Staff Favorites

Our last staff favorite post of the school year!

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

DINA'S BOOK

Set in mid-19th century Norway and infused with Scandinavian-style magical realism, this spellbinding novel calls to mind Eliot's Middlemarch and the film Babette's Feast. Willful Dina's character is shaped by her involvement in the grisly accident that kills her mother, after which she temporarily loses the power of speech and permanently distances herself from the strictures of upper-class life in remote, sub-Arctic Nordland. Though beset by ghosts and a nearly papable grief, Dina proves to be a survivor. Insightful, memorable characterizations, coupled with spare, unadorned prose, move the haunting narrative swiftly to its enigmatic finish. Wassmo was named ``The Author of the Eighties'' by Norwegian booksellers

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

To Kill a Mockingbird

I have read this book probably four times during different periods of my life, and each time it moves me in perhaps subtly different ways. The inequalities, the personalities, the relationships--all of this challenges me. Of course the character Boo Radley has made me think over and over again about who he really is and the needs he may have had. I think it's time to read it again!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It is the culmination of a fantastic series and is a book that I cannot put down once I have started it!

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

Blindness by José Saramago

From Nobel Prize–winning author José Saramago, a magnificent, mesmerizing parable of lossThe book portraits amazingly human nature from kindness to the scariest and violent side of Humankind. I love the way the novel is written the fact that there are no paragraphs, chapters of full stop amazed me. Also, the way the author describes the scenes is incredibly real and fantastically written that you can smell, you can perfectly see as it was really all said in the book. Also, there is a movie with Julien Moore based on the book, but no comparison with the greatness of the book.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder

This is the inspiring biography of Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, a global medical nonprofit. Dr. Farmer is a physician/anthropologist who has dedicated his life to providing quality healthcare for the poor, a luxury usually reserved only for the wealthy and privileged of the world. The book narrates his constant travels between his rural clinic in Haiti and his clinical rounds in Boston, where is the Director of Infectious Disease at Harvard Medical School. If you are interested in medicine, anthropology or human rights, this book will absolutely inspire you.

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

Modoc

I love elephants. It's a true story about an elephant.

Oh, the places you'll go!

Because it lifts and spirit and inspires us to reach for the stars!

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

There's just so many....

The Gallic Wars

An incredible (and real) insight into life in Europe 2000 years ago from a first-hand perspective of a conqueror, dictator, emperor - Caesar. If you want to feel what life, and war, was like then, read this book!

The Iliad

Storytelling at it's best. A story that is thousands of years old, told by a master - Homer. Where demi-gods and warriors battle for glory and life ever-lasting. And the Greek gods play with humanity at their own whims.

Foundation Series

Isaac Asimov. Just read anything by him to be inspired by the future and its possibilities. The Foundation Series is a supremely creative science fiction look at the future of humankind, but through such accessible and readable stories and plots. 

Have Spacesuit, Will Travel

Robert Heinlein. A science fiction tale of child wonder and creativity mixed with space adventure. A story that grabs from page one and never lets go, bringing strange ideas comfortably home.

A Brief History of Time

Stephen Hawking. If you ever want to feel that you understand the universe the way a physicist does, then read this book. Mind-bending ideas of how the cosmos really is are presented in such a way that you feel awed and also capable of grasping the nature of nature.

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Earthsea Trilogy

Deep and powerful magic flows through these books, not only in the unique worlds created but through the very magic of Le Guin's carefully crafted sentences and phrases.

Isabel Allende - Ines of my Soul

Just wow! You want history, driving story, strength of character, and a war or two, then this is for you. And, when you read it aloud, it just sounds beautiful.

Jane Austen - Emma

There are sentences in this book that go on for a page. If you want to know what literary looks like, this is it. This book taught me what subtlety of word and gesture really mean - it helped me understand people better. 

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

All the Light We Cannot See

Into the Wild

I love how Chris McCandless goes against the norm, leaving traditional life and society behind... after completing university of course! He instead chooses a life of experiences over money, status or material objects. Although the story is a bit of a tragedy, it is inspiring nonetheless.

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

Eleanor and Park

I loved the characters in this book. They seemed very real and I became very attached to them. It is a wonderful story of friendship and acceptance.

The Book Thief

Markus Zuzak's writing paints pictures with words and his choice of narrator for the story makes the story even more compelling. 

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

It shows how people are multi-dimensional.

A History of the World by Andrew Marr

This is a book I can read over and over again. I have new insights on our present human condition from the re-reading.It is not conventional history but a thought-provoking series of questions and possible answers. Is the nature of man basically good? Why do men/women seek power? Do we learn the lessons of history... can we even define what these lessons are? How is history shaped by circumstances such as natural disasters, famine, individual mission!

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

Harry Potter Series

They are amazing!

Stranger in a Strange Land

Robert Heinlein's mind bending futuristic satire that turns our notions of society, politics, organized religion, sexuality, economics, and the rest of our norms and conventions upside down! A cult classic from the 60s that influenced the counter culture movements of the time, it still speaks to us today. Read it if you dare, and see how it challenges your perspectives. A fun, deep read.

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

Beloved by Toni Morrison

No other book punched me in the gut like this one. Absolutely haunting.

Current Favorite: Warcross

My favorite book changes often! Warcross was a book I thought I would dislike, but ended up finishing in 2 days. It is my current favorite because it was out of my "reading comfort zone" yet still hooked me in!

Staff Favorites

A new post each Sunday as we ask our staff.....

"What's Your Favorite Book?"

The Stand by Stephen King

I love how detailed the characters are and how they change throughout the book. (And the apocalypse is cool to read about too!) 

Charlotte's Web