A biweekly selection from our shelves, as curated by your favorite SPL librarians!
For the week of September 27, 2022: Fiction | Nonfiction | Graphic Novels | Movies/TV, Music & More
Fiction
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Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jaber
Fencing with the King masterfully draws on King Lear and Arthurian fable to explore the power of inheritance, the trauma of displacement, and whether we can release the past to build a future. |
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The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland
Barbara Bourland's stunning third novel is her most ambitious and most imaginative book to date. Inspired by accounts of real-life princesses who yearned to escape, and set in a grotesque and gaudy prerecession 2000s Europe, The Force of Such Beauty is a heart-wrenching and compulsively readable testament to the way in which real-life power structures around the world ultimately rest on the subjugation of women's bodies. |
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From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper
Opposites attract in this wickedly charming rom-com by Lana Harper, author of Payback’s a Witch. |
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Golden Age by Wang Xiaobo
A leading icon of his generation, Wang Xiaobo’s cerebral and sarcastic narrative is a reflection on the failures of individuals and the enormous political, social, and personal changes in 20th century China. |
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One's Company by Ashley Hutson
Bonnie Lincoln just wants to be left alone. To come home from work, shut out the ghosts of some devastating losses, and unwind in front of the nostalgic, golden glow of her favorite TV show, Three's Company. When Bonnie wins the lottery, a more grandiose vision--to completely shuck off her own troublesome identity--takes shape. She plans a drastic move to an isolated mountain retreat where she can re-create the iconic apartment set of Three's Company and slip into the lives of its main characters. |
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Patience Is a Subtle Thief by Abi Ishola-Ayodeji
Hope and circumstance define a young woman's life in this heartbreaking tale of lost innocence, set in politically volatile 1990s Nigeria, from an exciting and fresh voice in global literature. |
Nonfiction
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The Fascination of What's Difficult: A Life of Maud Gonne by Kim Bendheim
Maud Gonne, the legendary woman known as the Irish Joan of Arc, left her mark on everyone she met. Born into tremendous privilege, she allied herself with rebels and the downtrodden and openly defied what was at the time the world's most powerful empire. She was an actress, a journalist and an activist for the cause of Irish independence. |
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The Greatest Stories Ever Played: Video Games and the Evolution of Storytelling by Dustin Hansen
In this fun and informative YA Non-fiction title, Dustin Hansen, author of Game On!, a self-confessed video game addict with over 20-years experience in the gaming industry, examines the storytelling skills shown in some of the most beloved and moving games of all time. |
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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
An entertaining and evocative stroll through the rise, fall, and ongoing reinvention of malls, which proved to be a powerful draw for creative thinkers including Joan Didion, Ray Bradbury, and George Romero, chronicles how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in cultural ascent. |
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The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State by Mandi Hickman
Living in Austin, Texas, taught Mandi Hickman, food blogger and creator of Dash of Mandi, all about the drool-worthy marriage of hearty Texan staples and zesty Mexican classics. With these 60 effortless meals, Mandi brings all of those smoky, citrusy, salty and sweet flavors to your dinner table no matter what state or region you live in! |
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A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention: A Memoir of Coming Home to My Neurodivergent Mind by Rebecca Schiller
A memoir of one woman's search to understand the land she farms-and her own experience with ADHD. |
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Vinegar Hill: Poems by Colm Tóibín
A wide variety of poems, ranging in setting and topic, Vinegar Hill deals with gay experience and with the experience of loss, with memory and a fading past as well as the present moment |
Graphic Novels
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Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen
The latest from New York Times bestselling, Goodread's Choice Award-winning, Eisner Award-nominated and Ringo Award-winning author Sarah Andersen is a delightful peek into the secret social lives of some of the world's most fascinating, monstrous, and mysterious creatures. |
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It Won't Always Be Like This by Malaka Gharib
An intimate graphic memoir about an American girl growing up with her Egyptian father's new family, forging unexpected bonds and navigating adolescence in an unfamiliar country |
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Look Again by Elizabeth A. Trembley
Once, years ago, while walking her dogs in the woods, Elizabeth found a dead body. Look Again presents us with six variations of the same event, seen through the different lenses caused by other life revelations. It explores the fragmenting nature of trauma by tracing the convoluted evolution of the author's story, a process often experienced by trauma sufferers and their loved ones. |
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Lore Olympus. Vol. 2 by Rachel Smythe
Witness what the gods do after dark in the second volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology from creator Rachel Smythe |
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Mazebook by Jeff Lemire
From New York Times bestselling and Eisner award-winning Black Hammer creator Jeff Lemire comes this ambitious and haunting graphic novel about family, mourning, and reality. |
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One Beautiful Spring Day by Jim Woodring
One Beautiful Spring Day places Congress of the Animals, Fran, and Poochytown in a radically new light by surrounding them with 100 pages of dazzling new material, providing context, backstory, and a deeply satisfying conclusion to compose a single epic tale. |
Movies/TV, Music & More
Movies/TV
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Harlem Rising by Rayner Ramirez Format: DVD Harlem Rising is a feature-length documentary tracing the fifty-year history of the Harlem Children's Zone through folks in the community who grew up with the organization. |
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Red Rocket by Sean Baker Format: DVD A washed-up porn star clashes with his estranged wife after returning to his hometown in Texas. |
Music
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Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella by Various Format: CD Andrew Lloyd Webber's highly-anticipated new original musical, Cinderella. Original album recording featuring cast and surprise guest vocalists. |
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Every Note is True by Ethan Iverson Format: CD Pianist Ethan Iverson joins with esteemed players bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jack DeJohnette for their artful 2022 trio album Every Note Is True. |
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Labyrinthitis by Destroyer Format: CD More than an arcane puzzle for the listener, this warps and winds through unfamiliar territory for Destroyer. Written largely in 2020 and recorded the following spring, the album most often finds Dan Bejar and frequent collaborator John Collins seeking the mythic artifacts buried somewhere under the dance floor. |
& More
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Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life by Delia Ephron Format: Spoken CD The beloved writer of romantic comedies tells her own late-in-life love story, complete with a tragic second act and joyous resolution. |
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