READER'S ADVISORY STAFF PICKS – FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 PDF Free Download
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READER’S ADVISORY STAFF PICKS –
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024
CHRISTINA
Title: Picture Perfect Autumn
Author: Shelley Noble
Fiction
Dani Campbell is a twenty-something successful photographer from Brooklyn. Lawrence
Sinclair is an elderly, cantankerous former photographer who lives alone in a small Rhode Island
beach town. Their worlds collide when Dani realizes her work is missing something which,
upon coming across some of Lawrence's old photos, she believes he can help her identify.
After scouring the internet, Dani finds Lawrence's whereabouts and sets out on a journey that
leads her straight to his door. Lawrence begrudgingly agrees to go along with her plan, but he
soon realizes that Dani is helping him as much as he's helping her. Add Lawrence's estranged grandson into the mix,
and you have a brilliant story full of long-held family grudges, new beginnings, deception, and self-discovery.
Title: Murder in a Cup (Book 2 - Crystals & CuriosiTEAS series)
Author: Lauren Elliott
Mystery
As we all know, winter is upon us, and there's no better time to pick up a cozy read! In the
follow-up to Steeped in Secrets, Shayleigh Myers is still trying to settle into life in Bray Harbor
and make a success of her inherited tea shop. But another obstacle is thrown in her path when
a customer suddenly dies during a group gathering. The coroner determines that the woman's
death was caused by poisoning, and Shay's loyal teenage employee, Tassi, is the prime
suspect. Shay knows that Tassi had a tumultuous relationship with the victim but would never
resort to murder; however, Shay will need a lot more than just her own intuition to bring the real murderer to justice
and restore her business's reputation once again.
JEN
Title: The Good House
Author: Ann Leary
Fiction
Small town intrigues, feuding mothers, a missing child, and psychic powers that trace back to the
Salem witch trials. Need I say more?
Title: Identity
Author: Nora Roberts
Romance Thriller
Morgan Albright moves home to Vermont determined to get her life back after a con artist
steals her identity, her nest egg and also murders her roommate. Because she was the one who
got away from the con artist and broke his "streak" he is determined to make her pay for it.
Title: Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir
Author: Ruth Reichl
Autobiography
This book is the auto-biographical journey of Ruth Reichl’s love of food - from childhood to
adult – her career as a food critic, and her rise to become the Editor-In-Chief of Gourmet
Magazine. Her self-deprecating humor and clear enjoyment of her medium make it read like
fiction.
If you love food and cooking this book is very informative regarding life in the food magazine
world and has great recipes to share.
KATHY
Title: The Mystery Guest (A Maid Novel)
Author: Nita Prose
Mystery
How many people do you know that LOVE their job? Well, Molly the Head Maid at the Regency
Grand Hotel sure does! The second book in The Maid series picks up 3 years later when Molly
is still cleaning, training a new maid, and trying to figure people out.
When the Regency is chosen by the favorite mystery author, J.D.Grimthorpe, for a mysterious
press release, Molly and staff polish up the new tea room for the event. Once again a murder
occurs and Molly becomes the suspect. This time around, we learn more about Molly's past
and her relationships and she exceeds everyone’s expectations once again. Let's hope there will be more to Molly's
story in the future!
MARCIA
Title: Lore Olympus (Volumes 1 & 2)
Author/Illustrator: Rachel Smythe
YA Graphic Novel
I liked this series as a new, fresh reimagining of the classic Greek
mythology involving Hades and Persephone as teens finding themselves
and their place in a modern day Olympus.
Title: Witchlings (Book 1 of the series)
Author: Claribel Ortega
Juvenile Fantasy
It's a fun-filled, action-packed coming of age quest ....perfect for younger HARRY POTTER fans!
The book celebrates the power of friendship, family, and love while the three protagonists
persevere against stacked odds to follow their dreams.
Title: The Princess and the (Greedy) Pea
Author/Illustrator: Leigh Hodgkinson
Picturebook
This brightly illustrated, oversized picture book is a mash-up of two iconic children's
tales, The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and The Princess and the Pea.
The repetitive, rhyming verses are funny on their own but, when paired with the
colorful and slyly humorous illustrations, the story is hilarious! It has a fantastic,
subversive ending that all would-be princesses and princes will love.
