Category: Staff Picks

25+ Years of Tegan and Sara

- Callen Leave a comment

Like most aging people I’m starting to realize just how long my favorite artists have been around. For example the iconic band Tegan and Sara have been making music since 1995, recording on cassette tapes. If you don’t know them, Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin have been vitally important to building a more mainstream LGBTQ music scene. Their music has the earworm elements of pop music and an unapologetically sapphic core – and recently they’ve grown more reflective about their public image.

Their early music, starting in about 2002, quickly gained popularity in Canada and with teen listeners, featuring albums The Con and Sainthood. Both albums were generally acclaimed as their sound both matured and experimented. It was the seventh album that was perhaps the most successful, and the one I know best: Heartthrob in 2013, followed by Love You to Death in 2016. This is where their indie pop sound really hit its stride with songs like Boyfriend and Closer, featuring danceable beats mixed with melancholy feelings. Incidentally this is also where I heard I’m Not Your Hero, whose hook will forever live in my head rent-free: “I’m not their hero / but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t brave”.

This is a band that doesn’t forget its past: in 2017 their big tour and promotion was celebrating 10 years since the release of The Con (including the creation of an album of other artists’ versions called The Con X: Covers) and in 2019 they released Hey I’m Just Like You, which shares recordings of songs they initially wrote as teenagers. The influence of rock and punk bands like Nirvana, Hole, or the Smashing Pumpkins is more apparent here, and the album as a whole reads more pop-punk than their more recent compositions. In the same spirit they made an all-acoustic version of their 2004 album, So Jealous, which was released as Still Jealous in February.

But the big news of recent years was the release of High School, a memoir about their experiences coming-of-age, which was adapted into a TV series on Amazon Freevee. Viewers are offered a glimpse into a teenager’s life in the early 2000s including the pains of exploring your sexuality and deciding who you want to be. This is definitely a band for you if you’re someone into memoir, legacy, and writing your own history. They’re also politically engaged, passionate activists for causes including cancer research and LGBTQ rights.

This year they released the all-new Crybaby with a new record label. Written during the pandemic, this is the album that nearly wasn’t: originally they were recording standalone singles I Can’t Grow Up and All I Wanted, but were inspired to spin the two into a whole album — luckily for all of us that need more T&S in our lives.

If you like indie music, are a longtime fan, or want exposure to more LGBTQ music artists, definitely listen to some Tegan and Sara today.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

- Callen Leave a comment

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is a family saga that travels back and forth across space and time to paint a vivid picture of the family descended from defiant, enigmatic, independent Orquídea Divina and how they all cope with her unique legacy. You first meet Orquídea when she and her second husband move into their house – which may have appeared overnight, though surely that’s not possible. The people in town are suspicious, but nothing can ever be proven and the sheriff is charmed, so Orquídea and her family are here to stay. We next see her years later as she prepares to die, and we are introduced to her heirs, variously troubled and estranged from her home. This includes accountant Rey, his cousin Marimar, and pregnant Tatinelly. They’ll all have to grapple with legacy, family, and magic if they want to make their peace with Orquídea and claim their inheritance. Meanwhile, flashbacks tell the story of how Orquídea grew up and came into her power, giving hints to the gifts, lessons, and dangers that her heirs have come to claim.

Magical realism is a major part of this book; while Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly live in communities where magic isn’t real, their return to their grandmother’s home of Four Rivers immediately shows that magic is real and has consequences. As a reader this hooked me immediately, but magic also was an effective metaphor for cultural and community knowledge: Tatinelly’s white husband is afraid at the evidence of magic, while for Tatinelly it’s a joyful return to what’s familiar. The subtle knowledge of women is also a strong theme as first Orquídea, then Marimar, Tatinelly, and the other female descendants show intuitive connections to nature, the house at Four Rivers, and the languages spoken (and feelings expressed) by different locations.

Engaging and rich with details, this is recommended for fans of Encanto, Knives Out, and the Umbrella Academy.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

- Claire Leave a comment

Ottessa Moshfegh’s Eileen is a wintery noir set in an anonymous town, and follows Eileen Dunlop and her miserable existence. If you are familiar with Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation, you will appreciate the tonal and characteristic similarities of Eileen. This author does not write likable characters, but rather ones that are deeply flawed, often disturbed, and always challenge the reader’s tolerance for abnormality.

It’s Christmas time in X-Ville, the anonymous city in which Eileen spends her dreary days, but that does little to lift the darkness shrouding her life. Eileen is stuck, and is only coaxed along by bottles of gin shared in the kitchen with her drunk, nasty father and the prospect of escaping X-Ville. Beyond her job as a secretary at the boy’s prison, she has and is nothing–except for the proud new owner of her father’s gun.

That is until the synthetically joyous Rebecca Saint John takes a counseling position at the prison. Rebecca is clean, polished, and poised–a stark difference from the quietly unsettled and perverted Eileen. Rebecca unearths something inside her: Attraction? Maybe. Infatuation? Undoubtedly. The events after Rebecca descends upon Eileen’s life are catastrophic, though eventually lead to Eileen’s permanent release from the psychological grip X-Ville has on her mind and body. 

Moshfegh is truly a literary master. Her ability to create a character wrought with flaws and failings and still make her readers feel a twinge of empathy for them is incredible. Eileen is more than just an eerie story: It’s a portrait of how poisonous loneliness can be and how it can warp our realities. A refreshingly strange, and sometimes uncomfortable read. I’m looking forward to reading more from Moshfegh.

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Darcie Little Badger came to my attention in 2020 with her debut book, Elatsoe (haven’t read this title yet, but it’s on my list to read in 2022). While I was searching Libby for a new book to read, I found A Snake Falls to Earth written by Darcie Little Badger as well and decided to give that title a try.

I wondered how anyone found each other in a place where it was so easy to become lost.
― Darcie Little Badger, A Snake Falls to Earth

A Snake Falls to Earth is Darcie Little Badger’s second young adult speculative fiction title. The themes in this book are relevant to adults as well. This magical novel is full of Apache mythology and shapeshifting as a young Lipan Indian girl works to figure out the history of her family.

Nina has always felt like more exists outside of our world. As a Lipan girl, she has felt like she’s straddling different cultures for her entire life. Listening to the old stories told to her by family proves to solidify her feelings. After an older female relative tells one last story before she passes away, Nina sets out to translate what she was told. This task proves difficult as her translation app mangled the recording, but she persists. She hopes that through this translation, she will find out more about her family history.

Oli is also trying to figure out more about his family. He is a cottonmouth kid, living in the reflective world of spirits and monsters. Like his many brothers and sisters, Oli was forced to leave home and sent searching for a new home. After many trials and tribulations, Oli found a new home on the banks of the bottomless lake. He has also found a best friend. Life seems to be going pretty well until a strange sickness hits Oli’s best friend. The healers tell Oli that it’s probably due to a catastrophic event that has happened on Earth. On a quest to help his best friend, Oli sets off on a journey that will lead to his world and Nina’s world crashing together. Outside forces will stop at nothing to keep those two apart.

This book is also available in the following formats:

A Love Letter to Miss Jane Marple

- Callen Leave a comment

I’m a big Agatha Christie fan (as you may know). But while her Belgian detective gets a lot of limelight (including from award-winning director Kenneth Branagh) I’m increasingly obsessed with her unassuming village spinster Jane Marple. A woman underestimated by many, her keen wisdom about human nature inevitably uncovers the truth. I love her for many reasons, not least for the message (like Father Brown‘s) that kindness, humility, and observant social skills are just as powerful as Poirot’s ego and famed ‘little grey cells’. Miss Marple is also a fantastic role model for self-acceptance: she knows people see her as a doddering old woman, but she’s OK with that; she knows her limits and her abilities and lets them speak for themselves. If you haven’t tried a Miss Marple book before – I highly recommend it! Here are three of my favorite Marple reads to get you started:

In The Moving Finger, the narrator is Jerry, a man recovering from a plane accident. He and his sister come to stay in the town of Lymstock just as a rash of odd poison pen letters starts sweeping the community. The police start methodically searching for the sender, but not before someone dies. When another death follows, the vicar’s wife sends for an expert to help: Jane Marple. This is a fun read because Jerry, while a sympathetic and enjoyable narrator, is slightly oblivious both to the truth of the letters and his own feelings, which lets the wisdom of women shine – not only Miss Marple but also Jerry’s sister Joanna and the vicar’s wife, among others.

4.50 From Paddington is another classic story of women’s intelligence being overlooked. First, Elspeth McGillicuddy happens to see a woman being murdered on a passing train – but no one believes her. Everyone thinks she’s a vaguely hysterical old woman who’s seeing things. So she goes to her friend Jane Marple and tells her the story. Miss Marple believes her but knows no one else will, especially since they can’t find a body. So she hires Lucy Eylesbarrow, a powerhouse of domestic help, to work at a house near the scene and scout around. Sure enough, she finds it, and it’s up to Lucy and Miss Marple to help the police figure out who she is, and why she’d be murdered on a train and hidden on the grounds of the Crackenthorpe mansion.

In The Mirror Crack’d Miss Marple is called in after a reception welcoming famous actress Marina Gregg to her village. Famous for both her films and her dramatic personal life (including desperation to have a child), her move to St. Mary Mead is a source of wild excitement in town – hence the welcoming party. Suddenly disaster strikes – a local nuisance and blabbermouth collapses after drinking a poisoned cocktail. Everyone assumes the actress was the real target, but when her friend tells her the story Miss Marple isn’t so sure. As more people die and the stakes get higher it’s up to Miss Marple to dig into Marina’s past to figure out the truth.

You can also experience Miss Marple in short stories, large print versions, ebook collections, books on CD, eaudiobooks, or DVD adaptations.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

- Ann Leave a comment

“Children, set the table. Your Mother needs some time for herself.”

This is a delightful book, full of humor and sharp observations, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a must-read if you like intelligent protagonists, a story of true love and overcoming everything thrown at you. That’s all of us, right?

Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant scientist, a chemist of remarkable intelligence but her advancement in the field is thwarted at every turn. Because it is the late 1950s, Elizabeth faces sexism repeatedly – she is sexually harassed, denied educational opportunities and promotions, paid far less than other, less talented scientists and is expected to get the coffee and run errands for the men at her lab. Her sharp tongue and refusal to back down don’t make her any friends.

And then she meets Calvin. Calvin Evans is also a brilliant scientist and has won many awards and is expected to one day win a Nobel Prize. Everyone treats him deferentially – he is the star of the lab (and brings in lots of donations because of his fame) and he is known to hold a terrible grudge against anyone who crosses him. After a rocky first meeting, the two outcasts discover a true meeting of the minds – finally! someone to discuss science with! – and they fall in love.

Their bubble of happiness and mutual respect ends tragically however and Elizabeth is on her own again, fighting the same battles against prejudice, misogyny and sexism. That is, until her no-nonsense and hyper-efficient attitude catches the eye of a programmer for a local television station. Desperate and impressed by her ability take command and fix things, he hires her to star in a cooking show. And thus, Supper at Six begins.

Elizabeth doesn’t just teach cooking. She’s teaching her viewers chemistry (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”). She does not talk down to her audience. She encourages and expects excellence, reminding her housewife following that they are capable and intelligent and that they must not settle for less.

This is such an excellent book, funny and sweet, sad and bittersweet, uplifting and encouraging wrapped around a protagonist you’ll love and with a very satisfying ending. Highly recommended!

 

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

- Callen Leave a comment

I recently read Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, a modern classic of YA queer fiction, originally published in 2014. Delightfully, it reads like what would happen if Alice Oseman collaborated with Terry Pratchett on Alien fanfiction- authentic teenage confusion meets a dryly humorous take on apocalyptic mayhem. And as a nice bonus, it’s set in Iowa! Whether or not it’s a loving portrait of growing up in Iowa is something you’ll have to judge for yourself…

Grasshopper Jungle is the story of Austin, his girlfriend Shann, his best friend Robby, the interconnectedness of history, and how Austin’s bisexual awakening inadvertently leads to the end of the world via giant murderous insects. Austin narrates using mostly simple, declarative sentences stating the facts, because his ultimate passion is history – how it’s reported, how it’s preserved, how it continues to impact the present. The main history he has to relate is about his town’s legacy of secret science experiments, hidden bunkers, and dangerous plagues that produce 6-foot-tall, unstoppable, carnivorous insects. But while these secrets are being uncovered and the end of humanity draws closer and closer, Austin still can’t stop thinking about sex. He’s always known his best friend Robby is gay, and he’s also always known that he loves Shann Collins. So why can’t he stop thinking about kissing Robby? Is he gay too? How can he know? And how in the world is he going to get it figured out without hurting either of the two people he loves the most?

An accurate, awkward, ultimately endearing portrayal of what being a teenage boy is like, complete with lots of sexual thoughts, angst, and uniquely profound thoughts about family, history, and heritage, this is a good read for those who like coming-of-age stories, coming-out stories, or stories of terrible events ending the world as we know it (not a typical combination, but here it really works in balance).

And good news: its sequel, Exile from Eden, is also available in Rivershare.

Young Adult Series: The Dreamer Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Maggie Stiefvater is a master of young adult fantasy. She writes a wide variety of novels with some of them bring New York Times Bestsellers. She plays musical instruments, makes art, and loves cars. If you don’t follow her on social media, I highly recommend.

I became aware of Maggie Stiefvater through The Raven Cycle series. She also has two older series that I haven’t read yet, plus other series/novels that are on my to-read list. Let’s talk about what drew me in. The Raven Cycle is a well-written series about discovering identity and magic, while finding your home. After the end of The Raven Cycle, Stiefvater remarked that she spent years thinking about continuing the story of the Lynch brothers. She wanted The Dreamer Trilogy to move past the themes of The Raven Cycle though, to be dark and weighty, specifically looking at the joys and burdens of creativity. The Dreamer Trilogy focuses on the Lynch brothers and their work to sharpen themselves.

“Belonging in more than one world means that you end up belonging in none of them.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Call Down the Hawk

The Dreamer Trilogy dives more into the lives of the Lynch Brothers. The first book in The Dreamer Trilogy is Call Down the Hawk. This book is the story of dreamers, the dreamed, and the hunters.

Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. His father before him was also a dreamer, but he died before he could truly teach Ronan about his powers. Ronan was left to figure out the extent of his abilities on his own, but always felt like he was missing something. Even though he could pull items out of his dreams, Ronan’s reality continuously felt compromised.

Jordan Hennessy is a thief. For as long as she can remember, she has had the same dream. She brings back the same thing from each dream every time. Hennessy knows what she wants from her dream, but the closer she gets to it, the more tied to it she becomes. She is terrified that her dream will one day kill her and has no idea what to do in order to survive.

Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. This was not the profession that she wanted. Instead her brother’s actions determined her fate. You see, Carmen’s brother was a dreamer and a killer. In order to prove her loyalty to the moderators, she must help hunt the dreamers. Carmen has firsthand experience of what dreaming can do to a person and has seen the horrifying damage that dreamers can do. If they don’t find the dreamers and get them to stop dreaming, unimaginable destruction will be unleashed upon the world.

