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Staff Picks
We love to read, and we've got some interesting recommendations. Check Staff Picks weekly for new titles — or read what library staff are saying about their current favorites in the library's blogs.
The week of November 21, 2011
The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos-
Twenty years after the "palindrome murders" left Washington, D.C. detectives baffled, a new series of crimes follows the same sinister pattern.
Melvin and the Boy by Lauren Castillo- Longing for a pet, a boy takes a turtle home from the park, only to realize that "Melvin" was happier in the wild.
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Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell- A confessed gaming addict explores the significance of this controversial art form and pastime.
Dream Something Big: The Story of the Watts Towers by Dianna Hutts Aston- A man known as Uncle Sam turns scrap material into art on a grand scale in South Los Angeles.
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Vietnamerica by G. B. Tran - A young American man seeks an understanding of his Vietnamese family's tragic history in this striking graphic novel.
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Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw - A sweetly humorous picture book, with expressive illustrations reminiscent of Japanese woodcuts.
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The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale -
In 1752 London, a runaway country girl hiding two big secrets apprentices to a master fireworks maker.
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Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi - While attending mortuary school, Donna learns to turn her losses into gifts and move forward.
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The Finishing School by Muriel Spark - Set at a somewhat questionable coed finishing school in Switzerland, Dame Spark's comic final novel takes a polished, ironic look at writerly ambition.
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The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens - Three orphaned siblings race to keep a powerful magic book out of the hands of an evil witch.
The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby- A cultural historian blames fundamentalism and pseudoscience for our current anti-intellectual climate.
Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat by Philip C. Stead- When Jonathan loses his best friend, he sails around the world to find him.
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Mind Over Ship by
David Marusek - For scifi buffs, an intricately plotted look at politics and the meaning of sentience in the 22nd century. Standalone sequel to Marusek's Counting Heads.
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Anya's Ghost by
Vera Brosgol - Being a first generation Russian teen immigrant is hard enough without being haunted by a petulent ghost with a secret. Graphic novel.
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Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow - Novel of the real-life Collyer Brothers, famous hoarders found dead in their booby-trapped Manhattan apartment in 1947 surrounded by 130 tons of filth.
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Into the Unknown by Stewart Ross - Fourteen tales of the bravest explorers, illustrated with lavishly detailed unfolding cross-sections.
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The Life and Death of the X-Ray Cafe by Sarah Mirk - From 1990 to 1994, Portland's all-ages club on 2nd and West Burnside was a major power source for alternative music and culture. Zine.
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The Honeybee Man by Lela Nargi - Fred is an urban beekeeper, tending his rooftop hives and sharing the bounty with his neighbors.
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Essential Wines and Wineries of the Pacific Northwest by
Cole Danehower
- The perfect regional guide for travelers and oenophiles.
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The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by
Wendy Wan-Long Shang - Lucy's plans for a perfect sixth grade year are ruined by news of her great aunt's extended visit.
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Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith - Why are members of Russia's elite, Chechnya-hardened Black Berets turning up dead in Moscow? Detective Arkady Renko investigates.
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Blackout by John Rocco - When the lights go out on a normal summer night in the city, everything changes in a most wonderful way.
Adventures of Unemployed Man by Erich Origen -
A group of new superheroes challenges the evil Hall of Just Us in this satiric poke at our economic woes. Graphic novel.
Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
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12-year-old Foster and her mom outrun an abusive boyfriend and land in tiny Culpepper, W.V., where they take a liking to the eccentric residents.
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky by Jennifer Steil - After a year's work with a Yemeni newspaper, a veteran journalist brings a unique perspective to an ancient and fascinating nation.
Pocketful of Posies by Salley Mavor - Your favorite nursery rhymes, intricately illustrated with fabric and tiny found objects.
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Friendly Fire by Alaa Al Aswany - A portrait of modern Egypt drawn in brilliant, irreverent stories, by an author described as "a weird hybrid of Albert Camus and Charles Bukowski."
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Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride - Part horror, part humor, gruesome and outrageous: a tightly plotted, finely written, descent into Seattle's crowded paranormal scene.
