Jenn's Picks

Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite: The Science of Monsters (Hardcover)

By Matt Kaplan
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9781451667981
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Scribner, 10/2012
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Remedios Varo: The Mexican Years (Hardcover)

By Masayo Nonaka, Remedios Varo
$45.00
ISBN-13: 9788415118220
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Rm, 10/2012
There are very few books written on Varo, so I'm happy to say that this one is particularly gorgeous and comprehensive. This artist always deserved more attention.

Easy Math (Paperback)

By Lauren Shapiro, Marie Howe
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781936747481
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Sarabande Books, 2/2013

Uncommon Education, An (Paperback)

By Elizabeth Percer
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780062110978
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Harper Perennial, 1/2013
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I kind of loved this book, and then I kind of hated it, but then I REALLY loved it by the end. A fantastic debut coming-of-age novel that's more about the often strained relationships between parents and children than it is about Wellesley drama.

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses (Hardcover)

By Ian Falconer, Ian Falconer
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9781442450271
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 8/2012
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If you have a young daughter and think you might tear your face off if you have to deal with anymore of this "princess culture" that has seemingly seeped into every corner of your child's life...this book is for you. My daughter is only three months, and you'd better believe I'm already reading this to her. You know, as a preventative measure.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Hardcover)

By William Joyce, William Joyce, Joe Bluhm
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9781442457027
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 7/2012
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This is one of the most brilliant books I've read in a very long time. I wish I knew a million kids so I could give this book to every one of them. Seriously.

Salvage the Bones (Paperback)

By Jesmyn Ward
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781608196265
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Bloomsbury USA, 4/2012
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It's about Katrina...but it's not about Katrina. And the author kind of seems like an misogynist...but of course she isn't. I'm uncertain about a lot of things in this book, but maybe that's why I liked it so much. It's tough and gritty and makes for fantastic discussion. If you're looking for a rougher book for your classroom, book group, etc., this might be it.

A Land More Kind Than Home (Paperback)

By Wiley Cash
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780062088239
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks, 1/2013
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Snake handlers. Mute children. Insidious Evangelical preachers. What's not to love? Seriously, though, if Flannery O'Connor and John Brandon had a perfect love child, it would be this book. Lovers of southern American lit., rejoice!

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind (Mass Market Paperback)

By Suzanne Fisher Staples
$6.99
ISBN-13: 9780440238560
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Laurel Leaf, 8/2003
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I remember reading this book in grade school and staying up until all hours of the night finishing it. I would also sneak it into class and hide it under my desk to read it. So, in other words, I really, really loved this book.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (Hardcover)

By Jeanette Winterson
$25.00
ISBN-13: 9780802120106
Availability: Currently out of stock. Usually available in 1-3 days.
Published: Grove Press, 3/2012
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A raw and decidedly courageous memoir. This is Winterson's finest work in years.

It Chooses You (Paperback)

By Miranda July
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781938073014
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: McSweeney's, 7/2012
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In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I have not yet finished this book. However, after picking it up last night in the store, I was compelled to take it home and stay up all hours reading (which I did). Exploring the pleasures and perils of procrastination and the need to connect with others, July captivates her reader with her understated humor and sensitivity. This is just as good (if not better) as her previous collection of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You.

NOTE: I finished it! Awesome all the way through. 

Citrus County (Paperback)

By John Brandon
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9781936365098
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: McSweeney's, 6/2011
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I debated for a long time whether I should write a review for Citrus County as two other staff members here have already written one. But, NO! I MUST! Darkly humorous and terribly addictive, Brandon convinces us to love some deeply disturbed teenagers and their equally disturbed teacher when we really probably shouldn't. This was hands-down the best book I read all summer (and I did read some awfully good books).

The Curfew (Paperback)

By Jesse Ball
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780307739858
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Vintage, 6/2011
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Grimly humorous, fast-paced, and surprisingly lyrical at times, Ball has created an Orwellian universe which discusses the transformative power of art and will turn your mind inside-out (in a good way) by the end.

NOTE: After reading The Curfew, I felt compelled to read Ball's other two novels, The Way Through Doors and Samedi the Deafness. Both were just as excellent, if not better. No wonder he was the winner of the Paris Review's Plimpton Prize and a finalist for The Believer Book Award! 

Bossypants (Paperback)

By Tina Fey
$15.99
ISBN-13: 9780316056878
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books, 1/2012
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Tina Fey is obviously humorous, but she's also very, very smart. Her incisive look at the world of comedy (and women's role in it) is as insightful and revealing as it is entertaining.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Paperback)

By David Mitchell
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780812976366
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2/2011
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While this book does start slowly, you are undoubtedly rewarded if you stick with it. One ultimately feels completely transported to Japan at the turn of the 19th century and becomes immersed in the life of the sometimes cowardly, sometimes courageous, but always honest Jacob DeZoet.

Just Kids (Paperback)

By Patti Smith
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780060936228
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Ecco, 11/2010
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Simply and elegantly written, Smith delivers her story about two artists who essentially redefine what it means to be passionate. I always had a feeling Patti Smith might be my hero. Now I know she is.

Up and Down (Hardcover)

By Oliver Jeffers, Oliver Jeffers
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780399255458
Availability: On Our Shelves Now, please click the title for each location availability
Published: Philomel, 12/2010
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This incredibly sweet book tells the story of a boy and his penguin buddy who desperately wants to fly. I think I might have purchased this for every family member under the age of 6 this Christmas.
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