June 2017 Staff PicksLike this list

14 items

• The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

  a Novel

  Ryan, Jennifer,

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  This first novel tells a heartwarming story about the women of a small village in Kent, England, in the early days of World War II. Most of the men have gone to fight; a few have already died. Resurrecting the church choir, which was discontinued…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Close Enough to Touch

  Oakley, Colleen,

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  Jubilee Jenkins is allergic to human contact. To protect herself physically and emotionally, the 28-year-old became a recluse after high school. But after her mother dies, ending her monthly allowance, Jubilee must make a change—starting with a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Field Recordings From the Inside

  Essays

  Bonomo, Joe, 1966-

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  Fans of literary essays and music appreciation will delight at Joe Bonomo's collection. Rooted in autobiographical reminiscences, Bonomo focuses on Americana of the 1950s through the 1970s, including Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and Hank Williams, but…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Girl in Disguise

  Macallister, Greer,

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  Widowed and broke in 1856 Chicago, Kate Warne turns desperate times into an incredible adventure: She becomes the first female Pinkerton detective. Inspired by a true story, Girl in Disguise follows Kate as she develops her sleuthing skills, handles…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Killers of the Flower Moon

  the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

  Grann, David,

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  David Grann (Lost City of Z) has written a historical whodunit about one of the most fascinating and despicable crimes in American history. The Osage people were driven off their land, which became Kansas, in the 1870s and forced to find a new home…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lucky Boy

  Sekaran, Shanthi, 1977-

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  We know we are in for a unique treat when a novel begins, “CLARA, PATRON SAINT OF TELEVISION AND EYE DISEASE, stood three feet tall…” Shanthi Sekaran’s sometimes comical but mostly heartbreaking novel tells the stories of two women whose lives grow…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. Book One

  Ferris, Emil,

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  Karen Reyes is a monster movie-loving teenager in the turbulent 1960s in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. As her older brother, Deeze, escorts her through Uptown’s tumultuous streets to a party, he describes the neighborhood perfectly: “If Uptown…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Refugees

  Nguyen, Viet Thanh, 1971-

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  Viet Thanh Nguyen is familiar with exile. The Vietnamese refugee is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer, featuring a Vietnamese refugee protagonist. In his haunting short story collection, The Refugees, Nguyen tells…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Rules Do Not Apply

  a Memoir

  Levy, Ariel,

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  Fans of Cheryl Strayed, Roxane Gay and Joan Didion will appreciate this new memoir from Ariel Levy, staff writer at The New Yorker. Levy explores what it means to lose everything, especially when you think you are above it all. When 38-year-old Levy…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Separation

  Kitamura, Katie, 1979-

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  A young woman and her betraying husband, Christopher, know it's time to separate, but inexplicably decide to keep that secret to themselves. So when the young woman's unrelenting mother-in-law asks her to go to Greece to look for Christopher, she…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Shadow Land

  a Novel

  Kostova, Elizabeth,

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  From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Historian comes a mesmerizing story about Bulgaria’s political past and present. The Shadow Land, by Elizabeth Kostova, is told in a dual narrative that spans two generations. One story follows a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Slow Horses

  a Novel

  Herron, Mick

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  In this exceptional kickoff to a series that only gets better, British MI5 agents who bungle a case are banished to Slough House, where they push paper and are kept far from the action. River Carter was on the fast track before landing there after a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Spoils

  a Novel

  Van Reet, Brian,

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  Spoils offers a brutal look at the outcome of a firefight in the early days of the Iraq war. Jumping between three narratives, Brian Van Reet's debut novel follows Cassandra Wigheard, a Humvee machine gunner; Specialist Sneed, a tanker who takes…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Women in the Castle

  Shattuck, Jessica,

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  The Women in the Castle is bookended by parties at a German castle nearly 60 years apart. At the first, we meet Marianne, the aristocratic, strong-minded wife of a Nazi resistor, and Benita, the wife of her good friend. Marianne takes on the role of…Read moreRead more of this annotation