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Strange Nervous Laughter by Bridget McNulty - Love, whimsy and a touch of magic realism, set during Durban, South Africa's hottest summer ever.
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The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander - Sixth grader Mac runs a protection and advice service out of an unused school bathroom in this funny detective caper.
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Walden by Henry David Thoreau -
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." 150-plus years have not dimmed Thoreau's clarity and wisdom.
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Celebritrees by Margi Preus -
The 14 most famous trees in the world.
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A Flickering Light by Jane Kirkpatrick -
Inspirational historical novel of a teenage girl enthralled with the new art of photography - and with the married man who's training her.
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Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg - When Julie loses her beloved babysitter, she is convinced her summer is ruined.
Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn-
Expanded, inspired work on edible landscaping includes a Michael Pollan essay, as well as Growing Power founder, MacArthur Fellow and urban farmer Will Allen's never-before-published Declaration of the Good Food Revolution.
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Chime by Franny Billingsley - A lush, lyrical tale of dark witchcraft and hidden secrets.
Metatropolis by John Scalzi, editor- Five gifted authors share their hopeful, imaginative views on the dynamics of future cities.
Running with the Horses by Alison Lester- Theatrical illustrations enhance the wartime tale of a loyal and brave horse-lover.
Something Missing by Matthew Dicks- Obsessive-compulsive Martin Railsback pursues a dangerous hobby — breaking and entering — until the day he turns from theft to being a force for good in his victims' lives.
Eona by Alison Goodman- The long-awaited return to the empire of the celestial dragons.
Dixon Ticonderoga by Stevan Allred- Local writers and artists crafted this love letter to the iconic yellow #2 pencil. Zine.
To Market, To Market by Nikki McClure- A joyful celebration of a farmer's market, embellished with bold cut paper art.
A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam- The 1971 War of Independence explodes in the lives of Rehana and her children, struggling to make their way in the new nation of Bangladesh.
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John- Piper has a chance to manage the hottest new rock band at her high school. But how do you break into the music business when you're deaf?
The Lost Art of Walking by Geoff Nicholson- This quirky look at "pedestrianism" is nonfiction at its most charming. Too slow? No!
Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke- Growing up in modern-day West Africa, amid a large extended family.
The Outlander by Gil Adamson - It's 1903 in the Canadian Rockies, and a 19-year-old widow, tracked by her brutal in-laws, is running for her life.
You by Charles Benoit- You're just a typical 15-year-old, an average guy named Kyle. This can't be happening to you.
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley- Battling dementia and befriended by a teenager, 91-year-old Ptolemy Grey uses the little time remaining to him to solve a mystery.
No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko- Three siblings drop into a surreal world of riddles and quests in this fast-paced mind-bender.
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Planet of Slums by Mike Davis -
From an urban visionary, a gripping look at the coming world of unstable mega-cities.
The Queen of France by Tim Wadham-
Rose wakes up feeling royal, and her parents play along.
Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
The lives of a circle of friends on Manhattan's Upper East Side slide into the surreal in this new novel from the author of Motherless Brooklyn.
The Great Migration by Eloise Greenfield
From 1915 to 1930, more than a million African Americans left the south and moved north.
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Portland author Rock spins the recent true story of a girl raised in Forest Park by her father into unforgettable fiction.
City Across Time by Peter Kent
Explore a characteristic European city as it evolves from the Stone Age into the future.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
This popular postmodernist novelist is a marathon runner and triathlete.
Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
Lizzie Bennett finds herself inexplicably attracted to pompous Will Darcy.
Shenzhen by Guy Delisle
A talented cartoonist explores a Chinese "special economic zone", the booming southern city of Shenzen. Graphic novel.
Energy Island by Allan Drummond
How a windy Danish island became energy-independent.
Cars from a Marriage by Debra Galant
Fiction that reads like memoir: the funny and touching "autobiography" of a 20-year marriage and its vehicles, from '74 Mustang to - gulp! - SUV.
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
A grieving teen finds solace in contemporary Paris - and finds herself cast back into the French Revolution.
