Jocular January Staff Picks

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gossip Girl series brings her sharp-eyed and irresistible wit to this “quirky novel of lovable misfits” (Publishers Weekly) chronicling a year in the lives of four families in an upscale Brooklyn neighborhood as they seek purpose and community—until one unforgettable night at a raucous neighborhood... Read more »

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“Schwab has a masterpiece on her hands with this title. I loved it from the beginning, and that love grew until the very end. Addie needed to find a way to escape the life she is supposed to live as a woman in France, 1714. “No matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.” As the sun sets, she is praying to any god that will listen to help her be free, someone eventually hears her... and they answer. 300 years later Addie walks into a bookstore to find a young man at the counter. Upon her return she realizes he remembers her...”

Maxwell, Paragraphs Bookstore

Interior Chinatown

“This satirical work is written in the form of a TV script that focuses on the 'generic Asian man.' It provides a deep, thought-provoking and brilliant social commentary that brings to light and challenges Asian stereotypes in Hollywood and on a larger scale. I really enjoyed this listening experience!”

Amy, Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers

The Children's Blizzard

“Melanie Benjamin is at her best in this historical fiction account of the terrifying blizzard of 1888. It seemingly came out of nowhere and caught the residents of the Midwest by surprise, especially the children and teachers who were preparing to go home for the day. Benjamin looks at the lives of two sisters — both teachers at different schools — and how their decisions that day meant life or death for their students. I spent several late nights on this one!”

Linda Hodges, Fiction Addiction

A Rogue of One's Own

“Being excited about a follow-up to a debut novel can be fraught — will the second book live up to my expectations? A Rogue of One’s Own absolutely did! Evie Dunmore’s series (the first entry was Bringing Down the Duke) features a quartet of lively suffragettes and the men they fall in love with and bring over to The Cause. The characters are compelling and likable, the relationships solidly built. There are also some interesting tidbits for history buffs, like excerpts of actual letters written by women of the time.”

Sandy Scott, The Galaxy Bookshop

Take a Hint, Dani Brown

“I loved the second of Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters series, Take a Hint, Dani Brown. Like the first, this book features realistic situations and diverse characters, and is also super sexy! Dani is a witchy PhD candidate teaching at a university, her classroom housed in the same building where Zafir Ansari works as a security guard. A former professional rugby player and a hopeless romantic, Zaf is a giant teddy bear. But workaholic Dani is the queen of no-strings-attached. After a security drill gone wrong ends with Zaf heroically carrying Dani out of the building, the incident goes viral on Instagram. Are Zaf and Dani just playing up #DrRugbae, or could they be something more? Hibbert yet again handles sensitive topics with grace and grants them visibility. I can’t wait for the next book!”

Mary, Raven Book Store

A misfit crew race across the galaxy to prevent the genocide of magical creatures, in this unique science fiction debut. Having magical powers makes you less than human, a resource to be exploited. Half-unicorn Gary Cobalt is sick of slavery, captivity, and his horn being ground down to power faster-than-light travel. When he's finally free, all... Read more »

If I Knew Then

“There comes a time in all our lives when we say, “If I knew then, ...” In this memoir, Jann Arden takes us there with humor, warmth, and honesty. Her words resonated deeply with me, a woman “of a certain age”. She reflects on growing up and growing older, on the ways her body has changed, on her father’s alcoholism, on her parents’ dementia and Altzheimer’s disease and deaths, and on the wisdom she has gained along the way. Some of us can relate very intimately with her story; others can relate to the humanity of it - to the conflicting emotions, to the loss, love, change, and growth. And above all, to the humor and hope. This is an entertaining and thought- and emotion-provoking quick listen.”

Nancy, Raven Book Store

A groundbreaking exposé and diagnosis of the silent epidemic of fear afflicting new mothers, and a candid, feminist deep dive into the culture, science, history, and psychology of contemporary motherhood
 
Anxiety among mothers is a growing but largely unrecognized crisis. In the transition to mother­hood and the years that follow, countless... Read more »

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR
ONE OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE'S #1 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
ONE OF GQ's TOP 50 BOOKS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY
Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, TIME, Slate,... Read more »

2018 Colorado Book Awards finalist in Creative Nonfiction, and National Bestseller and Honorable Mention Award Winner in the Outdoor Literature category of the 2017 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA)

“A beautiful book about family and finding a way to achieve more than you ever thought possible.” —Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling... Read more »

A Promised Land

“No one really needs my blurb to help sell this book, but I wanted to give it anyway, especially for the audiobook, narrated by Barack Obama himself. If you want to know his incredible knowledge and wisdom that guided him through major decisions, and also hear him drop a few F-bombs, you need to listen to this fantastically written book. ”

Amber, Quail Ridge Books

Amari and the Night Brothers

“Amari and the Night Brothers is a contemporary children's Sci-Fi/Fantasy in the vein of Men in Black and Supernatural. Monsters, magic, and supernatural beings living amongst us, but not everyone can see them (or even knows that they are there). Amari (and her missing older brother Quinton) can and have to balance living in the modern world and the one full of supernatural beings (and unsavory events). Fast paced, relatable, and a fun listen!”

Rebecca, Rediscovered Books

Like Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, is a powerful and deeply moving YA contemporary novel with a speculative twist about love, death, grief, and friendship.What if you could bring your best friend back to life—but only for a short... Read more »

In a nation on the brink of war, a young art student's star-crossed love begins to bloom in the first book of the New York Times bestselling epic fantasy trilogy by award-winning author Laini Taylor.
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark... Read more »

A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime... Read more »

International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood. A Printz Honor Book!If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang... Read more »