Staff Picks
Check the blog every Wednesday for updates on what our staff is reading and recommendations for our new and all-time favorite books. What is your favorite book? Post your answer in the comments section below. To see all previous Staff Picks posts, simply type "Staff Picks" in the search box at the top left of this blog and click the "search blog" button.

The Attack by Yasmina Khadra - recommended by Stephanie
This heart stopping novel brings to life the unending struggle between the Palestinians and the Israelis. A haunting story.




So Big by Edna Ferber - recommended by Christine
A Pulitzer Prize winning novel that is beautifully written. A quaint story of a nineteenth century life in Illinois. You'll enjoy.


Through the Children's Gate by Adam Gopnik - recommended by Valerie
How do you learn to connect with your neighborhood- especially if it is Manhattan- in the heart of New York city?


A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge - recommended by Thea
Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence. Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, not entirely composed of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization. - From the book jacket.