Task 9: Read a book recommended by a librarian

[Mary Beth]

Here is a thread to discuss books you’re considering or suggesting for Task 9: Read a book recommended by a librarian.

[Liza]

Good Omens is in a “Chosen by our librarians” section in my county’s Libby page, so I’m gonna take this as an excuse to finally read that.

[Elizabeth]

I went to the same library branch for over a decade, so I would have asked specific librarians for recommendations, but I moved to a different part of my city in the summer and got a new branch, so I'll have to choose between picking something off the "recommended" displays, or asking one of my new librarians for a suggestion.

[Teresa]

I googled Librarian Recommendations and there are a bunch online. I might read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, When Women Were Dragons, or Sea of Tranquility.

[Rebecca]

Demon Copperhead

[The Book Assassin]

My library has an algorithm to recommend books and I think it's funny it recommended me Ali Smith's Summer, while I was planning to start with Autumn in September.

[Eclecticbooks]

The Quiet Room by Terry Miles. Already on my holds list and part of a librarian curated list on Libby. Loved Rabbits five star read for me so can't wait to return to that world.

[Carly Really Very Normal]

I'm a librarian. Let me know your reading preferences and I'm happy to give recommendations!

[Stacie]

Carly wrote: "I'm a librarian. Let me know your reading preferences and I'm happy to give recommendations!"

I read primarily romance and fantasy but I'm willing to branch out into thrillers or light horror.

[Carly Really Very Normal]

Stacie wrote: "Carly wrote: "I'm a librarian. Let me know your reading preferences and I'm happy to give recommendations!"

I read primarily romance and fantasy but I'm willing to branch out into thrillers or lig..."

Hi Stacie!

Thriller: Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger, or The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Delilah Harris. They are both atmospheric slow burn thrillers that, by the end, have turned up to 11. They both deal with relationships-one in a family, one in a work place.
Fantasy/Light Horror: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, this is a darker take on some traditional British fairytales and folk lore.
Horror (scary but still accessible and a good entry point to the genre): How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Romance (I tend to read LGBTQIA romance, so I'm not sure if this will resonate with you but I think this YA book is brilliant-also trigger warning SA): We Are the Ants by Shawn David Hutchinson. I also recommend the Kiss Quotient books, any of them, but Helen Hoang. I especially enjoyed the Heart Principle. These can be read as stand-alones or in any order, and are more traditional romances with spicy peppers. We Are the Ants is YA with less explicit romance.

Hope I've given you something new!

[Carly Really Very Normal]

Margaret wrote: "Thank you, Carly! I like nonfiction best, especially natural history. John McPhee is my favorite author. I’d appreciate your suggestions!"

It's truly my pleasure! And, you're in luck-I read lots of nonfiction and I love natural history, so hopefully I'll be able to recommend something new for you. Another lucky thing, the past few years have been an absolute golden age for exactly that kind of writing.

Geology: "Mountains of Fire: the Menace, Meaning, and Magic of Volcanoes" by Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist. From the blurb "Mountains of Fire reveals how volcanic activity is entangled with our climate and environment, as well as our economy, politics, culture, and beliefs. These adventures and investigations make clear the dual purpose of volcanology—both to understand volcanoes for science’s sake and to serve the communities endangered and entranced by these mountains of fire."

Science (and humor): "The Disappearing Spoon: And other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements" by Same Kean. I'm actually working my way through his entire catalogue, where he selects a scientific topic (like neurology, or the study of gases and atmosphere) and writes a book where each chapter address specific part of that topic through a historical anecdote. Very fun and informative.

Outdoor Adventure and History: "Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of the Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon" by Melissa L. Sevigny. From the Blurb "Their story is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a little-known corner of the American West at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever."

Anthropology: "Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America" by Craig Childs. Explores the facts and speculates on the peoples who first traveled to the American continents and how they got here. I enjoyed the speculative nature of the book in combination with the scientific data, and his ability to imagine the humanity of the peoples who did it. He frequently tries to imagine himself as one of those prehistoric explorers.

