How do you find your next great read? Ask our staff! Periodically our staff members participate in a reading challenge, so we can get to know new genres and categories. Check out some of our 5-star favorites!
Adult Fiction
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
Goldin, author of The Escape Room, crafts another enjoyable read where the underdog is vindicated. Rachel hosts a popular true crime podcast and her new season covers an affluent young man accused of raping a teen girl, who is the granddaughter of the revered ex-Chief of Police. In the midst of her investigation, Rachel receives letters from mystery woman "Hannah", wanting her to solve her sister's murder 25 years earlier. As the two stories collide, Rachel takes risks to find out the truth, even if it puts her life in danger. A whodunit with a satisfying ending. - Saren (Hamilton)
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Olive, Again, is the sequel to the fantastic bestseller Olive Kitterage. Olive, Again is just as good! Olive is an amazing, strong willed woman, making her way through life after the passing of her husband and on through her final years. Olive is a popular character in my family of readers -- so popular that my mother just named her new puppy Olive. I would recommend this book to anyone. Olive is a memorable character, taking her place in literary history. - Brenda (Basha)
Adult Nonfiction
The Book of Rosy: A Mother's Story of Separation at the Border by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schwietert Collazo
I don't really know why I chose this book. I needed a nonfiction choice and this one spoke to me. I'm not one to read nonfiction much unless I enjoy the topic, but this one I couldn't put down. I had to know what happened. I had to know about what this mother went through to get a better life for her kids. I still find it hard to believe that people really experience what she did twice just to get to America for a better way of life. - Allyson (Hamilton)
Fierce, Free, and Full of Life: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker
The book is full of empowerment. Have you been ignored, let down, diminished, forgotten, scared, lonely, uncertain? The messages are here. You are who you are. Go forth and design/redesign your life as you see fit. Whether you are needing some change or are confident in your path, this book is a great shot in the arm. Anyone can benefit from it. - Amandeep (Basha)
Teen Fiction
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
The story takes place before the original Hunger Games trilogy; a decade after the war between the Districts and the Capitol, and even the "winning" side is still trying to recover. The 10th annual Hunger Games is just a collection of kids thrown together in an arena with a bunch of weapons to kill each other gladiator-style. I enjoyed the 500+ page book but wished for more information about some unanswered questions. - Art (Downtown)
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds
Ashley and her sister Jo have been raised in an upper middle class neighborhood in Los Angeles. As Ashley nears adulthood, she begins to question her relationship to her white peers. Jo has, against their parents' wishes, recently left college and gotten married. Set in front of a backdrop of the 1992 LA Riots that followed the Rodney King verdict, Ashley and Jo's stories examine race, class, education equity, mental illness within the Black community, as well as touching on the Tulsa Greenwood Massacre. - Jami (Downtown)
Kids Fiction
Frindle by Andrew Clements
This was an exciting story to read and I wished it wasn't as short as it was, but at the same time it was put together very well and it ended perfectly. I loved how it showed that children have not only a vast of creativity that makes learning fun and educational at the same time, but that they also have a voice and opinion of their own, which we as adults can learn from. Nick Allen is a smart and creative kid, and he made me wish that I'd been like him when I was a kid. - Tanae (Hamilton)
You'll Like It Here (Everybody Does) by Ruth White
This book had a twist in the beginning that I hadn't expected. It was fast-paced and suspenseful. It kept me engaged. I think it is a good book for third or fourth graders who like fantasy. The characters are well written. - Nannette (Downtown)
Picture Books
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
I had not read this since I was a very young child and I got to revisit it and read it to my daughter now. I completely forgot what the plot was, but it really is a beautiful little story. - Marilee (Downtown)
The Best Worst Poet Ever by Lauren Stohler
It's a WAR of WORDs between a pug and a cat, they are both poets, and that is that! :) - Jess (Hamilton)