I get so excited when I see a new graphic memoir on the browse shelf. Graphic memoirs are little slices of life told in comic book form. They allow you a dynamic opportunity to gain understanding about a particular time in a person’s life, while providing context for the author’s experience.
Count Dracula and the undead vampire have been a part of popular culture for all of living memory. With roots going back to 1720s Germany, the vampire has sunk its teeth deep into western literature and cinema.
If you are anything like me, you may have already become an expert in the domestic noir genre, without even realizing it. Ever since the publication of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, back in 2012, I have been voraciously reading every book that allows me to take a peek behind the curtain into other people’s seemingly perfect lives.
Spotlight on the library's collection for Jacksonville Model Train and Railroadiana Show 2023
All good things must come to an end. Humans have always been fascinated by what the future holds and the futures in these books do not disappoint. Whether it is the disappearance of natural resources in Shusterman’s book Dry, a community learning to live without the comforts of 20th century life in Pat Frank’s Alas Babylon or Robert Neville’s attempt to hide from the night walkers in I am Legend, these books will leave you wondering how you would fare if the world as you knew it was suddenly turned on its head.
Medical science fiction, those books dealing with fictional practitioners of medicine or aspects of human physiology, are among the most compelling titles in the science fiction genre. From the reanimating of dead matter by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's 1818 groundbreaking novel Frankenstein to the unethical harvesting of patient organs in Robin Cook's novel Coma, the power a doctor has to heal or harm will always make them fascinating characters.
Whether it is Budo, the imaginary friend in Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, or the recently deceased Susie Salmon in The Lovely Bones, the presence of a great narrator or unusual perspective makes for a better read. Some authors choose the story within a story like Princess Bride where you and a character are being told the story. Other authors use a journalistic account of part of someone’s life such as in Time Traveler’s Wife.
The weather is getting cooler, everyone is thinking about mysterious happenings. What better time of the year than now to cuddle up with a twisty mystery! If you haven’t tried one before, teen mysteries offer not only the excitement of a who done it; but also, a dash of drama and maybe some light romance. This is the season to lock the doors, put on your thinking cap, and untangle mysteries that come with a side of fun. Keep reading for a plethora of titles that will spark your inner YA detective and keep you guessing until the end!