This title is also available in the following formats:

The Dreamer Trilogy:

  1. Call Down the Hawk (2019)
  2. Mister Impossible (2021)
  3. Greywaren (2022)

Gilmore Girls Winter Reading List

- Claire Leave a comment

Have you, like me, begun your seasonal rewatch of Gilmore Girls? If so, check out these Gilmore-approved titles—each of which is mentioned on the show! You might just find the perfect literary addition to your adventure into Rory and Lorelei’s little corner of the world.

Emma by Jane Austen

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” So begins Jane Austen’s comic masterpiece Emma. In Emma, Austen’s prose brilliantly elevates, in the words of Virginia Woolf, “the trivialities of day-to-day existence, of parties, picnics, and country dances” of early-nineteenth-century life in the English countryside to an unrivaled level of pleasure for the reader. At the center of this world is the inimitable Emma Woodhouse, a self-proclaimed matchmaker who, by the novel’s conclusion, may just find herself the victim of her own best intentions. 

Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris

Holidays on Ice is a collection of three previously published stories matched with three newer ones, all, of course, on a Christmas theme. David Sedaris’s darkly playful humor is another common thread through the book, worming its way through “Seasons Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!” a chipper suburban Christmas letter that spirals dizzily out of control, and “Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol,” a vicious theatrical review of children’s Christmas pageants. As always, Sedaris’s best work is his sharply observed nonfiction, notably in “Dinah, the Christmas Whore,” the tale of a memorable Christmas during which the young Sedaris learns to see his family in a new light. Worth the price of the book alone is the hilarious “SantaLand Diaries,” Sedaris’s chronicle of his time working as an elf at Macy’s, covering everything from the preliminary group lectures (“You are not a dancer. If you were a real dancer you wouldn’t be here. You’re an elf and you’re going to wear panties like an elf.”) to the perils of inter-elf flirtation. Along the way, he paints a funny and sad portrait of the way the countless parents who pass through SantaLand are too busy creating an Experience to really pay attention to their children. In a sly way, it carries a holiday message all its own. Read it aloud to the adults after the kids have gone to bed.

Misery by Stephen King

Misery Chastain was dead. Paul Sheldon had just killed her – with relief, with joy. Misery had made him rich; she was the heroine of a string of bestsellers. And now he wanted to get on to some real writing.

That’s when the car accident happened, and he woke up in pain in a strange bed. But it wasn’t the hospital. Annie Wilkes had pulled him from the wreck, brought him to her remote mountain home, splinted and set his mangled legs.

The good news was that Annie was a nurse and has pain-killing drugs. The bad news was that she was Paul’s Number One Fan. And when she found out what Paul had done to Misery, she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. – Goodreads

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Read the cult-favorite coming-of-age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic.

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

A years-long #1 New York Times bestseller, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and Best Book for Reluctant Readers, and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or “wallflowers” of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. . .”

With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten—a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife—the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca. – Goodreads

Now on Freegal: 2023 Grammy Nominees

- Callen Leave a comment

The Grammy nominations are here and you can experience the contenders today on Freegal with your library card! The full list of nominees was posted on grammy.com November 15, with the 65th annual Grammy Awards scheduled to air February 5. This year new categories have been added: Songwriter of the Year, Best Video Game Soundtrack, Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Americana Performance, Best Spoken Word Poetry Album, and a special merit award for Best Song for Social Change.

Here’s a peek at the playlist on our digital music streaming platform, Freegal, with some artists you’ll probably recognize:

Unfortunately not everything is included as Freegal is a limited catalog, but if you (like me) haven’t managed to hear songs from Beyonce’s Renaissance, DJ Khaled’s God Did, or songs from Camila Cabello’s Familia, the 2023 Grammy Nominees playlist is a great place to start. The list includes all musical genres and offers a great snapshot of what’s hot in music today.

Luckily for you, if you’re looking to hear songs not included on this playlist, you can find most of them in our music CD collection, including Lizzo’s Special (About Damn Time is one of the nominees for Record of the Year), ABBA’s Voyage, Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days, and more.

Was your favorite artist or song included in this year’s Grammy’s? Let us know below!