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SCPL Staff Picks October 2019
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Borneby Jeff Vandermeer Let me start by confessing that I am not a science fiction reader. It is a genre that typically doesn’t excite me. However, I somehow got this book in my hands and actually finished it. Borne is set in a future where climate change has ravaged the earth and humanity is struggling to survive. Rachel is a scavenger in an unnamed city that is primarily controlled by the Company’s out of control biotech experiment, named Mord. One day she finds an unusual creature, not quite a plant, nor an animal, but some form of life nonetheless. She takes it home and, much to the dismay of her boyfriend, Wick, she keeps it and names it Borne. This book is a challenging read. It is not difficult to read per se, but rather it challenges what is known and believed in our world and makes the reader accept mind-bending alternatives. The novel poses many questions about the world of Borne and how it relates to our world, some of which are answered, but many are left to interpretation. If you enjoy literary puzzles, strange lands, and unusual stories, I recommend picking up this book. Alaina
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Hollow Kingdomby Kira Jane Buxton Kira Jane Buxton’s Hollow Kingdom is a post-apocalyptic horror survival novel told from the perspectives of household pets and other animals responding to a world where humans have become ravenous zombies. Unlike similar stories from the human perspective, where infection is an ongoing risk or trust and community remain under constant paranoid threat from outsiders, this novel imagines a different, more expansive community across the lines of species and biological orders. S.T., a domesticated crow and the primary narrator of the story, enlists fellow pet Dennis the bloodhound in a mission to discover what happened to the humans that have gone feral. Along the way, we are introduced to a telepathic octopus, an unsurprisingly self-obsessed housecat, and various animals domestic and exotic from around the world as they reckon with the calamity and promise of a post-human existence. Buxton balances fantastical world-building with genuine scientific insight into animal cognition and ecological interdependence in a humorous and deeply felt story that imagines human extinction from the perspective of the planet and the animals we have bred to our designs. As S.T. and Dennis meet other survivors, they resolve to carry on together and share resources, challenging anthropocentric views of competition and violence among non-human animals. The novel ends with a hopeful image of a future, as new social and ecological possibilities emerge among species who nurture each other and labor together. Joseph
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Black Iceby Anne Stuart Chloe Underwood is an American living and working as a translator in Paris, France. Longing for a little excitement, and needing to supplement her income, Chloe jumps at the chance to take her roommate’s place for a weekend job translating for a group of international businessmen. Chloe soon discovers these “international businessmen” are illegal arms dealers and when the man in charge realizes that Chloe has translated more than she was supposed to, he decides she’s a liability that needs to be eliminated. Enter Bastien Toussaint, who is an undercover operative posing as an arms dealer. Rather than allowing Chloe to die, Bastien interferes and the two go on the run together. Why did Bastien break cover and will Chloe live long enough to find out? Black Ice is the first book in a five book series by Anne Stuart. Black Ice is edgy, fast-paced, and a well-written action-packed romantic suspense thriller. Clever plot, witty dialogue, international intrigue, violence dialed up way past ten (a little blood and guts never hurt anyone!) and compelling characters all come together to create a suspenseful tale where the danger is as hazardous as black ice. You do not want to miss out on this icy series! Brandi
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24/6 : The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week by Tiffany ShlainTiffany Shlain, Emmy nominated film maker and creator of the Webby Awards, presents this convincing argument for taking one day away from the endless distractions presented by our technologies. She calls it a “Technology Shabbat” and she has been devoted to the practice for the last ten years. By using Shabbat as a framework for this practice and including anecdotes and examples that everyone can use to implement this practice, Shlain almost convinced me to give something like this a try. She also talks of the effects of wide ranging technological addictions and how can affect us from the historical, psychological and neuroscience perspectives. I am still considering making this practice a part of my life, if only to seek more balance and order to my always connected life. The thing that hit me most was the talk about screen time for all ages. The thought of being so far removed from analog lifestyles with wrist watches, landlines and maps printed on paper is intriguing. It is even more interesting to realize that children born within the last ten years will never remember a time without it. Vanessa
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The Murder of Roger Ackroydby Agatha Christie As you might have deduced from the title, Roger Ackroyd’s been murdered! There is a blackmailer on the loose, the primary suspect has disappeared, and Hercule Poirot doesn’t know whether the boots are black or brown. But what the esteemed detective does know is that everyone in the village of King’s Abbot is hiding something. Whether it’s the butler, the secretary, the Miss Ackroyd, or the Mrs. Ackroyd, secrets abound, but of course Poirot is up for the challenge. Told from the perspective of a local doctor assisting Poirot on his quest for truth, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a fantastic mystery novel with Agatha Christie’s normal brand of eccentric characters and clever matters of deduction. Having only recently finished my first Christie novel And Then There Were None, I was curious to read one in her Poirot series and chose Ackroyd based on various online recommendations. I’m glad I did. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of those stories that feels like the perfect mystery. Even if I had a vague notion of where the story might be going, I still found the final few pages of reveals exhilarating. I feel like this Poirot novel might fall through the cracks because of its lack of a big screen adaptation or dramatic setting, but it’s definitely a must read for any mystery fan.
Josiah
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Red Risingby Pierce Brown Darrow is a Red, and that means he is a member of the lowest caste of people in the universe. Ever since he was born Darrow worked in the mines underneath the surface of Mars extracting resources from the planet to make life possible on the surface. Darrow had always been content with his life in the mines, he did not have much, but he had a family and a wife that loved him and that was enough. However, Darrow’s wife Eo was too unhappy with lives that were full of hard labor and persecution to stay silent. Therefore, while being brutally punished for sneaking into an area that was off limits to Reds, Eo sings a forbidden song in an act of rebellion, and as a result she is immediately hanged. In the wake of his wife’s untimely death Darrow is so distraught he too commits an act of rebellion by burying his wife’s body. Yet, when Darrow is hanged for his crime, instead of dying, he wakes up in the hands of an organization that has a plan to overthrow the universe’s entire caste system. But for the plan to work, Darrow must become the thing he hates the most. He must become a member of the highest class of people in the universe, the class that murdered his wife: a Gold. Pierce Brown’s Red Rising has easily become my favorite book that I’ve read in 2019, and I’ve read a lot of good books. Brown’s book has everything you want in a good science fiction book: an intriguing world, compelling characters, and a plot that gets more and more intense and unpredictable as you turn the pages. One of my favorite things about Brown’s book is that he does not give many of his characters plot armor. Characters that seem important can be killed of at the drop of the hat. Although it can be a downer when a favorite character dies it makes the plot of Brown’s novel very unpredictable, which will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can so you can find out what happens next. If you like science fiction and a plot that keeps you guessing, pick up Red Rising today. Seth
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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeousby Ocean VuongI believe more poets should write novels--or maybe Ocean Vuong should write more novels. The narrator of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, “little dog”, is writing a letter to his mother, one of the many people to flee Vietnam in search of a better life during the more heated times of the Vietnam War. The setting is gorgeous, and I was delighted to learn more about the narrator's mother’s experiences working long hours in a nail salon. There is plenty of reflection and observation, featuring the lives and actions of so many different people--and their various experiences living in their new home. The relationships are beautiful. “Little dog” gets his name as one of the youngest, and most protective of the family. He and his mother clearly have a very strong bond, and much of the book consists of the narrator trying to help his mother understand life in this new place. The narrator, a gay male, also comes out to his mother in one of the tenderest scenes of honesty and love; it's also one of the most intimate moments of confusion on the part of the mother that I have read in some time. There is some great poetic narrative in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, and are certainly episodes of profound sadness, despair and disappointment as well. This book does contain instances of sexual interaction and may not be for all readers, but if you are looking for a beautiful story about family and love, with cross cultural exploration and one man making the most of every situation he experiences, this is the title for you. This title has already been selected for numerous awards. Vanessa
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The Last Widowby Karin Slaughter Wow! Karin Slaughter's newest book, The Last Widow, is definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. When Will and Sara hear an explosion go off near Emory University, they go see if they can help, but once they arrive on the scene, Sara is kidnapped. Will teams up with the FBI and goes undercover into a secret world of far-right extremists to try to save her. Will he be too late? The Last Widow is the ninth book in the Will Trent series and I cannot wait for book ten. Once you read a Slaughter book you will become a insta-fan. She will leave you wanting more! Shannon
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Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Deathby Kurt VonnegutWar is an interesting thing. I don't mean that in a good OR bad way, but as a general point. It's something many people will never truly experience, so we settle instead for media about war, like movies and books. It's sometimes the only way we as a society have to learn how war was. Slaughterhouse-Five is a book about war, sort of. When Billy Pilgrim comes home from World War II, he lives a long, fruitful life. He is also abducted by the Tralfamadorians, an alien colony that is able to see all of time all at once. As Vonnegut bounces back and forth between past, present, and the endless timeline of war, we learn more about Billy: he was a prisoner of war, he was at the fire bombing at Dresden, he was in a helicopter crash. We learn more about the Tralfamadorians and the child Billy left behind on the planet Tralfamadore; Montana Wildhack, a film star, was abducted too, and she was placed in the zoo with Billy. Billy's children grow up, Tralfamadorians attempt to explain time, and Dresden is blown to bits. I've read a lot of war novels (The Things They Carried is a personal favorite), but I've never read one quite like Slaughterhouse-Five. It's considered one of the great anti-war novels, but I simply consider it to be honest: the brilliant Kurt Vonnegut describes, in fine detail, a man with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and what his life is like. How he coped after returning home from Germany, how he was able to life that long and fruitful life while still struggling so deeply with something no one really understood. It's an incredible novel, with foresight and the extraordinary weirdness Vonnegut is so well known for. There may be aliens, but Slaughterhouse-Five is very, very real. Jess
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Draculaby Bram Stoker Jonathan Harker, a young solicitor from London, travels to Transylvania to oversee real estate transaction for a client named Count Dracula. Soon he finds himself trapped in Dracula’s castle and barely escapes with his life. Jonathan and his fiancé, Mina, get married while he recovers. Dracula follows Jonathan back to England and begins his reign of terror. Mina’s best friend Lucy starts to exhibit mysterious symptoms like anemia and sleepwalking. Professor of obscure diseases, Abraham Van Helsing determines Lucy has been bitten by a vampire. After Lucy dies and becomes a vampire herself, Van Helsing leads the charge to drive a stake through her heart. Jonathan and Mina are #couplesgoals as they join the Professor, Lucy’s former fiancé, and her two other suitors to seek and destroy Dracula. Long before a certain sparkling vampire came on the scene, there was a far superior undead baddie named Dracula. Although both like to watch young women sleep, that is where their commonalities end. Count Dracula is the central villain of the Gothic horror tale, Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, and published in 1897. The book is formed from diary entries, telegrams, and newspaper clippings, strengthening the characters’ claim that these events actually occurred. Although this writing style may be unfamiliar to modern readers, Stoker deftly glides from character to character, giving each a distinct voice and motivation. Dracula, however, is Stoker’s supreme creation. Based upon his boss and famous actor, Henry Irving, Stoker imbues Dracula with such deceptive gallantry, it is easy fall under his spell. Dracula’s cunning, supernatural strength, and psychic prowess make him a villain so classic, it has almost become cliché. Stoker’s creation stands the test of time and today there are countless versions and adaptations. For a faithful depiction of the book, check out the film Count Dracula on Kanopy, the library’s streaming service. However you choose to experience it, Dracula is sure to give you chills this Halloween! Katie
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MA A group of teenage friends want to go out and party and nothing is going to stop them from having a good time… except for the fact that they’re underage. Surprisingly, the teens manage to convince Sue Ann, played by the talented Octavia Spencer, a seemingly sweet veterinary technician, to buy them alcohol. The teenagers can’t believe their luck when Sue Ann then offers the basement of her house as a safe place to party rather than the teenagers drinking and driving. Sue Ann does have rules though: she gets the keys when the teens arrive, someone must stay sober, Sue Ann checks the teens before they leave, they are never to go upstairs, and lastly, to call her “Ma.” Soon, Sue Ann’s basement is the popular teen hangout and Sue Ann is the life of the party, which is a far cry from her own high school years. Through flashbacks, we come to realize those were the worst years of her life and the trauma she experienced during that time continue to haunt her. Before long, it becomes clear to the teenagers that all is not right with Sue Ann and they try to distance themselves from her. However, Sue Ann isn’t having it and she wants more than just an opportunity to relive her less than popular high school years. Unbeknownst to the teenagers, “Ma” has made them pawns in her quest for revenge against the people who made her high school years a living hell. MA is a psychological horror thriller directed by Tate Taylor. Fun fact: Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor worked together on The Help. The dynamic duo of Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer created a suspenseful, shock value thriller that had me yelling at the television during some scenes and left me entertainingly creeped out. Octavia Spencer is a chameleon of an actress and more versatile than she is given credit for. From torture to face stitching, all I can say is Ma is not a Mom I want to cross! Brandi
