Tim's Staff Picks

Cold Storage

“Meet Cordyceps Novus, a highly adaptable fungus that just wants one thing: to take over the world. After being contained underground for 40 years, conditions are finally perfect for a comeback. Several floors above, two young night-shift security guards decide to track down the source of the mysterious alarm below. David Koepp’s debut novel is both terrifying and humorous — a thrilling combination. After getting an inside look at the growth and spread of this fungus, I will never look at a mushroom the same way again.”

Mary Salazar, The Country Bookshop

The Snakes

“What role does money play in our lives? Family? Those two questions are at the heart of this amazing story by Sadie Jones. This book deserves to be read (or listened to) and examined and would be a great choice for a book club - there is a great deal here to be dissected and analyzed. Dan and Bea are newly married Londoners who are managing to do fine in the London economy. Dan has grown up in poverty, but Bea grew up in luxury. A key line in the story is when Dan realizes that to Bea "money is a cage," while to him, "money is freedom." That difference the two of them share is an underlying current throughout the story as they arrive at the abandoned hotel in Burgundy where Bea's brother Alex is living after rehab. When tragedy strikes the family Bea gets pulled back in to her family, even after she tried to divorce herself from them. As the story unfolds the reader learns that it's not just the nest of snakes in the hotel attic that are a presence - it's the snakes that are in human form that a person needs to be most careful around.”

Jennifer, The Bookstore at Fitger's

Vacationland

“If you're already a fan of John Hodgman, then you know what to expect from Vacationland: wit that veers from gentle to biting, poignancy and hilarity, clear-eyed self-examination, peevishness and compassion. If you're new to his work, then you're in for a treat. Hodgman's newest book, based on material from his comedy tour of the same name, is hilarious, heartbreaking and charming. And the audiobook is an extra treat. Hodgman knows when he's being funny and when he's not, and his delivery and comic timing is never lacking. Enjoy Vacationland on your next road trip!”

Emily, Inklings Bookshop

Life Undercover

“Her unconventional childhood—think playing unsupervised on the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Washington, D.C.—prepared Amaryllis Fox for a career in the CIA. She was recruited because as part of her master’s studies at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, she developed an algorithm that was amazingly accurate at predicting where terrorist cells might pop up in the world. Soon, she was deployed as a spy in the Middle East while posing as an art dealer. After 10 years, Fox left the CIA and is now a writer, a current events analyst, a peace activist, and a mother. One wonders what is next in her fascinating life!”

Sally Wizik Wills, Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery

Bad Blood

“Theranos was a startup that set itself apart from the bevy of others in Silicon Valley. Its cause was noble, manufacturing revolutionary medical technology that could run a menu of blood tests on only a finger stick's worth of blood, eliminating the need for large painful needles. There was only one problem: the technology didn't exist. Painstakingly researched but still accessible to the medical layman, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist John Carreyrou investigates the meteoric rise and fall of Theranos, exploring how the company managed to fool the public, investors, board members like George Schultz and Henry Kissinger, and even Barack Obama. A must for true crime podcast fans, especially if you find yourself needing a break from the more gruesome stuff.”

Maggie, Square Books

The bold and boundlessly original debut novel from the Oscar®-winning screenwriter of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Synecdoche, New York.

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • “A dyspeptic satire that owes much to Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon . . . propelled by Kaufman’s deep... Read more »

The Splendid and the Vile

“What riveting trip through the war on the capable albeit somewhat eccentric shoulders of Churchill. Not only does Larson provide a top-notch history of World War II, but he also provides an intimate look at the man and the family and associates of that one man, that unlikely hero, who now seems the only one who could have led Britain through the fight against Hitler. Highly recommended.”

Kelly, Raven Book Store

Furious Hours

“In Cold Blood and To Kill a Mockingbird kept me up reading all night as a teen, and I can now add Furious Hours to the list of couldn’t-put-it-down tomes. I was enthralled, educated, and awestruck by Casey Cep’s well-researched and masterfully written true-crime account of a rural minister, his lawyer, and his killer. Thankfully, Cep discovered and brought to light what surely could have been Harper Lee’s second bestseller. Now…off to get a good night’s rest!”

Beth Stroh, Viewpoint Books

Nothing Ventured heralds the start of a brand new series in the style of Jeffrey Archer’s #1 New York Times bestselling Clifton Chronicles: introducing Detective William Warwick. But this is not a detective story, this is a story about the making of a detective . . .

William Warwick has always wanted to be a detective, and decides, much to his... Read more »

#1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Gardner returns with an unpredictable thriller that puts fan favorites D. D. Warren and Flora Dane on a shocking new case that begins with a vicious murder and gets darker from there.A man is dead, shot three times in his home office. But his computer has been shot twelve times, and when the cops arrive, his... Read more »

As heard on NPR's "Science Friday," discover the book recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant: an "accessible, informative, and hilarious" introduction to the weird and wonderful world of artificial intelligence (Ryan North).

"You look like a thing and I love you" is one of the best pickup lines ever . . .... Read more »

A young woman leaves Appalachia for life as a classical musician—or so she thinks.

When aspiring violinist Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman lands a job with a professional ensemble in New York City, she imagines she has achieved her lifelong dream. But the ensemble proves to be a sham. When the group "performs," the microphones are never on.... Read more »

New from Ian McEwan, Booker Prize winner and international bestselling author of Atonement and The Children Act Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London. Britain has lost the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power, and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like... Read more »

He wants to remember. She needs to forget. . . . Memento meets Sharp Objects in a gripping psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water and The Disappearing Act.

“Twisty . . . highly imaginative . . . deliciously provocative.”—The Washington Post

Who is Mr. Nobody?

When a man is found on a British... Read more »