Staff Picks
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Non fiction 508 KIM, YA eBook, eAudio
Picked by Jen
A graceful, illuminating study of the wisdom of the natural world, from a world-renowned indigenous scientist. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings such as asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass, offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument, that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return
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Out of Faith by Maria Compton
Biography 92 COM, eAudio
Picked by Amanda
Maria Compton was born and raised in the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. Encouraged to keep her distance from outsiders, she grew up in a world of Church meetings, banishments and with the fear that the end of the world was nigh. When she was still in her late teens, she married a man she barely knew. To those around her she lived the perfect life; dutiful wife, loving mother, devout Brethren woman. But underneath the surface, this life was far from perfect. Plagued by spiritual doubts, stuck in an abusive marriage and with her mental health in severe decline, Maria came to realise that she simply could not go on. And so, although knowing everything it would cost, she did the unthinkable: she left her church. Despite her attempts to stay in touch, Maria is no longer seen by her family, her friends or even her own children. But whilst she continues to grieve for everything she has lost, she holds fast to what she has gained: her liberty and her hope for the future.
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Goblin by Eric Grissom
Teen Graphic Novel
Picked by Paige
One fateful night a sinister human warrior raids the home of the young goblin Rikt and leaves him orphaned. Angry and alone, Rikt vows to avenge the death of his parents and seeks a way to destroy the man who did this. He finds aid from unlikely allies throughout his journey and learns of a secret power hidden in the heart of the First Tree. Will Rikt survive the trials that await him on his perilous journey to the First Tree? And is Rikt truly prepared for what he may find there?
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The Trees by Percival Everett
eBook
Picked by Lis
When the rural town of Money, Mississippi is beset by a series of brutal murders, a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, only to be met with resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a mob of racist white townsfolk. This, they expect. Less predictable, however, is the second corpse which appears at each crime scene: that of a man resembling Emmett Till, the young Black boy lynched in the same town sixty-five years earlier.
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The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Adult fiction
Picked by Alex
Mika Moon follows three rules: hide your magic, keep your head down, and stay away from other witches. Mika is good at being alone, and she doesn't mind it . . . mostly. But when an unexpected invitation arrives to teach three young witches at the mysterious Nowhere House, Mika jumps at the chance for a different life. As she comes to care for its quirky inhabitants, and Jamie, the handsome but prickly librarian, finally belonging somewhere feels like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, is it worth risking everything to protect the found family Mika didn't know she was looking for?
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Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Adult fiction, eAudiobook
Picked by Lizzie
ASSISTANT WANTED- Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, level-headed assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things in General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits. With an ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn's most infamous Villain results in a job offer, naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. But just when she's getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain and his entire nefarious empire out. Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work and ensure he makes them pay. After all, a good job is hard to find.
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Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Adult fiction, eAudio, eBook
Picked by Tania
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favours, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
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