katherine

Echo Wife

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The Echo Wife (Hardcover)

By Sarah Gailey
$24.99
ISBN: 9781250174666
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tor Books - February 16th, 2021

Every single word of this is like a scalpel wielded by an expert surgeon. It would take an entire book length of words to describe how it made me feel, so why not just read the book instead? (Or the audiobook, which is read MASTERFULLY by the amazing Xe Sands.) CW: child and spousal abuse

Shana

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