December 2017 Staff PicksLike this list

18 items

• Bluebird, Bluebird

  a Novel

  Locke, Attica,

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  Darren Mathews is a Texas Ranger--law enforcement, not baseball. As a black man raised in east Texas by his two uncles, one a law professor and one a Ranger himself, he was exposed to both sides of the justice system growing up. When a white woman…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Chester B. Himes

  a Biography

  Jackson, Lawrence Patrick,

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  Himes came of age in the maximum security wing of the Ohio State Penitentiary, and his works were often a depraved look at poverty, violence, and the disenfranchised. As with many writers (such as H.P. Lovecraft, Ferdinand Celine, and Fyodor…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The City of Brass

  Chakraborty, Shannon, 1985-

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  Read City of Brass if you're looking for fantasy with a different perspective - there are no elves or orcs to be found. Instead, you'll encounter magical elemental creatures and a whole lot of palace intrigue. The protagonist goes on a journey with…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Cooking Gene

  a Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

  Twitty, Michael W., 1977-

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  Food historian Michael Twitty’s book about African-American culinary history is really much bigger than that. It’s about food, memory, history, ancestry, slavery, the American South, cultural geography and more. It’s a twisty, often surprising…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Future Home of the Living God

  a Novel

  Erdrich, Louise

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  Renowned Louse Erdrich goes for dystopia in her latest book. Evolution has suddenly reversed itself, possibly due to government policies. American Cedar Hawk Songmaker is unexpectedly pregnant and journeys to find her birth parents and tell them so.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Good Me, Bad Me

  a Novel

  Land, Ali,

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  A young teen is placed with a foster family while waiting to testify against her own mother for unspeakable crimes. Milly is trying to find a new life, but her foster family is more fragile than supportive. Her foster sister bullies her at school,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Hunting Accident

  a True Story of Crime and Poetry

  Carlson, David L. (Cofounder of Opera-Matic),

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  The Hunting Accident is a captivating graphic novel melding Chicago history, true crime, literary criticism and more. Ambitious in scope with beautifully-rendered and detailed illustrations, it tells the story of Charlie Rizzo, who is sent to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Kind of Freedom

  a Novel

  Sexton, Margaret Wilkerson,

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  Set in New Orleans and spanning more than sixty years, Sexton’s emotionally-resonant debut tells the story of several generations of an African-American family. It starts in the 1940s with a romance between Evelyn and Renard, who are navigating a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

  Rooney, Kathleen, 1980-

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  It's New Year's Eve, and Lillian Boxfish has made a reservation at her favorite restaurant for 5 p.m., just like she did when she was married. A published poet, Lillian was the first female ad executive at Macy's, known for creating clever rhyming…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Lying Game

  Ware, Ruth,

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  “I need you.” When Kate sends this text to three friends, it is an SOS which summons Isa, Thea, and Fatima to the coastal town of Salton where they met at boarding school 17 years before. All misfits or outsiders, the girls formed an unbreakable…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Notes on a Foreign Country

  An American Abroad in a post-American World

  Hansen, Suzy, 1977-

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  In the wake of the September 11th attacks, journalist Suzy Hansen moves to Istanbul with the idea that she would learn and write about the Muslim world. Instead she learned more about her own country, that nothing is as it seems. For example, the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

  a Novel

  Reid, Taylor Jenkins,

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  After living as a recluse for decades, Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo announces that she is donating some of her famous gowns to a charity auction. When she contacts a glossy magazine and offers an interview about the donation with photos, they jump…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Solar Bones

  McCormack, Mike, 1965-

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  In the tradition of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, this Irish novel is written in one sentence, with no periods. Great for those who enjoy a challenging read, but don't be too scared off. The writing is structured in a way that makes it more…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Sourdough

  a Novel

  Sloan, Robin, 1979-

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  Lois Clary is a tech worker in San Francisco with no culinary skills or ambitions whatsoever. Lois is given a batch of sourdough bread starter when the two brothers who run her favorite food delivery service have to leave the country on short…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This Is How It Always Is

  Frankel, Laurie,

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  Rosie and Penn met at the hospital. Rosie was an intern, Penn was an aspiring writer collecting material for a book, and they fell in love almost immediately. Fast-forward ten years, and they are living in a farmhouse outside Madison, WI, with four…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• We Are Never Meeting in Real Life

  Essays

  Irby, Samantha,

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  Noted Chicago blogger Samantha Irby (B*tches Gotta Eat) is back with her second collection of humorous, fearless and often raunchy essays. Her writing is a combination of the self-assured and self-deprecating while covering important topics ranging…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• We're Going to Need More Wine

  Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True

  Union, Gabrielle,

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  Known for Being Mary Jane on BET and iconic 1990s movies like Bring It On, actress Gabrielle Union reveals she’s also an insightful, honest and humorous essayist. In detailing her upbringing in a white suburb of San Francisco, where she learned to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Word by Word

  the Secret Life of Dictionaries

  Stamper, Kory,

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  Cory Stamper brings us behind the scenes to the quiet hallowed halls where the Merriam-Webster dictionary is created. As she explores the day-to-day operations of how the dictionary is created, she also explores the history and evolution of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation