Staff Picks: What We Loved In 2016Like this list

51 items

• Shelter

  Yun, Jung,

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  ...an intense and emotionally charged read that will grip the reader from start to finish.

• We Found a Hat

  Klassen, Jon

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  Magical and touching are my first thoughts.

• Hillbilly Elegy

  a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

  Vance, J. D.

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  I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to get an insight into the lives and hopes and dreams of those who feel so let down by their failure to achieve the “American Dream.”

• Calvin

  Leavitt, Martine, 1953-

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  Thoughtful and heartfelt.

• Furiously Happy

  a Funny Book About Horrible Things

  Lawson, Jenny, 1973-

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  ...if you enjoy quirky humour and live with depression yourself or in a loved one, this is a great listen.

• Dragonflight

  McCaffrey, Anne

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  ...one of the best dragon friend books for adults, and there are plenty of other books set in her world...

• Dealing With Dragons

  Wrede, Patricia C., 1953-

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  I have a favourite dragon friend book for every age. For younger readers (maybe 8 and up) I recommend Patricia Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons series

• Dragonsinger

  McCaffrey, Anne

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  As a teenager, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsinger was my very favourite book.

• God in Pink

  a Novel

  Namir, Hasan, 1987-,

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  Unflinching violence and no easy answers greet readers willing to engage with this text from Iraqi-Canadian author Hasan Namir.

• Blind Sight

  O'Connell, Carol, 1947-

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  The latest case is that of a possible serial killer who has, perhaps inadvertently, kidnapped a witness, only to find that the witness, a young boy, was blind.

• Exit, Pursued by a Bear

  Johnston, E. K.

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  It makes you realize the ‘what ifs’ of your life and the decisions that you’ve made that have put you on the path you are on – at the moment.

• Pet Sematary

  a Novel

  King, Stephen, 1947-

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  King states this is his scariest novel ever written

• Hubble's Universe

  Greatest Discoveries and Latest Images

  Dickinson, Terence

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  Hubble’s Universe is a feast for the eyes with stunningly beautiful images of space and just as stunning facts about our universe.

• The Jumbies

  Baptiste, Tracey

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  A thrilling tale, the Jumbies is based on the classic Haitian folktale: the Magic Orange Tree.

• Uprooted

  Novik, Naomi

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  Uprooted contains all my favorite things in a YA fantasy: a young woman put in aggravating circumstances discovers her own power and is forced to use all available will, talent, and knowledge to fight a greater evil to her community and the world as…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Glen Campbell

  I'll Be Me

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  This bittersweet documentary is at times heart wrenching, funny, nostalgic, and frightening.

• The Martian

  a Novel

  Weir, Andy

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  Told through the voice of Mark Watney, a sarcastic Botonist/Astronaut/General Fix-it Man, the reader is swept into a survival story like none before: survival on Mars!

• The Golden Spruce

  a True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed

  Vaillant, John

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  This book was excellently written – it made a topic that I wasn’t too sure was all that interesting into a fascinating and page-turning true tale. Highly recommended.

• Gorge

  My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds

  Whitely, Kara Richardson,

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  To hike Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, is already an accomplishment. To do it twice is a triumph, but to do it while weighing 300 pounds, well, that was thought to be impossible.

• The Grownup

  Flynn, Gillian, 1971-

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  The story is fast paced (a very quick 63-paged read) and, in true Gillian Flynn fashion, full of twists.