By Carol, Everett Public Library staff
The last time we sat here together I gave you a big list of books my coworkers absolutely adore. But wait, there’s more! Because you can never have enough good books to read, here are some more EPL staff recommended reads to help you accomplish the May reading challenge.
The Tricksters Series by Tamora Pierce
I love many of Tamora Pierce’s novels, but I have to say that her Tricksters series might be my favorite. Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen follow Aly — the daughter of legendary lady knight Alanna – on her quest to become a spy in the realm of Tortall. When she sets out on her adventures, however, she has no idea that her fate will be influenced by the Trickster god, who has his own plans for her.
These books are such a fun read filled with strong, intelligent, and highly lovable characters, as well as battles, magic, and political intrigue. If you haven’t read any of the other books in Tamora Pierce’s Tortall Universe, these will definitely make you want to!
—From Elizabeth W., Evergreen Branch Circulation
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder.
If you are in the mood for a non-fiction read, pick up Nomadland. Bruder explores the mostly hidden world of America’s citizens, many of whom are of retirement age, currently living in a vast fleet of improvised mobile homes. From cleverly retrofitted cars to full-size RVs, people who are unable to afford the cost of living in conventional housing have increasingly turned to the road to find home and work. Bruder spent years following this story, first interviewing some of these mobile-dwellers, and then eventually embedding herself in some of their seasonal communities to gain a more intimate perspective. This book is well researched and well written; though it almost has the depth of an anthropological field study, the personal narratives that are interwoven give the whole piece a lot of emotional appeal.
—From Lisa, Northwest Room
Love and Other Alien Experiences by Kerry Winfrey.
Adorkable YA romance alert! I describe Love and Other Alien Experiences as a cross between Everything, Everything and Geekerella.
Since her dad abandoned her family, a teen girl’s extreme anxiety keeps her inside her home (she physically reacts to leaving the house) until one day she finds herself outside and begins working towards freeing herself from a prison of her brain’s own making. As someone who’s always struggled with anxiety I probably got more out of the main character’s struggles than others. Still, I think anyone into quirky romantic comedies with a hefty dose of problematic situations should pick this up.
—From Carol, Main Library Cataloging
The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers
The incredibly inspiring true story of a striving, young Yemeni-American man who learns of his ancestral homeland’s critical connection to the world’s favorite addictive beverage. This inspires him to work from abject poverty on the mean streets of San Francisco through a civil war in Yemen. This thrillingly contemporary book will make you love the character as much as you shake your head in disbelief over what he has to overcome even from the TSA at the airport.
—From Alan, Evergreen Branch Manager
The Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh
I’m reading a good book right now called The Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh. Here’s the summary from the catalog:
“Set in Kenya against the fading backdrop of the British Empire, a story of self-discovery, betrayal, and an impossible love. After six years in England, Rachel has returned to Kenya and the farm where she spent her childhood, but the beloved home she’d longed for is much changed. Her father’s new companion—a strange, intolerant woman—has taken over the household. The political climate in the country grows more unsettled by the day and is approaching the boiling point. And looming over them all is the threat of the Mau Mau, a secret society intent on uniting the native Kenyans and overthrowing the whites. As Rachel struggles to find her place in her home and her country, she initiates a covert relationship, one that will demand from her a gross act of betrayal.”
—From Leslie, Main Library Youth Services
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Are you looking for a new series? Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, shelved in Science Fiction, is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series. It’s one of my all-time favorite book series, and the only series I can read and get completely sucked in each and every time!
—From Feylin, Main Library Circulation
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
Andreas Egger’s mother died when he was a young boy, and he was shipped off to live with his aunt’s husband in a German alpine town in the early 1900s. As the title indicates, this is the story of a life, and it spans about 80 years in which we see Andreas getting whipped with a hazel switch, standing up to his abusive guardian, taking on work building lifts for the burgeoning ski industry, finding love, going to war on the Russian front, surviving painful losses, and watching the modern world transform all around him.
Seethaler is a fluid, at times lyrical, storyteller, who shifts parts of the tale around chronologically to effectively share the life of this humble, resourceful, but also lonely man. The story draws you in immediately as Andreas relates how he found an old goatherd dying in his hut in 1933 and attempts to carry him through a snowstorm down the mountains to the village. This anecdote ends in a surprising way and comes back in haunting fashion much later in this moving and finely rendered tale.
—From Scott, Main Library Adult Services
Visit the Everett Public Library blog for more reviews and news of all things happening at the library.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
