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A Note on this Staff Picks issue: While the MCLS is closed, we still want to provide you with a list of staff picks, all these titles are available in print and digital format.
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Hillbilly Elegy : A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J. D. Vance
Non-Ficton: Vance, a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, provides an account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class. The decline of this group, a demographic of our countrythat has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck. The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.'s grandparents were "dirt poor and in love," and moved north from Kentucky's Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance's grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and traumaso characteristic of their part of America.
Recommended by Lisa, Ewing Branch
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Grass Kings
by Matt Kindt
Graphic Novel: Three brothers who rule their own trailer park kingdom must face off against the sheriff of a neighboring town who wants their territory. From The New York Times bestselling writer Matt Kindt ( Mind MGMT ) and artist Tyler Jenkins ( Peter Panzerfaust ) comes the critically acclaimed rural mystery series chronicling the tragic lives of the Grass Kings, three brothers and rulers of a self-sufficient trailer park kingdom - a fiefdom of the hopeless and lost seeking a promised land. The grass kingdom is run by eldest brother Robert, who has been grief-stricken since losing his daughter years ago. When a mysterious young woman flees to their community in search of safety, Robert takes her in. As her true identity comes to light, Robert must decide if his chance at atonement is worth risking the entire Kingdom.
Recommended by Mary Elizabeth, Hickory Corner Branch
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Garden Spells
by Sarah Addison Allen
Ficton: A successful caterer in Bascomb, North Carolina, Claire has always remained tied to the long and magical legacy of the Waverly family, until her peaceful life is transformed by Tyler Hughes, an art teacher and new next-door neighbor, and by the return of her prodigal sister, Sydney, who has arrived with her five-year-old daughter, Bay.
Recommended by Diana, Hightstown Memorial Branch
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Where We Belong : A Novel
by Emily Giffin
Fiction: Her carefully constructed life thrown into turmoil by the appearance of an 18-year-old girl with ties to her past, New York City television producer Marian Caldwell is swept up in a maelstrom of personal discovery that changes both of their perceptions about family. By the best-selling author of Baby Proof.
Recommended by Alyssa, Hollowbrook Branch
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The One You Fight For
by Roni Loren
Fiction: Taryn Landry was there that awful night fourteen years ago when Long Acre changed from the name of a town to the title of a national tragedy. Everyone knows she lost her younger sister. No one knows it was her fault. Since then, psychology professor Taryn has dedicated her life's work to preventing something like that from ever happening again. Falling in love was never part of the plan...Shaw Miller has spent more than a decade dealing with the fallout of his brother's horrific actions. After losing everything--his chance at Olympic gold, his family, almost his sanity--he's changed his name, his look, and he's finally starting a new life. As long as he keeps a low profile and his identity secret, everything will be okay, right?
Recommended by Dana, Hopewell Branch
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The Insulin Express : One Backpack, Five Continents, and the Diabetes Diagnosis That Changed Everything
by Oren Liebermann
Non-Fiction: In the middle of a yearlong backpacking trip around the world with his wife, Cassie, Oren Liebermann is teaching English to young Buddhist monks in Pokhara, Nepal when his body begins to fail him. He is constantly thirsty and exhausted, and by the time he steps on a scale, he has lost forty-five pounds. At a local clinic, a doctor gives him a diagnosis that will change his life forever: "I'm sorry to tell you, my friend, that you are a diabetic." Devastated, Liebermann is trapped in a third-world hospital, trying to recover enough to fly home. His friends and family urge him to call off the rest of his trip. He had earlier quit his job as a TV news reporter for this dream-come-true journey, but the nightmare diagnosis has thrown his world into disarray. However, despite this medical hell and a life-changing disease, Liebermann and Cassie make a decision. They have an adventure to finish, and he has the rest of his life to live. Bold, raw, and poignantly candid, The Insulin Express tells the story of what happens when the best made travel plans are subject to the ever-present chaos of life, and how the worst night of one's life can turn into the trip of a lifetime. In spite of a chilling fear of his chronic disease that almost kills him in the Himalayas, Liebermann hikes along the Great Wall of China, conquers the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and sips cobra whiskey in Laos. What begins as a travel chronicle across thirty countries transforms into a single journey of resilience and self-discovery--getting hopelessly lost and then wonderfully found in a world full of surprises and possibilities.
Recommended by Julia, Lawrence Headquarters Branch
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Every Breath
by Nicholas Sparks
Fiction: A chance encounter becomes a transcendent turning point for two very different people, including the conflicted surgeon daughter of an ALS patient and a Sunset Beach newcomer from Zimbabwe who aims to meet his birth father. By a #1 New York Times best-selling author.
Recommended by Tanusree, Robbinsville Branch
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Blue Labyrinth
by Douglas J. Preston
Mystery: Investigating the murder of a long-time enemy, Pendergast journeys to an abandoned California mine only to uncover a dark secret from his family's past and a plot by a vengeful killer. By the best-selling authors of Two Graves.
Recommended by Christine, Twin Rivers Branch
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The Cruelest Month: A Three Pines Mystery
by Louise Penny
Mystery: When the charming, seemingly idyllic town of Three Pines is rocked by a killing during an impromptu Easter séance at a local haunted house, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is confronted by a web of baffling questions as he searches for a killer.
Recommended by Dennis, West Windsor Branch
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The Radium Girls : The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
by Kate Moore
Non-Fiction: Recounts the struggles of hundreds of women who were exposed to radium while working factory jobs during World War I, describing how they were mislead by their employers and became embroiled in a battle for workers' rights.
Recommended by Laura, Information Technology Department
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Mercer County Library System 2751 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 Phone: (609) 882-9246 E-mail: nrsupprt@mcl.org |
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