Staff Picks
When it comes to Halloween reading, it doesn’t get much better than the Inferno. The notes and commentary by Robert Hollander illuminate the history and composition of the poem, and I love that his wife Jean (a poet) did the translation, which she renders skillfully into verse. Dante's Italian is also presented on the facing page for those who would like to explore the original text.
- James
In Foul Heart Huntsman, cameos are made, hearts are broken and healed, and many, many tears are shed (mostly by me). Drawing her readers in for a bittersweet ride, Chloe Gong masterfully weaves a vicious plotline with her classically tough-on-the-outside-but-oh-so-tender-on-the-inside characters to bring her debut series to a close. Pick up this book with the knowledge that the only time you'll put it down is to reach for your tissues.
- Cindy
I absolutely tore through this sweet paranormal story of friendship. When Bella moves to Shiver-by-the-Sea with her mom, she meets Cooper and his dog Casper. The two of them soon come across a cute little bat in the theater that Bella's mom has just bought, and are shocked to discover that it's actually a young vampire named Bram! The adventure to get Bram back to his mom and dad will pull in any young kid this Halloween season! 10 out of 10 would recommend!
- Halle
I honestly didn't think I'd be interested in this book based on the description (the focus on meat didn't sound particularly appealing), but I read it in two days. A captivating story about media, meat, sex, fertility and love with beautiful prose and strong female characters.
- Alyssa
A single mother reads Fielding's Tom Jones as she cares for her newborn. Briggs is brilliant, covering incredible narrative & conceptual distances in the few turns around the living room it takes to soothe her baby. It's quiet in some ways, explosive in others.
- Josh
Most of the ghosts are sheets, but one little ghost is a quilt -- and one Halloween, that's something to be proud of instead of something to hide.
- Sarah
A sweet little book filled with love and Boston!
- Alyssa
Witches, crazy plants, sentient vegetables, and a twisted twist make this a book you won't forget.
- Stacey
I know it sounds a little crazy to say that a story about a man transforming into a great white shark is actually a moving love story - but it is. It is not a weird fantasy about marine anatomy, but rather a compelling story about change, heartbreak, passion and connection. I've never read such a moving novel based on such an unlikely premise.
- Dina
Collected posthumously by her friends in the literary world, this sometimes brutal, sometimes transcendent book is an emotional journey through the life of an artist struggling with addiction.
- Wendy
Have you ever wondered how Jane Eyre’s Bertha became “the mad woman in the attic”? Even if you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to check out this classic of postcolonial fiction. A young woman comes of age amidst a political upheaval that throws the social dynamics of race, class and gender into flux. Humanizing the cipher we only glimpse in Bronte’s 1847 novel, Jean Rhys traces her protagonist’s descent into madness—a thought-provoking tragedy told through a truly unique blend of high-modernism, gothic romance, fan fiction and feminist thought.
- Sam
This is one of those books I read excerpts from for years before the time finally came to read it through. For anyone who wishes to be a little wiser about that wonderful thing we call love.
- James
A family story, a whodunit, an exploration of neurodiversity, and a trip back to the summer of 2020, all in one captivating novel.
- Sarah
Marilynne Robinson's debut novel is exquisite. Housekeeping is the story of sisters Ruth and Lucille, dropped off on the doorstep of their grandmother's house after their mother drives a borrowed car off a cliff. The town of Fingerbone, quiet and cold and stolid amidst all of the death that swirls around the girls, is an impeccably constructed setting for their coming-of-age. Gorgeously atmospheric- think windswept, candlelit nights, the sound of a train whistle in the distance, the commingled freedom and restriction that comes with girlhood in a small town- and full of achingly beautiful sentences.
[REDACTED] Don't worry, it didn't have anything to do with the book anyway. ~ Stacey