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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

We could all use a little more tuba in life

Cover of I’m Possible:  A Story o
A review of I’m Possible: A Story of Survival, A Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream by Richard Antoine White

It’s no secret that it takes extraordinary effort and preternatural talent to achieve coveted, competitive positions at top universities, internships, or sports leagues. (Who you know and how much money you have certainly doesn’t hurt either.) Now consider a job that makes the task of getting into Harvard, or the NFL draft, or an internship at Vogue seem like a walk in the park. Give up? Try winning a seat as a professional tuba player in one of America’s full-time or part-time professional orchestras.

Oct 18, 2022

Sweet and cozy

Cover of Bright Brown Baby: A Treas
A review of Bright Brown Baby: A Treasury by Andrea David Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Find all the joy of the Bright Brown Baby board books in this beautiful picture book treasury! Bright Brown Baby: A Treasury by Andrea David Pinkney and Brian Pinkney is bursting with warmth & bounce. These mini stories about peek-a-boo, counting-to-love, and baby stars all shine so bright. They read like mini love songs to little ones.

Oct 14, 2022

Determined to secure a fortune at any cost

Cover of A Lady's Guide to Fortune
A review of A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin

Well-bred Lady Kitty Talbot must secure a fortune in twelve weeks in order to save her family’s country home, pay off her father's crippling debt and provide for her four younger sisters. She’s unapologetically ambitious and unwilling to risk the alternative. It’s not easy being forever responsible and she cannot waiver in her plan to save her family from ruin. She’s basically the best older sister ever.

Oct 12, 2022

So much to love

Cover of Leo Loves Mommy & Leo Love
A review of Leo Loves Mommy & Leo Loves Daddy by Anna McQuinn

And this librarian LOVES Leo. These two companion board books about lovely Leo and his parents are complete joy. Follow Anna McQuinn's lilting rhyme about all the favorite things that Leo does with his mom and dad accompanied by brilliant illustrations of the pairs in action (including all of daddy's niftiest dance moves). Toddlers and their grown ups will smile and laugh at these familiar activities, inviting conversations about all the things they LOVE to do too and always end with a snuggle.

Oct 10, 2022

Rom-com retelling of Disney's Cinderella

Cover of If the Shoe Fits
A review of If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

If the Shoe Fits is the first in the new “Meant to Be” series for adults inspired by classic fairy tales. What was “meant to be” in a Disney-way is now updated for modern sensibilities and women who aren’t waiting around for a Prince or Princess Charming. If they find one along the way, cool, but their lives are pretty awesome as is.

Oct 4, 2022

Princess to the rescue

Cover of Heartless Prince: A Graphi
A review of Heartless Prince: A Graphic Novel written by Leigh Dragoon, illustrated by Angela De Vito

Magic, fantasy, romance, adventure… this graphic novel has it all! The Heartless Prince is the first book in a new exciting trilogy that takes readers into the world of orphaned princess, Evony. Her world is one destroyed by witches and familiars (servants to the witches). Readers join Evony as she and her love interest, Prince Ammon, join together to fight the familiars and the magical forces threatening their kingdom. When the witch, Aradia, steals Prince Ammon’s heart and captures his sister, Evony embarks on a journey to save them.

Sep 30, 2022

Infamy in the Bahamas

Cover of The Golden Hour
A review of The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams

I've not read any of Beatriz Williams historical novels and might not have read this, her newest, if I hadn't been assigned it to review for someone else. This novel is an epic dive into the world of one of the most enigmatic couples in history, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  The famous couple (or perhaps infamous) - he for abdicating as King of England and she for being the divorcee for whom he gave up the kingdom - were sent to the Bahamas near the beginning of WWII. The Duke has been given the title of Governor of the Bahamas.

Sep 28, 2022

Done in by the Bard

Cover of Death by Shakespeare:  Sna
A review of Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings, and Broken Hearts by Kathryn Harkup

One was killed by drowning. A few succumbed to grief. At least one fell and broke his neck, while others went by hanging, or in battle, or were stabbed. Some deaths were quite singular—a ‘burning quotidian tertian’, a ‘Malady of France’, a bear’s meal, and even a death from a surfeit of joy. All told, the killer had some 250 victims, not including the nameless souls that died without notice. No, this isn’t some horrid tale of a serial killer run amok, but the casualty list from William Shakespeare’s plays.

Sep 26, 2022

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