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Anna and the ApocalypseAnna is ready to leave her little town for bigger and better things. While her single Dad wants her to go to uni and her best friend John is worried they’re growing farther apart, Anna’s ready to graduate high school and head to Australia. Her other high school friends all have their own problems of course--one is struggling with expressing himself in his video class, another is worried about her upcoming Christmas play performance, and the guy Anna (briefly!) dated has a problem being a major jerk. If you thought that wasn’t enough, now there’s a zombie outbreak to complicate things, and as the typically grotesque virus spreads through their small town, decimating military personnel and civilians alike, our band of trusty teen heroes must save the day...and maybe sing a few songs along the way. Anna and the Apocalypse might be the perfect movie. Want a good new Christmas watch? Decorations and holiday cheer (horror?) abound. Want a good scare? This film has zombies eating people! Want a feel good musical? Well, when the kids aren’t slaying zombies they’re belting out songs about wanting more from life, or being in love, or...you get it. This might be the perfect movie, so I suggest it for pretty much anyone. Josiah
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Aladdin Take a magical carpet ride on this thrilling live action adaptation of Disney’s classic Aladdin. When Aladdin, a street rat gets his hands on a powerful lamp, he unleashes a powerful wisecracking genie. The Genie and Aladdin become friends and try to save Princess Jasmine and her Kingdom from the awful Jafar. Aladdin is filled with the same great music as the original plus a new song called "Speechless", sung by the talented Naomi Scott. Aladdin was bursting with color and is a fantastic movie. Definitely a great film for the whole family! Shannon
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And Then There Were NoneContinuing in the spooky category, this next pick is a proper suspenseful TV program. Based on the mystery novel by Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None was adapted by the BBC in 2015 into a three-episode mini-series. This version is quite faithful to the original plot, while including some more adult content not found in the book. Ten people are invited to stay at the impossibly lavish house on Soldier Island by a mysterious Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen. But when the hosts fail to appear and guests start dying, Vera Claythorne realizes something is amiss. Vera (played by Australian actress Maeve Dermody) also notices that a soldier figurine has also disappeared every time a guest has died. Could this have anything to do with the nursery rhyme “Ten Little Soldiers” framed in her room? Adding to the creepiness are some familiar faces. The formidable Justice Wargrave is played by Charles Dance, also known as Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones. Nervous Doctor Armstrong is played by Toby Stephens, who portrays James Bond villain Gustav Graves. But it’s not all bad--Aidan Turner from Poldark and The Hobbit franchise takes a turn as the unflappable Phillip Lombard. Christie’s story adapts itself well to film. Instead of taking place solely in the house, the audience gets to see flashbacks of the characters’ lives and the indiscretions that brought them there. Director Craig Viveiros isn’t too posh to indulge in a jump scare or two. Despite the audience’s ability to see other settings, the characters are in fact stuck on the island. The film version continues the feeling of dread and desperation by panning over the isolated house, rocky cliffs, and crashing waves. The gorgeous panoramic shots feel almost cruel as the group unsuccessfully attempts to make contact with the shore. As the fog begins to envelop them, the characters realize that this day could be their last. The sense of doom reaches its apex in the final episode. As the character climbs the staircase, the music intensifies with each step. The episode ends with a reprisal of the original theme, albeit disjointed and melancholy, leaving the audience with a feeling of unease, just as Agatha Christie would have wanted. Katie
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The Americans Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings are your average Americans in the 1980s: they have two kids, run a successful travel agency, and live in a beautiful, modern house. What is perhaps less average is the fact that they are deep cover KGB spies with a myriad of disguises, alternate identities, and secrets. Things start to get complicated when FBI agent Stan Beeman moves in across the street, their teenage daughter starts to get suspicious about her parents' unusual behavior, and Phillip begins doubting the reasons Russia and the US are at odds. The Americans is an unusual historical drama. It examines a fairly recent period of history many of its viewers still remember through a new lens. The show does an excellent job of integrating costume design, mise-en-scène, and sound design to really bring the audience back in time. However, the most compelling part of the show is how it is written, shot, and performed in such a way that makes you cheer for this couple. There’s a lot of action, espionage, intrigue, and while that is all done well, The Americans has a human relationship at its core, and that is what really made me love this show. Alaina
