WML Staff Picks for Winter 2024/2025

1) Anxious people: a novel

Author

Backman, Fredrik

Notes

Patrick's Pick

Formats:

Book, Large Print, Audiobook CD, Audiobook Playaway, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are...

2) The Blue Zones kitchen: 100 recipes to live to 100

Author

Buettner, Dan

Notes

Trina's Pick - "Who isn't trying to eat healthier?! These recipes are a great way to try new foods."

Description

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Building on decades of research, longevity expert Dan Buettner has gathered 100 recipes inspired by the Blue Zones, home to the healthiest and happiest communities in the world. Each dish--for example, Sardinian Herbed Lentil Minestrone; Costa Rican Hearts of Palm Ceviche; Cornmeal Waffles from Loma Linda, California; and Okinawan Sweet Potatoes--uses ingredients and cooking methods proven to increase longevity, wellness, and mental health. Complemented...

3) The book of lost friends: a novel

Author

Wingate, Lisa

Notes

Sue's Pick - "This story taught me so much I had never learned about the events of the reconstruction era. A sad reckoning of our history but the ending gives one hope."

Formats:

Book, Large Print, Audiobook CD, Audiobook Playaway, eAudiobook

Description

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"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a new novel inspired by little-known historical events: a dramatic story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its vital connection to her own students' lives. In her distinctive voice, Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual "Lost...

4) Breathless

Author

McCulloch, Amy

Notes

Sue's Pick: "Fascinating account of a young woman's climb of the one of the highest mountain peaks in the world."

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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"Journalist Cecily Wong is in over her head. She's come to Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest peak in the world, to interview internationally famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits. She's given up everything for this story--her boyfriend, her life savings, the peace she's made with her climbing failures in the past--but it's a career-making opportunity. It could finally put her life back on track....

5) Bright young women

Author

Knoll, Jessica

Notes

Kim's Pick

Formats:

Book, Large Print, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"January 15, 1978, is a night of promise, excitement, and desire. A serial killer's murderous spree in the Pacific Northwest couldn't be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University's campus in Tallahassee. That night, Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate....

6) The chamber: a novel

Author

Dean, Will

Notes

Patrick's Pick

Description

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High pressure outside. On a boat heading out into the North Sea, Ellen Brooke steels herself to spend almost a month locked inside a hyperbaric chamber with five other divers. They are all being paid handsomely for this work - to be lowered each day inside a diving bell to the sea bed, taking it in turns to dive down and repair oil pipes that lie in the dark waters. It is a close knit team and it has to be: any error or loss of trust could be catastrophic....

7) The collagen diet: a 28-day plan for sustained weight loss, glowing skin, great gut health, and a younger you

Author

Axe, Josh

Notes

4 stars - "Great practical reasons and ways to add collagen to your diet."

Description

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Explains how to lose weight, prevent disease, improve your digestion, and renew your youth by taking advantage of dietary collagen. Includes meal plan, recipes, and advice.

8) Daisy Darker: a novel

Author

Feeney, Alice

Notes

Patrick's Pick

Formats:

Book, Large Print, Audiobook CD, Audiobook Playaway, eAudiobook

Description

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"After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker's entire family is assembling for Nana's 80th birthday party in Nana's crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family...

9) Easy crafts for the insane: a mostly funny memoir of mental illness and making things

Author

Brown, Kelly Williams

Notes

Kristen's Pick

Description

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Kelly Williams Brown had 700 Bad Days. Her marriage collapsed, she broke three limbs in separate and unrelated incidents, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she fell into a deep depression that ended in what could delicately be referred to as a “rest cure” at an inpatient facility. Before that, she had several very good years: she wrote a bestselling book, spoke at NASA, had a beautiful wedding, and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers...

10) Eruption

Author

Crichton, Michael

Notes

Patrick's Pick

Formats:

Book, Large Print, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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A history-making volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. But a secret held for decades by the military is more terrifying than the volcano.

11) It. Goes. So. Fast: the year of no do-overs

Author

Kelly, Mary Louise

Notes

Michelle S.'s Pick - "Intrepid NPR reporter Kelly shares her failures and successes as a parent and career woman while her oldest son prepares to go to college. A relatable reflection on balancing the fleeting but demanding blessing of young children with the rewarding but draining demands of work. Kelly doesn't have it figured out but, like every working parent, is acutely aware of that fact. Great writing, very personal."

Formats:

Book, Audiobook Playaway, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"The time for do-overs is over. Ever since she became a parent, Mary Louise Kelly has said "next year." Next year will be the year she makes it to her son James's soccer games (which are on weekdays at 4 p.m., right when she is on the air on NPR's All Things Considered, talking to millions of listeners). Drive carpool for her son Alexander? Not if she wants to do that story about Ukraine and interview the secretary of state. Like millions of parents...

