Recommending books is one of our staff's favorite things to do. We miss seeing you in the library, but please enjoy some reading recommendations from a few of our Millhopper Branch staff members available on OverDrive.
Jewel J. recommends Copper Sun by Sharon Draper and An African American Cookbook by Phoebe Bailey.
Michelle H. recommends The Plague by Albert Camus and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.
Margaret P. recommends The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See and Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
(wait list)
Reese Witherspoon recommended this book for her Book Club and I can totally see why. I read it for my personal Book Club as well, although we haven't met yet to discuss it. First of all, it's Fiction, but I totally forgot that as soon as I started reading it. I completely bought into the storytelling and was convinced that it was a Non-Fiction Biography of a real band!
The book is told as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies -- basically a band documentary transcript. (Think The Office interviews of each character or Laura Levine's Jaine Austen's parents who each tell their side of the story, but never seem like the same situation). Former band members, the stars, their managers, their friends, and significant others are all interviewed and recount the history of the band's rise and fall. I know, that sounds boring, but you will be pleasantly surprised!
It mostly centers around Daisy Jones. She's young and beautiful with a great voice, but sex & drugs become her focus. You're also introduced to a band called The Six, led by Billy Dunne, along with 5 other members (especially a kick-ass female drummer). They all soon cross paths and the next thing you know, they're the hottest new band and going on tour. Crazy things happen along the way - everyone's drinking and doing a ton of drugs (that's no shocker in the music scene), band members hook up (which ones were the surprise!), everyone else is sleeping around (amazing there's not more pregnancies), money is being spent like there's no tomorrow, and more. But then, on the night of their final concert, they split, and the fans don't know why.
This book explains it all -- how these individuals became an incredibly popular and in demand band and then lost it all. You'll be transported into the music scenes and fall in love with these characters even though it's not written in the typical prose. It was a big break from all the other books out there and for that, was such a wonderful treasure!
– Julie M.
Ever wonder what a brilliant serial killer with a sidekick who is a hopeless stoner has in common?
Serge A. Storms is a killer, an undaunted protector of his beloved state of Florida. He cruises the highways and byways with his partner Coleman in search of history, bad guys and in this edition hurricanes. Yes. Hurricane season is in full swing in Florida but so is a killer. A copycat killer, but the police think it’s Serge. And Serge will stop at nothing to get him because no one makes Serge look like a fool. So while Coleman drinks, smokes and parties his way through the sunshine state, be certain, Serge’s plan for the copycat’s death will be in the most unusual way.
A notable quote from the book: “Americans tend to over analyze. Like during the space race, NASA spent fifty thousand dollars developing a zero-gravity pen that didn’t skip. Know what the Russians did? Pencil. Think about it.”
I probably wouldn't read a murder mystery book but Tim Dorsey's books are so funny that they are not dark at all. It is a book series, but doesn't have to be read in order.
– Devaki S.