October 2023 Shelf Talk
ADULT
“The Theory of Everything Else” by Dan Schreiber Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Will we ever travel back in time? Are we being visited by extraterrestrials? Will we ever talk to animals? Are we being told the truth? Are mysterious creatures roaming the Earth? And why, when you're in the shower, does the shower curtain always billow in towards you? We still don't know the answers to any of these questions (including the showercurtain one). The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.
“Leonardo da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson “deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo” (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences made him history's most creative genius.
“The Enchanters” by James Ellroy James Ellroy — Demon Dog of American Letters — goes straight to the tragic heart of 1962 Hollywood with a wild riff on the Marilyn Monroe death myth in an astonishing, behind-theheadlines crime epic. Los Angeles, August 4, 1962. The city broils through a midsummer heat wave. Marilyn Monroe ODs. A B-movie starlet is kidnapped. The savage Sixties are ready to pop. It’s just a shot away. The Enchanters is a transcendent work of American popular fiction. It is James Ellroy at his most crazed, brilliant, provocative, profanely hilarious, and stop-your-heart tender. It is, resoundingly, the great American crime novel.
“North Woods” by Daniel Mason When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor, and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment, to history, and to one another.
YOUNG ADULT
“Mirrorverse: Pure of Heart” by Delilah S. Dawson Step into the Disney Mirrorverse, a brand-new realm full of endless adventure, where mirrored reflections of beloved Disney and Pixar characters are amplified and transformed, becoming battle-ready Guardians that must unite to defeat a powerful evil that threatens their home worlds and beyond. The unlikely crew ventures into a version of Snow White’s world, where they find growing Fractured, a determined huntsman, and a newly poisoned dark forest. On the way to the palace, each character faces a challenge seemingly created just for them.
“I’ll Tell You No Lies” by Amanda McCrina New York, 1955. Eighteen- year-old Shelby Blaine and her father, an Air Force intelligence officer, have just been wrenched away from their old life in West Germany to New York's Griffiss Air Force Base, where he has been summoned to lead the interrogation of an escaped Soviet pilot. Still in shock from the car accident that killed her mother barely a month earlier, Shelby struggles with her grief, an emotionally distant father, and having to start over in a new home. Then a chance meeting with Maksym, the wouldbe defector, spirals into a deadly entanglement. Can she trust a traitor with her life, or will it be the last mistake she ever makes?
“Four Found Dead” by Natalie D. Richards: The last show has ended, but the nightmare is just beginning. Tonight, Riverview Theaters is closing forever, the last remaining business in a defunct shopping mall. The moviegoers have left, and Jo and her six coworkers have the final shift, a shift that quickly takes a dark turn when Jo discovers the dead body of one of her co-workers. In order to survive this night, Jo and her friends must trust one another, navigate the sprawling ruins of the mall, and outwit a killer before he kills them all.
“Take” by Jennifer Bradbury Cara is on the cusp of adventure. Unlike her best friends, she doesn't want to go to college, she wants different kinds of challenges. She is growing distant from her friends and hasn't spoken to her father in eons. To make matters worse, her ex-boyfriend and fellow climber, Nat, has popped back into town. But when Cara hears that her father is actually missing, things change. While trying to track him down, she discovers a trail of clues centering around the history and life of the legendary mountaineer, outdoorsman, author, and all around dirtbag, Beckett Friedrichs. And unfortunately, the only person who knows enough about Friedrichs to make sense of any of this is Nat.
CHILDREN’S
“Solitary Animals, Introverts of the Wild” by Joshua David Stein, illustrated by Dominique Ramsey Enjoy and share this lyrical, nonfiction simple text with brilliantly colored illustrations that honors animals who live in solitude by contrasting them to others who live in groups. Against a backdrop of the unique collective names of various animal tribes (a parade of elephants, a tower of giraffes, a dazzle of zebras), Stein shines a spotlight on those animals who go through life on their own. Readers are invited to draw strength and comfort from the behaviors of fellow animals. Perfect for children who are introverted or tend to be alone and their parents as well as for other less solitary children.
“Mango, Abuela, and me” by Meg Medina, illustrated by Angela Dominguez Meg Medina, a writer who proudly embraces her Latin heritage and vividly embeds her heritage in her writing.
Mia’s abuela (grandmother) has come to stay. Abuela left her house to move in with Mia and her parents in the city. When Mia decides to share her favorite book with Abuela, she learns that Abuela cannot read the words. Mia sets out on a journey to teach Abuela to read and along the way they learn to speak using Spanish and English with the help of a friendly parrot named Mango.
“Hurricane” by John Rocco Rocco’s art is consistently luscious and the same is true for Hurricane. A young boy enjoys fishing from a dock and is suddenly swept up inside by his father who is preparing for a hurricane. The viciousness of the storm and its aftermath are shown vividly and emotionally through the boy’s eyes and John’s award-winning art.