Sarah (Reference)

Inspired by the House of Xtravaganza documented in the Paris is Burning documentary, Cassara brings the reader to 1980s New York and the Harlem ball scene in The House of Impossible Beauties. The novel follows Angel, a trans Latina queen, and her lover Hector as they form the House of Xtravaganza, a safe haven for Latino queens and outcasts. This novel shows the beautiful yet tragic tale of people struggling to survive against police, social stigma, and the unrelenting wave of AIDs. You will smile, sing, dance, cry, and growl as our characters fight to claim a space in a world that seems determined to erase them. I recommend the audiobook as the narrator creates a voice for each character that’s recognizable and real.  

Sarah (Reference)

I’m someone who uses crocheting and knitting to reduce anxiety and challenge myself to learn new things. I’ve also learned more about myself when creating things for others, myself, and just for fun. This is what led me to listen to Alanna Okun’s The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater: Essays on Crafting. Okun talks about her journey with knitting throughout her life, from learning with her grandmother, tackling complicated projects and life events, and building a massive blanket. It’s a book that can be read a chapter at a time or in one binge-reading session. Okun weaves life and humor into a wonderful memoir that leaves you wanting to pick up your hooks and needles and makes something. This book is available as an audiobook and perfect for listening to while working on a cozy and comforting project.

Garrett (Reference)

The Miner is a brief novel of the absurd penned by Natsume Soseki at the start of the 20th century. Informed by the then-contemporary Ashio Copper Mine riots, it details the perceptions, thoughts, and encounters of its unnamed narrator as his quest to leave educated society behind descends into an ugly, hellish world of mindless labor. Unabashedly stark, pensive, and experimental, this novel will appeal to readers of absurdist classics like Kafka's The Castle and Gogol's Dead Souls.

Garrett (Reference)

The Cilappatikaram ("Tale of the Anklet") is an ancient Tamil epic poem centered around the tragic couple Kovalan and Kannaki. The tale is divided into three parts: the Book of Pukar, which begins with the pair's courtship and initial struggles; the Book of Maturai, which describes the unjust death of Kovalan, the righteous fury of Kannaki, and her apotheosis into the goddess Pattini; and the Book of Vanci, which follows King Cenkuttuvan of Chera as he conquers his way to the Himalayas and back to build a temple for Kannaki. I recommend this book to any fan of the Asian epics who's interested in seeing the emotional and domestic struggles of ordinary people represented in that style just as much as the military and existential struggles of kings and gods.

Jason B. (Circulation)

Sci fi novel in the Star Wars universe reintroducing Thrawn, a ruthless and cunning military leader, and his rise in the Empire.

Jason B. (Circulation)

Fantasy/ swashbucking novel with hints of steampunk featuring dragons, airships, assassinations, and political intrigue. Captain Kate struggles to keep her privateer crew afloat and gets caught up in a conspiracy for a throne that threatens to shake up the entire world.

Jason B. (Circulation)

Fairy tales take on a futuristic/sci fi twist as a deadly plague ravages the Earth. Cinder, an android, must unravel her mysterious past for she holds the key to saving the Earth from a Lunar attack.

Jason B. (Circulation)

A prequel to David Weber's bestselling Honorverse series. Stephanie Harrington wanted to be a forest ranger on her homeworld Meyerdahl, but then her family moved to the frontier planet of Sphinx. There she makes first contact with an intelligent alien creature she calls a treecat and they form a telepathic bond. She then has to fight for her new friend against highly placed enemies who are determined to make Sphinx a humans only planet.

Jason B. (Circulation)

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer's Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery - magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library's most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth's desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she's been taught - about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.