Staff Picks

At our staff meetings we take a few minutes to talk about the books we are reading. This is a list of recent favorites. STAFF PICKS

'Tis the Season for Spooky Stories There is nothing more fun about October than preparing for the creepiest day of the year. Whether you're picking pumpkins or planning your Halloween costume, a great way to get into the spirit of the season is with a spine-tingling story. Ghosts by Gaslight, a collection of steampunk and supernatural suspense, will have your skin crawling just in time for Halloween. Modern authors such as Peter Beagle and John Harwood combine horror with fantasy to create 17 classic Victorian ghost stories. Readers looking for chilling tales in the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft and Jules Verne will find this anthology right up their alley.

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Read the Signals. the Body Language Handbook By Naik, Anita Author Sayer, Melissa 2009-01 - Crabtree Publishing Company 9780778744016 Check Our Catalog What people say with their bodies is just as important as whey they say with their words. Humans communicate nonverbally through hundreds of gestures and movements; how we stand, position our arms, or use facial expressions all reveal our thought or intentions. Come inside Secret Signals to learn how you can read others body language, and how to send the right signals with your own. …More

How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy By Allen, Crystal 2011-02 - Balzer & Bray/Harperteen 9780061992728 Check Our Catalog Thirteen-year-old Lamar Washington is the maddest, baddest, most spectacular bowler ever at Striker's Bowling Paradise. But while Lamar's a whiz at rolling strikes, he always strikes out with girls. And Lamar's brother, Xavier the Basketball Savior, is no help. Xavier earns trophy after trophy on the basketball court and soaks up all of Dad's attention, leaving no room in the house for Lamar's problems. So Lamar starts hustling at the local alley with bad boy Billy Jenks. When one of their schemes goes awry, Lamar ends up ruining his brother's shot at college and wreaking havoc on every relationship in his life. Can Lamar figure out how to mend his broken ties, no matter what the cost? From debut author Crystal Allen comes an unforgettable, laugh-out-loud story of one boy's struggle to win his family's admiration and get the girl of his dreams, all while playing the sport he loves. …More

The Bones of the Holy By Allison, Jennifer 2011-06 - Dutton Children's Books 9780525422129 Check Our Catalog Psychic investigator Gilda Joyce is appalled that her mother plans to remarry, but while they are in St. Augustine, Florida, making wedding arrangements Gilda discovers that the city is full of ghosts and mysteries, including one involving her stepfather-to-be. …More

The Pirate's Blood and Other Case Files By Cheshire, Simon Illustrator Alley, R. W. 2011-05 - Roaring Brook Press 9781596434769 Check Our Catalog Saxby Smart, schoolboy private detective, invites the reader to follow the clues as he investigates three cases involving hidden treasure, a string of break-ins where nothing is stolen, and a rare comic book taken from an undamaged safe. …More

Gluten-Free Baking By Vickery, Phil Photographer Fisher, Tara 2011-02 - Firefly Books 9781554078110 Check Our Catalog Fabulous recipes for those suffering from celiac disease. …More

Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories By Lillien, Lisa 2011-03 - St. Martin's Griffin 9780312676810 Check Our Catalog The #1 "New York Times"-bestselling Hungry Girl is back with another fantastic volume full of simple recipes for delicious, low-calories breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes, each under 300 calories. …More

Rommel's Desert War: Waging World War II in North Africa, 1941-1943 By Kitchen, Martin 2009-08 - Cambridge University Press 9780521509718 Check Our Catalog Comprehensive new history of the Axis campaign in North Africa within the broader strategic context of the Second World War. …More

Only His By Mallery, Susan 2011-10 - Wheeler Publishing 9781410440686 Check Our Catalog …More

The Surgeon By Gerritsen, Tess 2002-07 - Ballantine Books 9780345447845 Check Our Catalog In her most masterful novel of medical suspense, "New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen creates a villain of unforgettable evil--and the one woman who can catch him before he kills again. He slips into their homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, unaware of the horrors they soon will endure. The precision of the killer's methods suggests he is a deranged man of medicine, propelling the Boston newspapers and the frightened public to name him "The Surgeon." The cops' only clue rests with another surgeon, the victim of a nearly identical crime. Two years ago, Dr. Catherine Cordell fought back and killed her attacker before he could complete his assault. Now she hides her fears of intimacy behind a cool and elegant exterior and a well-earned reputation as a top trauma surgeon. Cordell's careful facade is about to crack as this new killer recreates, with chilling accuracy, the details of Cordell's own ordeal. With every new murder he seems to be taunting her, cutting ever closer, from her hospital to her home. Her only comfort comes from Thomas Moore, the detective assigned to the case. But even Moore cannot protect Cordell from a brilliant hunter who somehow understands--and savors--the secret fears of every woman he kills. Filled with the authentic detail that is the trademark of this doctor turned author . . . and peopled with rich and complex characters--from the ER to the squad room to the city morgue--here is a thriller of unprecedented depth and suspense. Exposing the shocking link between those who kill and cure, punish and protect, "The Surgeon is Tess Gerritsen's most exciting accomplishment yet. "From the Hardcoveredition. …More

The Help By Stockett, Kathryn 2009-02 - Amy Einhorn Books 9780399155345 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another. HPL patron: Best book I've read in a long time.  Love it. HPL patron: Four stars.  Quite  a look at our history. HPL patron: Loved this book, a true aspect of the past.  …More

