Staff Picks

Check here every month to see what the HPL staff recommends based on our reading.  You can also  find your next good book by stopping by or calling the Reference Desk, or by using our online form:  Your Next Good Book

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind By Harari, Yuval Noah 2015-02 - Harper 9780062316097 Check Our Catalog New York Times Bestseller A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1 international bestseller--that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of …More

No Easy Target By Johansen, Iris 2017-04 - St. Martin's Press 9781250075840 Check Our Catalog New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen returns with another thriller, No Easy Target Margaret Douglas has worked hard to put her painful past behind her. Raised off the grid in an abusive home, her only escape was the nearby forest where she sought refuge whenever she could. There, in the peaceful woods, she discovered a strange gift: the …More

Airborn By Oppel, Kenneth 2004-05 - Eos 0060531800 Check Our Catalog Now in paperback--a swashbuckling new fantasy by the bestselling author of the Silverwing trilogy. In the early 20th century, a young orphan serves as a cabin boy aboard an airship and is witness to life-and-death battles in the sea and above land. …More

Skybreaker By Oppel, Kenneth 2005-11 - Eos 9780060532277 Check Our Catalog Awards: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2006) Former cabin boy Matt Cruse, now a student at the prestigious Airship Academy, is first to identify the Hyperion, the private airship of a reclusive and fabulously wealthy inventor that disappeared forty years ago with its owner. Armed with the Hyperion's coordinates, which only he possesses, Matt, heiress Kate de Vries, and a mysterious young gypsy board the Sagarmatha, an airship fitted with the …More

Starclimber By Oppel, Kenneth 2009-02 - Harper Teen 9780060850579 Check Our Catalog Bestselling author Oppel returns to take readers back to the world of his Printz Honor Book "Airborn" and the "New York Times"-bestselling "Skybreaker," in this breathtaking new sequel. …More

You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself By McRaney, David 2013-07 - Gotham Books 9781592408054 Check Our Catalog The author of the bestselling "You Are Not So Smart" shares more discoveries about self-delusion and irrational thinking, and gives readers a fighting chance at outsmarting their not-so-smart brains David McRaney's first book, "You Are Not So Smart," evolved from his wildly popular blog of the same name. A mix of popular psychology and trivia, McRaney's insights have struck a chord …More

A Man Called Ove By Backman, Fredrik 2014-07 - Atria Books 9781476738017 Check Our Catalog Read the New York Times bestseller that has taken the world by storm In this "charming debut" (People) from one of Sweden's most successful authors, a grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon--the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if …More

News of the World By Jiles, Paulette 2016-10 - William Morrow & Company 9780062409201 Check Our Catalog National Book Award Finalist--Fiction It is 1870 and Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence. In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to …More

Mistborn: The Final Empire By Sanderson, Brandon 2006-07 - Tor Books 9780765311788 Check Our Catalog From the author of the acclaimed "Elantris" comes the first novel in his Mistborn trilogy--a story which dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? Reissue. …More

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd By Bradley, Alan 2016-09 - Delacorte Press 9780345539960 Check Our Catalog NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Hailed as "a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes" by The Boston Globe, Flavia de Luce returns in a much anticipated new Christmas mystery from award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Alan Bradley. In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to …More

Kitchens of the Great Midwest By Stradal, J. Ryan 2015-07 - Pamela Dorman Books 9780525429142 Check Our Catalog A sweet and savory treat. People An impressive feat of narrative jujitsu . . . that keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are. The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Pick Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a novelabout a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes …More

The Interestings By Wolitzer, Meg 2013-04 - Riverhead Books 9781594488399 Check Our Catalog From bestselling author Wolitzer comes a dazzling, panoramic novel about what becomes of early talent, and the roles that art, money, and even envy can play in close friendships. The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. …More

A Doubter's Almanac By Canin, Ethan 2016-02 - Random House 9781400068265 Check Our Catalog NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this mesmerizing novel, Ethan Canin, theauthor of America America and The Palace Thief, explores the nature of genius, rivalry, ambition, and love among multiple generations of a gifted family. Milo Andret is born with an unusual mind. A lonely child growing up in the woods of northern Michigan in the 1950s, he gives little …More

Moonglow By Chabon, Michael 2016-11 - Harper 9780062225559 Check Our Catalog NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the Sophie Brody Medal - An NBCC Finalist for 2016 Award for Fiction - ALA Carnegie Medal Finalist for Excellence in Fiction - Wall Street Journal's Best Novel of the Year - A New York Times Notable Book of the Year - A Washington Post Best Book of the …More

The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing By Jacob, Mira 2014-07 - Random House 9780812994780 Check Our Catalog NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY "THE BOSTON GLOBE, KIRKUS REVIEWS, BUSTLE, "AND EMILY GOULD, "THE MILLIONS" For fans of J. Courtney Sullivan, Meg Wolitzer, Mona Simpson, and Jhumpa Lahiri comes a winning, irreverent debut novel about a family wrestling with its future and its past. With depth, heart, and agility, debut novelist Mira Jacob takes us on a deftly …More

The Trespasser By French, Tana 2016-10 - Viking 9780670026333 Check Our Catalog New York Times bestselling author Tana French is "required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting" (The New York Times). She "inspires cultic devotion in readers . . . (The New Yorker) and is "the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years" (Washington Post). "Atmospheric and …More