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Staff Recommendations (Again)!

Near my flat in Stoke Newington is this adorable crunchy-granola, tree-hugging, insanely-delicious, surprisingly affordable all-natural food store (the actual name of the store is shorter, but my name is more descriptive…).  Anyways, one of the perks of working there, apparently, is free snacks for employees, and because the employees (and, happily, the customers) are all very nice people, that means that those employees tend to share their snacks.  Today, for example, while picking out tea and bread, I got to have some of Joel’s Korean-spiced rice puffs, and some of Caroline’s chocolate truffles.  Both of them told me that these products were some of their favorites, and though I never would have tried them without their recommendations, it turns out they were both pretty delicious.

Which got me to thinking…that’s kind of what happens at the Library sometimes (this is a torturous analogy, I know…bear with me here…).  We, obviously, get to read the books on the shelves, and sometimes we have the chance to share our particular favorites with our patrons, and they with us.  And we are both better for it, in the end.  So here are a few more savory staff selections for your delectation.  We hope they expand your reading palate a bit this week….

From the Children’s Room:

3562382Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

This book is a haunting, beautiful, and chilling depiction of all those fears from childhood that you keep telling yourself that you’ve already overcome…monsters in the forest, voices in the shadows…all filtered through the imagination of award-winning cartoonist Emily Carroll.  The Irish Times raved “Carroll has a mainline to the reader’s psychic pressure points, the kind of fears and phobias that go all the way back to the cave. She also has the confidence to let her images do the work when it best serves the story … It’s a beautiful artefact, confidently written and lavishly designed. Just don’t bring it to bed.”

From the Circulation Desk: 

3521491I just finished reading The Bellweather Rhapsody, which was an unexpected joy of a book.  Part thriller, part mystery, part star-crossed romance, this story is told from the point of view of a number of different characters all stuck in an antiquated, dilapidated hotel for a statewide student orchestra conference–and trapped by an enormous snowstorm.  Fifteen years ago, a terrible crime cast a shadow over the Bellweather, and now it seems that same darkness has returned…but who is responsible?  And why now?  Kate Racculia keeps the tone light, but she has a magical way with words that will capture your heart and your imagination within a matter of paragraphs.

From the Director’s Desk:

I love a story that is witty and humane.  By that I mean that you get a great dose of humor, but the characters are portrayed as human, with funny weaknesses and character flaws that we recognize as universal.  Two examples of this are: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole  (heartbreaking and outrageously funny) and Empire Falls by Richard Russo.

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BONUS RECOMMENDATIONS FROM STEPHEN KING:

Book Riot recently posted some selections from Stephen King’s Twitter feed that I thought would be fun to share here, as well….Maybe one day we’ll get him to write a guest post for us….Dream big, right?

The Tweedy Man beside me on the bus was reading this today, so you don’t just have to take Mr. King’s word that Sarah Lotz’s Day Four is good reading.  But I would.

It’s a New England love-fest with this recommendation of Dennis Lehane’s World Gone By, the third book in his Coughlin series.

Don Winslow’s two Art Keller novels: The Power of the Dog and The Cartel