Firestarter By King, Stephen 1980-09 - Viking Books 9780670315413 Check Our Catalog Eight-year-old Charlie was born with the most destructive personality power a human being has ever commanded. …More

Very Bad Men By Dolan, Harry 2011-07 - Amy Einhorn Books 9780399157493 Check Our Catalog David Loogan is living in Ann Arbor with Detective Elizabeth Waishkey and her daughter, Sarah. He's settled into a quiet routine as editor of the mystery magazine "Gray Streets"-until one day he finds a manuscript outside his door. It begins: "I killed Henry Kormoran." …More

Books That Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History By Taylor, Andrew 2009-01 - Quercus Books 9781847242549 Check Our Catalog Fast, consistent format --- interesting! …More

Slow Gardening: A No-Stress Philosophy for All Senses and All Seasons By Rushing, Felder Foreword by Swain, Roger B. 2011-06 - Chelsea Green Publishing Company 9781603582674 Check Our Catalog Thanks to the resurgence of home and community gardening, more and more people are discovering the pleasure of biting into a sun-ripened tomato picked right off the vine, the earthy smell of freshly turned soil, and the cheerful harbingers of spring such as daffodils, irises, and pansies. But they are also discovering that gardening can be a heck of a lot of work. So what happens when keeping up with the weeds turns into a full-time job? What do you do when gardening becomes stressful?"Slow Gardening" to the rescue! Inspired by Slow Food, an international movement that promotes local food systems and biological and cultural diversity, the slow-gardening approach can help us all appreciate and enjoy our gardens more, year in and year out.Felder Rushing, a well-known and truly one-of-a-kind garden expert, offers this practical yet philosophical approach to gardening - one that will help you slow down, take stock of your yard, and follow your own creative whimsy in the garden."Slow Gardening" will inspire you to slip into the rhythm of the seasons, take it easy, and get more enjoyment out of your garden, all at the same time. …More

Precious Objects: A Story of Diamonds, Family, and a Way of Life By Oltuski, Alicia 2011-07 - Scribner Book Company 9781416545125 Check Our Catalog A fascinating look at one family's journey from diamond dealing in Communist Siberia to the historic diamond district on New York's 47th Street. "Alicia Oltuski is an intrepid journalist able to write with precision and insight about the big issues in the diamond trade and the intimate details of life on Forty-Seventh Street."--Tony Hall, U.S. Representative. …More

The Four Insights: Wisdom, Power, and Grace of the Earthkeepers By Villoldo, Alberto 2006-09 - Hay House 9781401910457 Check Our Catalog This text reveals ancient technologies that readers can practice in order to become beings of light with the ability to perceive the energy and vibration that make up the physical universe at a much higher level. …More

The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans By Klindienst, Patricia 2007-04 - Beacon Press (MA) 9780807085714 Check Our Catalog Inspired by her own family's immigrant history, Patricia Klindienst traveled the country, gathering stories of urban, suburban, and rural gardens created by people rarely presented in books about American gardens: Native Americans, immigrants from across Asia and Europe, and ethnic peoples who were here long before our national boundaries were drawn. In The Earth Knows My Name, she writes about the beautiful gardens she discovered, each one an island of hope, offering us a model--on a sustainable scale--of a truly restorative ecology. "A moving tribute to those who keep the ancient love of the land in their hearts, and who stand up to the giants of agrobusiness in their fight to preserve their cultural heritage." --Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, UN Messenger of Peace, and author of Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating "Carefully weaving the threads of the cultures that were here before with those that came later, Klindienst makes her case for the deep, life-giving integrity of the earth . . . This is a poignant book that shows, without undue sentimentality, the underlying element we all share and can bring to life with our hands." --Edie Clark, Orion Patricia Klindienst is a master gardener and an award-winning scholar and teacher. She lives in Guilford, Connecticut, and teaches creative writing each summer at Yale University. …More

The Day They Came to Arrest the Book the Day They Came to Arrest the Book By Hentoff, Nat 1983-07 - Laurel Leaf Library 9780440918141 Check Our Catalog Who would have believed that "The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn could cause the worst crisis in the history of George Mason High School? Certainly not Barney Roth, editor of the school paper. But when a small but vocal group of students and parents decide that the book is racist, sexist, and immoral--and should be removed from reading lists and the school library--Barney takes matters into his own hands. When the Huck Finn issue comes up for a hearing, Barney decides to print his story about previous censorship efforts at school. He's sure that investigative reporting and publicity can help the cause. But is he too late to turn the tide of censorship? …More

The Care & Feeding of Spinning Wheels: A Buyer's Guide & Owner's Manual By Pauli, Karen Illustrator Currier, Donna 1981-04 - Interweave Press 9780934026048 Check Our Catalog …More

722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York By Hood, Clifton 1995-09 - Johns Hopkins University Press 9780801852442 Check Our Catalog In this definitive history, Clifton Hood traces the complex and fascinating story of the New York City subway system, one of the urban engineering marvels of the twentieth century. For the subway's centennial the author supplies a new foreward explaining that now, after a century, "we can see more clearly than ever that this rapid transit system is among the twentieth century's greatest urban achievements." …More