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Teen Review: The Great Gatsby
I personally enjoyed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I think that the plot was very engaging and the characters added to the story. The dream-like feel added to the setting and made it a very great book to escape into.
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart
Well, I did it: I read one of the first works of “Pandemic Fiction” by a North American author. Too soon, you ask, for any author to do justice to the subject? Too soon to read about the last two complex and challenging years, laced with so much tragedy, especially as we’re not exactly out of the woods yet? I wondered too.
Teen Review: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
4 out of 5 Stars
“He had suddenly begun to have a sense that the reason he wanted the escape was not only in order to sacrifice thirty thousand on it and thus heal his scar, but also for some other reason. 'Is it because within my soul I am a murderer, too?' He had started to wonder. Something distant but burning had stung his soul.”
Teen Review: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5 out of 5 Stars
“When I was seeing her out, in the ante-room, I thought she was about to cry.”
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
The Personal Librarian tells the story of Belle da Costa Greene, hired by J. P. Morgan to serve as the curator and librarian of his newly-constructed Pierpont Morgan Library.
Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim
Beasts of a Little Land is an epic saga set during Korea’s tumultuous history of Japanese occupation and the fight for Korean independence.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Here’s the set-up of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Noemi Taboada, a debutante livi
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Antebellum Virginia is the setting of this eloquently written historical novel by Edward P. Jones, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and the National Book Critics Award in 2003.
Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silber
In her latest collection of linked short stories Secrets of Happiness (2021), Joan Silber writes about the impacts of a father’s secrets on his extended family and the people in their lives.
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
I recently asked Laurel, a member of our circulation team, for a recommendation. Laurel was deep into We Begin at the End (2021) by British author Chris Whitaker.
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Still Life by Sarah Winman is a love letter to the city of Florence, Italy, its art, and its inhabitants. An ode to chance encounters, love and found family. A delightful story of a tender-hearted English soldier and an eccentric art historian who serendipitously meet on the outskirts of Florence towards the end of WWII. Filled wi
Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde
What a wonderful surprise this book was! When it came across my desk, it immediately grabbed my attention because of the cover…a young boy and two enormous dogs, I had to take a look! I read the inside of the jacket and knew I had to read it even though I had never heard of the author or title. I started it that night and it was one of those books that you can’t wait to get to, but drag out finishing because you don’t want the story to end.