STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Nooks and Crannies

by Jessica Lawson

Tabitha Crum is a girl with a big imagination and a love for mystery novels, though her parents think her only talent is being a nuisance. She doesn't have a friend in the world, except her pet mouse, Pemberley, with whom she shares her dingy attic bedroom.

Then, on the heels of a rather devastating announcement made by her mother and father, Tabitha receives a mysterious invitation to the country estate of the wealthy but reclusive Countess of Windermere,whose mansion is rumored to be haunted. There, she finds herself among five other children, none of them sure why they've been summoned. But soon, a very big secret will be revealed— a secret that will change their lives forever and put Tabitha’s investigative skills to the test.(Goodreads.com)

 

"Nooks and Crannies realy has everything I love in a book. Guests snowed in at a mansion, a suspicious butler, secrets, murders! Ghost! Mice! It's one of the many wonderful books that has proved there really in no age restriction on books." Autumn Ament, Library Desk Clerk

 

  

Settle for More by Megyn Kelly

In Settle for More, the NBC News anchor reflects on the enduring values and experiences that have shaped her—from growing up in a family that rejected the "trophies for everyone" mentality, to her father’s sudden, tragic death while she was in high school. She goes behind-the-scenes of her career, sharing the stories and struggles that landed her in the anchor chair and taught her to ask the tough questions. Speaking candidly about her decision to "settle for more"—a motto she credits as having dramatically transformed her life at home and at work—Megyn discusses how she abandoned a thriving legal career to follow her journalism dreams. (Amazon.com)

 

"Ever since the 2016 presidential debates, I have admired Megyn Kelly's work. She never backs down from asking the tough questions despite any pushback from the candidates. After reading this book, I admire her even more.  She took a risk by leaving a prominent legal career to follow her journalism dreams. She was well on her way to being a partner with a major law firm in Chicago. Despite her success, she felt unfulfilled. She realized that she really wanted to become a journalist. She started with absolutely no experience and rose up the ranks to become the success that she is today. She also wrote about the obstacles that she faced along the way. The book inspires me to never settle for less when I can settle for more."  Colette Roessler, adult programming and marketing coordinator

 

Grant by Ron Chernow

Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow shows in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.

With lucidity, breadth, and meticulousness, Chernow finds the threads that bind these disparate stories together, shedding new light on the man whom Walt Whitman described as “nothing heroic... and yet the greatest hero.” Chernow’s probing portrait of Grant's lifelong struggle with alcoholism transforms our understanding of the man at the deepest level. This is America's greatest biographer, bringing movingly to life one of our finest but most underappreciated presidents. The definitive biography, Grant is a grand synthesis of painstaking research and literary brilliance that makes sense of all sides of Grant's life, explaining how this simple Midwesterner could at once be so ordinary and so extraordinary. (Amazon.com)

 

"I was initially put off by the size of this tome but it was highly recommended by a professor of the University of Pittsburgh Bradford. I admit to sometimes being woefully ignorant of history and felt that I needed to learn about Ulysses S. Grant for one of my events. Once I started reading, I really enjoyed the biography and appreciate all of the intense research involved. I discovered that his life was truly fascinating, as is this book." Colette Roessler, adult programming and marketing coordinator

 

 

New York Times BEST SELLERS LIST (April 22, 2018)

These best sellers are in our collection in print and audiobook format. Check them out.

 

FICTION:

  
 

Camino Island by John Grisham (18 weeks on the list)

A search for stolen rare manuscripts leads to a Florida island.

 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate (28 weeks on the list)

A South Carolina lawyer learns about the questionable pratices of a Tennessee orphanage.

 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (24 weeks on the list)

An artist upends a quiet town outside Cleveland.

 

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn (14 weeks on the list)

A recluse who drinks heavily and takes prescription drugs may have witnessed a crime across from her Harlem townhouse.

 

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer (New this week)

The relationship between a college freshman and a famous feminist reveals the challenges of intergenerational feminism.

 

NONFICTION:

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (7 weeks on the list)

The British cosmologist reviews efforts to create a unified theory of the universe; first published in 1988.

 

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (6 weeks on the list)

The late true-crime journalist's search for the serial murderer and rapist knwon as "the Golden Gate State Killer."

 

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (42 weeks on the list)

The story of a murder spree in the 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose land contained oil.

 

Educated by Tara Westover (7 weeks on the list)

The daughter of survivalists, who kept is kept out of school, educates herself enough o leave home for university.