Staff Picks

Spotlight on the library's collection for Jacksonville Model Train and Railroadiana Show 2023

The hashtag “dark academia” arrives on the scene in 2005 to describe a scholarly aesthetic, accessorized with pocket watches, oxfords, and tweed blazers. The term has since found its way into the literary lexicon to define tragic stories set in institutions of higher education.

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 20^th 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.

Set in the early years of WWII, School for German Brides tells the opposing stories of Hanna, a young German woman sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Hitler’s Berlin, and Tilde, a young Jewish seamstress who finds that same Berlin a trap she will do anything to escape.

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!

To celebrate Picture Book Month and our love for these great books, Jacksonville Public Library staff have rounded up a list of some of our favorite picture books that you can put on hold with your library card now.

Walter M. Miller Jr. wrote A Canticle for Leibowitz fifteen years after serving as a soldier during World War II. The novel was inspired by Miller’s regret at having taken part in the destruction of Montecassino Abbey, the oldest monastery in Europe.