Staff Picks Newsletter
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick

Science Fiction: The inspiration for Blade Runner. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published in 1968. Grim and foreboding, even today it is a masterpiece ahead of its time. By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans. Emigrees to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in. Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids and retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.

Recommended by Chris, Ewing Branch
A Fall of Marigolds
by Susan Meissner

Fiction: September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries...and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she's made. Will what she learns devastate her or free her? September 2011. On Manhattan's Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers... the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf open Taryn's eyes to the larger forces at work in her life?

Recommended by Andrea, Hickory Corner Branch
All Systems Red
by Martha Wells

Science Fiction: In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Recommended by Emily, Hightstown Memorial Branch
I want 100 dogs
by Stacy McAnulty

Picture Book: After meeting a dog during a walk, a little girl declares that she wants one hundred dogs, but as her parents point out all the difficulties, she gradually reduces the number--until she gets the one dog she really wants.

Recommended by Rebecca, Hollowbrook Branch
Nala's world: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride Around the Globe
by Dean Nicholson

Biography: The @1bike1world Instagram sensation shares the full story of his life-changing relationship with his rescue cat, Nala, and their inspiring bicycle journeys through the refugee camps, remarkable terrains and animal shelters of the world.

Recommended by Kelly, Hopewell Branch
Rising Water: The Story of the Thai Cave Rescue
by Marc Aronson

Young Adult Non-fiction: An account of the incredible true story of the Wild Board soccer team's summer 2018 rescue from a flooded cave in Thailand describes the sudden downpour that trapped them, the tragic death of a Thai Navy SEAL and the international effort to swim the boys and their coach to safety.

Recommended by Julia, Lawrence Headquarters Branch
Lulu is a Rhinoceros
by Jason Flom

Picture Book: Everyone thinks Lulu is a bulldog, but she knows that can't be true, because Lulu is a Rhinoceros -- that is what she sees staring back at her when she looks in the mirror. But sometimes, being yourself can be a difficult road to walk. And just when all hope seems lost, Lulu finds a small friend that makes a big difference in her life when she realizes that the courage to be herself has been inside of her all along.

Recommended by Debbie, Robbinsville Branch
Chain-Gang All-Stars
by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Fiction: The star of a popular, but controversial for-profit program in the private prison industry that basically turns prisoners into gladiators contemplates freedom, in the new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Friday Black.

Recommended by McKenna, Twin Rivers Branch
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann

Non-fiction: Presents a true account of the early 20th-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Reprint. A New York Times best-seller and National Book Award finalist.

Recommended by Queenie, West Windsor Branch
Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World
by John Vaillant

Non-fiction: In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada's oil industry and America's biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration--the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina--John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world. Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook our food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines that drive our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control, and in our new age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways. With masterly prose and a cinematic eye, Vaillant takes us on a riveting journey through the intertwined histories of North America's oil industry and the birth of climate science, to the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern forest fires, and into lives forever changed by these disasters. John Vaillant's urgent work is a book for--and from--our new century of fire, which has only just begun.

Recommended by Laura, Information Technology Department
Want More Staff Picks?
goodreads

See our curated staff lists on our goodreads page.
Facebook

Weekly picks on Facebook.
Past Issues

Past issues of Staff Picks in our NextReads archive.


Mercer County Library System
2751 Brunswick Pike
Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648
609-882-9246

https://mcl.org