Nature and cozy: "Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field" by John Lewis-Stemple. A man's observations of the flora and fauna of a single field over time. Cozy, funny, and a reminder of the preciousness of life and stillness.

I hope you find some of these useful!

[Elspeth]

I'm a librarian so I get to pick my own book ;)

This year I'm going to read the first book for my mystery book club that I selected: The Rabbit Factor

[Jessica]

I'm going to pick something off the themed shelves at my local library!

[Carly Really Very Normal]

Margaret wrote: "Each and every one of those natural history books sounds good, Carly. I decided on The Disappearing Spoon because 1: I’ve never read anything about the periodic table; 2: The *mother* of a libraria..."

Hi Margaret, I'm so glad you found a title that stood out to you! I haven't read it on audiobook, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it after you've finished. Happy New Year!

[Carly Really Very Normal]

Jessica wrote: "I'm going to pick something off the themed shelves at my local library!"

That's a great idea!

[Rachel]

I actually AM a librarian so here are a few that I recommend for this prompt:
All Systems Red
All Systems Red by Martha Wells - first book in the Murderbot Diaries, it's a fantastic sci fi story about a self aware killing machine who would rather watch media shows than keep having to save the fragile humans who insist on rushing into danger.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Psalm for the Wild-Built - a tea monk searching for their place in the world encounters a curious traveler and they share the road. This book changed my life when I read it this last year. It was such a soul refilling story and a balm in hard times.

The Kaiju Preservation Society
Kaiju Preservation Society - this was a hilarious story, I laughed all through it and there were so many quotable moments. It also has a fantastically diverse cast of geniuses.

Witch King
Witch King, also by Martha Wells, was a fascinating trip into a well built fantasy world where spirits from beneath the earth work together with gifted women and wise warriors to overthrow a cruel government. The story is told across two lifetimes, the characters are so well developed and it was wonderful to see Kai both as a youth and as an adult.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune
Empress of Salt and Fortune - set in a Chinese inspired historical world this slim volume is a cautionary tale about what happens when you try to crush powerful women. It is the start of a series of stories called the Singing Hills Cycle and I highly recommend them all.

[Sarah]

Rachel wrote: "I actually AM a librarian so here are a few that I recommend for this prompt:
All Systems Red
All Systems Red by Martha Wells - first book in the Murderbot Diaries, it's a fantast..."

I have read (and LOVED!) all of those books except Witch King, which I already own, so clearly our tastes match and I'll have to put Witch King on the top of the TBR pile. :-)

[Nancy]

My friend is a middle school librarian who especially loves horror, so I asked her for some recommendations for the prompt on middle grade horror novels - if anyone wants to double dip, here's what she recommended:

The Girls Are Never Gone
Hide and Seeker
Small Spaces
City of Ghosts
Dread Nation
Don’t Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

[Carole]

My librarian recommended Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Letters, Recipes, and Remembrances. We wanted to read a book of poems for our book club and this was her suggestion. A non-traditional style memoir, vignettes of a man learning to love, dedicated to his greatest loves, his daughters.

[Sherri]

I read The Covenant of Water

[Stina]

I read Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which was selected for a new book club at the library last year.

[Amanda]

Carly wrote: "I'm a librarian. Let me know your reading preferences and I'm happy to give recommendations!"

Hello Carly! I would like to read a fantasy mystery, do you have any recommendations? Thanks!

[Elizabeth]

Amanda wrote: "Carly wrote: "I'm a librarian. Let me know your reading preferences and I'm happy to give recommendations!"

