​Staff Picks

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
“A painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature....Owens here surveys the desolate marshlands of the North Carolina coast through the eyes of an abandoned child. And in her isolation that child makes us open our own eyes to the secret wonders—and dangers—of her private world.”--The New York Times Book Review
​Recommended by Nicole.
Where'd You Go Bernadette  DVD
Once a genius architect and now a stay-at-home-mom, Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett) is under the illusion that everything about her day-to-day life is normal. She just happens to hate pretty much any human interaction, is distant to everyone except her daughter Bee (Emma Nelson), does all her business through a virtual assistant that turns out to be a serious danger to her and her family, hoards prescription pills in a bottle, and is a hair away from becoming full-on agoraphobic. She was such a renowned new face in the world of architecture twenty years ago, that she was given the MacArthur Grant to build her dream house. Once that project ended in tragedy, she convinced herself that her daughter would be her big project from now on. But a true artist cannot contain their creativity for very long, no matter how hard they try to ignore it. Like Bernadette's ex-colleague Paul (Laurence Fishburne) tells her, "Artists must create. Otherwise, they become a menace to society".
Recommended by Nicole.
Tracks DVD
Director John Curran (The Painted Veil, We Don't Live Here Anymore) and the producers of The King's Speech bring you the film Tracks, which tells the remarkable true story of Robyn Davidson (Wasikowska), a young woman who leaves her life in the city to make a solo trek through almost 2,000 miles of sprawling Australian desert. Accompanied by only her dog and four unpredictable camels, she sets off on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. Along the way, she meets National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan (Driver) who begins to photograph her voyage.
Recommended by Valerie.
The Italian Teacher  By Tom Rachman
A masterful novel about the son of a great painter striving to create his own legacy, by the bestselling author of The   Imperfectionists. Conceived while his father, Bear, cavorted around Rome in the 1950s, Pinch learns quickly that Bear's      genius trumps all. After Bear abandons his family, Pinch strives to make himself worthy of his father's attention--first trying to be a painter himself; then resolving to write his father's biography; eventually settling, disillusioned, into a job as an Italian teacher in London. But when Bear dies, Pinch hatches a scheme to secure his father's legacy--and make his own mark on the world. With his signature humanity and humor, Tom Rachman examines a life lived in the shadow of greatness, cementing his place among his generation's most exciting literary voices
Recommended by Karin.
Bruno, Chief of Police.  By Martin Walker
The first installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. Meet Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, a policeman in a small village in the South of France.  He’s a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it.  But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes all that.  Now Bruno must balance his beloved routines—living in his restored shepherd’s cottage, shopping at the local market, drinking wine, strolling the countryside—with a politically delicate investigation.  He’s paired with a young policewoman from Paris and the two suspect anti-immigrant militants.  As they learn more about the dead man’s past, Bruno’s suspicions turn toward a more complex motive.
Recommended by Andrea.
Treme.  DVD
Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, this hourlong drama series, from "The Wire" executive producers David Simon and Eric Overmyer, follows the lives of ordinary residents as they struggle with the aftereffects of the 2005 hurricane. Says star and New Orleans native Wendell Pierce, "The only things people had to hang on to were the rich traditions we knew that survived the test of time before: our music, food and family, family that included anyone who decided to accept the challenge to return." The large ensemble cast is supported by notable real-life New Orleanians, including many of its famous musicians.
Recommended by Andrea.
A Gentleman in Moscow.  By Amor Towles
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
Recommended by Virginia.
A Piece of the World.  By Christina Baker Kline
To Christina Olson, the entire world is her family farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. The only daughter in a family of sons, Christina is tied to her home by health and circumstance, and seems destined for a small life. Instead, she becomes Andrew Wyeth’s first great inspiration, and the subject of one of the best-known paintings of the twentieth century, Christina’s World.As she did in her beloved bestseller Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline interweaves fact and fiction to vividly reimagine a real moment in history. A Piece of the World is a powerful story of the flesh-and-blood woman behind the portrait, her complicated relationship to her family and inheritance, and how artist and muse can come together to forge a new and timeless legacy.
Recommended by Virginia.