“Children of Blood and Bone” is a stunning YA debut from Tomi Adayemi. The book takes readers into an alt-West Africa, where magic users have been repressed into near-extinction by a brutal monarch. Zélie Adebola might be her peoples’ last hope, but she’ll need the help of a princess-gone-rogue. Too bad the princess’s rogue brother is out for her blood.
This book flies by in a flurry of quick pacing and excellent world development. Despite being a fairly standard hero’s journey, complete with magical MacGuffins, the unique setting and well-developed characters keep it fresh. But be warned: this book is brutal. People die. Children die. There’s more than one torture scene. Every time our heroes take a breath, a new tragedy comes crashing down. And it ends on a cliffhanger — please come soon, book two!
Three words that describe this book: Brutal, diverse, gripping
You might want to pick this book up if: You’ve got a strong stomach and you want to support Black voices in YA.
-Helen
Here is a quick look at the most noteworthy nonfiction titles being released this August. Visit our catalog for a more extensive list.
TOP PICKS
“Fly Girls” by Keith O’Brien traces the story of five women, including Amelia Earhart, who successfully fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s.
Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: August 2018”
The heat gives us the perfect excuse to sit inside and read, and with these new titles, I can think of nothing else I’d rather be doing. August brings us sci-fi, crime fiction, magic and love, among other things. Check out this month’s LibraryReads: the top 10 books librarians across the country recommend.
“Vox”
by Christina Dalcher
“In the future world depicted in ‘Vox,’ women are limited to speaking 100 words per day. Readers will want to shout every word in their heads, hoard every book in their libraries and second guess the words of every person in their lives. A captivating, timely book that explores women’s rights in a fast-paced, compelling story.”
~Jennifer Gaenzle, Fort Fairfield Public Library, Fort Fairfield, ME Continue reading “August 2018 LibraryReads”
Here are some new titles by debut authors to help you get through this heat wave. Best read with a cold glass of lemonade in hand. For a longer list, please visit our catalog.
“City of Lies” by Sam Hawke
Jovan’s uncle is the poison master — responsible for detecting poisons and developing antidotes — for the Chancellor of Silasta. Jovan grew up being slowly poisoned as he trains to fill the same role as his uncle for the Chancellor’s heir, Tain. But Jovan is forced to step into his uncle’s shoes far too soon when an unidentified poison kills both his uncle and the Chancellor. Jovan must now keep Tain alive amid political intrigue, rebellion and betrayal.
“Fruit of the Drunken Tree” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Bogotá, Colombia during the reign of drug lord Pablo Escobar is a violent, dangerous place, but young Chula and her older sister Cassandra live sheltered lives in their gated community. Then their mother hires a live-in maid from the slums — 13-year-old Petrona — and their two worlds collide, exposing Chula and Cassandra to the conflict and danger outside their gates.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: July 2018”
Anyone receive one of those new electric pressure cookers for Christmas? Still haven’t tried it? Now might be the best time to give it a go. With the ability to sauté, steam, slow and pressure cook (among other functions), you can make almost anything without heating up the kitchen. The icing on the cake? Only having one pot to wash out when you are done.
I did receive one for Christmas, but it took me a few weeks to try it. I grew up hearing pressure cooker horror stories — lids flying off and putting holes in ceilings, serious burns and huge messes. Needless to say, I was a little intimidated. I tried my first recipe with the oversight of a nuclear scientist handling an extremely volatile substance. And all it took was one recipe to make me a believer. I took kidney beans from dry to thoroughly cooked in 30 minutes. Unbelievable! So as the summer heat forces a more pared-down style of meal preparation, I encourage you to check out some of the books below to begin your love affair with minimalist cooking and electric pressure cookers. Continue reading “Too Hot to Turn on the Oven!”
I’m excited to share these LibraryReads with you! There are a lot of thrillers to check out this month, but if that’s not your cup of tea, fear not, there’s something for everyone. Check out these newly-published librarian favorites:
“Spinning Silver”
by Naomi Novik
“A wonderful reimagining of the Rumpelstiltskin story. A tale of love, family, magic and destiny, told from the perspective of three strong female characters.”