Read this to all your recalcitrant vegetable eaters!
Title: Fourth Wing (#1 in The Empyrean Series)
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Fantasy
A NYT best seller, Goodreads Choice Awards semi-finalist, a NPR “Book We Love,” optioned
for TV by Amazon Studios...these are just a few of the accolades heaped upon this title. Well,
suffice to say, "I was not disappointed."
This is a sexy, suspenseful, heart-pounding fantasy adventure from start to finish. Violet, our
slight, fragile heroine, was trained to be a scribe like her father. When he passed, her mother,
the Commandant of the War College and a renowned dragon rider, insisted that Violet follow
in her footsteps and the thrills never stop.
World building and character development are fantastic! Political intrigue fills in the story and ends with an amazing,
heart stopping finale. I can't wait to read the sequel!
MEL
Title: Iron Flame (#2 in The Empyrean Series)
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Fantasy
A page turner or, in my case, a non-stop audiobook marathon. The story begun in Fourth
Wing only gets better with even more twists, turns, betrayals, and secrets revealed.
Violet has not only earned her place in the 2nd year class, but has discovered that being small
and “frail” do not define her! With excellent character development (you know that you love
Rhi, Imogen, Xaden, Ridoc, Sawyer, Dain, Aaric, Jesinia, Mira, Brennan and the DRAGONS) and
a continuation of the exquisite world building that had us fully immersed and captivated in
Fourth Wing. In this story you’ll meet Liam’s younger sister Sloane, the GRYPHONS and their riders, and get the
backstory on much of the conflict that has defined Navarre’s history while the fight with the Venins and Wyverns only
heats up – literally.
This is a non-stop adventure celebrating the bonds of friendship, camaraderie, diversity and the human heart. A
fitting sequel to the blockbuster first book – I’m on tenterhooks waiting for the third!
Title: The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living (part of the 3 book
Happiness Institute series)
Author: Meik Wiking
DIY Self-Help & Happiness Ideas
Pronounced “hoo-ga” this little book is not about “things,” but rather an opportunity to
rediscover the idea of cozy in our environments with the people we love. Central to hygge is
the comfort that “home” brings to each of us – that sense of safety, life at a remove from
the outer world, and the essential place to let our guard down.
Written by Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute (an independent think
tank in Denmark), the book explores the connection between hygge and happiness and how we might learn from the
happiest country in the world how to find our own peace, calm, and sense of well-being. Packed full of excellent
suggestions and commentary, I highly recommend taking the time to flip through the pages in search of inspiration –
if nothing else, the Hygge Manifesto is worth posting near your workspace as a reminder that there is much more to
life! You needn’t read it cover-to-cover to benefit from the “light” this book brings to your heart…and soul.
Title: Harriet Gets Carried Away
Author/Illustrator: Jessie Sima
Picture Book
Harriet loves nothing better than playing dress-up in her costumes. She wears them EVERY
day, not just for holidays. This time she’s dressed like a penguin as her adventures take
her shopping for party decorations with her dads – and what happens when her
imagination gets “carried away.”
A relatable story with engaging illustrations (love how the perspective changes to see
things from a child’s point of view) featuring a non-traditional family and lots of fun with friends!
Title: How to Be a Person
Author: Catherine Newman Knowles
Illustrator: Debbie Fong
Juvenile/YA Self-Help Skills
A comically illustrated (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) guide to “65 Hugely Useful, Super-
Important Skills to Learn before You’re Grown Up.” From How to Care for people, pets, and
plants to How to Be Kind (saying it right when trying to get your point across), and How to
Clean (your space and your clothes) to Edible Food (how to make meals and what’s in a
kitchen?), this guide takes you through the steps of everyday activities with “Pop Quizzes”
like “You took out the trash. Now what?”
A useful and humorous book for parents/coaches/teachers to use in relating to young persons at any age…or adult
children for that matter.
PHAEDRE
Title: The Prince and the Coyote
Author: David Bowles
YA Fiction
A wonderful story based upon true historical events. About a young man – engineer, architect,
statesman, soldier, General, musician, and poet who valued and understood human beings.
Rich and well written, a story that transports you into a different time and culture.
