April 2020

Cassie S. recommends:

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka

This graphic memoir about the authors childhood - grappling with a mother's ad-

diction, being raised by grandparents, and finding therapy and meaning in art.

The book is beautiful and emotional, and though it is technically a Young Adult

book, it can (and should!) be read/enjoyed by adults as well.

young adult memoir

Monica B. recommends:

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

From kids.scholastic.com: Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of

Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about

leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will ben-

efit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their

new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la

Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them.

As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat

must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake -- and her own.

children’s

-and-

Guts by Raina Telgemeier

From kids.scholastic.com: Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stom-

ach. Her mom has one, too, so it's probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns

to school, where she's dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends,

and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It

soon becomes clear that Raina's tummy trouble isn't going away... and it coin-

cides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What's go-

ing on?

children’s

Bethany K. recommends:

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

From amazon.com: Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-

year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest

Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for

Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the

fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott

Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking,

fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the

voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that

will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as

her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they

find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will

lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more

poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would ra-

ther have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

historical fiction

Stacy C. recommends:

Love Her Wild, The Dark Between Stars, and The Truth

About Magic by Atticus

A few years ago a friend gifted me the first book of the series on my birthday and

I fell in love with it immediately. Atticus is famously known for being the masked

poet who does not reveal his identity. The Love Her Wild trilogy is a wonderful

collection of poetry for the dreamers, romantic's and wild at heart. His poems

are beautifully written about love, loss and life. Each book is a nice quick read for

anyone interested in a few lovely poems.

poetry

Sara C. recommends:

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

From amazon.com: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were

murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and fa-

mously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five

years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—

locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may

free Ben.

Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the play-

ers from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s

search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tour-

ist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back

where she started—on the run from a killer.

thriller

-and-

The Hunters (2020 web tv series)

From amazon.com: Inspired by true events, Hunters follows a rag-tag team of

Nazi Hunters in 1977 New York City who discover that hundreds of escaped Nazis

are living in America. And so, they do what any vigilante squad would do: they

set out on a bloody quest for revenge and justice. But they soon discover a far-

reaching conspiracy and must race against time to thwart the Nazis’ new geno-

cidal plans.

drama

Alan P. recommends:

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

From amazon.com: In the rolling dales of Yorkshire, a simple, rural region of

northern England, a young veterinarian from Sunderland joins a new practice. A

stranger in a strange land, he must quickly learn the odd dialect and humorous

ways of the locals, master outdated equipment, and do his best to mend, treat,

and heal pets and livestock alike. This witty and heartwarming collection, based

on the author’s own experiences, became an international success, spawning se-

quels and winning over animal lovers everywhere. Perhaps better than any other

writer, James Herriot reveals the ties that bind us to the creatures in our lives.

memoir

-and-

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Burton

From amazon.com: The woodland animals were all getting ready for the winter.

Geese flew south, rabbits and deer grew thick warm coats, and the raccoons and

chipmunks lay down for a long winter nap. Come Christmastime, the wise owls

were the first to see the rainbow around the moon. It was a sure sign that the big

snow was on its way.

children’s

Brigitte H. recommends:

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

From goodreads.com: Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone on the Long

Island Sound in his family home, a house perched on the edge of a cliff that is

slowly crumbling into the sea. His parents are long dead, his mother having

drowned in the water his house overlooks.

One day, Simon receives a mysterious book from an antiquarian bookseller; it

has been sent to him because it is inscribed with the name Verona Bonn, Simon's

grandmother. Simon must unlock the mysteries of the book, and decode his fam-

ily history, before fate deals its next deadly hand.

magical realism

-and-

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

From goodreads.com: Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario

behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak

show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the

Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the

Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles up-

on a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the

Hudson River. The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant

who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his

job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the

streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he

becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disap-

pearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

fiction

Colleen W. recommends:

Who Let the Dogs Out (2019 film)

This documentary could sound dry and boring, but it's actually a funny, fasci-

nating film based on one man's research into the history and copyright of the Ba-

ha Men's hit song, "Who Let the Dogs Out." Turns out it's an intellectual property

rollercoaster with surprising twists and turns. Who stole the song from whom?

Who? Who? Who?

documentary

-and-

The IT Crowd (2006-2010 TV series)

Follow the isolated IT department of a large company as they navigate situations

ranging from the every day (have you tried turning your computer off and on

again?) to the absolutely bizarre. This British comedy has four hilarious seasons.

comedy

Amanda S. recommends:

The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

From amazon.com: When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secre-

tarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling

agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced

she doesn't belong—a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. Yet when Dar-

by befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced to an entirely new side of

New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs where the music is as addictive as the

heroin that's used there, the startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility

of romance.

Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago

guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish

with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the

melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apart-

ment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's up-

stairs neighbor, to resist—not to mention the perfect distraction from her own

imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her inves-

tigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged

when the shocking truth is finally revealed.

historical fiction

-and-

Moonrise Kingdom (2012 film)

From rottentomatoes.com: Set on an island off the coast of New England in the

summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who

fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As

various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore --

and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than an-

yone can handle. Bruce Willis plays the local sheriff. Edward Norton is a Khaki

Scout troop leader. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl's

parents. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Jared Gil-

man and Kara Hayward as the boy and girl.

dark comedy

Sandra K. recommends:

The New Me by Halle Butler

For fans of Ottessa Moshfegh. From amazon.com: Thirty-year-old Millie just can't

pull it together. She spends her days working a thankless temp job and her nights

alone in her apartment, fixating on all the ways she might change her situation--

her job, her attitude, her appearance, her life. Then she watches TV until she falls

asleep, and the cycle begins again.

When the possibility of a full-time job offer arises, it seems to bring the better life

she's envisioning within reach. But with it also comes the paralyzing realization,

lurking just beneath the surface, of how hollow that vision has become.

fiction

Keara B. recommends:

Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame by Erin

Williams

From amazon.com: An intimate, clever, and ultimately gut-wrenching graphic

memoir about the daily decision women must make between being sexualized or

being invisible.

In Commute, we follow author and illustrator Erin Williams on her daily commute

to and from work, punctuated by recollections of sexual encounters as well as

memories of her battle with alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. As she moves

through the world navigating banal, familiar, and sometimes uncomfortable in-

teractions with the familiar-faced strangers she sees daily, Williams weaves to-

gether a riveting collection of flashbacks. Her recollections highlight the indefina-

ble moments when lines are crossed and a woman must ask herself if the only

way to avoid being objectified is to simply cease to draw any attention to her

physical being. She delves into the gray space that lives between consent and

assault and tenderly explores the complexity of the shame, guilt, vulnerability,

and responsibility attached to both.

memoir