Staff Picks
January 2008
Stay in touch with the personal favorites of the KDL Staff. Each title is handpicked.
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Dough: A Memoir by Mort Zachter Mort Zachter’s childhood revolved around a small shop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side known in the neighborhood as the “day-old bread store.” It was a bakery where nothing was baked, owned by his two eccentric uncles who referred to their goods as “the merchandise.” Zachter grew up sleeping in the dinette of a leaking Brooklyn tenement. He lived a classic immigrant storyone of a close-knit, working-class family struggling to make it in America. Only they were rich. Catalog Link |
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Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith In 1893, inspired by their hero, master sleuth Sherlock Holmes, two cowboys, Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer, put their detecting skills to use to uncover the truth about the murder of a ranch hand on their Montana cattle ranch. Catalog Link |
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On the Wrong Track: A Holmes on the Range Mystery by Steve Hockensmith Hired to guard the Pacific Express during a trip to San Francisco, crime-solving cowboy sleuths Gustav “Old Red” Amlingmeyer and his brother, “Big Red,” find themselves dealing with a scheming gang of outlaws, a baggage car containing a dangerous cache of secrets, and a killer hiding among the train’s colorful passengers. Catalog Link |
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Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert The author recounts his experiences working as an assistant librarian in a public library in suburban Los Angeles, as he encounters patrons who range from bored latchkey kids left there for the afternoon, to rowdy teenagers, to Internet-obsessed adults, to drug-dealers. Catalog Link |
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The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne A founding member of The Simple Way, a radical faith community in North Philadelphia, describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, offering an invitation into the movement that begins inside each individual and extends into a broken world. Catalog Link |
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Ghost: A Novel by Alan Lightman Three months after being unexpectedly fired from his banking job, David takes a temporary position at a local mortuary, where he experiences an inexplicable encounter with the unknown that transforms his relationships with everyone around him, forces him to confront the shifting nature of reality, and explores the boundary between the physical world and the spiritual one. Catalog Link |
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Run by Ann Patchett Struggling with single parenthood and a scandal that cost him his political career, Bernard Doyle fights his disappointment with his adopted sons’ career choices before a violent event forces the members of his family to reconsider their priorities. Catalog Link |
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Absolution by Caro Ramsay Police detective Alan McAlpine is haunted by a decades-old case as he returns to Glasgow’s Patrickhill Station after a long absence to investigate a serial killer who positions his victims’ bodies as if they have been crucified. Catalog Link |
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Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy When a not-so-innocent twelve-year-old girl named Stephanie inherits her eccentric uncle’s estate, she must join forces with Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton mage, to save the world from an ancient evil. Catalog Link |
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The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt Set during the 1967-1968 school year, Holling Hoodhood finds his seventh-grade year one filled with many challenges as he spends afternoons with Mrs. Baker discussing the plays of Shakespeare, defends his tasty cream puffs from a determined bully, and prepares for his big debut in the school play — all while the issue of Vietnam looms on a daily basis. Catalog Link |
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Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson Fearing that the sinister Lord Ombra was not destroyed, Peter and Molly travel to the land of Rundoon, which is ruled by the evil King Zarboff, and once again find themselves in a struggle to save themselves as well as the planet. Catalog Link |
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Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig Although he comes from a family of theater people who don’t get involved in politics, ten-year-old Bamse and his Jewish friend Anton join Bamse’s brother and participate in the Danish Resistance during World War II. Catalog Link |
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One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke As her irritating family prepares to celebrate her grandfather’s eightieth birthday, sixteen-year-old Lily yearns for just one whole perfect day together. Catalog Link |
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The Book of Lost Things: A Novel by John Connolly Taking refuge in fairy tales after the loss of his mother, twelve-year-old David finds himself violently propelled into an imaginary land in which the boundaries of fantasy and reality are disturbingly melded. Catalog Link |
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A Skating Life: My Story by Dorothy Hamill A personal memoir by the Olympic gold medallist shares the painful secrets of her private life, from her difficulties with her alcoholic father and her emotionally distant mother to her ex-husband’s fatal plane crash and her own struggles with depression and bankruptcy. Catalog Link |
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Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan A masterful portrait of a mythic American hero offers a sweeping study of Daniel Boone in terms of his larger-than-life role in the early history of America, detailing his trailblazing journeys into the heart of the American wilderness, his participation in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, his relationship with the Indians, and more. Catalog Link |
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Magic and Other Misdemeanors by Michael Buckley Fairy-tale detectives Sabrina and Daphne Grimm face their first case without Granny Relda’s help when the future gets mixed up with the past in Ferryport Landing, and because some of the future does not look bright, Puck helps them try to make some changes. Catalog Link |
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Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde A fifth installment in the popular Thursday Next series takes place fourteen years after the 1988 SuperHoop, in a tale in which Thursday finds herself embroiled in cases involving the murders of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple before receiving a death threat of her own. Catalog Link |
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The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks Their lives shaped since childhood by their father’s role as a Traveler, one of an elite group of prophets able to attain pure enlightenment, Gabriel and Michael Corrigan find themselves at the center of a battle between the Harlequins, a band of warriors pledged to protect the Travelers, and the Tabulas, a ruthless cadre seeking world domination. Catalog Link |
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Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn A British aristocrat with an eccentric family and a husband she does not love, Lady Julia Grey is stunned by the sudden death of her husband and enlists the help of private sleuth Nicholas Brisbane to unravel the mystery of his death and the threats that he had been receiving, all the while taking on an unconventional role in London society. Catalog Link |