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Staff Picks September 2015 (.4MB)
Staff Picks September 2015 (.4MB)
SEPTEMBER FEATURE
Purity by Jonathan Franzen. Franzen digs his sharp-edged spade into the modern world of cyber "truthing" in the personage of the charismatic and possibly troubled Sunshine Project founder, Andreas Wolf. Pip Tyler (Purity) is the young, wandering, wondering heart of this book, struggling to make her way while the mysteries of her parents' past cast shadows on her life. Franzen's ability to create full-bodied characters deeply enmeshed in the societal ills of any era is as keen as ever. ~ Jon FineNONFICTION
NEW HARDCOVER
The Fish Ladder: A Journey Upstream by Katharine Norbury. This is a wonderful
mix of memoir, travelogue, and nature journal. Using nature and
place as a meditative, Norbury takes us on journeys from the sea
and along rivers, hoping that she will be drawn to the source. She
uses these excursions as a way to cope with grief, tapping into the
power of nature to heal. ~ Becky Doherty 
Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them by Nancy Marie Brown. History that reads like a mystery with subjects ranging from Viking
lore, women’s studies, archaeology, chess, art techniques, and
walrus hunting – Viking style. Brown investigates not only where
these chess pieces were created, but by whom. ~ Maeve Noonan NEW PAPERBACK
I'll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist by Betty Halbreich. The
author gives us a long
look back at her life
which provides the
clues as to why she’s
so good at what she
does. In rich detail she, she provides a
custom-made cultural history lesson of
New York City and Chicago from her
birth to the present. She writes as well
as she dresses! ~ Cris Muias 
Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild by Novella Carpenter. This tale seamlessly leads readers
from an urban farm in inner city Oakland to a ramshackle
homestead in rural Idaho and back again. A poignant and
engrossing memoir that is also a detective story about
the author’s search for her back-to-the-land, hippie father. ~ Lily Ringler YOUNG ADULT/ MID CHILD
Everything, Everything
by Nicola Yoon. Madeline is
allergic to the world.
Diagnosed with Severe
Combined Immunodeficiency
at a
young age, she's spent
most of her life in
her house with her doctor mom and a
nurse. One day, a new couple moves in
next door and their teenage son catches
Maddy’s attention. They strike up an
online relationship, and Maddy starts
to wonder if there’s more to life than
mere survival. The perfect one-sitting
read. ~ Paige Mushaw 
School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough. Evan Quick has
wanted to be superhero
all his life.
When he starts developing
powers shortly
after his thirteenth
birthday and is sent to an elite training
academy, he discovers that he’ll need
to learn to rely on new friends to make
sense of the world of heroes and villains.
This adventure story has a real
heart, and a terrific cast of characters. ~ Rachel Person THE HOTTEST THING ON PAPER
Coloring books for adults are the latest “hot items” at
the Northshire. We have a large selection of them in our
Art-Color Doodle section. Gardens, geometric designs,
Mandala designs, city scenes, and animals are just a few
of the subjects to color. Reviewed by Sarah Knight
Fantastic Cities: A Coloring Book of Amazing Places Real and Imagined
by Steve McDonald. Wonderful
with different levels of complexities of drawings to color. My favorite!
The Mindfulness Coloring Book: Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy People by Emma Farrarons. A small format
book with lots of floral, abstract designs and animal illustrations
to color. Relaxing. 
Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford. The award-winning illustrator
created beautiful garden designs that allow
one to color, draw, and play. FICTION
Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson. Six superlative
stories by the
author of the Pulitzer
Prize-winning
Orphan Master’s Son.
Johnson’s intriguing
tales range from bittersweet
recollections by the wife of
the “biggest lunkhead to ever win a
Pulitzer,” to the sanitized memories
of an East German prison guard, to a
story set on familiar ground for this
author, South Korea. ~ Alden Graves 
The Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny. Now
retired and living in
Three Pines, Inspector
Gamache is asked
to investigate the
disappearance of a
young boy known
for telling tall tales. An object found deep
in the woods leads to murder, an old
crime, a past betrayal, and to the cranky
old poet, Ruth Zardo. Was one of the
tall tales true? Well written, suspenseful,
and highly recommended. ~ Sarah Knight 
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu. Few books are as
sweeping in nature
and compelling in
content as The Dark
Forest, the second
book in Liu’s Three-Body Problem trilogy.
As Earth prepares for an imminent alien
invasion, it is up to the Wallfacers, an
eclectic group of men tasked to use
manipulation and deceit to confuse
the enemy, to save Earth from certain
destruction.
~ Cheryl Cornwell
The Incarnations by Susan Barker. This is the story of the
spirit of Wang Hu, his
6 incarnations (thus
far), and the myriad of
characters he loves and
hates through a time
period that extends
from 660 B.C. to the present. Wang
Hu is seeking the answer to a question:
Is fate what life is after you make your
choices or is the spiral truly unbreakable?
Beautiful and haunting and often raw
but always brilliant.
~ Maeve Noonan 
Trust No One: A Thriller by Paul Cleave. When
a writer’s mind begins
to dim with the
onset of Alzheimer’s,
questions arise as to
whether or not he
actually committed
the crimes he spent his
life writing about. A riveting plot that
takes you to the very last page in order
to discover the truth.
~Nikki Grossfeld 
The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon. A
paranormal thriller
from the author of
The Winter People.
In 1950’s Vermont,
Ruth and Sylvie live
in the remote Tower
Motel. Sylvie vanishes
in 1961. Thirty years later, Ruth’s
daughter Amy and her two best friends
begin to investigate the mystery. What
they discover leaves their friendship in
ruins. In 2013, Amy and her young
family are living at the derelict motel
when the sinister past shatters the lives
of all three women. ~ Sarah Donner 
The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs
by Matthew Dicks. When
the ever passive Caroline
Jacobs tells off
the president of the
PTA with a four letter
word, no one is
more shocked than she is. But this outburst
seems to release 25 years of pent up
emotion. Acting on impulse, Caroline
decides to drive to her hometown and
confront her childhood bully with her
teenage daughter in tow. Written with
genuine wit and charm. ~Jess Elder
The Dust That Falls from Dreams
by Louise De Bernieres. From the
author of Corelli’s
Mandolin, this is a
quietly moving &
poignant story about
the lives and loves of
one family and how they were changed
forever by The Great War. With a colorful
cast of characters, de Bernieres
has created a totally immersive story
of hope and survival in the face of
such enormous tragedy.
~ Liz BarnumNEW PAPERBACK
The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Revised Edition: An Account in Words and Pictures
by Phoebe Gloeckner. A coming
of age story like no
other! This diary
combines words,
pictures, music, and
comic strips to
reproduce the experiences of a teenager
growing up in 1970s San Francisco.
The portrait of the artist as a
mixed-up kid is both ecstatic and
harrowing, but always inspiring. An
absolute joy. ~ Charles Bottomley
Moriarty
by Anthony Horowitz. 1891: The
Holmes and Moriarty
Reichenbach
Falls tragedy has
left London’s crime
sector in turmoil.
Pinkerton Agent
Chase has tracked an
American villain to England and teams
with Inspector Athelney Jones to find
the man whose goal is to unite his illicit
network with the late Moriarty’s.
Suspense at its best! ~ Sarah Donner