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February 2025 Staff Picks

Check out this month's recommendations from Chicago Public Library. Visit our Books page for previous lists of recommendations.

Chicago Public Library

14 items

  • Accordian Eulogies

    a Memoir of Music, Migration, and Mexico /

    Álvarez, Noé,
    Noé Álvarez (author of Spirit Run) grew up in the United States not knowing his grandfather, the man who brought the family to the U.S. One of the things he does know about him is that he played the accordion. So Álvarez sets out to learn…
    PaperbackNew York, NY : Catapult, [2024] — E184.M5A664 2024
  • Dirtbag Queen is a memoir-length obituary for Andy Corren's mother, Renay Mandel Corren. To Andy, whom Renay called Ann, his mother was both literally and figuratively larger than life. Zaftig, opinionated, outspoken, and hard-working,…
    BookNew York, NY : Grand Central Publishing, [2025] — F264.F28C67 2025
  • As Radclyffe recounts his years-long journey from picture-perfect but miserable suburban wife and mother to thriving man and "just Oliver," he does not simplify his life but instead draws out the complexities of his relationships with his…
    BookNew York : Roxane Gay Books, [2024] — HQ77.8.R33A3 2024
  • When 29-year-old Darby unexpectedly loses his job at the same time that his rent goes up, he decides to take a break. He goes on a trip back home to his small town in Illinois. Feeling out of place, he visits the bookstore he worked at…
    BookNew York, NY : Avon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2025] — FIC UNDERHIL
  • The natural and supernatural merge in this feminist reinterpretation of one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays. Roscille is a young, French noblewoman sent to cold, barbaric Scotland to secure an alliance. Because of her striking appearance,…
    BookNew York : Del Rey, 2024. — FIC REID
  • Kerry has had a rough time of it lately. A series of problems has set her spiraling in a bad direction - an unsuccessful career in writing, her husband leaving her, a drinking problem - but things are starting to look up. A popular short…
    BookNew York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, [2025] — FIC KONEN
  • This book is based on a traditional Hindu myth. Meneka is an apsara, an immortal dancer of Lord Indra, ruler of the gods. She and her sisters are masters of illusions and seduction. They serve Lord Indra by using their skills to head off…
    BookNew York, NY : Harper Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2025] — FIC RAO
  • Wang's latest novel explores relationships through the lens of one couple and their families. Keru and Nate have been together since college. Early in their marriage, they invite their parents to a beach house at separate times. During…
    BookNew York : Riverhead Books, 2024. — FIC WANG
  • Mexican novelist Herrera fictionalizes the 18-month stint that Mexican reformer Benito Juarez spent exiled in New Orleans with a motley band of fellow revolutionaries starting in 1853, years before the events that would make him a national…
    PaperbackMinneapolis, Minnesota : Graywolf Press, 2024. — FIC HERRERA
  • Emerald and Su were snakes, a thousand years ago, but they've learned to take human forms. They've been estranged for years - it's so much harder to communicate than they once did as snakes - but that doesn't stop Su from taking the next…
    BookNew York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2024] — FIC LEE KOE
  • Lila Crayne has it all; she's a beautiful and talented actress engaged to one of Hollywood's most visionary directors, Kurt Royall. They're Hollywood's "It Couple" and have just started working together on an upcoming project: a feminist…
    BookNew York : Simon & Schuster, 2025. — FIC BISCHOFF
  • For years Dr. Miri has been striving to make a name for herself in the field of archaeology to no avail. However, her aspirations are fast-tracked when she is unexpectedly assigned to lead a high-profile expedition in the Amazon jungle in…
    PaperbackNew York : Berkley Romance, 2025. — FIC SEGURA
  • Unshrinking

    How to Face Fatphobia

    Manne, Kate,
    Kate Manne brilliantly dissects fatphobia in Unshrinking. She uses every tool available to thoroughly breakdown the issue: scientific research, personal narrative, examples from popular culture, historical developments and the arguments of…
    BookNew York : Crown, [2024] — HM1091.M37 2024
  • Ella Baxter brings the reader into the deeply serious yet comical world of commercial art, its exhibitions, and its even stranger artists. With references to various art pieces and performances as chapter titles, Woo Woo follows the…
    BookNew York : Catapult, 2024. — FIC BAXTER