Welcome to this month's Staff Picks page, where our librarians share some of the great books they've read recently. Discover hidden gems, popular titles, and diverse recommendations that will captivate your imagination and enrich your reading experience. Happy exploring!
Fiction
Kōhine by Colleen Maria Lenihan
Tokyo is a humming backdrop to an array of outsiders: a young woman arrives to work as a stripper, the manager of a love hotel hatches a sleazy plan, a spirit wanders Harajuku, and a mother embarks on a sad journey. Linked through recurring characters and themes, these haunting stories hurtle us into the streets of Tokyo and small-town New Zealand. The secular city of salarymen, sex workers and schoolgirls is juxtaposed with rongoā healers, lone men and rural matriarchs of Aotearoa.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the 1960s and despite the fact that she is a scientist, her peers are very unscientific when it comes to equality. The only good thing to happen to her on the road to professional fulfillment is a run-in with her super-star colleague Calvin Evans (well, she stole his beakers.) The only man who ever treated her - and her ideas - as equal, Calvin is already a legend and Nobel nominee. He's also awkward, kind and tenacious. Theirs is true chemistry. But as events are never as predictable as chemical reactions, three years later Elizabeth Zott is an unwed, single mother (did we mention it's the early 60s??) and the star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's singular approach to cooking ('take one pint of H2O and add a pinch of sodium chloride') and independent example are proving revolutionary. Because Elizabeth isn't just teaching women how to cook, she's teaching them how to change the status quo. Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado
Antonia Scott-the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother-has a gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she's refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment. Jon Gutierrez, a police officer in Bilbao-disgraced, suspended, and about to face criminal charges-is offered a chance to salvage his career by a secretive organization that works in the shadows to direct criminal investigations of a highly sensitive nature. All he has to do is succeed where many others have failed: Convince a recalcitrant Antonia to come out of her self-imposed retirement, protecting her and helping her investigate a new, terrifying case. The case is a macabre, ritualistic murder-a teen-aged boy from a wealthy family whose body was found without a drop of blood left in it. But the murder is just the start. A high-ranking executive and daughter of one of the richest men in Spain is kidnapped, a crime which is tied to the previous murder. Behind them both is a hidden mastermind with even more sinister plans. And the only person with a chance to see the connections, solve the crimes and successfully match wits with the killer before tragedy strikes again...is Antonia Scott.
Last Highway by Roger Jon Ellory
Estranged after a devastating betrayal, brothers Victor and Frank Landis - sheriffs of neighbouring counties - hadn't spoken for years. In truth, Victor didn't care if Frank was alive or dead. Until the day somebody killed him. Crossing county lines in search of answers, Victor is soon on the trail of a sinister conspiracy that takes him deep into the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. From the poorest communities to the most powerful and corrupt organisations, he soon becomes ensnared in a dangerous web of drugs, trafficking and murder. For Victor, finding the truth will mean uncovering dark secrets he'd rather have left buried, and risking everything to protect the family his brother left behind.
A blistering and unignorable literary debut about Blackness and whiteness in modern Britain. 'Generations of sacrifice; hard work and harder living. So much suffered, so much forfeited, for this opportunity. For my life. My choice.' Over the course of twenty-four hours, the whip-smart young narrator of Assembly receives a cancer diagnosis, decides not to tell her posh white boyfriend, accepts a long-awaited promotion from her toxic boss - and wrestles with the question of her own existence. She has spent her twenties climbing against the current, overcoming adversity, being twice as good, always reaching for that glass ceiling. But what has it all been for? And why should she fight for a life that has never truly been hers? Via a lacerating critique of race, Empire, and privilege in modern Britain, Natasha Brown sets out a breathtakingly bold and timely provocation about what it means to be truly safe and truly free.
Non Fiction
Stretch: Seven daily movements to set your body free by Roger Frampton
There has been a lot of emphasis from both public health campaigns and the wellness industry on getting people moving 'more'. We all now know that we are supposed to do 10,000 steps per day, many of us possess some sort of wearable tech on our wrists to track how much distance we cover; however, how we move is still somewhat ignored. Due to the sedentary nature of modern life, the destiny for many people in the west is muscles and joints that slowly tighten over the years as we sit down in chairs endlessly. All of sudden you realise that you can't sit comfortably in a squat, touch your toes or get up from sitting on the floor without using your hands. In life, if we don't use the movement, we lose the movement, Stretch guides the reader through daily habits to regain our essential lost movement. Flexibility and mobility should really be likened to brushing your teeth daily on waking and before sleeping. Mobility and flexibility work should become a habit that gets done every day and with this daily program of seven simple stretches (with four variations of each) staggered throughout the working day, it has never been easier to combat the common aches and pains of working from home.
Outer order, inner calm : Declutter & organize to make more room for happiness by Gretchen Rubin
With clarity and humor, bestselling author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project Gretchen Rubin illuminates one of her key realizations about happiness: For most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. And for most of us, a rigid, one-size-fits-all solution doesn't work. In this easy-to-read but hard-to-put-down book, Gretchen Rubin suggests more than 150 short, concrete clutter-clearing ideas so each reader can choose the ones that resonate most. The fact is, when we tailor our approach to suit our own particular challenges and habits, we're far more likely to be able to create the order that will make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. In the context of a happy life, a messy desk or crowded coat closet is a trivial problem--yet Gretchen Rubin has found that getting control of our stuff makes us feel more in control of our lives. By getting rid of things we don't use, don't need, or don't love, as well as things that don't work, don't fit, or don't suit, we free our mind (and our shelves) for what we truly value.
Dear Fahrenheit 451 : A librarian's love letters and break-up notes to her books by Annie Spence
If you love to read, and presumably you do since you've picked up this book (!), you know that some books affect you so profoundly they forever change the way you think about the world. Some books, on the other hand, disappoint you so much you want to throw them against the wall. Either way, it's clear that a book can be your new soul mate or the bad relationship you need to end.
Novelist as a vocation by Haruki Murakami
A charmingly idiosyncratic look at writing, creativity, and the author's own novels. In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously reclusive writer shares with readers what he thinks about being a novelist; his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians. Readers who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his strangely surreal worlds will be fascinated by this highly personal look at the craft of writing.
Learn how to assert and maintain healthy boundaries with the guidance of a renowned relationship expert. Psychotherapist Terri Cole teaches a simple but powerful truth: without healthy boundaries, you can't live an authentic and fulfilled life. After all, if you're always smiling and saying yes to everything, how is anyone else supposed to know you're burnt out, overloaded, and not up to taking on yet another task? This is especially true for today's women, who are often caught between cultural conditioning toward being nice and the need to protect their own well-being. With that in mind, Cole presents Boundary Boss, a comprehensive guide for any woman who wants to master creating and maintaining healthy boundaries. In Boundary Boss, Cole's proven methodology is based on her Five Pillars of Transformation for examining and adjusting your personal and professional limits. Each of these overarching themes branches into more specific lessons about mindful communication, body language techniques, and how to deal with the guilt, fear, or backlash that arises when finally setting a boundary. Cole offers an actionable tool kit of scripts, strategies, and practices that can be used in the moment, whenever you need them. For every single client who has walked through my office doors, no matter what their presenting problem, boundaries and effective communication (or lack thereof) are at the root of their pain, writes Cole. With Boundary Boss, you'll discover tools and teachings for transcending that pain and creating a healthier, happier life.