         Staff Picks Annie's
Picks
The Odious Ogre is a new story from Norton Juster and Jules Ffeifer (the genius duo behind the Phantom Tollbooth). Like their previous work, it is full of wonderful words, hilarious pictures, and situations to make you smirk with glee. I like these guys, and I bet you will too.
Savvy is a story about having a knack for something. The heroine, Mibs, is a member of a unique family and it's her 13th birthday. In Mibs' family, on your 13th birthday, your savvy will present itself. Some savvies are useful, (like a special gift for making pies), or powerful, (like having control over the elements), or just downright out there, (like the ability to trap and can radio waves in mason jars). Mibs has waited 13 years to come in to her savvy, but will she be ready for it when it shows?
This is a spooky, odd tale about a mess of messed-up people, twins, ghosts of people, and ghosts of cats all mixing their stories and lives (or afterlives) about until alive and dead blur at the edges. Niffenegger is famous for her first novel, The Time Traveler's Wife (a bizarre romance), and here she explores the theme deeper in to her creepier side. I loved it. I dreamed about the characters in vivid continuations of the plot that gave me the willies for days.
Booze? Check. Cake? Check. Delicious.
A lovely collection. Every whole grain gets its own section with recipies specifically designed to bring out the subtle flavors of each. I've been dreaming Quinoa-Beet pancakes. (pg. 140)
 The
Complete Fairy Tales George MacDonald MacDonald (an inspiration for Tolkein, Lewis, L'Engle and others) writes fantastic fairytales. In The Light Princess, his best known, a princess is blessed/cursed with light - her world is levity, brightness and cheer. She has no weight or sadness or sorrow and must learn empathy in order to plant her feet on the ground. This collection goes on from there with stories of shadows, shape-shifters, princes, and women who wax and wane with the moon.
The Sixty-Eight Rooms is a lot of fun. In it a pair of kids have adventures in the miniature Thorne Rooms (part of the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago) by way of a magic shrinking key. A perfect choice for anyone who dreams of staying the night in a museum, in the tradition of From the Mixed of Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler.
Z is for Zinnia. M is for Maple Sugar. In Azarian you can see the deeply
rural aesthetic tradition that has inspired our wonderful local star Nikki
McClure. As American as apple pie! (A is, of course, for Apple.)
These letters make me want to laugh and cry and hug someone and dance all at once. I dare you to read them and not smile. You could read them all at once, or savor them one by one. You could read them to yourself, or aloud to your child, to your parent, to your friend, to your lover, to each person who knocks on your door (the postman will be so surprised!) to Anyone and Everyone!
Every year my New Year's resolution is to bake all of my own bread. In the past I've kept that resolution a week or two before breaking down. But the last two years, with this book to help me, I've held out all the way to March! This year, I'm hoping for May at least.
The first of a trilogy set in post-apocalyptic North America. Full of suspense and, better than that, relatable, multi-dimensional characters. The perfect antidote for a mind dulled by weak female characters. This girl is spunky! And smart! And the (thinly veiled) social commentary is not overbearing. So fun that when I finished I turned back to the front and read it again.
An old favorite (I've been told I sleep as restlessly and a princess myself), with truly breathtaking new "illustrations." In reality they are more like dioramas, photographed and printed along side Luren Child's always hilarious text. - Reviewed by Annie
I haven't read as much this summer as I've been busy making jam. And this
book is the bible of jam and preserving in general.
Though this book will always be known more for its political fallout than
its content, it is actually really really good and really really funny. Rushdie's
language is so raucous and bubbling that the humor of the story far outshines
the controversy.
Mmm. And how! My fresh pea soup (pg. 40) was not nearly as beautiful
as these photos, but it was quite pretty, and it pleased the veggies
and vegans alike. The cover soup (wild rice and cranberry, pg 68) is
next on my list. Yum!
In all the dullest grey doldrums of my youth, "The Phantom Tollbooth" was there making a pun of the whole thing. I still laugh (out loud) at the many facets of literal meaning in this story and will ever and always aspire to see Chroma the Great conduct the sunset (pg. 119 and on...) The movie is also amazing!!
This is better than the average coming of age or sexual awakening story.
It reads clean and sincere, and although the story, fittingly, verges on the
melodramatic (what 18-year-old girl isn't) the narrator stays clean and sincere
throughout. That it is very pretty, and just the right length are icing. Collected Poems of Stanley Kunitz A real treasure of poems - Kunitz just passed away, and the lingering sadness and regret (and big time joy!) in some of his work is even more touching now. Nearly every poem is worth checking out. One of the best collections around.
So
Long, See You Tomorrow by This is Maxwell's best book - haunting and reminiscent of a nostalgic past that seems to be best found in pre-WWII writers like Cather. About a friendship dissolved by a murder caused by one friend's father, the language and story will really stick with you.
Late Wife by I know calling a Pulitzer Prize winner a hidden gem is a stretch, but this book (published by LSU Press) and author seem to be shockingly under appreciated. This book will turn even the least poetic of readers to verse lovers. A series of sonnet-letters to her divorced husband and new husband's wife (who had died of cancer), these poems are reflective of divorce, death, regret, and hope. Emerson's poetry is raw and lovely.
Why
Dogs Chase Cars Singleton's prose is sharp and witty - undeniably funny and
sincere at the same time. His recreation of South Carolina is at
once a love song and a social critique of a challenging place.
Among
the Missing This book is thematically driven and linked by the idea of a person being missing. The situations are almost always dark, dangerous, funny and heartwarming. Read the title story especially.
Evening This lovely novel begins with the last day of Ann Grant's life. But year before, Ann remembers a weekend in which she fell in love with a stranger. Haunting, this novel questions passion, idealism, and above all regret. |
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The Story Blanket
The Odious Ogre
Savvy
Her Fearful Symmetry
Booze Cakes
Good
to the Grain 
The
Sixty-Eight Rooms
A
Farmer's Alphabet 
Letters
to Anyone and Everyone 
Artisan
Bread in 5 Minutes a Day 
The
Hunger Games
The
Princess and the Pea 
The
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving 
Satanic
Verses 
A Beautiful Bowl of Soup
The
Phantom Tollbooth 
Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking