The Staff Picks 2017 Holiday Catalog can also be viewed or printed as a PDF
Staff Picks 2017 Holiday Catalog (7.5MB)
Staff Picks 2017 Holiday Catalog (7.5MB)
Great Hiking Trails of the World: 80 Trails, 75,000 Miles, 38 Countries, 6 Continents by Karen Berger. Guided walking tours of 80 trails, 38 countries and 6 continents. The book has chapters with titles like The Way of the Pilgrim and To Walk in Wilderness. Hikes include Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, The Milford Track in New Zealand and the Lost Coast Trail in the US. Each hike contains information on history, culture and environment. Lots of gorgeous photos too. ~ Sarah Knight
Andy Goldsworthy: Projects by Andy Goldsworthy. The heft alone of this book is a testament to the elemental nature of this world-famous artist's large-scale sculptural work. According to Goldsworthy, "Each work grows, stays, decays – integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its heights, marking the moment when the work is most alive. Process and decay are implicit." If you appreciate the forces of/in nature – or don't have the chance to – this book offers that inspirational gift. ~ Heather Bellanca
The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods by Robert Llewellyn and Joan Maloof. For readers of The Hidden Life of Trees, or simply people who love trees, an immersive journey into the life of the woods. Water, soil, animals, and every part of the tree are explored in readable scientific prose and extraordinary images. An eye-popping, mind-expanding gift. ~ Stan Hynds
The Atlas of Beauty: Women of the World in 500 Portraits by Mihaela Noroc. Noroc traveled the world with a backpack and camera photographing women in 50 countries. This is not only and atlas of beauty but a treasure trove of humanity. These simple and beautiful images of everyday women may help restore your faith in at least 49% of humankind. ~ Stan Hynds
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver. This magnificent collection of poems spanning Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver's brilliant career contains the very best of her work. Her liminal reflections and her deep affinity for the natural world become prayers of celebration for the beauty around us and for the grace within us all. ~ Amy Palmer
How Lovely the Ruins: Inspirational Poems and Words for Difficult Times by Annie Chagnot and Emi Ikkanda (editors). What Death Wish is to coffee, this anthology is to poetry: a bold, bracing, jolt though the system that will keep you from seeing poetry as complacent ever again. A stirring and agitating read for the times we live in. ~ Katelynne Shimkus
Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi. Like Ottolenghi's previous cookbooks, this newest entry bursts with beauty and creativity - enough to change the way you think about food. Focused solely on desserts, these recipes will convert even the staunchest anti-sweet tooth. ~ Cathy Taylor
Homegrown: Cooking from My New England Roots by Matt Jennings. You don't have to be from New England to appreciate this fantastic cookbook. Jennings's knowledge of food and passion for his roots combine for a really excellent, creative homage to New England cooking. This region's culinary history and resources gain new life in his recipes. ~ Cathy Taylor
Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites by Deb Perelman. Deb is the relaxed, hilarious friend you want in the kitchen. She'll show you how to make a delicious meal, but more importantly, she'll return to you a pleasure in cooking that may have been lost the third time you overshot your estimated cook time by two hours. I smile whenever I start one of these recipes, and I'm still smiling by the time I take my first bite. ~ Cathy Taylor
The Vermont Non-Gmo Cookbook: 125 Organic and Farm-To-Fork Recipes from the Green Mountain State by Tracey Medeiros. Once again Medeiros delivers in her latest cookbook, applauding the state of Vermont, its farmers, food producers, and chefs, all at the heart of the non-GMO movement. Aside from the book's many delectable recipes, it also includes beautiful rustic food photography, a directory of eateries and producers, and profiles of the many Vermont farmers and producers who are committed to the non-GMO mission. ~ Tracy Davies
Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey Home in 75 Recipes by Martin Philip. Part memoir– an Ozark childhood, a successful career in Manhattan, an entry-level baker's position in Vermont, and now, head baker at King Arthur Flour–and mostly recipes, this meandering baking book is full of traditional, beginning and advanced instructions. Biscuits and bagels and baguettes. Sourdough and cider bread. And pecan pie. For the passionate baker in your life. ~ Stan Hynds
France Is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child by Alex Prud'homme and Katie Pratt. In 1948 Julia Child and her husband moved to France where they had a great time discovering the French way of life and its cuisine. The book is filled with wonderful photographs taken by Julia's husband Paul, many of which haven't been seen before. The personal stories written by Julia's great-nephew are treasures. This is a delightful look at the influences on a great chef and a portrait of another era. ~ Sarah Knight
Radio Free Vermont: A Fable of Resistance by Bill McKibben. A serious contemplation of current political-economic trends, wrapped up in a pirate radio secessionist heist-comedy. Or is it vice versa? ~ Katelynne Shimkus
It Devours!: A Welcome to Night Vale Novel by Joseph Fink & Jeffre Cranor. All hail the smiling god! With absurdist wit, this tale finds mystery where science and faith collide. Places and people in the town of Night Vale are disappearing into the earth, leaving large holes behind. Is it a hoax? A scientific discovery? Or the smiling god? With laughs and intrigue on every page, this town and its diverse characters will have you begging to revisit this surrealist wonderland. ~ Alex Bell
The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash. Ella May has never had much of anything. She labors long hours in a textile mill in North Carolina trying to feed her four young children on $9 a week. Ella finds herself something of a local celebrity when she sings one of her songs at a meeting of workers hoping to form a union. Written in a beautifully evocative prose, this novel about bigotry and labor unrest in the 1930s exerts a powerful impact that pulls the reader into the vortex of the struggle for social justice. It deserves to assume a place of honor in the canon of great Southern literature. ~ Alden Graves
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman. Hoffman's prequel to her book Practical Magic follows Franny, Jet, and Vincent Owens. The siblings are witches whose family has been cursed since the 17th century. Follow them through the 1960s as they fight the curses set upon their family and how they must face the consequences of doing so. A great story of love, danger and some good old plain magic! ~ Suzanne Rice
Mrs. Osmond by John Banville. This is a continuation of the increasingly unhappy life of Isabel Archer, the lady about whom Henry James wrote his classic portrait. Fleeing a terrible revelation that further jeopardizes her ill-advised marriage to Gilbert Osmond in Rome, Isabel is determined to turn her life around without causing scandalous reverberations in the strictly regimented society that she inhabits. Reading the author's elegant prose, one can't help but think that Mr. James would approve of this resurrection of one of his most memorable heroines. ~ Alden Graves
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. A tense, moving story about a young pregnant woman navigating the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe. Erdrich deftly explores the power of motherhood, family, and heritage in a world that threatens those bonds. ~ Cathy Taylor
The Power by Naomi Alderman. When girls and women acquire a devastating new power to hurt and kill men, the results are thrilling, threatening, and terrifying. Gender roles and rules are starkly altered as the newfound power corrupts, and liberates. ~ Mike Hare
Star Wars From a Certain Point of View by Various Authors. "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view," Obi-Wan once told Luke Skywalker, who was devastated that he had been lied to about his father's fate. This new collection of short stories set in that galaxy far, far away explores other events in the Star Wars universe, both large and small. Many of the authors featured in this hefty collection have never before published Star Wars stories, so each new tale is a breath of fresh air, even for fans who have read everything in the ever-expanding universe. ~ Chris Linendoll
The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty. The first book in a new fantasy trilogy rich with the feel of Middle Eastern folklore. It is a breathless adventure–part human, part fantasy–through 19thcentury Egypt, Turkey and the Arabian peninsula. The author painstakingly develops a complex world view with richly developed characters and conflicts. You will be drawn thoroughly into this world, and left clamoring for the next installment. ~ Tambra Johnson Reap
Friends and Traitors by John Lawton. Lawton combines history and fiction in this splendid novel of intrigue. Scotland Yard detective Frederick Troy meets Guy Burgess, the infamous Cambridge spy, in 1935. Their paths cross occasionally until Burgess defects to the USSR in 1951. Years later, Burgess asks Troy to help him return to England, but the murder of an MI5 agent sent to interview Burgess draws Troy into a net of subterfuge and deception. ~ Louise Jones
Righteous by Joe Ide. Isaiah Quintabe, now an infamous PI, is back in this fast paced thriller. In a chance encounter, he learns that his brother's hit-and-run death ten years ago was really a murder. Meanwhile a case takes him to Las Vegas where Chinese gangsters, and a seven foot loan shark are stalking a DJ and her boyfriend. Lots of twists and turns ensue before IQ can solve his brother's murder. Good gift for Lee Child fans. ~ Lousie Jones
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter. Bonfire asks the age old question can you truly go home again once you have tried to erase your past? Abby confronts that notion by returning to her small midwestern 10 years later as an environmental lawyer hired to investigate the corporation that owned her town even back then. Abby must delve into her traumatic past to uncover scandalous truths about the corporation and the town she is trying to forget. Lies deceit and blackmail will surely seduce you in Ritter's debut novel. ~ Whitney Kaaz
American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee. This is the story of Yellowstone's most famous wolf, affectionately known as "06" for the year she was born. Her legendary reign as the granddaughter of one of the first Canadian wolves brought to repopulate the park in 1995 is both fascinating and magical. Yet this is a much larger and critical story. It illuminates the inherent tensions of contemporary life in the American West and asks what are we willing to sacrifice to preserve our precious wild places? ~ Nancy Scheemaker
The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism by John U. Bacon. Before Hiroshima, there was Halifax. The cataclysmic eruption of over six million pounds of TNT and other explosives from a collision in Halifax harbor in 1917 killed thousands and obliterated much of the city in the most horrific man-made disaster before the atomic bomb. Yet the story is not only a brutal side effect of war, but a tale of people who immediately and instinctively banded together to resurrect what remained of their city, their families, and themselves. ~ Mike Hare
