Staff Picks
April 2026
FICTION we've enjoyed
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession
Leonard and Hungry Paul
by Ronan Hession

Two friends—who still live with their parents, are resolutely kind, and like to read and play board games—discover that they are not considered “normal” and struggle to protect their concept of what’s meaningful in life. This charming and truly unique debut is about the uncelebrated people of this world, the gentle, the meek, the humble. As they struggle to persevere, the book asks a surprisingly enthralling question: Is it really them against the world, or are they on to something? 
Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk
Thirst
by Marina Yuszczuk

In present day Buenos Aires, a woman grappling with her dying mother encounters a vampire in a cemetery, and as they confront fear, loneliness, mortality and yearning, something ignites between them while the weight of Buenos Aires' tumultuous past resurfaces in the dramas of the present. Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures. 
August Blue by Deborah Levy
August Blue
by Deborah Levy

A novel about wayward selves, femininities, sexualities, avatars, alter egos, and the twin poles of compassion and cruelty that exist within all of us. At the height of her career, the piano virtuoso Elsa M. Anderson--former child prodigy, now in her thirties--walks off the stage in Vienna, midperformance. She drifts to Athens, on the run from her talent and her history. So begins her journey across Europe, shadowed by an elusive woman who seems to be her double.
That's Not How It Happened by Craig Thomas
That's Not How It Happened
by Craig Thomas

Paige didn't set out to be a stay-at-home mom, but when her husband's screenwriting career took off right before they had a son with Down syndrome, the decision was made for her. Now, with their children nearly grown and unsure what's next, Paige writes a memoir about the challenges of raising a child with a disability. When a major actress-turned-producer shows up at her door eager to make her “inspiring” story into a movie, she's shocked, excited, and a little terrified. 
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
by Michiko Aoyama

What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it and achieve their dreams. For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a charming novel about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. It’s a treat! 
The Payback by Kashana Cauley
The Payback
by Kashana Cauley

Jada Williams is good at judging people by their looks. Too bad she's no longer using this superpower as a wardrobe designer for Hollywood stars, but for minimum wage at the Glendale mall. When Jada is fired yet again, she is forced to outrun the newly instated Debt Police. But Jada, like any great antihero, is not going to wait for the cops to come kick her around. With the help of two other debt-burdened mall coworkers, she  plans a heist to erase their student loans forever and get back at the system that promised them everything and then tried to take it back. 
The Mudflats Murder Club by Brian Thiem
The Mudflats Murder Club
by Brian Thiem

Former homicide detective Sean Tanner has settled into Spartina Island's private retirement community, hoping to find solace after his wife's death. He soon finds himself drawn into the Mudflats Murder Club, an enthusiastic group of retired detectives, prosecutors, and forensic experts who are engrossed in solving a 38-year-old unsolved murder. But the quiet of the community is shattered when Sean's neighbor, Nancy Russo, is found dead in her home. When Sean and his cohorts uncover a shocking connection between Nancy’s murder and their long-standing cold case, everything they thought they knew goes up in flames. 
He's to Die for by Erin Dunn
He's to Die For
by Erin Dunn

At 29, Detective Rav Trivedi is the youngest member of the NYPD's homicide squad, and his future looks bright. When his CO assigns him lead on the high-profile murder of a record executive, Rav is ready for action. He won't be distracted by TV crews, tabloids, or what's trending on social media, nor by the ridiculously hot rock star with a clear motive and no alibi. This is his shot, and he is certainly not going to screw it up by falling in love with his number one suspect.. 
It Devours!: A Welcome to Night Vale Novel by Joseph Fink
It Devours!
by Joseph Fink

Nilanjana Sikdar has the difficult job of being a scientist in Night Vale. After head scientist Carlos gives her a secret assignment to investigate a rumbling in the desert, Nilanjana meets Darryl Ramirez, a member of the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God and asks him out on a date. During her investigation, she becomes convinced that the Joyous Congregation has something to do with the rumbling. Nilanjana and Darryl, along with their scientist and worshipper friends, must work together to figure out what is threatening the town and stop it. 
Phantom Road Volume 1 by Jeff Lemire
Phantom Road
by Jeff Lemire

Dom is a long-haul truck driver attempting to stay ahead of his tragic past. When he stops one night to assist Birdie, who has been in a massive car crash, they pull an artifact from the wreckage that throws their lives into fifth gear. Suddenly, a typical midnight run has become a frantic journey through a surreal world where Dom and Birdie find themselves the quarry of strange and impossible monsters.
NONFICTION we've enjoyed
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Say Nothing
by Patrick Radden Keefe

The brutal violence during the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland seared not only people like the McConville children whose mother was disappeared, but also IRA members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland. From radical IRA members, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace but betrayed his comrades by denying his IRA past, this book conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish. 
The Devil Wears Rothko: Inside the Art Scandal That Rocked the World by Barry Avrich
The Devil Wears Rothko
by Barry Avrich

From the moment an eccentric woman walked into New York's Knoedler Gallery with a Mark Rothko painting, everyone was fooled. For the next ten years, she ran a lucrative forgery ring, selling or consigning forty expertly crafted counterfeits claimed to be the works of Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and others. The Devil Wears Rothko exposes the art world as a fragile system of relationships vulnerable to manipulation by the most captivating artists of our time: con artists. 
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
Messy Roots
by Laura Gao

After spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas, where her hometown is as foreign as Marsat, at least until 2020, when COVID-19 makes Wuhan a household name. In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.
The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case by Chuck Hogan
The Carpool Detectives
by Chuck Hogan

In 2020, four women discover they all share a passion for true crime that crystalizes around a mysterious double homicide that took place a decade earlier. A married couple in their 60s vanished overnight from their home. A few days later, the family business was shuttered, and the bank financing it sued the missing couple for one million dollars. They were rumored to have absconded with the money, until their bodies were discovered inside their car at the bottom of a steep ravine. And then the case went cold. But what if, the moms think, they could solve it? 
The Hollywood MBA: A Crash Course in Management from a Life in the Film Business by Tom Reilly
The Hollywood MBA
by Tom Reilly

Reilly explores the ten key strategies he utilized to manage big crews, big budgets, and big personalities on major motion pictures and shows us how these strategies can be leveraged in any business for success. With an eye for making small adjustments to management strategy that produce big results, Reilly utilizes the narrative backdrop of the film set as an extreme case study in modern management identifying proven, easy-to-implement, and often counter intuitive practices.