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Category: –Staff Picks

--Staff Picks General

Clementine: Book One by Tillie Walden

Calling all fans of The Walking Dead!  Did you know that there’s an amazing series set in that universe by graphic novelist Tillie Walden? After recently completing the final installment in this series–a fantastic book!–I’m here to recommend that you start with Clementine: Book One.  The trilogy follows Clementine, a teen navigating her way through the […]

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Elementary (TV Show)

Elementary, a reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes stories, places the famous detective (Johnny Lee Miller) in modern-day New York City.  He works as a consultant for the NYPD with Dr. Joan Watson, played by Lucy Liu. The show adapts his classic deductive reasoning to contemporary crimes, and introduces the benefits of new technology to Holmes’ detecting […]

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“This Woven Kingdom” by Tahereh Mafi

Enemy empires, forbidden romance, and a secret queen meant to save her people. Alizeh is seen as a servant, meant to stay in the shadows. All along, she is a Jinn, an ancient race forced to stay hidden because of their abilities. More than that, it turns out she might be the secret queen prophesized […]

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“Doctor Slump” (TV show)

This warm and funny Korean drama follows two doctors, once school rivals, who are now both at low points in their lives.  Ha-neul has been diagnosed with depression and has dramatically quit her job after being used and unappreciated in her job as an anesthesiologist.  Jeong-woo owned and operated a popular plastic surgery practice and […]

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Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie

This debut novel by Charlotte Runcie is a smart and witty look at the world of the arts, art criticism, and viral fame that also touches on the challenges of finding balance between private and professional life. Set during the Edinburgh Fringe Arts Festival, the story starts when Alex Lyons, a well-known and notoriously harsh […]

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Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab follows the lives of three women over the span of centuries. Our story starts in Spain 1532 with Maria. Maria is a wild, free spirit who is forced into an arranged marriage with an older Viscount. She is miserable. Trapped in a house, often alone, […]

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“Swordheart” by T. Kingfisher

You’d think that inheriting a substantial estate would be good news, but Halla finds it rather intolerable.  She would be happy just going about her duties as a housekeeper and being ignored by everyone, but now that she’s inherited the coveted money, her extended family has plans for her: plans that include locking her in […]

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Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Leonie Swann’s debut novel is cozy, clever, and unconventional. If you’ve ever wondered what a murder mystery would look like if solved by a flock of sheep, Three Bags Full should be your next read. Yes, sheep. It sounds silly, I know, but somehow, it works. When their beloved shepherd is found dead, the flock […]

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“Jane Austen’s Bookshelf” by Rebecca Romney

Rare book dealer Rebecca Romney loves Jane Austen, and books in general. After purchasing the 18th century novel “Evelina” by Frances Burney as part of a lot of old books, Romney starts to realize that many of the female authors and works explicitly referenced in the novels and letters of Jane Austen are unknown, or […]

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“The Undocumented Americans” by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was born in Ecuador and was one of the first undocumented students to attend Harvard.  With the book set in six main sections–Staten Island, Ground Zero, Miami, Flint, Cleveland, and New Haven—Cornejo Villavicencio traveled throughout the United States to report on the diverse, sometimes lesser-known but nonetheless important and valuable stories […]