Staff Picks: What We Loved In 2022Like this list

40 items

• The Christmas Pig

  Rowling, J. K.

  Add The Christmas Pig to your for later shelf

  The Christmas Pig is about a boy (Jack) who has a favourite toy, and when he loses it, instead of accepting a replacement toy, he embarks on an impossible mission to retrieve his favourite toy. A perfect read for Christmas time. With a bit…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Copenhagen Trilogy

  Childhood ; Youth ; Dependency

  Ditlevsen, Tove Irma Margit, 1917-1976

  Add The Copenhagen Trilogy to your for later shelf

  In the Copenhagen Trilogy, Tove Ditlevsen recounts her life growing up in a working class Denmark neighbourhood. The matter-of-fact tone she maintains through both tragic and benign events makes this feel more like a novel than an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Red Palace

  Hur, June

  Add The Red Palace to your for later shelf

  This is a historical mystery set in 18th century Korea. It starts with a gruesome murder at the palace hospital, and the protagonist tries to help her mentor who was wrongfully accused of massacre. The historical authenticity is mixed…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Thursday Murder Club

  a Novel

  Osman, Richard, 1970-

  Add The Thursday Murder Club to your for later shelf

  The Thursday Murder Club is a group of seniors living in a peaceful retirement community who meet every Thursday evening to discuss unsolved crimes. When the developer who wants to buy the neighboring land ends up dead in their carpark,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Shiver

  Selected Stories

  Itō, Junji, 1963-

  Add Shiver to your for later shelf

  HP Lovecraft. Stephen King. Junji Ito? If you ask fans of this celebrated manga artist, Junji Ito has earned his place among the greatest horror authors. Shiver is a great introduction to this mangaka’s works. Comprised of short stories…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Animorphs. The Capture

  Applegate, Katherine

  Add Animorphs. The Capture to your for later shelf

  Jake leads a band of middle-school aged shapeshifting superheroes trying to battle a secret alien invasion. But during a mission to rescue the state governor, Jake finds himself falling under alien mind control! The book quickly becomes an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Five Little Indians

  Good, Michelle

  Add Five Little Indians to your for later shelf

  I recently read Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. This book outlines the stories of five Indigenous children who are affected by the residential school system in Canada. The lives of these five characters intertwine throughout the book…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

  Carter, Angela, 1940-1992

  Add The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories to your for later shelf

  Most fairy tale retellings emphasize the plot twists, but what Angela Carter has created is a dangerously sensual world that dares readers to wonder about all that lies beyond the plot. Carter’s prose never fails to sweep me away. I have…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Vanished Birds

  Jimenez, Simon, 1989-

  Add The Vanished Birds to your for later shelf

  This story is about Nia Imani, a woman living out of time. A pilot in a star ship that rides the Fold, she doesn’t age although the people on the planets that she visits do. This story is also about Fumiko Nakajima, a scientist from Earth…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Guncle

  a Novel

  Rowley, Steven, 1971-

  Add The Guncle to your for later shelf

  A surprisingly beautiful look at grief, the connections we make, and people we love that can carry us through it. Patrick O'Hara is a comfortably retired TV actor in his early 40s, living a safely predictable life in Palm Springs. His…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Brother

  Chariandy, David, 1969-

  Add Brother to your for later shelf

  A short novel that left me pondering about it for a long time afterwards. It’s an ode to a deceased older brother from a younger sibling struggling with grief. The raw description of reality and a numbingly calm voice of the narrator make…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Traitor's Blade

  Greatcoats Series, Book 1

  De Castell, Sebastien

  Add Traitor's Blade to your for later shelf

  Seamlessly translated from Spanish, this book compares favorably with The Three Musketeers, but in a fantasy setting. The story revolves around several members of the king’s guard (Greatcoats) who betrayed their oaths and their corrupt…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Home Extended

  Add Home Extended to your for later shelf

  It’s mostly a pictorial work of home design and renovations; it’s a great book to just browse and see the transformations from what something was to what it became. Seeing the potential in an old home was thought provoking and inspiring.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Kaiju Preservation Society

  Scalzi, John, 1969-

  Add The Kaiju Preservation Society to your for later shelf

  Two Reviews: I’ve just finished the Kaiju Preservation Society by Jon Scalzi. This book is a fun sci-fi adventure about an everyman who finds himself to be the most unlikely of heroes. Amidst the Covid-19 lockdown in New York City, food…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Agent of Change

  Lee, Sharon, 1952-

  Add Agent of Change to your for later shelf

  When the assassin meets the mercenary, sparks fly both figuratively and literally. But when the large alien Turtle gets involved, things get really interesting! With likeable characters and imaginative world building, this book is a great…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Things in Jars

  a Novel

  Kidd, Jess

  Add Things in Jars to your for later shelf

  This is the lyrical and lush story of Bridie Devine, a lady detective in Victorian London. Brash, devious, clever, thoughtful and smart, Bridie is asked to find the missing daughter of Sir Edmund, a collector of oddities. The case grows…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Imaginable

  How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything--even Things That Seem Impossible Today

  McGonigal, Jane

  Add Imaginable to your for later shelf

  Excellent book: in a nutshell, if you vividly imagine how you might react to currently unthinkable future scenarios for at least 10 minutes, you build your resilience for when similar scenarios happen for real in the future. She gives lots…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Slow Days, Fast Company

  the World, the Flesh, and L.A.

  Babitz, Eve

  Add Slow Days, Fast Company to your for later shelf

  Slow Days, Fast Company captures the atmosphere of 1970s Southern California through the eyes of writer Eve Babitz. Structured in ten quick slice-of-life chapters, this book is a perfect summer read. Characters come and go and although…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Master of Djinn

  Clark, P. Djèlí

  Add A Master of Djinn to your for later shelf

  This was such an inventive, rich, different fantasy - while also satisfying the need for good old-fashioned adventure and intrigue. Agent Fatma is the youngest woman working at the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Corvus

  Johnson, Harold, 1957-2022

  Add Corvus to your for later shelf

  Achingly current, this of 4 people is set in the future, after 2 wars have ravaged the US and Canada and the physical landscape has changed due to the chemicals humanity unleashed. The intense heat of places that were massively populated…Read moreRead more of this annotation