Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Three Black Witches are born in a glen,
sweet little triplets
will never be friends.

Three Black Witches, all fair to be seen
two to devour
and one to be queen

So begins the wonderful YA book “Three Dark Crowns” by Kendare Blake.  And with an intro like that, who wouldn’t want to keep on reading?  The whole story is just so delightfully creepy, intense, and yet somehow super emotional. The story starts with during the Ascension Year, when the three sisters will display their powers and then have exactly one year to kill the others for the crown.

Our three dark queens are:

Katharine the poisoner, but her gift is seemingly weak. She doesn't have the ability to survive any poison like she should, so she's been steadily poisoned throughout her life in order to build an immunity.  The last three queens of her land have all been poisoners so she feels a steady pressure to uphold that legacy at all costs.

Mirabella is an elemental, meaning she can control the elements.  She is by far the strongest of the three sisters and many have been touting her as the next queen.  However, she is by far the most soft hearted of the sisters.  She mourns the loss of her sisters at a young age, but does she have what it takes to ascend to the crown?

Arsinoe is a naturalist whose gift is pretty much nonexistent.  She is supposed to be able to control what happens in nature (harvests, animals, plants etc.) but struggles to find her way and is constantly frustrated by her lack of a gift.  Is she a lamb to the slaughter, or is there more to her than meets the eye?

It’s impossible not to get engrossed in this lush, vivid story.  You think you know which queen you will side with, however, you have no idea.  Happy reading!

Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to find in the catalog.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

Ursula lives life after life with subtle changes taking place during each one. Some of her lives are long and some are very brief. It gave one a lot to think about, especially about time and choices. Many may wonder about their own lives and the choices they have made and how things might have been different if an alternate course had been taken. Reading this book about Ursula allows one to see the repercussions of making different choices and how that changes things in one's life. This book is ripe with well-developed characters and an intriguing storyline which could easily be bungled in a less accomplished writer.  Atkinson takes the reader on a journey which seamlessly goes from a quiet country home, to London at the height of the Blitz and even to Berchtesgaden and Hitler’s inner circle.  This book isn’t about death, but more about life.  About our possible paths, about family, about history, and about ripples and traps and the horrors of war. 

Recommended by Monica Shine

Click here to view in the catalog.

Power (Season 1)

Dark, sexy, thrilling, and completely bingeable are words I would use to describe the first season of Power.  James St. Patrick AKA Ghost has risen from running the streets to being a premier nightclub owner in New York.   He has a beautiful wife, a penthouse and his club caters to the Manhattan elite.  However he has one dirty little secret; he may dress and act the part of the respectable businessman but has a double life as one of the city’s biggest drug kingpins.  He and his partner, Tommy Egan (played by the scene stealer Joseph Sikora) try to balance their struggle to keep their street business thriving while maintaining the façade necessary to keep under the radar of the police.  As if this wasn’t enough, enter Ghost’s old High School sweetheart, Angela, a US District Attorney investigating drug crimes.   What follows is a whirlwind of twist, turns and love triangles.  So basically, great TV!

Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog.

Staff Favorite Books of 2017

OUR STAFF'S FAVORITE MOVIES AND SHOWS OF 2017. 

Our expert staff take a look back at the year and share their favorite titles.  Click on the links below the images to view the item in our catalog.

HARDCORE TWENTY-FOUR                            BEARTOWN                                     THE GLASS CASTLE

by Jeannette Walls                                           by Frederik Backman                                  by Jeannette Walls   

      

 WHEN ALL THE GIRLS                      THE DEMON CROWN                         THE HATE U
HAVE GONE                                                                                                                     GIVE
by Jayne Ann Krentz                                          by James Rollins                                         by Angie Thomas

A LONG WAY HOME                           JANE, UNLIMITED                         A MAN CALLED OVE
by Saroo Brierley                                              by Kristin Chashore                                  by Fredrik Backman

 PLEASE DON'T TELL MY                                     DRAFT NO. 4: ON                                     NEW YORK 2140
                                                                                                          THE WRITING PROCESS
PARENTS I HAVE A NEMESIS
Hoopla Audiobook                                             by John McPhee                                         by Kim Stanley Robinson

IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT                 THE TRESPASSER      THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING
by Judy Blume                                                 by Tana French                                                     by Grant Ginder

Staff Favorite Movies of 2017

OUR STAFF'S FAVORITE MOVIES AND SHOWS OF 2017. 

Our expert staff take a look back at the year and share their favorite titles.  Click on the links below the images to view the item in our catalog.

         Baby Driver                                             Dunkirk                                       All Eyez On Me 

   Game of Thrones (S7)                    Guardians of the Galaxy v.2                       Hacksaw Ridge

 

           Maudie                                          Orphan Black (S5)                             A Man Called Ove

 Stranger Things (S1)                                Riverdale (S1)                                                   Sully

         Westworld (S1)                               This is Us (S1)                                   Wonder Woman

The Zookeeper's Wife

Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything by Aly Raisman

Most of us only see Gymnastics every 4 years during the Olympics. The Olympic Games, the world's most prestigious sporting event is the pinnacle of sport and achievement. But what we don’t always see is the behind-the-scenes. How does one athlete get picked above the others to compete and why? After all, they don’t magically appear at the event. This is where Aly Raisman's biography "Fierce" fills in these much needed gaps and gives us her honest (and in a certain chapter her bravery) on her road to London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.

I've always had an interest in Gymnastics, the way they tumble on the floor, flip and turn all on a 4-inch wide beam, swing and release on the uneven bars, and rocket to heights on the vault. These feats always seemed like something for superheroes, and I wanted to know more and more about this seemingly impossible sport.

What is most appealing about Aly is that she is not a child prodigy. She was not born with an innate ability to perform gymnastics spectacularly well. She was (and still is) good—great, even—but only because she was passionate about the sport and put in the work necessary to stand out. This book chronicles her tenacity and determination to make it to not one but two Olympic teams. She also is vocal about the abuse she suffered at the hands of now convicted USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

I appreciate such honesty, and in an autobiography that can be rare.  especially sports biographies.  There are platitudes about how much hard work is needed; rinse, wash, repeat. But Aly doesn't shy away from the gritty parts of being an elite gymnast.  She tells us about the times she was made fun of for being muscular, her mixed relationship with social media commentary, and her struggle with healthy living.  

Now I'm far to old (and out of shape) to be a gymnast on any level, but Aly's biography let me see something of myself in this Olympian.  If you love gymnastics, the Olympics, or sports biographies in general ,"Fierce" will satisfy all your cravings.


Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog.

Get Out (Horror - 2017)

Horror, thriller and social messages all blend together into a gripping and formidable nail-biter in "Get Out," the astonishing directorial debut of Jordan Peele. You may recognize the name as a half of the comedy duo "Key & Peele". Whilst establishing himself as a master comedian. He can now add master writer and director to his impressive resume. What emerges is unforgettable, unmistakably modern film which hits on all cylinders with almost no misfires.

In the tradition of "The Stepford Wives" with the twist of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?," the story follows a young black man named Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) who goes to meet his girlfriend, Rose's (Allison Williams) parents at their fancy estate where things go from slightly uncomfortable to unmistakably sinister within an evening. From this unsettling beginning, the film quietly but effectively builds to a crescendo, that forces the viewer to see prejudices head on.

Without giving away the plot (trust me, you'll want to see if you can figure it out by yourself), not a single scene has been wasted, every little aspect of the movie has a purpose, and ultimately, that's what movies should be about: telling a story with so much love for its details that a viewer can simply sink into the movie and forget what's happening around him.

Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog.