Category: Books

Try out a book that doesn’t have large walls of text to overcome! Novels-in-verse like Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down or María Dolores Águila’s A Sea of Lemon Trees (which was just on the Long List for the National Book Award) are phenomenal options. Graphic novels are great too — like K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society or Harmony Becker’s Himawari House. Plus, you can find all of these and more over with my friends at the ERC!

The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, and The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E. Schwab are three of my recent favorites. If you’re looking for more of a classic dark academia vibe, I’d check out Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Frankenstein may put you in the mood.

You’re in luck, because we have a nice, long, crowd-sourced list of horror and thriller books. Check it out: http://bit.ly/4jAvQ33

The natural follow up to this is, series or stand-alone book? Second, follow up question: Do you want separate romance and fantasy recs or ROMANTASY recs? I’ll suggest a few to get you started. I love S. A. Chakraborty’s trilogy and standalone work. The trilogy is light romance but full political intrigue. The standalone has no romance per say, but is VERY fun. There’s some great Arthurian retellings recently published: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn and Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken. Both series.

George R. R. Martin’s series Song of Ice and Fire (bit.ly/bcl-song-ice-fire) on which Game of Thrones was based, is a good bet for both. But if you’d like the OG multigenerational epic, Three Kingdoms by Guanzhong Luo (1330-1400) (bit.ly/bcl-3kingdoms) is a wild ride through a few hundred years of the warring states period of China. It has everything: court intrigue, backstabbing betrayals in love and war, huge battles, a magic flying Daoist priest, and more.

Miller is known for her novel adaptations of ancient stories and mythical figures, and for good reason! In Circe, Miller shifts the narrative focus of the Odyssey, telling us the tale from another perspective, a practice that makes us consider whose voices are missing or misrepresented in the stories we know and tell. Fun fact: Did you know the author was born in Boston and lives just down the road in Cambridge?

I’m told by my assistants that this is another excellent novel by Madeline Miller! And if you’re interested you can find it on the 4th floor of O’Neill (look for the call number PS3613 .I5445 S65 2012)!

Awwwwwwww… I love the little word-pods, too, all snug in their shelves, ready to be cradled lovingly in the hands of a reader.

In our collection I highly recommend The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents by Terry Pratchett, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and if you are thinking something rooted in our contemporary world there’s a strong cat presence in A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. At Boston Public Library they have We’ll Prescribe You a Cat
by Syou Ishida which is also very good.

I tend to prefer subtlety to raw power, so I’m in general an Odyssesus fan, but there is something to be said for Ajax’s reliability. Also, don’t sleep on Diomedes as a second-tier Greek hero. Check out my friend the Oxford Classical Dictionary for a quick summary of what each of them get up to in the myths that grew up around the Iliad.

It’s a moving, powerful account of the holocaust. I wonder if “like” is the right word. Deep, deep respect. I’m glad I’ve read it.

Assuming you have already read Shakespeare to your heart’s content here are a few recs! If you like the Hamlet of it all, there’s “The Dead Fathers Club” by Matt Haig. If you like reading plays, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and if you like laugh out loud funny, there’s “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. There is no action in this book, at all, although history passes by in the background. Just friendship and discussion of books and life in a charming epistolary novel.

When he’s done. He _really_ wants you to stop asking. Apparently. bit.ly/StopPesteringGRRM

Nah, philosophy is hard, no worries. A couple thoughts. 1) Sometimes a different translation helps. We have several. 2) Books like Kierkegaard: A Very Short Introduction, and the Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard are designed to help you make sense of what you’re reading. Search for them at library.bc.edu.

While I am a library wall, it would be unethical for me to answer your homework questions for you. The Outsiders is a classic and worth the read — give it another try and I’m sure you’ll figure it out!