January 20, 2021
Featured in this week's Book Talk Bakersfield:
  • Join staff members, Fahra and Jasmin, as they judge books by their covers. Upcoming titles include February 2021 releases and catch up on what they have been reading, watching, and listening to. 
Fahra Daredia
Beale Memorial Library
Jasmin LoBasso
Kern County Library
Fahra is reading...

Among the Beasts and Briars
by Ashley Poston
 
Cerys is safe in the Kingdom of Aloriya. Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden.
Cerys knows this all too well: When she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything.
As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions a small and irritating fox from the royal garden and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home.
But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.
  • Also available as eBook on OverDrive
  • Also available as eBook on CloudLibrary
 
Jukebox
by Nidhi Chanani

A mysterious Jukebox, old vinyl records, and cryptic notes on music history, are Shaheen's only clues to her father's abrupt disappearance. She looks to her cousin, Tannaz, who seems just as perplexed, before they both look at the Jukebox which starts…glowing?

Suddenly, the girls are pulled from their era and transported to another time! Keyed to the music on the record, the Jukebox sends them to decade after decade of music history, from political marches, to landmark concerts. But can they find Shaheen’s dad before the music stops? This time-bending magical mystery tour invites readers to take the ride of their lives for a coming-of-age adventure.
  • Coming June 2021
 
Jasmin is reading...
 
The Princess Saves Herself in This One
by Amanda Lovelace

From Amanda Lovelace, a poetry collection in four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. The first three sections piece together the life of the author while the final section serves as a note to the reader. This moving book explores love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, and inspiration.
  • Also available as eBook on HooplaDigital
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What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal
by E. Jean Carroll

The veteran advice columnist behind the long-running "Ask E. Jean" draws on interviews with a diverse range of women collected during a rollicking road trip, in a darkly humorous exploration of the actual role men play in society.
  • Also available as eAudiobook on OverDrive
  • Also available as eAudiobook on HooplaDigital
​

Even More Titles We Talk About

    Books
    All the Tides of Fate by Adalyn Grace
    Banned Book Club by Hyun Sook Kim
    A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
    Estranged: The Changeling King 2 by Ethan M. Aldridge
    Fangs by Sarah Andersen
    Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
    The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
    The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis
    The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
    Muse by Brittany Cavallaro
    The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto
    Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke
    Of Wicked Blood by Wildenstein, Olivia & Hayoz, Katie
    Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
    Playing Cupid by Alban, SC
    Poisoned Apples: Poems For You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann
    Ritu Weds Chandni by Narvankar, Ameya
    We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire by Joy McCullough
    What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo
    The Wide Starlight by Nicole Lesperance

    Shows

    Kendall Rae also on  YouTube