Hilary's Picks

The Vanishing Half: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Brit Bennett

$27.00

ISBN: 9780525536291

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Riverhead Books - June 2nd, 2020

This book is so good.  It has everything going for it. Engaging, topical plot. Smart, stylish prose. Page-turning pacing. Unforgettable characters.  The novel is the story of twin sisters and the diverging paths their lives take when one decides to pass as white. It is important look at there performance of race (and also gender) and it’s psychological cost over the generations in a family.  I couldn’t put it down and I can’t stop thinking about it. And I want to talk about it to everyone I know. I bet you’ll be itching to unravel this multifaceted, sophisticated novel, too. Read it and then, let’s talk.

Two Little Trains (Hardcover)

By Margaret Wise Brown, Greg Pizzoli (Illustrator)

$17.99

ISBN: 9780062676511

Availability: In Stock at Publisher - Usually Available in 1-5 Days

Published: HarperCollins - March 3rd, 2020

My (almost) two-year-old daughter Greta and I love this book! Snappy, delightful text from Margaret Wise Brown (author of classics Goodnight, Moon and Runaway Bunny, among others) updated with bright, bold illustrations by Greg Pizzoli (best known for his book The Watermelon Seed). Charming and energetic, this story of Two Little Trains, and all they see on their way heading west, is a perfect read aloud for preschoolers. 

The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions (Hardcover)

By Anna Llenas

$16.99

ISBN: 9780316450010

Availability: In Stock at Publisher - Usually Available in 1-5 Days

Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - September 4th, 2018

This is a great book for helping preschoolers understand basic emotions and feelings. It classifies them as colors, which is easy to grasp for little minds (e.g. red is angry, blue is sad, yellow is happy). As my two year old processes her feelings, it’s nice to have a book that we can use to guide a conversation about all those BIG emotions. I don’t know about you, but I could use some help figuring out my emotions these days, too. - Hilary 

The Dutch House: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Ann Patchett

$27.99

ISBN: 9780062963673

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Harper - September 24th, 2019

I’ve been an Ann Patchett fan since college. I regularly recommend her writing, enjoying both her non-fiction and her novels over the years, but this is definitely her best work yet. I love this fairytale-like novel of two siblings Danny and Maeve, told through the eyes of the younger brother Danny, and spanning from their childhood to middle age. It is the story of how our personal history is created partially by imagining the inner lives of those within our family orbit. Ultimately, it is the characters’ confrontation and grappling with their childhood perceptions of familial roles and situations that propel the novel. A thoughtful meditation on the shifting sands of personal histories and how the stories we tell ourselves, often clouded by misconceptions, can be radically altered with a little empathy. 

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions (An Auntie Poldi Adventure #1) (Paperback)

By Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translated by)

$14.99

ISBN: 9781328588784

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Mariner Books - February 5th, 2019

Meet Auntie Poldi, a sassy 60-something widow who retires to Sicily to live out her days imbibing on vino, savoring good food, and admiring a view of the sea. That is until the handsome handyman who is helping her renovate her villa goes missing and is found murdered. Poldi immerges as Sicily’s new amateur sleuth – but her snooping into the lives of the townsfolk proves irksome to the sexy police inspector in charge of the investigation. Giordano, a writer of both books and screenplays, has a knack for cinematic writing with snappy dialogue and page-turning plot twists. For fans of international mysteries set amid beautiful landscapes and filled with quirky, lovable characters. 

Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel (Paperback)

By Jesmyn Ward

$17.00

ISBN: 9781501126079

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Scribner - May 8th, 2018

My favorite book of 2017. Ward is master storyteller and so graceful in showing us the depths of grief, the pain of emotional suffering, the grip of sadness. We see generation after generation of a family endure loss. Smell the blood of those gone and see it spill from those still here. Witness not just with eyes, but with heart, the hardship of those that came before and those that come after. But the novel is equally adept at showing us love, not matter how subtle. We see how love can be carried, not matter how small, and can become a tiny gem that allow the characters to bear what life brings. Even with the heavy weight of sorrow running through the novel, the book is somehow lightened through Ward’s generously beautiful prose. She shows us what it is to live, to love, to die. What an extraordinary book. One I will take with me the rest of my life. 

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness (Paperback)

By Susannah Cahalan

$16.00

ISBN: 9781451621389

Availability: On Our Shelves Now

Published: Simon & Schuster - August 6th, 2013

I dare  you not to finish this book in one sitting. Everyone I know who has read it, including myself, has been unable to put it down. The author chronicles her battle with a rare autoimmune disease that swiftly attacked her brain with symptoms that included psychotic breaks, seizures and catatonia. The doctors didn't know the cause and raced against time to find a cure. A fascinating look at how we diagnose and treat disease -- and how family, friends, and doctors came together to save a life.