A biweekly selection from our shelves, as curated by your favorite SPL librarians!
For the week of February 15, 2022: Fiction | Nonfiction | Graphic Novels | Movies/TV, Music & More
Fiction
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A Deadly Endowment by Alyssa Maxwell
Set in post-WWI England, this historical mystery finds sleuthing duo Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva Huntford, hunting a killer after the decision to open Foxwood Hall for guided tours turns deadly. |
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Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins
To spite her cheating ex-fiance, Dani Porter buys the vacant lot next to his house, planning to build a vacation rental to mess with his view, but must rethink her mission when love with her seemingly arrogant architect trumps revenge. |
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The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard
A major new work from the author of the renowned My Struggle series, The Morning Star is an astonishing, ambitious, and rich novel about what we don't understand, and our attempts to make sense of our world nonetheless. |
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New York, My Village by Uwem Akpan
Akpan's prose melds humor, tenderness, and pain to explore the myriad ways that tribalisms define life everywhere, from the villages of Nigeria to the villages within New York City. New York, My Village is a triumph of storytelling and a testament to the life-sustaining power of community across borders and across boroughs. |
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The Shaadi Set-Up by Lillie Vale
In this witty and heartfelt rom-com debut for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Emily Henry, and Tessa Bailey, an Indian American woman signs herself and her boyfriend up for a matchmaking site to prove they're a perfect match, only to be paired with her ex instead. |
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Tenderness by Alison MacLeod
Recreates the origins of D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" from its private publication by Lawrence through the 1960 obscenity trial that sought to suppress the full, uncensored edition, reimagining its journey to freedom through the story of Jackie Kennedy, who was known to be an admirer. |
Nonfiction
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Breathing Lessons: A Doctor's Guide to Lung Health by MeiLan K. Han, M.D
Most of us pay little attention to the workings of our lungs, but the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked interest in their functioning and fear about the risks they face. Dr. MeiLan K. Han, a leading pulmonologist and a national spokesperson for the American Lung Association, takes readers on a fascinating tour of this most vital organ. |
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Led Zeppelin: The Biography by Bob Spitz
From the author of the definitive New York Times bestselling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group many call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious |
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Say It Loud!: On Race, Law, History, and Culture by Randall Kennedy
A gathering of essays by the acclaimed Harvard legal scholar and public intellectual, that explores all the relevant cultural and historical issues of the past quarter century having to do with race and race relations in America. With a gimlet eye, decency and humaneness (and often courting controversy), Randall Kennedy chronicles his reactions over the past quarter century to arguments, events, and people that have compelled him to put pen to paper. |
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Story Mode: Video Games and the Interplay Between Consoles and Culture by Trevor Strunk
Once considered niche, fringe, and the hobby of only outsiders or loners, video games have rapidly become one of the most popular and influential artistic forms of this century. Combining sharp criticism of our most beloved and well-known video game series with a fascinating discussion of how our cultural values form, Story Mode is a truly original examination of the unique space games now occupy, from one of the sharpest games critics working today. |
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Truffle Hound: On the Trail of the World's Most Seductive Scent, with Dreamers, Schemers, and Some Extraordinary Dogs by Rowan Jacobsen
The scent of one freshly unearthed white truffle in Barolo was all it took to lead Rowan Jacobsen down a rabbit hole into a world of secretive hunts, misty woods, black-market deals, obsessive chefs, quixotic scientists, muddy dogs, maddening smells, and some of the most memorable meals ever created. Both an entertaining odyssey and a manifesto, Truffle Hound demystifies truffles--and then remystifies them, freeing them from their gilded cage and returning them to their roots as a sacred offering from the forest. |
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What Just Happened: Notes on a Long Year by Charles Finch
With unwavering humanity and light-footed humor, this intimate account of the interminable year of 2020 offers commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic, protests for racial justice, the U.S. presidential election, and more, all with a miraculous dose of groundedness in head-spinning times. From the award-winning book critic and best-selling author. |
Graphic Novels
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In Love and Pajamas: A Collection of Comics about Being Yourself Together by Catana Chetwynd
Why bother getting out of bed when you could stay bundled up with that special someone and a book of cozy, cute comics? Chetwynd's collection captures the honest, playful, and relatable snapshots of romantic life. |
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Power Born of Dreams: My Story Is Palestine by Mohammad Sabaaneh
A bird perches on the cell window and offers a deal: "You bring the pencil, and I will bring the stories," stories of family, of community, of Gaza, of the West Bank, of Jerusalem, of Palestine. Translating headlines into authentic lived experiences, these stories come to life in the striking linocut artwork of Mohammad Sabaaneh, helping us to see Palestinians not as political symbols, but as people. |
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Resistance by Val McDermid
The first graphic novel from Britain's "Queen of Crime" (Scotsman) and gorgeously illustrated by up-and-comer Kathryn Briggs, Resistance is a chilling but incredibly moving and inspiring story of individuals pressed to rise above their station, first to nail down the truth of a looming pandemic, and later to try to fight it. |
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Sweet Tooth: The Return by Jeff Lemire
Acclaimed author Jeff Lemire and colorist José Villarrubia, who first brought you the strange adventures of Gus, the human-deer hybrid boy, dive back into the strange, dark world of their creation. This haunting tale is both new and familiar, as we return to a planet long past the point of devastation. Are Gus's dreams leading him to forge a better future for himself and the other hybrid children? Or are they the dreams of a mind as lost and wandering as its dreamer? |
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What's Up, Beanie? : Acutely Relatable Comics by Alina Tysoe
A collection of 160 comics from the hugely popular What's Up, Beanie?, all adorable, humorously frank, completely wholesome, and acutely relatable. |
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The Women Who Changed Art Forever: Feminist Art - The Graphic Novel by Valentina Grande and Eva Rossetti
These women changed art forever - told in colourful graphic novel form, this is the story of four pioneers of feminist art: Judy Chicago, Faith Ringold, Ana Mendieta, and the Guerilla Girls. |
Movies/TV, Music & More
Movies/TV
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My Salinger Year by Philippe Falardeau Format: DVD An aspiring young writer named Joanna leaves her hometown in California to pursue her dream of writing poetry, venturing to New York City where she finds a job at a literary agency to pay her bills. Yet when Joanna is tasked with managing the work of the notoriously introverted and unusual writer J.D. Salinger, she quickly becomes embroiled in his affairs, losing herself and her dreams in the process. |
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The Night by Kourosh Ahari Format: DVD Staying in a beautiful but mostly-empty hotel with their baby, disturbances keep Babak and Neda awake until they realize a malevolent force will not rest until it has devoured their secrets -- especially the ones they have been keeping from each other. |
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The Other Two Format: DVD Adult siblings Cary and Brooke are stuck in a rut. When their teenage brother becomes a pop star overnight, it takes their lives in a whole new direction, whether they like it or not. |
Music
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In the Meantime by Alessia Cara Format: CD Alessia Cara's note to fans in the booklet of her third album refers to extreme personal turbulence experienced since the making of The Pains of Growing, and explains that "the meantime" is what occurs between "birth and death, pain and joy." |
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Into the Blue by The Joy Formidable Format: CD It's hard to think of another indie rock band that's as consistently compelling as the Joy Formidable. Every album is a polished gemstone of heart-bludgeoning alt-rock, teetering in a magical netherworld between My Bloody Valentine and the Pixies. It's a sound that crashes through whatever your current mood is and buries you deep within its smoldering, lyrical magma. The group's fifth album, 2021's pulse-quickening Into the Blue, is no exception |
& More
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Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult Format: Spoken CD From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit in a moment of crisis. |