ATL Staff Picks: December 2024

"A spiritual book written for--and by--someone who would otherwise never read a spiritual book, 10% HAPPIER is both a deadly serious and seriously funny look at mindfulness and meditation as the next big public health revolution"--

"Only two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. David and Adele seem like the ideal pair. He's a successful psychiatrist, she is his picture-perfect wife who adores him. But why is he so controlling? And why is she keeping things hidden? As Louise, David's new secretary, is drawn into their orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But...

The trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer, Saul Goodman, in the time leading up to establishing his strip-mall law office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A spinoff from the Breaking Bad television show, it takes place six years before the events of Breaking Bad and follows small-time lawyer Jimmy McGill and the circumstances that lead to his metamorphosis into criminal-minded lawyer Saul Goodman.

Bridget Jones's Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement. Caught between the joys of Singleton fun, and the fear of dying alone and being found three weeks later half eaten by an Alsatian; tortured by Smug Married friends asking, "How's your love life?" with lascivious, yet patronizing leers, Bridget resolves to: reduce the circumference...

"Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway...but when Riley takes her mom's car without permission, she's grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad's game shop. Riley can't waste her time working...so she convinces Nathan--a nerdy teen employee--to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she'll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous...Soon, Riley starts to...

Pregnant Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan probes the disappearance of a chic blonde green-raincoated dog walker she'd been watching from her comfy prison. Tess also takes in the missing woman's abandoned green-slickered Italian greyhound from hell and unravels a complex scam.

"William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it's a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three...

In 2003, a parasitic fungal infection ravages the planet, turning humans into violent creatures known as the Infected. Twenty years later, hardened survivor Joel is hired to smuggle fourteen-year-old Ellie out of an oppressive quarantine zone in hopes of delivering her to the rebel Fireflies. But what should be a quick job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they traverse the desolate U.S. while depending on each other's unique skills...

"Everyone's favorite characters are filled with holiday spirit. And when a swirling snowfall brings them to Main Street for a snowman-building contest, the spirit of competition comes alive as well."--Jacket.

"Seventeen-year-old Cassie, who has a natural ability to read people, joins an elite group of criminal profilers at the FBI in order to help solve cold cases"--