Hello Carly! I would like to read a fantasy mystery, do you have any recommendations? Th..." Not Carly, although I am a librarian as well. This might not be helpful if you are in the US like I am, but I am dying for this to come out this side of the pond: Voyage of the Damned

[Aquaria]

LOL My library had a shelf of 'supernatural' reads on prominent display last fall. I rather loathe supernatural anything (I find all of it silly), but have another challenge demanding a supernatural read. So I combined the two and chose Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. I understand it's one of the better examples of the genre. I doubt I'll find it anything other than eye-rolling with silly.

[Mandie]

I read The Many Deaths of Laila Starr for this one.

[Jenny ✨]

Hey I'm new here. Can anyone recommend some thriller books or suspense books.

[Regan]

My library actually keeps a reader advisory blog updated by a whole lot of the staff. There's a pretty good variety of readers here, so flipping through will probably find something for just about anyone. Although many of our most frequent posters (including me!) are big fantasy readers, so people looking for that kind of thing in particular are in luck!
https://ucplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/

[Carly Really Very Normal]

Amanda wrote: "Carly wrote: "I'm a librarian. Let me know your reading preferences and I'm happy to give recommendations!"

Hello Carly! I would like to read a fantasy mystery, do you have any recommendations? Th..."

Stina wrote: "I read Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which was selected for a new book club at the library last year."

Oh geeze, I can't believe I missed your request. So sorry! If you still need one, here are my recommendations:

"Elatsoe" by Darcie Little Badger: This middle grade mystery following a young indigenous girl highlights Lipan Apache mythology, in a world where all mythologies are real. Her best friend is Irish and descended from a particular family line, so he can travel by fairy ring, for example. In this story, where the wolrd is much the same as our, just with a bit of magic, the ghost of Elatsoe's cousin visits her in a dream after he is murdered-he charges her with finding his murderer. She can raise the ghosts of animals, and using her intelligence, wit, and her and her friend's magics, they work together to solve the mystery.

The Thursday Next Series, beginning with "The Eyre Affair" by Jaspar Fforde, which is a hilariously British fantasy where there are detectives who can enter into books (and literature is taken very VERY seriously), bookworms eat pages and leave behind trails of &&&& as their poop, and time travelers exist. Detective Thursday Next is tasked with tracking down Acheron Hades, a baddie going around stealing manuscripts and killing important characters, causing history and literature to go haywire and exacerbating tensions between literary groups.

"Meddling Kids" by Edgar Cantero, is an irreverent and very grown up take on the Scooby Doo Mystery Gang, including a very smart Weimaraner, a group of dysfunctional adults damaged by their traumas incurred as a teenage mystery solving team, and the undead. Falling more under paranormal than typical fantasy, prepare for imperfect characters and existential dread alongside the dry humor found within.

"The Book of Doors" by Gareth Brown, which just came out last month. From the blurb: "If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?
In New York City, bookseller Cassie Andrews is living an unassuming life when she is given a gift by a favourite customer. It's a book - an unusual book, full of strange writing and mysterious drawings. And at the very front there is a handwritten message to Cassie, telling her that this is the Book of Doors, and that any door is every door .
What Cassie is about to discover is that the Book of Doors is a special book that bestows an extraordinary powers on whoever possesses it, and soon she and her best friend Izzy are exploring all that the Book of Doors can do, swept away from their quiet lives by the possibilities of travelling to anywhere they want.
But the Book of Doors is not the only magical book in the world. There are other books that can do wondrous and dreadful things when wielded by dangerous and ruthless individuals - individuals who crave what Cassie now possesses.
Suddenly Cassie and Izzy are confronted by violence and danger, and the only person who can help them is, it seems, Drummond Fox. He is a man fleeing his own demons - a man with his own secret library of magical books that he has hidden away in the shadows for safekeeping. Because there is a nameless evil out there that is hunting them all . . .
Because some doors should never be opened.

And lastly, "The Tainted Cup" by Robert Jackson Bennet, which also came out last month. From the blurb: "In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.
At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.
Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.
As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.
Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale."

Hope you find this helpful! Sorry for the delay

[Denise]

I read The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Recommended by a librarian in my book club