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Library Lad and Ladies reveal their staff picks


6/19/2012 10:02:00 PM

 What was the most recent book you fell in love with? Finishing a wonderful book feels so good that those feelings and the book need to be shared. Bookstores often have a shelf labeled "staff picks." This shelf always draws one in to look at titles that are recommended by people who are surrounded by books every day. Library staff members also enjoy telling others about their latest favorite read. The list is diverse and intriguing. Maybe one of these will be your new favorite!



"Grave Mercy" by Robin Lafevers (2012). Recommended for ages 14 and up. Abused and neglected by her father, 17-year-old Ismae is sent away to a convent where nuns still worship the gods of old. From the sisters, Ismae learns she is a daughter of Death and must claim her destiny by killing those marked to die. Immune to poison and skilled in weaponry, Ismae never questions her assignments to kill until she meets Gavriel Duval. Together they must protect their duchess and uncover treasonous plots threatening the kingdom.

"Grave Mercy" is the first book in a richly layered medieval fantasy trilogy called "His Fair Assassin" by acclaimed author Robin LaFevers.-Jennifer Kendall



"Bone Song" by John Meaney (2008). "Bone Song" is reminiscent of "The Chronicles of Riddick." In a necropolis powered by the dead, bone songs from newly murdered artists are priceless to connoisseurs who can hear their powerful, enticing, addicting song. When carefully guarded bones disappear, how high does the conspiracy go? Officer Donal Riordan must find the killers with help from para-dead Commander Laura Steele and invisible free-wraith Xalia. Together they stop a death cult from decimating the artistic population. Dark, futuristic fantasy at its best: intricate world-building (necroflux power generators!), multi-layered characters, and an action-packed story that you won't forget.-Normalene Zeeman



"Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin" by Hampton Sides (2010). Time tends to soften history, making it friendlier and more palatable in our memories. Hampton's book blasts this fog away and returns the reader to the stark, hard edged times of the civil rights movement in this country. Here is an epic saga that confounds and enlightens while feeling strangely nostalgic to those of us old enough to have lived through it. Mr. Sides has done exhaustive work in this grim drama. Entertained and often awestruck, I learned a great deal from this work. What more can one ask of a book?-Russell Miller



"Jerusalem: The Biography" by Simon Sebag Montefiore (2011). The city of Jerusalem, sacred to millions of Jews, Christians and Muslims, has been "in the news" for more than 3,000 years. From its ancient roots to today's controversies, Jerusalem has endured the cycle of violence and rebuilding again and again. Montefiore weaves biblical, historical and archeological information into a compelling chronological narrative of this ancient city.-Julie Pavri



Prescott's Library Lad and Ladies are on the staff of the Prescott Public Library.


 

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