Looking for authors or titles new to you? Trying to complete the #BroaderBookshelf challenge and need a reading suggestion from Richland Library staff to complete one of the prompts? Try some of the titles that we've recently read and enjoyed. #ReadFreely
Dance of the Reptiles: Selected Columns (2014)
Carl Hiaasen, Edited by Diane Stevenson, Narrated by Arte Johnson
Recommended by Chantal W., Richland Library Main
I'm working my way through Richland Library’s #BroaderBookshelf challenge and needed a read for the prompt of a book set in Florida. My choice was Dance of the Reptiles, selected columns by The Miami Herald journalist and author, Carl Hiassen.
Dance of the Reptiles, the third collection of selected columns spanning 2001 to 2013, resumes Hiaasen’s “verbal war against greed, corruption, ignorance and hypocrisy, addressing such issues as hurricanes, offshore drilling, and water, all of which occupy center stage nationally.”
Hiaasen is an excellent writer and his research and local knowledge ensures that you learn something while his humor makes really complex issues that adversely affect Florida and the nation as a whole more accessible. The written reportage and humor is great and the narration of the audio book, by Arte Johnson, who is probably best known for his work on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968-1973) makes it a fun, engaging ear read. This book also drives home the fact that Florida is indeed both a strange and wondrous place.
Gideon the Ninth (2019)
Tamsyn Muir
Recommended by Sara M, Richland Library Main
I really enjoyed this stylish Halloween-appropriate sci-fi fantasy… mystery? Nine Houses of necromancers are invited to compete to be a Lyctor of the Undying Emperor. What are the laboratories in the basement for? What, exactly, is a Lyctor? Why is this place falling apart? Who can be trusted? Whose secrets are harmless and whose secrets are getting people killed?
It’s heavy on the worldbuilding, has a ton of character and charm, and ends up with a touch of English country house-style murder mystery. Plus skeletons! Definitely not for everybody, and it gets very shaggy and unfocused in the middle (I’m still not sure why some of those people ended up dead?) but I loved it and I’m looking forward to the sequel.
God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop (2019)
Kathy Iandoli
Recommended by Rebecca K., Richland Library Main
God Save the Queens is everything I wanted in a book about hip hop. I love hip hop and learning about its history. Women don't always have the representation they deserve in a lot of that history. In this book, I got to learn so much more about the female pioneers of hip hop, the connections between artists, the rivalries, the business decisions, and the evolution of the art form.
Weaving individual stories into the overall timeline of hip hop, Kathy Iandoli shows that things wouldn't be the same without these queens. From the very early days in the Bronx to today's Megan Thee Stallion, we get the whole history of women in hip hop in context. Bow down!
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir (2019)
Saeed Jones
Recommended by Rebecca K., Richland Library Main
This is a powerful memoir, covering the difficulties of growing up gay and black in America, dealing with mental health issues, and processing grief. It also shows us the power of using our voices, of telling our own stories.
Saeed Jones gives us all the stories he could never share before. He gives us all the details, even when they aren't pretty. In the end, he gives us hope and the courage to tell our own stories and to live our own lives authentically.
Imaginary Friend (2019)
Stephen Chbosky
Recommended by Sarah C., Richland LIbrary Main
Stephen Chbosky, author of the cult classic The Perks of Being a Wallflower, returns to the writing world with a masterful and cinematic story that is nearly impossible to put down. When Kate Reese and her seven-year-old son Christopher move to tiny Mill Grove, Pennsylvania to get a fresh start, it quickly becomes apparent that something sinister is at work in the town. When Christopher goes missing for six days in the Mission Street Woods, he returns with mysterious new abilities and a compulsion to carry out a task with dire stakes for the “nice man.” Fans of Stranger Things will fall in love with Imaginary Friend.
Kill the Queen: Crown of Shards, Book 1 (2018)
Jennifer Estep
Recommended by Chantal W., Richland Library Main
Kill the Queen is the first in the Crown of Shards epic fantasy series in which magic, murder, and adventure combine into a thrilling read. Lady Everleigh Blair, a member of the Bellona royal family and a distant heir to the throne, has been relegated to a ceremonial fixture and is often overlooked. In a kingdom where magic abilities means being sought after and lauded, Evie is known as a "mutt", a person with only a spark of power, barely enough to be called magic. In the wake of a palace coup Evie has to run for her life, learn how to fight, and use her secret immunity to magic to...kill the queen.
