Staff Picks
Stay in touch with the personal favorites of the KDL Staff. Each title is handpicked.
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Alexie, Sherman) by Sherman Alexie Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Catalog Link |
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Changes (Dresden Files, Book 12) by Jim Butcher Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the vampiric Red Court, discovers the secret being kept by Harry Dresden’s ex-lover, Susan Rodriguez, leaving Harry with no choice but to tap into his own dark power and fight to save the world. Catalog Link |
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A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron Searching for his purpose over the course of multiple canine lives, Bailey is reborn as a golden-haired puppy after a tragic death as a stray and shares a loving bond with young Ethan before he again dies and starts over. By the author of the best-selling 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Catalog Link |
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Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare In the prequel to the best-selling The Mortal Instruments series, Tessa Gray descends into Victorian London’s dark underworld to search for her missing brother, with the mysterious Shadowhunters as her only allies. Catalog Link |
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Stiltsville: A Novel by Susanna Daniel Describes the love story between Frances Ellerby and Dennis DuVal against the backdrop of the Biscayne Bay, as they struggle with Florida’s weather, infidelity, parenthood, friendship and debilitating illness over the span of thirty years. Catalog Link |
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith Reveals the hidden life of the 16th U.S. president, who was actually a vampire hunter, obsessed with the complete elimination of the undead, and uncovers the role vampires played in the birth, grown and near-death of the nation. By the #1 best-selling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Catalog Link |
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How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway Entreated to visit her ancestral family in Japan in place of her ailing mother, Sue uncovers family secrets that influence her life in unforeseen ways, offer insight into her mother’s marriage to an American GI and reveal the role of tradition in shaping personal choice. Catalog Link |
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Vanilla Ride (Hap and Leonard) by Joe R. Lansdale Best friends and freelance troublemakers Hap Collins and Leonard Pine assist an old friend in rescuing his daughter from an abusive drug dealer, and wind up enraging the Dixie Mafia. Catalog Link |
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Wolf Hall: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) by Hilary Mantel Assuming the power recently lost by the disgraced Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell counsels a mercurial Henry VIII on the latter’s efforts to marry Anne Boleyn against the wishes of Rome and many of his people, a successful endeavor that comes with a dangerous price. By the Hawthornden Prize-winning author of Eight Months on Ghazzah Street. Catalog Link |
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The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who Inspired Chicago by Douglas Perry Documents the true stories of Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan, the women whose sensational murder trials inspired the musical “Chicago,” and traces the contributions of fledgling reporter Maurine Watkins against a backdrop of Chicago’s Jazz Age culture. Catalog Link |
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Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream by William Powers Powers, after traveling extensively in Africa as part of his activity with humanitarian concerns, returned to the US with a changed perspective regarding the American way of life. His insights were deepened by living on the land in a 12-foot by 12-foot cabin. This memoir records the experience of that time in detail, and argues for the spiritual depth and closer relationships that can come from questioning the need to consume, living closer to the land, and learning to appreciate a slower lifestyle. Catalog Link |
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Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach Describes the weirdness of space travel, answers questions about the long-term effects of living in zero gravity on the human body, and explains how space simulations on Earth can provide a preview to life in space. Catalog Link |
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On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells When Oscar Ogilvie’s father must look for work in California, Oscar is left with his aunt, where he befriends a drifter, witnesses a bank robbery, and is catapulted onto a train that takes him to a different time and place. Catalog Link |
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Countdown by Deborah Wiles The fearful events of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis are witnessed by 11-year-old Franny, who finds her life and perspectives changing throughout the course of a week that is also marked by difficult family issues. By the National Book Award finalist author of Each Little Bird That Sings. Catalog Link |
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Maisie Dobbs (Book 1) by Jacqueline Winspear In her first case, private detective Maisie Dobbs must investigate the reappearance of a dead man who turns up at a cooperative farm called the Retreat that caters to men who are recovering their health after World War I. Catalog Link |