Staff Picks
Check out these reviews written by the staff of the Marathon County Public Library, featuring books and DVDs for adults, children and teens! Staff book reviews are also published at Goodreads.com; follow us for the latest updates.
"The Remember Balloons"
James is a little boy whose memories are represented by balloons, as are Grandpa's memories. James loves talking to Grandpa and sharing balloons. But one day, Grandpa doesn't have as many balloons, and his favorite balloon, the silver balloon is floating above his head. James questions why the balloons are floating away. This is such...
"Dreamers"
Following a mother and son duo as they immigrate to the United States, Yuyi Morales weaves an intricate tale of her own immigration story into this beautiful picture book. Not knowing the language, leaving family and friends, and being in a new place is frightening for anyone. Luckily, the mother and son duo find solace in a place for everyone: the local...
Audience: Children | Genre: Picture Book
"The Travel Atlas"
If you love to travel the world, you will love this book! This travel atlas covers the entire globe, providing highlights for each country or region, along with sample itineraries to help jump start a trip. As an atlas, there are maps and pictures provided for a reference point as you go through the book. I found the book to be half...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Nonfiction
"Delish: Eat Like Every Day's the Weekend"
Total honesty? I judged his book by it's delicious looking cover and boy am I glad that I did! I had never heard of the online sensation that is Delish, but will now start to follow them on social media. Their recipes don't cater to a special diet, nor do they require special skills in the kitchen. All of the ingredients are easy to...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Nonfiction
"The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World"
Marco Borges, CEO and founder of 22 Days Nutrition, created Greenprint, a set of guidelines helping people to make the transition to plant-based eating. This book is not only packed with those helpful guidelines, but it's also packed with tantalizing recipes, shopping lists, and meal plans to get you started. I especially appreciated the introduction that...
"The Passage"
Not *just* another zombie-vampire-apocalypse genre novel (but yes, it is also that), "The Passage" tells an epic, century-long tale of the downfall of modern civilization due to a contagion that transforms humans into bloodthirsty, fanged, nigh-indestructible creatures of the night that the author graciously (though conspicuously) tries very hard not...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror, Supernatural, Dystopian
"Becoming"
Would you like to learn how a little girl from the South Side of Chicago rose above her circumstances to attend Princeton, become a successful lawyer, and eventually the First Lady of the United States? Michelle Obama did a great job writing her first book about her upbringing, who made her who she is today, and how she stays true to herself through...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Nonfiction, Biography And Memoir
"The Road Ahead"
Do you need inspiration to be a better version of yourself? What if you could find it in a book? In Jane Seymour’s book, The Road Ahead, real-life stories are shared, with inspirational messages at the beginning of each section. The stories give you hope and encouragement during difficult situations that we all have in our everyday lives....
Audience: Adults | Genre: Nonfiction, Inspiration, Self-Help
"Pandemic"
I love a good book about pandemics. For whatever reason, they fascinate me. Learning the reasons behind the Black Death or Ebola can be an adventure story and "Pandemic" covers everything you need to know. This book was very readable, with great pictures of viruses, bacteria and insects, as well as interesting side notes that help clarify...
"The Price Guide to the Occult"
Rona Blackburn's daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters have lived on Anathema Island for many years. Rona's powerful witchcraft has been passed down to each daughter, yet each one only inherits one of Rona's mysterious powers. Nor Blackburn wants to live a quiet unremarkable life, so when she's gifted with the ability to hear the plants,...
Audience: Teens | Genre: Teen, Urban Fantasy, Witchcraft
"The Vegan 8: 100 Simple, Delicious Recipes Made with 8 Ingredients or Less"
Looking for quick and easy recipes that are not only delicious but healthy? This book is a must read! Brandi Doming, creator of the Vegan 8 blog, brings a cookbook to readers that is packed with fully-photographed recipes and all of them require only 8 ingredients or less (spices included!). I can personally say that the Hungarian Red Lentil Soup is...
"One-Dish Vegan"
This new vegan cookbook has a plethora of scrumptious-sounding recipes for anyone looking for healthy, satisfying meals. I literally want to make about 90% of the recipes in this book, and don't know which one I want to make first! Some of the recipes have a longer ingredient list, but there's a lot of flavorful spices included, so don't be daunted by that...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Nonfiction, Cookbook
"The Ravenous"
To outsiders, the Cane girls are a lovely group of five sisters. Transferring from base to base, following their itinerant father, who is often gone, the girls stick together no matter what. So what if their home life is chaotic and dysfunctional. As long as everything looks ok, it will be. Juliet is the oldest, a pianist who gave up...