The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A. J. Baime. Dropped into a maelstrom of earth-shattering events, Truman acted with bluntness, bravery, and little bravado. His decisions at the end of World War II, including deployment of the atomic bomb, permanently altered, for better or worse, our world. ~ Mike Hare
Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman. No longer will your dad/uncle/middle-aged male friend be on your hardest-to-gift list. This is the perfect nod-and-laugh-while-you-read book for them. ~ Katelynne Shimkus
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty. A fascinating study on the varying death practices throughout the modern world. Before you run the other way, take a moment to allow yourself to be curious about the bizarreness of human death rituals. Why are we so afraid to discuss death and what happens to bodies when we pass away? Doughty keeps the reader pondering on how the funeral home industries of the Western world have shaped our ways of viewing the dead in comparison to other parts of the globe that value a unique kinship with the deceased. ~ Laura Knapp
Rhett & Link's Book of Mythicality: A Field Guide to Curiosity, Creativity, and Tomfoolery by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. Amidst all the hijinks perpetrated by two guys who have been attached at the hip since grade school, there's a very powerful tale of staying true to yourself. This heartwarming story is a cross between a coffee table book, a media companion, an activity book, and a memoir. That is to say, there's something for everyone in here. ~ Chris Linendoll
Ceramic Howling Wolf Salt & Pepper Set by Streamline Inc. These ceramic creatures of the wild will add a touch of drama to a domesticated table setting. ~ Jessica Wood
Chemistry of Whiskey Lowball Glass 11 oz by Cognitive Surplus. Ponder the chemical makeup of whiskey as you sip your way smart with this illustrated glass in hand. Made in the USA. ~ Jessica Wood
Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. When you think of Leonardo, think of his drawing of the Vitruvian Man: the perfectly proportioned figure in a circle within a square. This is Leonardo. As Isaacson so eloquently writes, the perfection of artistic endeavor through science was the artist’s true genius. Isaacson's biography is pitch perfect. ~ Maeve Noonan
God: A Human History by Reza Aslan. This marvelous book is a comprehensive account of man's search for God beyond faith, from the Neanderthal period through the Neolithic to contemporary man. An amazing, enthralling, and insightful account, beautifully rendered in less than 300 pages. ~ Maeve Noonan
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder. Many people are forced out of the conventional way of life by financial hardships or health issues. Some simply choose a nomadic way of life, living out of their cars, RVs and trailers. The author follows one nomad, a woman who travels around the country enduring long hours at temporary jobs that offer only minimum pay. But forgoing the conventional way of life may be just what she needs. This intimate look at the struggles of the once-middle class is eye-opening and a must read! ~ Suzanne Rice
Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom by Russell Shorto. America's creation from six diverse perspectives: African-born slave, Albany bureaucrat, Iroquois leader, British politician, well-bred young woman, and George Washington. Their noble acts and blinkered decisions, missteps and triumphs, grievances, ambitions, and failures frame the Revolution in personal terms. Washington, in Shorto's hands, emerges not as a plaster saint but as a starkly human and often flawed American. ~ Mike Hare
Wayne and Ford: The Films, the Friendship, and the Forging of an American Hero by Nancy Schoenberger. An engaging account of the long, productive, and extremely complex relationship between an iconic movie star and a legendary director. John Ford carefully molded the image of John Wayne. It was a transformation willingly embraced by the actor, but Wayne, like many of the people who worked for Ford, endured the director's scorn and deliberate cruelty. This is a meticulous examination of a tortured soul and his adoring acolyte who, through the course of 14 collaborations, both defined and celebrated the role of masculinity in American film. ~ Alden Graves
Literary Stationery Sets: Jane Austen by Insight Editions. The perfect antidote to our technology-driven missives, these handsome sets include notecards, envelopes, embossed seals & a ruled pocket journal, all neatly organized in a classy keepsake box. Also available as Literary Stationery Sets: William Shakespeare. ~ Jessica Wood
Muttmellows Pet Play Ball by Ten Good Sheep. Artisan-made pet play ball is all-natural, washable 100% solid, undyed wool. Your pooch will thank you. Made in the USA. ~ Jessica Wood
Dunkirk (Blu ray & DVD) directed by Christopher Nolan. One of the British army's finest hours has been turned into a thrilling drama by director Christopher Nolan (Inception). Surrounded by the enemy during World War II, the Brits wait to be evacuated from Dunkirk beach. They're assaulted from land, air and even from within. Filmed with an IMAX camera and graced with one of Hans Zimmer's finest scores, Dunkirk is an immersive experience that will bring out the best in your home entertainment system. An absolute must-see on Blu-Ray! ~ Charles Bottomley
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. The 50th anniversary remaster of this seminal album features an all-new mix by Giles Martin. You'll hear these songs all over again for the first time. The double LP edition comes with a second disc of never-before-heard alternate takes and work in progress versions of the classic songs on this album. I've got to admit, it's getting better. ~ Chris Linendoll