Staff Picks Format: Book

All Systems Red by Martha Wells [Book]

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A charming story about a heavily weaponized semi-biological robot that calls itself “Murderbot”? Yes! An armed and armored security unit that has hacked its governor-module allowing it to act independently may sound like the terrifying killer robot from a “kill all humans” story from the age of classic sci-fi, but in Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries the AI in question is an awkward and kind-hearted, if incredibly sarcastic and anti-social, hero of an extended coming-of-age story. Murderbot just wants to be left alone to enjoy its favorite serials on the entertainment feed, but life keeps getting in the way and in the process Murderbot grows as a person, forming relationships and learning more about what it means to be alive than it could ever know from The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon or Timestream Defenders Orion.

The series begins with All Systems Red, a short novella that introduces Murderbot and some of the key humans who will play a part in its life. The series continues with Artificial Condition and is now a series of six books, with more on the way. Highly recommended.

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller [Book]

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After accidentally setting her fancy Boston workplace on fire, pastry chef Livvy flees to Vermont where her best friend helps her get a job at the local bed and breakfast, turning a temporary escape into something more. Livvy’s tetchy new employer has a hidden agenda: to regain blue ribbon status in the annual apple pie contest. Gradually, the directionless orphan and her trusty dog are drawn into the town and grow involved with its denizens. Her best friend gets pregnant and needs Livvy to stay close by. Her chef colleague develops a crush on her. The local contra dance band has an opening for her and her banjo. When Livvy’s path crosses that of the kindly neighbors’ prodigal son, her connection deepens. She takes a few wrong turns and has to find her way back from another instance of flight before she finds her happy ending. Pastry descriptions will require a bakery jaunt to make it through, and readers can bake their own blue ribbon apple pie from Livvy’s recipe.

This is a fun read for romance readers as well as folks who don’t think they like romance

A Dangerous Age by Kelly Killoren Bensimon with Teresa DiFalco [Book]

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For the past twenty years, four Manhattanites have met weekly to discuss career changes, cocktails, classes, and connections. Now in their forties, Lucy is a former model and dilettante writer married to a famous artist; Billy is her childhood friend, a currently unemployed food and wine expert; Lotta is a Swedish art gallery employee and party girl; and Sarah is a socialite aspiring to social media and reality show fame. Over the course of one summer, Lucy receives an impossible assignment while her husband prepares for a comeback show, Billy explores supper club subscriptions as a source of income, Lotta descends into a drug fueled breakdown, and Sarah attempts to raise her profile enough to seduce a casting team. Along the way, the friends get together as a group to check in, and in pairs to dish on the others. Bensimon weaves together the tangled threads of their four stories to produce a conclusion that exhibits the drama and immediacy of a reality show in novel form.

Fans of Sex and the City and the Real Housewives franchise will enjoy the rarefied atmosphere, as well as readers and viewers of Gossip Girl and the like.

The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt [Book]

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If you are interested in the world around you—what are those little boxes on the sides of buildings? why are signposts built the way they are? what do those symbols painted on the road mean?—then 99% Invisible will appeal to you. Faith has already written up the 99% Invisible Podcast as a staff pick here, but I would like to bring your attention to the book, The 99% Invisible City. The book, as its title implies, has a narrower scope than the podcast, and concentrates on the urban environment. I highly recommend it for anyone who has enjoyed episodes of the podcast or has heard about it and been intrigued but never given it a listen. Nearly all of the topics in the book have been extensively covered on the podcast, so you will actually get more out of this if you are not yet a diehard 99pi fan, though longtime listeners will certainly find it an entertaining review.

This is a great book for whetting your appetite—each topic is covered only briefly, and you will want to learn more! Perhaps its greatest deficit is the lack of photographs—the illustrations are charming, but more often than not you will want to see photographs of what has been described. If you are anything like me you will take note of those stories that intrigue you most and continue to investigate them further on your own—which is, I suspect, exactly what Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt want!

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge [Book]

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I just finished Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge and loved it! It is historical fiction at its best — bringing the past to life through characters that are complex and relatable. The story begins in post-Civil War Brooklyn and is a coming of age story of a free black girl, Libertie, whose mother is a doctor. We follow Libertie through college and into her young married life which brings her to Haiti.

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski [Book]

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This YA fantasy novel is the first in a duology about Nirrim, a young woman who lives in a remote island city. Nirrim is Half Kith, which means she cannot wear bright colors, eat flavorful food, or leave the walled-in neighborhood she calls home. Beyond the walls, the privileged class known as the High Kith live lavishly. When an unlucky accident lands Nirrim in the city jail, she meets Sid, a traveler with a mysterious past who somehow convinces the guards to let Nirrim free. Sid has questions Nirrim never thought to ask, like: why do the High Kith get all of life’s pleasures? How was the city founded? And who built the wall around the Half Kith? Together, Nirrim and Sid set out to find the answers.

