Staff Picks
November 2015
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Here's what staff are reading, click the title to view in our catalog:
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Eric Metaxas
 
As Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seduced a nation, bullied a continent, and attempted to exterminate the Jews of Europe, a small number of dissidents and saboteurs worked to dismantle the Third Reich from the inside. One of these was Dietrich Bonhoeffer—a pastor and author. Eric Metaxas takes both strands of Bonhoeffer's life—the theologian and the spy—and draws them together to tell a searing story of incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dog Tags
David Rosenfelt

Dog-loving lawyer Andy Carpenter plunges into a high profile murder case in which a rogue German Shepherd police dog may be the only hope for its owner, an Iraq war vet and former-cop-turned-thief accused of murder. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Time to Dance
Karen Kingsbury

Struggling to keep their marriage together, John and Abby Reynolds put their differences aside and their thoughts of divorce on hold when their daughter announces her plans to be married in the summer. 
 
 
 
 
 
Badlands
C. J. Box

In the aftermath of a learning-disabled youth's discovery of a large cache of drugs and money, deputy sheriff Cassie Dewell struggles to keep the peace in a North Dakota community that has been transformed by oil discoveries and gang activity. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours
Regina Brett

A Pulitzer Prize finalist expands on her popular New York Times column, in which she reflects on all that she has learned through becoming a single parent, looking for love in all the wrong places, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer, making peace with a difficult childhood and more.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Circling the Sun
Paula McLain

Raised by her father and the Kipsigis tribe in 1920s Kenya, Beryl endures painful losses before entering a passionate love triangle and discovering her unconventional true calling. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chasing the Phoenix
Michael Swanwick

Darger and Surplus, a human and a genetically engineered dog, travel across a post-apocalyptic China, with the aim of pulling off the perfect con, but then things begin to not go their way.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Among the Swamp People: Life in Alabama's Mobile-Tensaw River Delta
Watt Key

Among the Swamp People is the story of author Watt Key's discovery of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. "The swamp" consists of almost 260,000 acres of wetlands located just north of Mobile Bay. There he leases a habitable outcropping of land and constructs a primitive cabin from driftwood to serve as a private getaway. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mystic River
Dennis Lehane

When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled tip to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Death at the Black Bull
Frank Hayes

The sheriff in a sleepy cattle town investigates after a local good ole boy disappears and is found floating in a stock tank on his ranch in a first novel in a brand new mystery series. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Descent
Tim Johnston

When their daughter disappears while out for a morning run during a late-summer vacation in the Rocky Mountains, her parents embark on a harrowing journey down increasingly divergent and solitary paths where they must answer some difficult questions to find the truth. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Stranger
Harlan Coben

Parents Adam and Hannah confront the shocking secret on which their marriage was built, leaving Adam to wonder whether he ever truly knew his wife at all. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert

An ordinary woman's unfulfilled dreams of romantic love lead her to a series of desperate acts, including adultery, in a classic novel set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century bourgeois France.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tuck Everlasting
Natalie Babbitt

The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I Like Me!
Nancy L. Carlson

By admiring her finer points and showing that she can take care of herself and have fun even when there's no one else around, a charming pig proves the best friend you can have is yourself.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Never Smile at a Monkey: and 17 Other Important Things to Remember
Steve Jenkins

Offers early readers an informative, cautionary guide to wild animals, including pythons and tigers, through an overview of the unique skills many have developed to protect themselves from harm that can also render them unexpectedly hazardous to humans.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Mo Willems

When the bus driver decides to take a break from driving, a wild and wacky pigeon pleads and begs to take his place, in a hilarious picture book that perfectly captures a preschooler's temper tantrum.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rooms
Lauren Oliver

After Richard Walker dies, leaving behind a vast country estate, his estranged family arrives for their inheritance, while long-dead former residents bound to the house observe the family and reminisce about their past lives—until both the human and spirit worlds collide.
 
 
 
 
 
Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America's Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry
Mary Lisa Gavenas

An analysis of the American beauty industry discusses the marketing efforts of top cosmetics companies, identifies trends in fashion, and considers the psychological factors that contributes to the industry's success.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings
Shirley Jackson

A new volume of unpublished and uncollected stories, essays, lectures, letters and writings by the renowned author of "The Lottery" and The Haunting of Hill House includes pieces reflecting on the literary process and family life.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Patrick Melrose Novels
Edward St. Aubyn

Follows the life of Patrick Melrose, a member of an upper class English family, through his traumatic childhood with an abusive father, drug addiction, fatherhood, and the possible loss of his family home.
 
 
 
 
 
eBooks
eBooks
Checkout and download eBooks to your Apple IOS or Android device, Nook and Kobo from the 3M Cloud Library or from Overdrive for your Kindle. There are also links to free eBooks and some great Britannica reference eBooks for kids from the Alabama Virtual Library!
Mobile Public Library
700 Government St.
Mobile, Alabama 36602
251-208-7902

www.mplonline.org