~Melanie Liechty, Logan Library, Logan, UT
Continue reading “July 2018 LibraryReads”
Before I donned the gentleman’s cloak, back when I was still a wayward scamp who held doors open for people with nary a bow or doffing of a top hat, I recommended the work of Nicole Krauss. “The History of Love” and “Great House” are recommended enthusiastically, but those recommendations have disappeared into the unending chasm of the internet, and while a government agency undoubtedly has copies on a floppy disk, I am unable to link you to those recommendations, and rather than use words to elaborate on those previous recommendations (when said words are clearly better spent doing whatever it is I’m doing now), I merely urge any reader with a taste for what folk call “literary fiction” to read those novels.
I also recommend Krauss’s most recent novel, “
Forest Dark.” But I concede it may require a more
voracious appetite for fanciness than her previous novels. “
Forest Dark” alternates chapters between Epstein, a retired lawyer, freshly divorced, whose parents recently died and who has developed a condition his lawyer refers to as “radical charity,” and Nicole, an author wrestling writer’s block and a dying marriage. Epstein gives away expensive paintings and timepieces. Nicole fancies she has a double. They go, separately, to Israel. Epstein loses his coat and a cherished book in a coatroom switcheroo. Nicole is informed that Kafka faked his death and is asked to finish some of his unfinished work.
Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Nicole Krauss”
How is the Read Harder challenge going for you? I was flying along until I hit some of the tasks that are truly reading HARDER for me. Now I feel like I have slowed down a little. On some of the challenges I may even be a little stuck.
If you are still trying to find a book to fulfill the Read Harder task #5 for a book set in one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China or South Africa) here are a few more suggestions for you — one nonfiction and one fiction for each country. Continue reading “BRICS: Reader Harder Challenge”
Summer is a great time to discover new authors. Here are some of the titles by debut authors that hit the shelves in June. For more, please visit our catalog.
“The Optickal Illusion” by Rachel Halliburton
Based on a true story of scandal and betrayal in the art world of 1797s London.
Ann Jemima Provis and her father offer American artist Benjamin West a long coveted secret—the formula for master painter Titian’s famous coloring—which they claim to have uncovered in an ancient manuscript. A beautiful young woman and herself a talented painter, Ann demonstrates the technique for Benjamin, drawing him and the Royal Academy of Arts, of which he is president, deep into scandal and fraud.
“A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising” by Raymond A. Villareal
A disease that solidifies the blood has sparked an epidemic of vampirism that begins in the United States and then sweeps across the world. Those who survive the virus are left with an increased lifespan in exchange for a diet of fresh blood. They are called “Gloamings,” and soon people begin to clamor for rebirth as one of the elite, despite the risk of death if their bodies can’t handle the disease.
What follows is a drastic shift in society and the emergence of a Gloaming Crimes Unit, an anti-Gloaming sect, and the first Gloaming candidate for senator all of which are building up to a bloody vampire revolt.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: June 2018”
Summer is the season of travel and adventure. The kids are out of school, adults have vacation time to use and the great wide world is calling. Would-be adventurers imagine exotic trips with fascinating companions, but in reality the joy of travel is usually tempered by a host of unpleasant logistics. This is why the best travel experiences are often those found in books about other peoples.
For hardy souls who believe the only true adventure includes a physical challenge, start with “Shark Drunk: The Art of Catching a Large Shark From a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean,” by Morten Strøksnes. Norwegian journalist Strøksnes makes a pact with a friend to try to catch the elusive Greenland shark, a creature that can grow to 24 feet long and may live to be 500 years old. Their quest brings a myriad of challenges, including procuring a rotting bull corpse for bait and rigging a rubber boat for an oversize catch — all while they ponder life and death and the nature of myth. Continue reading “Literary Links: The Armchair Adventure”
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