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Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earthby Chris Ware Chris Ware’s graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is a masterpiece of the format that models how sequential visual art can tell a story of thematic complexity and emotional depth as a consequence of its presentation on the page. A critically-beloved classic of the form, Jimmy Corrigan is a multi-generational epic of everyday experience and cycles of abuse and neglect with no real heroes and a lack of world-changing action. Ware’s visual storytelling style creates a dizzying sense of time’s rapid passage and slowness, as he captures the granular detail of lonely tedium as a parallel experience shared within a family. The storyline at the center of the novel takes place around Thanksgiving, as Jimmy decides to visit his estranged father (also named Jimmy Corrigan) over the holiday. The middle-aged Jimmy acts like a case study in arrested development, as he barely communicates with his father during their visit and bungles a moment of medical crisis which leads him to an awkward introduction with his half-sister. This plot runs parallel to the story of his grandfather, another Jimmy Corrigan, a child in Chicago at the time of the 1893 World’s Fair. While these stories are suffused with the particular pain of familial neglect, they are pulled into tension with the gradually-revealed story of Amy, Jimmy’s African-American half-sister, who experienced a childhood of care and support. Ware’s subject matter is difficult, but his play with structure and design demonstrates an idea of the self forever subject to revision, no matter how small the change. Joseph
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Hereby Richard McGuire What would a place look like if you could see it from the beginning of the world until the end? How would it change? What kinds of people would live there? Richard McGuire’s gives his readers an idea of what it might look like in his graphic novel Here, and the result is fascinating. Here is probably the most unique graphic novel I have ever read. Although it looks long, it is the type of book you can read in a single sitting because there are very few words in McGuire’s work. In fact, there are probably only enough to make up a single sentence in the 300 pages of McGuire’s book. Instead, McGuire tells his story through pictures. He singles out a location and uses his art to show how a single place can change by drawing pictures of the same place from 500,957,406,073 BC to 2313 AD. Not only that, but McGuire frequently stacks these pictures on top of each other so you can see what the same place looked like in different time periods simultaneously. The result is a graphic novel that is completely enthralling. So if you’re looking for a unique new read, look no further than Here. Seth
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Pet SoundsThe Beach Boys I’ve been working my way through a bunch of iconic albums, and I’ve made it through 44 so far. Unexpectedly, my favorite—by a wide margin—has been The Beach Boys’ incredible kind of final album Pet Sounds. When it came out in 1966, Pet Sounds was an instant hit, including the lead single, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, permanently changing what both listeners and musicians alike believed pop could be. While the first half of the album is a welcome mat to the world of The Beach Boys’ good guys vibe (see “I’m Waiting for the Day” and “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)”), the back half of this album is just stacked with emotion: the band’s cover of “Sloop John B” is enduring for a reason, and it’s directly followed by “God Only Knows”, which builds on the most exceptional harmonization I maybe have ever heard, aside from The Jackson 5. The instrumental “Pet Sounds”, which feels like a trip to The Jungle Room in 1966 is a treat, and the unexpectedly earnest “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” and “I Know There’s an Answer” reveal a deeper core to the heart of the peace and love detailed in the first half of Pet Sounds. What can I say about this album that hasn’t already been said? Perhaps I can say that on a close listen with headphones, nearly every song on Pet Sounds gave me goosebumps at some point, because Brian Wilson’s orchestration, along with the group’s vocal harmonization & layering, are so all-encompassing that it actually gave me a visceral reaction. Pet Sounds isn’t just an album, it’s a physical experience. I nearly feel angry with myself knowing I’ve gone through 30+ years of life not listening to this album. If you haven’t heard Pet Sounds yet, this is your call to arms. If you have—isn’t it time for another listen? Jess
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