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Staff Recommendations > Jeff

1 2 3 >>>     sort list by author | publication date The Adoration of Jenna Fox Mary E. Pearson This is a near-flawless the-future-is-today sci-fi novel. Although written for a teen audience, it captivated and held me until the very end, beginning with its enigmatic title. I highly recommend this for both its peek at our biologically-uncertain... Against Empire Michael Parenti Richly informed and written in an engaging style, Against Empire exposes the ruthless agenda and hidden costs of the U.S. empire today. Documenting the pretexts and lies used to justify violent intervention and maldevelopment abroad, Parenti shows... Arming Mother Nature The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism Jacob Darwin Hamblin As a Cold War aggressor, the United States, along with its allies, needed to maintain parity, or better yet attain superiority, in ecological warfare. This fascinating book explores how this perceived "unconventional warfare gap" was one of the main... The Battle of the Sun Jeanette Winterson This inventive and darkly surreal book is a perfect gateway to the His Dark Materials trilogy. Soaked in the stench of 1600 London, full of conundrums big and small, and swarming with dragons and alchemy, there are indescribable things in here that you... The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard J. G. Ballard First published in 1978, this collection of nineteen of Ballard's best short stories is as timely and informed as ever. His tales of the human psyche and its relationship to nature and technology, as viewed through a strong microscope, were eerily... A Boy and a Bear in a Boat Dave Shelton One of the most charming books I've ever encountered. Just flip through it and try not to smile at the author's whimsical illustrations. (For ages 8 to 12) —Recommended by Jeff, City Lights Books The City & The City China Mieville A wonderfully labyrinthine novel. Ostensibly a murder mystery cum police procedural, Mieville has much more on his mind here -- how does a class of people define itself and coexist with another class of people with whom it may, on the surface, have... The Continental Op Stories Dashiell Hammett Short, thick-bodied, mulishly stubborn, and indifferent to pain, Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op was the prototype for generations of tough-guy detectives. In these stories the Op unravels a murder with too many clues, looks for a girl with eyes the... Embassytown China Mieville A planet at the farthest reaches of human colonisation. A planet needed by humanity for its irreproducible biotechnology. An exo-terran species whose goodwill is needed in trade negotiations, but whose language is so difficult to mimic that human... The End of Everything A Novel Megan Abbott This little book packs a wallop. In prose as relentless as it is compelling, Abbott rips the shiny veneer from an idyllic suburban childhood, uncovering the uncomfortable truths festering therein. —Recommended by Jeff, City Lights Books Epitaph for a Tramp & Epitaph for a Dead Beat The Harry Fannin Detective Novels David Markson Before he became known to the literary world for the brilliant Wittgenstein's Mistress, Markson made a living by writing pulps. But these were no ordinary pulps. Markson had great fun playing with the conventions of the genre, and they are just as fun... Every You, Every Me David Levithan A powerful exploration of those intense relationships we form in high school, relationships we assume (no, not assume, know) will define our lives. And those assumptions are always wrong. This realization tears apart a group of friends as they try to... Hokey Pokey Jerry Spinelli Welcome to Hokey Pokey. A place and a time, when childhood is at its best: games to play, bikes to ride, experiences to be had. There are no adults in Hokey Pokey, just kids, and the laws governing Hokey Pokey are simple and finite. But when one of... Imaginary Girls Nova Ren Suma A tense thriller, full of supernatural overtones, and completely impossible to describe without giving away the story. You will either love it or hate it! Me? I couldn't put it down. Dark and challenging. (For ages 14 and up) —Recommended by Jeff 1 2 3 >>>