Audience: Adults, Teens | Genre: Realistic, Family Drama, Horror
"Wish Upon a Sleepover"
Leliani has only one friend, Autumn, and the popular group of Haileys at school look like they would be fun friends, so she decides to plan a sleepover and invite them. However, with her confused grandmother helping with the party, the kids on the “Do Not Invite” list get invited instead of kids on the “Do Invite” list. So now she’s stuck with the...
"We Sold Our Souls"
Kris bought her first electric guitar with her savings, never imaging that she would eventually become the guitarist for a semi-famous heavy metal band. But on the eve of their big break, the lead singer, Terry, did something more horrible than selling out, and while he went on to achieve fame and glory, the rest of the band disappeared into...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Fiction, Adult, Horror, Heavy Metal
"Sadie"
Sadie is alone in the world. Her sister was murdered and her mother has abandoned them. With nothing to lose, Sadie sets out to find the person she believes is responsible for her sister's death. Told from two perspectives, Sadie's own and from the perspective of a podcast producer/narrator, this novel is an intricate puzzle. The...
"The Third Mushroom"
Ellie and her grandfather have become better friends since last year when her grandfather turned himself young again through a science experiment and attended Ellie’s middle school. In this sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish, crusty teenage scientist (with two PhDs) Melvin Sagarsky returns.
Having her grandfather around has encouraged in Ellie a love for...
"Louisiana's Way Home"
Louisana Elefante used to think that she knew who she was. She was told that she was the daughter of circus performers who died doing a trapeze act and she now lives with her grandmother. But when her grandmother awakens her in the middle of the night and tells her to get in the car, without her cat or dog or even saying goodbye to her friends in order to...
Audience: Children, Tweens | Genre: Contemporary Fiction
"All the Things That Could Go Wrong"
Seventh-grade student Alex worries about everything, including worrying about worrying, but mostly about everyone dying and all the germs on people and surfaces everywhere. He always wears gloves and washes his hands compulsively, so much so that his skin is cracked, raw, and painful. Because of his OCD he is picked on at school and bullied repeatedly,...
"Something in the Water"
Erin, a filmmaker, and Mark, an investment banker, seem like the perfect couple with the perfect life. Newly married, they embark on a lavish honeymoon in Bora Bora. It's a perfect honeymoon until they find something ominous in the water while scuba diving. They have to decide whether to tell the truth about their discovery or keep it hidden. Their final...
"Open Your Eyes"
Jane leads a relatively normal life, taking care of two children and teaching a creative writing class (while she not-so-patiently waits for the day she is an officially published author). Her husband, Leon, is already an accomplished novelist and the main breadwinner of the family. When he's brutally attacked in their own driveway while Jane is only steps...
"Saving Winslow"
When his father brings home a sickly, half-dead baby donkey in the middle of winter, Louie, who has not had luck keeping things alive like goldfish, worms and bugs, is determined to do whatever it takes to save it. Suffering the loss of his brother, Gus, who recently joined the army, having a baby donkey to love helps soothe Louie's lonely heart and...
"The Overstory"
"First there was nothing. Then there was everything." So begins National Book Award-winner Richard Powers' new novel about nine interlocking characters who, in their own ways - and in ways that overlap - find themselves face to face with the natural world. Or, face to leaf, face to crown, face to root...
Each character is introduced in the first...
"Are You Scared, Darth Vader?"
Is Darth Vader scared of anything? This fun children's book asks just this question! Darth Vader is asked about many Halloween-related characters, such as; vampires, ghosts, witches, wolfmen, and children. Kids will love this Halloween-themed Darth Vader story as he interacts with all of these creatures for the first time. The...
"Fitness Junkie"
Fitness Junkie is the story of Janey Sweet and her search for a leaner body after a lifelong friend and boss told her that she could lose her job if she didn't shed 30 pounds. Janey throws herself into the ultimatum with gusto by trying all of the fad diets, strange cult-like workouts, and self-searching. Ever hear of eating clay as a...
Audience: Adults | Genre: Contemporary Fiction
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