Staff Picks: January 2021
The first month of 2021 has gone. We read some great books this month, so without further ado, here are our staff picks from January 2021.
AVAILABLE AT THE LIBRARY
RACHEL: A Good Man by Ani Katz
GENRE: Fiction, Suspense
WHY SHE CHOSE IT: I demolished this book in a single sitting, partially because of how little it is but also because the simple prose sucked me in immediately. The tension of the story strung me along the whole way, and even though I knew what is going to happen, watching exactly how the situation degraded to that point was as fascinating as it was sickening. The best (and worst) thing about A Good Man is that, despite the fact that it’s fictitious, the story is real. The main character is a perfect reflection of how badly the patriarchy fails both men and women in equal measure, but in completely different ways. This is a good book if you are looking for a short read that packs a punch, or if you want to feel unspeakably angry with a man who is made-up, but in many ways, most definitely exists.
THE SYNOPSIS: Thomas Martin is everything a man is supposed to be. He has a beautiful wife and a loving daughter, a good house on Long Island, a flourishing career at a prestigious Manhattan advertising firm. He’s a good son and brother, taking it upon himself to support his ailing mother and adult sisters. He knows it’s his God-given duty to shield them, his girls, from the everyday horrors of the world.
But he has failed, and unspeakable tragedy has befallen his family.
Now, Thomas struggles to come to terms with what has become of his life. If only he can tell the story as he saw it, he believes he might find out how and why things unravelled so horribly; how he failed so disastrously.
Because Thomas Martin is a good man.
ELIZABETH: Recursion by Blake Crouch
GENRE: Science Fiction, Thriller
WHY SHE CHOSE IT: Do you remember it as the Berenstain Bears or the Berenstein Bears? (It's Berenstain.)
Do you remember Rich Uncle Pennybags (from the Monopoly boardgame) wearing a monocle? (Nope, he must have perfect eyesight as he doesn't wear a monocle.)
In "Silence of the Lambs" does Hannibal Lecter say, “Hello, Clarice” or does he say, “Good morning”? (Spoiler - he says "Good morning.")
Do you recall watching Ed McMahon showing up on doorsteps to hand out oversized cheques because people had struck it rich in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes? (Nope, never happened.)
How about C-3PO in "Star Wars" - was the droid completely gold - top to bottom? (Surprise! C-3PO's right leg below the knee is silver.)
Is it the lion or a wolf that lies down with the lamb? (It's a wolf.)
These are a few examples of the Mandela Effect (also known as Collective False Memories) and if you have been curious about this phenomenon, you might enjoy this story.
Happy reading!
THE SYNOPSIS: Reality is broken.
At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery—and what’s in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself.
In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth—and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back.
Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy—before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos.
LISA S.: The Push by Ashley Audrain
GENRE: Fiction, Psychological Drama
WHY SHE CHOSE IT: I could not put this book down, and I am devastated that I will never experience again for the first time. It’s not for the faint of heart, as the subject matter is heavy. The Push deals with the relationships between mothers and daughters (and subtly poses the question of abuse and mental illness being genetically predisposed), and what happens when the mother you turn out to be brings all your worst fears to light. This novel was compulsive, hard to stomach in many parts, and also made me cringe when I saw some of my own thoughts reflected back at me. Motherhood is HARD, and this book deals with the ugly underbelly of a mother’s anxiety and fear. This book is one thing that turns into another, and it’s a must-read.
THE SYNOPSIS: Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.
But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter—she doesn’t behave like most children do.
Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.
Then their son Sam is born—and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.
CLICK TO RESERVE “The Push” by Ashley Audrain
AVAILABLE ON LIBBY
LISA G.: Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
GENRE: Biography
WHY SHE CHOSE IT: I picked this book because it sounded interesting, and it had me hooked from the first line. Clocking in at just over 17 hours for the audiobook, I listened to it over two days, and I don't think the shock wore off for two more after that. The Galvin family has 12 children in a little over two decades in the 60s and 70s, six of whom are diagnosed schizophrenics by adulthood, and abuse the healthy 6 children while they are growing up. The family is the first to be part of a study determining the nature vs. nurture effects of schizophrenia on the human brain giving researchers a unique look at their family to see why some children of the same family were able to escape the same mental illness, and others were not. I started this book on NYE 2021, and it is easily my fave book of the year.
THE SYNOPSIS: Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the dream. After World War II, Don's work with the US Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years there was an established script for a family like the Galvins— aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony— and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen in one family?
What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institutes of Mental Health. Their shocking story also offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy and the premise of the schizophrenogenic mother, to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amidst profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. Unknown to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment and even the possibility of the eradication of the disease for future generations.
CLICK TO RESERVE THE AUDIOBOOK “Hidden Valley Road” by Robert Kolker
ABBEY: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
GENRE: Fiction, Epistolary Novel
WHY SHE CHOSE IT: Even though it’s a really short book it required me to use my brain the entire time. It’s written in letters between characters and it’s so unique. A bunch of terrible things happen in the story but I was just so fascinated with the crazy writing that I barely noticed. One of the coolest books I have ever read.
THE SYNOPSIS: Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram* "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island's Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl's fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.
*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet
Did you find anything you’d like to add to your reading list? Let us know in the comments which ones piqued your interest.
Happy reading everyone.