Though this plot description has elements that will be familiar to anyone who reads YA fantasy and dystopian sci-fi, I found it to be a unique and engrossing story that isn’t quite like anything I’ve read before. The island of Herrath, where Nirrim lives, is immersive and detailed, and Marie Rutkoski’s writing brings it vividly to life. The primary romance in this book is between two women, and the characters feel well-developed and real. I picked this book up on a whim one Sunday morning and didn’t put it down until it was finished–it totally hooked me from the first few pages. Highly recommended to teens and adults who love complicated heroes, LGBTQ romance, and unique fantasy worlds.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir [Book]

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Gideon the Ninth is a dark fantasy. The world in which it is set seems to be the decaying remanent of a once prosperous interplanetary empire, but don’t let the occasional space ship fool you—this isn’t science fiction and the physics of this world are very different from our own in one notable way: some individuals are born with necromantic abilities and can learn to manipulate, blood, bone, and even the souls of the dead. This would be unbearably dark and gruesome were it not for a few things:

• Our protagonist, Gideon, is strong, queer, contrary, and absolutely hilarious. Despite all her complexities and her own dark past it is her irreverence that keeps the book from being too dark.
• The relationships are complex and intriguing. It quickly becomes clear that while Gideon may put on a show of hating everyone and everything, in actuality her feelings are rarely so simple. It should be noted that some of the relationships portrayed in this book seem deeply unhealthy—but they are also interesting and too believable to be simply dismissed.
• There is a murder mystery—with a small closed circle of suspects, mostly unknown to each other, and all brought together by unsolicited invitations we are treated to a peculiarly mystery that has something of the feel of a classic country house mystery, just with more skeletons and swordfighting.
• The book is full of details that make its world feel much larger than what is revealed. We might suppose that Gideon and her companions have some idea of the history of the once prosperous empire, but it is clear that even their understanding is incomplete and the reader is left to imagine what might have happened. And when it comes to understanding necromancy, we get a glimpse here and there of the complex rules that seem to govern it, but we soon see that even those in the book that profess to understand it best have much to learn.
• Finally, a word must be put in about the swordfighting. Very early in the book we learn that Gideon is very proficient with a two-handed longsword, but circumstances will requirer her to play the part of a cavalier, convincing her audience that she has always trained with a rapier. Muir could easily have left it at that, but she clearly did her homework, and it shows in every mention tactics, posture, and training. These descriptions of swordwork feel real and they serve to ground the fantasy.

So, yeah. I kind of loved this book. It is crass, violent, and excessively gory, but its also good, for all the reasons I gave above and probably for many more I’m not clever enough to put my finger on. This is definitely not the right book for everyone, but if the above sounds appealing, I urge you to give it a try.

How to be Antiracist [Book]

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Dr. Kendi breaks down the difference between being “not a racist” and being “anti-racist”. This book is required reading.

Nothing to See Here [Book]

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There’s nothing to see here—or maybe there is? Keeping the secret of stepchildren who spontaneously combust is not easy especially when your father is a high profile politician. Magic realism at its finest with fascinatingly flawed characters.

Such a Fun Age [Book]

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Race, class and parenting collide in this thought provoking tale centered around a special relationship between a lovable and precocious child and her amazing nanny.

Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholem Aleichem [Book]

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Motl the Cantor’s Son was the last novel by Sholem Aleichem. It tells the story of Motl and his family, first in Kasrilevke, a fiction shtetl where the family is increasingly destitute after the death of Motl’s father Peysi, then on their journey as refugees across Europe and eventually by boat to America, and finally as they try to assimilate and make a living in New York.

Although the story is full of hardships, Motl sees the changes in his circumstances in an entirely positive light. When his father dies, Motl enjoys the attention he receives and hardly seems aware of the death as a loss, and when family must sell all their furniture, Motl delights in how much space they now have. Motl generally sees the world around him as a great source of humor and amusement—he certainly isn’t bothered by the worries—mostly about money and social status—that preoccupy the adults around him. And Motl and his family, in fact, are lucky compared to many of their neighbors—his family leaves because of economic hardship, but those that stay are soon forced out by a pogrom.

Sholem Aleichem never finished the novel. We don’t know what eventually becomes of Motl and his family in New York. But we do know that Motl loves his new home, and his family, after a difficult start, is doing well for themselves. More importantly, Aleichem’s storytelling is wonderfully engaging—I enjoyed every moment of them immensely.

Ayesha at Last [Book]

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This funny and touching retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is set in the Muslim community of Toronto, Canada. Full of mistaken identity, eccentric family, arranged marriages vs. love matches, and how appearances can be misleading on several levels. Great debut by author Uzma Jalaluddin.