Check It Out Category: Staff Picks

MPPL Staff Favorites 2019

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Staff Favorites 2019 cover photo

The end of the year is an irresistible time to reflect on all the fabulous art each of us read, watched, played, and listened to in 2019, and many of our staff wanted to celebrate those high points together. Narrowing down to only three favorites each has not been easy, but this grand finale has given us lots to debate — and we hope it offers the same to you!

Picture of JennyFiction: What We Owe
by Golnaz Hashemzadah Bonde
Music: Amidst the Chaos
by Sara Bareilles
Audiobook: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
by Hank Green
Picture of MaryGraphic Novel: New Kid
by Jerry Craft
Fiction: Ninth House
by Leigh Bardugo
Audiobook: On the Come Up
by Angie Thomas
picture of AngelaNonfiction: The Sun Is a Compass
by Caroline Van Hemert
Fiction: The Great Believers
by Rebecca Makkai
Nonfiction: Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson

 

Picture of MichaelFiction: The House of Broken Angels
by Luis Alberto Urrea
Movie: The Last Suit
Fiction: The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Grey
Picture of BrianVideogame: Shadows Die Twice
Fiction: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
by Erika L. Sánchez
Videogame: Hollow Knight
icon for MichelleAudiobook: Recursion
by Blake Crouch
Fiction: The Great Believers
by Rebecca Makkai
Fiction: Daisy Jones & the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Picture of CaitlinMovie: It: Chapter Two
Book: Angel Mage
by Garth Nix
Music: E-mo-tion
by Carly Rae Jepsen
Audiobook: With the Fire on High
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Nonfiction: Born to Fly
by Steve Sheinken
Graphic Memoir: They Called Us Enemy
by George Takei
Picture of JenniferFiction: Since She Went Away
by David Bell
Fiction: The Girl Who Was Taken
by Charlie Donlea
Nonfiction: The Feather Thief
by Kirk Wallace Johnson

 

icon for DevinFiction: Queen of Air and Darkness
by Cassandra Clare
Nonfiction: The Woman Who Smashed Codes
by Jason Fagone
Poetry: Love Her Wild
by Atticus
Picture of AnneFiction: Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
Fiction: Who Slays the Wicked
by C.S. Harris
Nonfiction: The Pioneers
by David McCullough
Picture of ErinFiction: Redwood and Ponytail
by K.A. Holt
Nonfiction: The Undefeated
by Kwame Alexander
Audiobook: The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

Picture of Denise
Audiobook: Get A Life, Chloe Brown
by Talia Hibbert
Audiobook: Internment
by Samira Ahmed
Movie: Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Picture of JanineFiction: The Great Believers
by Rebecca Makkai
Graphic Memoir: Good Talk
by Mira Jacob
Fiction: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
by Stuart Turton
Picture of EvaNonfiction: Life Undercover
by Amaryllis Fox
Fiction: Redemption
by David Baldacci
Fiction: All the Beautiful Girls
by Elizabeth J. Church

 

Picture of BeccaTV: Stranger Things
Graphic Memoir: Kid Gloves
by Lucy Knisley
Fiction: Song for a Whale
by Lynne Kelly
icon for KellyFiction: The Flatshare
by Beth O’Leary
Fiction: Would Like to Meet
by Rachel Winters
Fiction: No Judgments
by Meg Cabot
Audiobook: Daisy Jones & the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Audiobook: The Beastie Boys Book
by Michael Diamond and Adam Horowitz
Fiction: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
by Kim Michelle Richardson

 

picture of CatherineFiction: After the Flood
by Kassandra Montag
Music: Dedicated
by Carly Rae Jepsen
Fiction: Get A Life, Chloe Brown
by Talia Hibbert
Audiobook: The Ten Thousand Doors of January
by Alix E. Harrow
Fiction: A Kind of Freedom
by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Fiction: Lovely War
by Julie Berry
icon for Anne WNonfiction: Our Women on the Ground
by Zahra Hankir
Nonfiction: Visualizing the Beatles
by John Pring and Rob Thomas
Nonfiction: Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal
by Yuval Taylor

 

Picture of DonnaAudiobook: Whiskey in a Teacup
by Reese Witherspoon
Fiction: The Giver of Stars
by Jojo Moyes
Fiction: The Paris Orphan
by Natasha Lester
Icon for RebecaFiction: On the Come Up
by Angie Thomas
Fiction: My So-Called Bollywood Life
by Nisha Sharma
Nonfiction: A Dream Called Home
by Reyna Grande
Picture of CathleenFiction: The Memory Police
by Yoko Ogawa
TV: Succession
Poetry: Tsunami vs. the Fukushima 50
by Lee Ann Roripaugh

 

Al staff photoPoetry: 1919:  Poems
by Eve L. Ewing
Fiction: Friday Black: Stories
by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Fiction: The Need
by Helen Phillips
picture of AndreaAudiobook: Nothing To See Here
by Kevin Wilson
Fiction: Fireborne
by Rosaria Munda
Audiobook: Dear Haiti, Love Alaine
by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

 

Want more? Take a look at what staff chose in 2018 and 2017 as their favorites.

 If you’re interested in personalized reading, watching, and/or listening suggestions… Ask!

