Books for winter break reading!
If all of the snow and wintry weather make you want to curl up with a good book, Penrose Library staff have some recommendations. If Penrose Library owns the book, we’ve marked it with an asterisk (it may or may not be currently available).
Paige Morfitt I just finished the Hythrun Chronicles: Wolfblade series by Jennifer Fallon. I highly recommend it. It’s like Game of Thrones without the intense sex/incest parts. It’s really exciting and unpredictable.
I also started War and Peace* because winter seems like a very fitting time to read a Russian author.
Melissa Salrin Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple.* Quirky, fun, quick read with depth. And who doesn’t want today to be different?
Christel Holce The young Oxford book of timewarp stories by Dennis Pepper.* It has a variety of short stories, which are always good when working at a job with a lot of interruptions, and each story is unique with a twist ending that really changes your perspective. And children’s books are always fun!
Bridget Danielson The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Recipes and explanations.
For fun: The Long Way Down by Craig Schaefer. An urban fantasy in the Daniel Faust series.
Jen Pope Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Because if there really is a Sisterhood of the Chattering Nuns, then I want to visit.
Ben Murphy The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.* An entertaining read that weaves six related stories over several decades. There’s time-travelers, body-swappers, and other fantastical and metaphysical twists, but strong writing and engaging characters makes it still feel plausible and relevant.
Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. The first in a trilogy titled Remembrance of Earth’s Past, this hard science fiction novel is essentially a story of “first contact” between Earth and an alien civilization, but it approaches this familiar trope from interesting angles. It has some dense discussions of theoretical physics, but it was accessible to this non-scientist reader. It broaches profound questions about the significance of Earth and humanity in the universe.
Julie Carter I just finished The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi.* In a not-so-distant future, this dystopian thriller explores what happens in an American Southwest characterized by diminishing water supplies and climatic catastrophe. A quick and exciting read!
Dalia Corkrum I recently read Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist by Sunil Yapa.* It’s a novel that uses 1999 WTO protests in Seattle to explore issues of class, gender, violence, and race as they impact personal relationships and political structures. A great read - highly recommended.
I’m planning on reading over break: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen.* Why? There’s only one boss!
[caption id=“attachment_835” align=“alignnone” width=“570”] James McNeill Whistler, “Reading by lamplight [1],” 1858. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-ac7b-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99[/caption]