Stephen's Picks
Stephen's parents used to put books in his crib to keep him quiet when he woke up early in the morning, thus starting him on a lifetime of loving literature. At home, he enjoys reading mysteries and poetry, with occasional forays into horror and fantasy. A displaced Vermonter, he has lived in southwest Michigan since the mid-'90s.
Amber Ruffin (Late Night with Seth Meyers) and her sister Lacey Lamar recount the subtle and not-so-subtle racism that Lacey faces living as a Black woman in Omaha, NE, in a style that is both tongue-in-cheek and deadly serious. Funny, cringeworthy, and educational (for this white reader at least).
Laughter may be the best medicine, but sometimes you just need transcranial magnetic stimulation. As with her two previous books, Lawson speaks honestly about her mental and physical struggles, as well as her general awkwardness, using humor to make some serious points. The chapter, “An Open Letter to My Insurance Company” alone is worth the price of admission.
Full of joy, generosity, and the incisive humor that has led David Sedaris to be called “the funniest man alive” (Time Out New York), The Best of Me spans a career spent watching and learning and laughing—quite often at himself—and invites readers deep into the world of one of the most brilliant and original writers of our time. -Highly Recommended by Stephen
Birdie Divine, a private investigator in Victorian London, is hired to find the kidnapped child of a baronet, a child who has certain peculiar traits that would make her valuable to collectors of oddities and natural wonders. Accompanied by the ghost of a boxer and her seven-foot housemaid, Birdie pursues the case through all levels of London society. An astounding book, rich in detail and full of memorable characters.
When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, Copenhagen police detectives establish a link between the victim, and her landlady, who's a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends.
Dawson unearths the career of forensic science pioneer Edward Oscar Heinrich, once a major figure in the criminal justice field but now largely forgotten. Perfect for true crime aficionados and fans of TV shows like CSI: Las Vegas and its spin-offs.
Bryson's latest book discusses the major human systems and organs and discusses how they function, what they do, and how they can go wrong, all in Bryson's inimitable style. Highly recommended!
Facing a crisis of faith, Timothy Egan decided to reconnect with his Catholic roots by making a pilgrimage along the Via Francigena—a medieval route from Canterbury to Rome. Along the way, he encounters believers of various types and asks some of the hard questions of belief. A complicated and insightful book.
A young woman and her seven-year-old son, on the run from an abusive relationship, settle in a small, Pennsylvania town. Life is hard for the two, but generally good, until the son disappears for six days and comes back with a voice in his head that only he can hear. The voice tells him to build a tree house in the forest or else the whole town will suffer, and things spiral out of control from there. A rich, nuanced novel of horror on an epic scale.
A brutal serial killer is terrorizing Copenhagen, leaving behind little dolls made of chestnuts as a calling card. Two detectives must put aside their differences and overcome internal police politics and government pressure to solve the case. This may sound like a typical, by-the-numbers police procedural, but Sveistrup ratchets up the tension and adds enough unexpected twists to raise this mystery to a level way above the average thriller.
In an alternate 1921 New York, a wall running the length of Broadway divides Manhattan into the normal, although overcrowded, Eastside and the strange, magical, dangerous, feral Westside. Westsider Gilda Carr works as a private detective solving “small mysteries.” But one of her cases—finding a missing glove—drags her into the very large mystery of why the Westside is the way it is and who is profiting from it. A stunningly imaginative debut novel.
After a brutal car accident, college student Tara Beckley finds herself in a “locked in” coma: aware of everything happening around her but unable to move. Meanwhile, insurance investigator Abby Kaplan discovers the accident may not have been all that it initially seemed. Her discovery, and what follows, put both women in the sights of a ruthless young hit man. Excellent suspense from a master of the genre.
Helen Franklin is a reclusive Englishwoman living in Prague. Her friend Karel tells her about a letter he found that speaks of a mysterious figure known as Melmoth, an immortal woman who is doomed to wander the earth forever and who tries to trap others into joining her. Helen is skeptical, but when Karel disappears and unexplained events start piling up, she begins to wonder if there is some truth behind the legends. An atmospheric novel in the Gothic tradition, marked by beautiful writing.
In a near-future America, women have been reduced to second-class citizens, limited (among other things) to speaking only 100 words a day, a limit enforced with electric-shock cuffs. But that’s only the beginning of this story of family sorrow, political oppression, and eventual redemption. Bears comparison to A Handmaid’s Tale.
A girl whose touch can kill or resurrect. A house on the edge of a haunted forest. Mysterious disappearances. Handsome heroes and scheming villains. What Should Be Wild reads like a classic fairy tale with unique modern twists. A stunning debut novel.
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