12) The last murder at the end of the world

Author

Turton, Stuart

Notes

Mary Ann's Pick - "Very intriguing post-apocalyptic story. Mr. Turton's books are always thought provoking, and this one is no exception! The last remnants of humanity exist on an isolated island protected from a deadly fog-what happens when one of them is killed and the island's protection begins to erode?"

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution. Solve the murder to save what's left of the world. Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two...

13) Lightning strike: a novel

Author

Krueger, William Kent

Series

Cork O'Connor mysteries volume 18

Notes

Michelle S.'s Pick - "I don't usually enjoy mystery but this book kept me catapulting to the end! The story left me no choice but to deeply connect with the characters and community Kreuger lovingly crafted. The supernatural element made the book stronger for me and put the title in conversation with other native authors in the horror space like Stephen Graham Jones, although this title didn't have the chills or gore that Jones is known for. This books serves as a great jumping on point for the Cork O'Connor series, you can really see glimmers of the man Cork will become."

Formats:

Book, Large Print, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook

Description

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Follows Cork O'Connor through his adolescence, shortly before he turns thirteen. "[A] powerful prequel to his Cork O'Connor series..." -- jacket. Published after #17, Desolation Mountain, but thematically takes place before #1, Iron Lake. Aurora is a small town nestled in the ancient forest alongside the shores of Minnesota's Iron Lake. In the summer of 1963, it is the whole world to twelve-year-old Cork O'Connor, its rhythms as familiar as his own...

14) Margo's got money troubles: a novel

Author

Thorpe, Rufi

Notes

Kristen's Pick

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman's attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world-from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen."--

15) The only woman in the room

Author

Benedict, Marie

Notes

Patrick's Pick

Formats:

Book, Large Print, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle. She lands...

16) The reunion: a novel

Author

Walsh, Dan

Notes

Sue's Pick

Formats:

Book, Large Print

Description

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"Aaron Miller knows a thing or two about loss. He's lost love. Dignity. Second, and even third, chances. Once honored for his heroism, he now lives in near obscurity, working as a handyman in a humble trailer park. But God is a master at finding and redeeming the lost things of life. Unbeknownst to Aaron, someone is searching for him."--P. [4] of cover.

17) Slow dance: a novel

Author

Rowell, Rainbow

Series

Reese's book club

Notes

Katie S.'s Pick - "This sweet friends-to-lovers romance is the perfect cozy read for a cold night."

Formats:

Book, Large Print, Audiobook CD, Audiobook Playaway, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh's porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha--Shiloh would go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change. Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed. Now Shiloh's thirty-three,...

18) The stellar debut of Galactica Macfee

Author

McCall Smith, Alexander

Series

44 Scotland Street volume 17

Notes

Anne's Pick - "This book is volume 17 of this prolific author's 44 Scotland Street series. The quirky characters, along with their adventures and antics, never cease to delight. With the kind-hearted 7-year old Bertie Pollock at the heart of the book, McCall Smith portrays him and his adult neighbors with great insight, gentle wit, and a marvelous sense of language."

Formats:

Book, Large Print

Description

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"Angus Lordie is approached in the park by a shadowy, Deep Throat like figure with government secrets to share, who mistakes him for a journalist. Now Angus is privy to some controversial plans of the Scottish Parliament -- but just what is he meant to do about it? Elsewhere, Big Lou's husband Bob hires a personal trainer who changes his entire outlook on life, much to Lou's dismay. At the schoolhouse, young Bertie Pollock's class has a new ringleader,...

19) Together: memorable meals made easy

Author

Oliver, Jamie

Notes

Trina's Pick - "Great meals to share with loved ones. The photographs are beautiful!"

Description

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"Welcome friends and family back around your table with Jamie Oliver's brand-new cookbook, Together--a joyous celebration of incredible food to share. Being with our loved ones has never felt so important, and great food is the perfect excuse to get together. Each chapter features a meal, from seasonal feasts to curry nights, with a simple, achievable menu that can be mostly prepped ahead. Jamie's aim--whether you're following the full meal or choosing...

20) William: a novel

Author

Coile, Mason

Notes

Tammy's Pick

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook

Description

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"Henry is a brilliant engineer who, after untold hours spent in his home laboratory, has achieved the discovery of his career—he has created artificially intelligent consciousness. He calls the half-formed robot William. No one knows about William. Not yet anyway. Henry's agoraphobia keeps him inside the house, and his fixation on William keeps him up in the attic, away from everyone, including his pregnant wife, Lily. When Lily's coworkers show...