Kill the Queen has action, palace intrigue, a smart, gutsy heroine, with a hint of romance. It was a fun read which I flew through and upon finishing I quickly started and finished Protect the Prince (Book 2), and am very much looking forward to Crush the King in Spring 2020.
The Makioka Sisters (1957)
Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
Megan M., Richland Library Main
This novel was first published as a serial in Japan in the 1940s. With their financial situation in decline, the four Makioka sisters search for a husband for the third sister and strive to preserve a way of life that is vanishing in Japan in the years leading up to World War II.
The Makioka Sisters is a compelling family saga that is sometimes gossipy and surprisingly hilarious.
The Memory Police (2019)
Yoko Ogawa
Recommended by Megan M., Richland Library Main
What would you do if you woke up one morning an there were no longer any birds? Or bread? The Memory Police depicts a dystopian police state where objects disappear one by one and most people forget they ever existed. The few who do remember are in peril. A much darker, disturbing read-alike for Ella Minnow Pea.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2016)
Grady Hendrix, Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
Recommended Sarah C., Richland LIbrary Main
It’s the summer of 1988. Abby has just begun her junior year at an exclusive private school in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, but everything feels wrong. Her best friend Gretchen hasn’t been the same since their disastrous experience with LSD just before the school year began and Abby is beginning to suspect that her friend may actually be possessed.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism is an insidiously delightful mix of petty, over-the-top high school drama and supernatural horror, all with a distinct Lowcountry feel. Emily Woo Zeller provides a stellar narration that melds perfectly with the style and mood of the story. This book will hold special appeal for local readers familiar with the geography and social culture of Charleston.
One of Us is Lying (2017)
Karen M. McManus, Narrated by Kim Mai Guest, Shannon McManus, MacLeod Andrews and Robbie Daymond
Recommended by Mahogany S., Richland Library Main
One of Us is Lying is described as the Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars. This is a YA title, but it's a great crossover for adults who enjoy whodunits. This is a locked room mystery where five students and one teacher go into detention and only four students leave alive. Each person in the room has a motive yet to be revealed. So who do you think it was?
This is a short thriller where lots of questions are raised, but they are answered in the end. The story is told in alternating points of view, so you get to see inside the head of the four major suspects. The audio book has individual narrators for each of the four, so enjoy the cast! If you enjoy this thriller, there is a sequel expected in 2020. Content warning - this has some sexy times mentioned.
The Parking Lot Attendant (2018)
Nafkote Tamirat
Recommended by Megan M., Richland Library Main
In this funny and dark coming-of-age story, a lonely teenage girl in search of belonging stumbles upon a magnetic father figure in a parking lot and becomes unknowingly embroiled in a murky utopian plan.
Passing: A Memoir of Love and Death (2019)
Michael Korda
Recommended by Mahogany S., Richland Library Main
Michael Korda's wife passed away in 2017. While this writing is ultimately about the death of Margaret Mogford Korda, it is also about the love, devotion, and passion Michael saw her express throughout their life together. Margaret's love of horses shines through as he talks about how they met on horseback all the way through to her final ride. Her stubbornness is also evident in her dealings with doctors and caregivers throughout her illness - she refuses some treatments. Margaret had a certain spark and joyful way of moving through life. It's well worth a read, but keep some tissues handy for the second half.
The Right Swipe (2019)
Alisha Rai
Recommended by Sara M., Richland Library Main
Romance fans are likely to be familiar with Alisha Rai, but her new book (trade paperback, poppy illustrated cover) seems like a plan to introduce her to more mainstream audiences. A dating app developer with no interest in actually dating anybody meets a former athlete doing press for his aunt's more old fashioned dating service.... only they met once before, under assumed names, on a one night stand. Whoops! I loved it - it's a steamy romance with diverse characters that deals with workplace harassment, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in football players, and weird slick modern advertising techniques. I've been on board the Alisha Rai train for a few years now and I'm glad everybody else is suddenly catching up.