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn
South Africa, 1952: An English detective and his Zulu assistant find themselves in a very tangled web while probing the death of an Afrikaner police captain in this highly reviewed debut mystery.
A Nation's Hope by Matt de La Peña
On the eve of WWII, an African American boxer brings the country together.
500 Handmade Books
A sumptuous display of the beauty, variety and timeless appeal of the book as art object.
Small Persons With Wings by Ellen Booraem
A funny, intelligent fantasy peppered with quirky characters.
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Somewhere in America, nine earthquake survivors trapped in the flooding basement of an Indian consulate trade stories of their lives' turning points.
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch
"Yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl." Graphic novel.
Imagination in Place by Wendell Berry
"There are no unsacred places": 15 choice essays on what "local" really means, by a Kentucky farmer, poet, and original champion of the slow living movement.
Mirror by Jeannie Baker
An innovatively designed tale of two families from very different cultures whose similarities slowly emerge.
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo
What if the Aphrikans had made slaves of the people of Europa? An astonishing alternative history by a British novelist and poet.
Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka
If this puddle could talk / I think it would tell me / to splash my sister.
The Accident Man by Tom Cain
This fast-paced, well-plotted spy thriller imagines what dark forces might have surrounded Princess Diana's fatal 1997 crash.
Babyberry Pie by Heather Vogel Frederick
A lilting rhythm and gentle illustrations make this a cozy and delicious bedtime tale.
Boom! Voices of the Sixties by Tom Brokaw
Okay, so maybe they're not "the Greatest Generation" — but the undeniably influential Boomers are still pretty interesting.
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R. A. Spratt
A very unusual nanny.
Your Guide to the Patron Saints of Regret by Michael Whittier and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler
One peek at this highly irreverent little catalog of "updated, ancillary saints" leaves one wondering how we ever got along without them. Zine.
Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli
Stunning collage illustrations enrich the heroic — and true — story of the first African woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
Sharp, timely, and very funny, this satiric novel of a business reporter who risks everything to start a doomed poetry website made many "Best of 2009" lists.
Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
Frances, a high-achieving high school student, plots her escape from her own Tiger Mother.
Valentines by Ted Kooser
For 30 years, former Poet Laureate Kooser sent yearly Valentine poems on postcards to any woman who asked, because "all my life, I have wanted nothing so much as the love of women." Here are the poems.
The Chicken Thief by Béatrice Rodriguez
A wordless adventure story with a surprise ending.
The Little Lucky by Gail Wells
A Corvallis writer moves out to her grandfather's ramshackle house on the Little Luckiamute River, where she struggles with home repairs and reflects on the power of family and memory.
Zombies vs. Unicorns by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black
The book that will settle the debate, once and for all.
Secret Son by Laila Lalami
Moroccan novelist Lailami sets her elegant, insightful story of a young man's personal and political struggles in a modern-day Casablanca as complex as it is exotic.
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors by Joyce Sidman
A winning blend of poetry, science and art that celebrates earth's most resilient creatures.
Floodgates by Mary Anna Evans
Mystery, history, and a dash of voodoo: archaeologist Faye Longchamp's dig at the site of the Battle of New Orleans is interrupted by the discovery of a murdered Hurricane Katrina rescuer.
The Unidentified by Rae Mariz
In an eerily plausible dystopian future, schools are run by national corporations and students become consumer guinea pigs.
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
The formidable Pynchon's latest is a foray into private-eye fiction set in San Francisco to a stoned-out 60s soundtrack. Well worth it for the playlist alone.
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan
When Rubina gets her first birthday party invitation, her mother insists she take along her little sister.
What It Is by Lynda Barry
The Northwest's own great comics artist guides readers on a journey of self-exploration like none other. Great for creative teens, too.
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Vivid characters and intricate plotting make this high fantasy a page turner.
Gimme Refuge by Matt Love
An inspiring true Oregon story: the candid, funny and moving memoir of a year spent managing the Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo
3 comical adventures + 2 roller-skating best friends = 1 gorgeously illustrated, quirky tale.