Staff Picks: Anticipated Summer 2019 Reads

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the word summer written in the sand along the shore
Summer Reading begins on June 1st! If you need ideas for how to spend those long hours at the beach, beside the pool, or on vacation, here are a number of titles you may want to bring along with you.
While planning your summer reading list, take a look at what our MPPL staff is hoping to read this summer!
Chelsea
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

The Last Time I Saw You book coverThe Last Time I Saw You
by Liv Constantine

Chelsea
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

How Not to Die Alone book coverHow Not to Die Alone
by Richard Roper

 

Rachel
South Branch

The Water Museum book coverThe Water Museum
by Luis Alberto Urrea

Rachel
South Branch

David and Goliath book coverDavid and Goliath
by Malcolm Gladwell

Carolyn
Circulation services

The Churchill Woman book coverThe Churchill Woman
by Stephanie Barron

Carolyn
Circulation services

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil book coverMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
by John Berendt

Andrea
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

With the Fire on High book coverWith the Fire on High
by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

Andrea
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Other Words for Smoke book coverOther Words for Smoke
by Sarah Maria Griffin

Nancy
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

the leavers book coverThe Leavers
by Lisa Ko

Nancy
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Daisy Jones and the Six book coverDaisy Jones and the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Emily W.
Circulation Services

City of Girls book coverCity of Girls
by Elizabeth Gilbert

Emily W.
Circulation Services

The Priory of Orange Trees book coverThe Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon

Marsha
Youth Services

Beneath the Tamarind Tree book coverBeneath the Tamarind Tree
by Isha Sesay

Marsha
Youth Services

The Unbreakables book coverThe Unbreakables
by Lisa Barr

Karen H.
Registration Services

Witchmark book coverWitchmark
by C. L. Polk

 

Karen H.
Registration Services

Middlegame book coverMiddlegame
by Seanan McGuire

Abby W.
Fiction Av/Teen Services

The Night Diary book coverThe Night Diary
by Veera Hiranandani

 

Abby W.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

A Sorcery of Thorns book coverA Sorcery of Thorns
by Margaret Rogerson

Erin
Youth services

The Library Book book coverThe Library Book
by Susan Orlean

Erin
Youth Services

The Great Believers book coverThe Great Believers
by Rebecca Makkai

 

Janine
Circulation Services

99 Percent Mine book cover99 Percent Mine
by Sally Thorne

Janine
Circulation Services

The Lake House book coverThe Lake House
by Kate Morton

 

Allison N.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Foolish Hearts book coverFoolish Hearts
by Emma Mills

Allison N.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Disappearing Earth book coverDisappearing Earth
by Julia Phillips

Kelda
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Becoming book coverBecoming
by Michelle Obama

Kelda
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Circe book coverCirce
by Madeline Miller

Jenny
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Foundryside book coverFoundryside
by Robert Jackson Bennett

Jenny
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

How to Write an Autobiograhical Novel book coverHow to Write an Autobiographical Novel
by Alexander Chee

Maria P.
Collection services

where'd you go Bernadette book coverWhere’d You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple

Maria P.
Collection services

The Library Book book coverThe Library Book
by Susan Orlean

 

Denise
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Where the Crawdads Sing book coverWhere the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens

Denise
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Fix Her Up book coverFix Her Up
by Tessa Bailey

Donna S.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

The Identicals book coverThe Identicals
by Elin Hilderbrand

Donna S.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Deep Harbor book coverDeep Harbor
by Fern Michaels

Cathleen
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Mouthful of Birds book coverMouthful of Birds
by Samanta Schweblin

 

Cathleen
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Bowlaway book coverBowlaway
by Elizabeth McCracken

Liz
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Pride Prejudice and Other Flavors book coverPride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
by Sonali Dev

Liz
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs book coverThe Daughters of Temperance Hobbs
by Katherine Howe

Kelly W.
Collection services

The Bride Test book coverThe Bride Test
by Helen Hoang

Kelly W.
Collection Services

The Farm book coverThe Farm
by Joanne Ramos

 

Donna C.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

Fumbled book coverFumbled
by Alexa Martin

Donna C.
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

The Moment of Lift book coverThe Moment of Lift
by Melinda Gates

john
Fiction/AV/Teen Services

the raven boys book coverThe Raven Boys
by Maggie Stiefvater

Staff Picks: Liz’s Selections of the Day

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We asked Fiction Librarian Liz which books she’s recommending today.

She chose a combination of evocative stories that touch upon the mysterious and tragic, while searching for a measure of hope in complex situations.

 

 

 

The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers

When Major Gryffth Hockaday is called to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband’s three-hundred-acre farm and infant son. Placidia, a mere teenager herself living far from her family and completely unprepared to run a farm or raise a child, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns two years later, Placidia is bound for jail, accused of having borne a child in his absence and murdering it. What really transpired in the two years he was away?

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater are awake, magic is swirling around Blue and The Raven boys and Ronan Lynch’s ability to pull objects from his dreams is almost out of control but worst of all, the mysterious Gray Man is stalking the Lynch family, looking for something called the Greywaren.

 
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom. When their paths converge in route to the ship that promises salvation, Joana, Emilia, and Florian find their strength, courage, and trust in one another tested with each step closer toward safety. When tragedy strikes the Wilhelm Gustloff, they must fight for the same thing: survival.

Staff Picks: Kelda’s Selections of the Day

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Kelda Recommendations picture

We asked Readers’ Advisory Assistant Kelda which books, audiobooks, and DVDs she’s recommending today.

She chose a combination of thoughtful, touching stories that reveal the fragility & strength of relationships.

 

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley (Audiobook)

Ted—a gay, single, struggling writer is stuck: unable to open himself up to intimacy except through the steadfast companionship of Lily, his elderly dachshund. When Lily’s health is compromised, Ted vows to save her by any means necessary. By turns hilarious and poignant, an adventure with spins into magic realism and beautifully evoked truths of loss and longing, Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don’t they teach you anything at school?
So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who’s been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she’s confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades.
One Saturday, the boy doesn’t show up. Ona starts to think he’s not so special after all, but then his father arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son’s good deed. The boy’s mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that the world can surprise us at any age…

Tulip Fever (DVD)

An artist falls for a young married woman while he’s commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of seventeenth century Amsterdam.