March 2019 Staff PicksLike this list

18 items

• An American Summer

  Love and Death in Chicago

  Kotlowitz, Alex,

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  Award-winning reporter Alex Kotlowitz (There are No Children Here) examines Chicago's serious epidemic of violence in his latest book, but this is no routine work of journalism. Reading almost like a collection of unforgettable short stories, this…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bowlaway

  a Novel

  McCracken, Elizabeth,

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  Early one morning in the first decade of the 20th century, a woman is found lying on a grave in the cemetery in Salford, Massachusetts, not far from Boston. She is very much alive, and her only possessions in a bag next to her are a corset, a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Calculating Stars

  Kowal, Mary Robinette, 1969-

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  Elma York remembers where she was when the meteorite hit. It set off a series of climate events that will make the Earth uninhabitable in a few decades, if humanity is lucky. As a former WASP and a physicist with a genius for numbers, Elma joins the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Daisy Jones & the Six

  a Novel

  Reid, Taylor Jenkins,

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  This is the story of the rise of a 1970s rock band and their spectacular fall at the peak of their fame. Every girl wants to be Daisy Jones and every guy wants to be with her, but Daisy Jones wants to write music. When she teams up with the rock…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Devil Aspect

  the Strange Truth Behind the Occurrences at Hrad Orlu̇ Asylum for the Criminally Insane : a Novel

  Russell, Craig, 1956-

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  Viktor Kosarek is a young psychiatrist beginning a new position at the Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Lukas Smolak is a police investigator tracking down a serial killer called Leather Apron, whose crimes mimic those of Jack the Ripper.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Finding Dorothy

  a Novel

  Letts, Elizabeth,

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  If you love The Wizard of Oz, you know the name L. Frank Baum. But what about his wife, Maud Baum, daughter of women's suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage? Novelist Elizabeth Letts takes the facts of Maud's life and imagines her story, including a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Go Ahead in the Rain

  Notes to A Tribe Called Quest

  Abdurraqib, Hanif,

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  Abdurraqib's intimate book on Tribe Called Quest, a 90s hip-hop group ahead of their time, charts Tribe's initial rise and fall and surprising comeback in 2016. It's also interspersed with personal letters to the group's members and reflections on…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Grace After Henry

  Shortall, Eithne,

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  When Grace loses Henry, her fiancé and the love of her life, in a freak biking accident, she struggles to pick up the pieces and move on. With the encouragement of her parents and best friend, Grace decides to move into the dream house she had…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Huntress

  a Novel

  Quinn, Kate,

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  The latest from Quinn (The Alice Network) follows three characters during and after World War II. Each comes from a different world but their stories join together around the central figure of a Nazi war criminal known as "The Huntress."…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Kid Gloves

  Nine Months of Careful Chaos

  Knisley, Lucy,

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  Chicago comic artist Lucy Knisley shares the next step on her journey in her latest book. Knisley and her husband, John (who fans will recognize from Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride), are ready to conceive but encounter heartache along…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Late in the Day

  a Novel

  Hadley, Tessa,

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  Two middle-aged British couples, whose bonds of love and friendship date back to their school days, are shaken up by the death of one of their own. Lydia comes over to stay with Alex and Christine when her husband Zachary dies in the opening pages,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mama's Last Hug

  Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves

  De Waal, Frans, 1948-2024

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  Primatologist Frans de Waal (Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?) returns with this fascinating look at the latest research about the emotional lives of animals, and it's filled with interesting ideas and examples, including Mama, the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• One Day in December

  a Novel

  Silver, Josie,

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  Imagine experiencing what you think is love at first sight only to watch it get swept away the next minute. Silver's debut novel takes that premise and molds it into a delightful, whirlwind story of romance, friendship and what happens when the two…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• An Orchestra of Minorities

  a Novel

  Obioma, Chigozie, 1986-

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  An Orchestra of Minorities is the tragic, allegorical story of Chinonso, a poultry farmer who lives on his family farm in rural Nigeria. When Chinonso sees a woman about to throw herself off a bridge, he intervenes, becomes smitten with her, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Priory of the Orange Tree

  Shannon, Samantha, 1991-

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  Sometimes the most difficult thing about being a fantasy reader is the waiting. It's torture to get fully immersed in a brilliant world only to face a long pause before the next installment in the story is released. Thankfully, this time around…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The River

  a Novel

  Heller, Peter, 1959-

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  When college aged friends Wynn and Jack embark on a canoeing trip in northern Canada, it's clear that they're prepared for the challenges one would expect from a weeks-long wilderness trek. The gentle Wynn is more of a daydreamer than the scrappy,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Sounds Like Titanic

  a Memoir

  Hindman, Jessica Chiccehitto,

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  Hindman’s memoir about "performing" as a fake violinist in a classical music ensemble leads to an exploration of the larger issues of gender, class, and the nature of reality. Hindman grew up in Appalachia, where she took up violin as an 8 year-old…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Waiting for Eden

  Ackerman, Elliot,

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  Eden returns from his redeployment in Iraq as a piece of a person. His body is charred and incomplete and his mind is his prison. His friend, who was killed in the same explosion Eden was destroyed in, narrates the story. We learn about the history…Read moreRead more of this annotation