Staff Picks - Chelsea's Top 5 for the Second Half of 2022

Happy Holidays! And welcome to the end of the year and the second half of my top picks for the year. Just like the first time, I did find it difficult to narrow it down but I managed to get it down to just 5!

The Change - Kirsten Miller

Not for the faint of heart, The Change follows three women each at different points in their lives. Miller blends mystery with light fantasy well to create a rich environment that you can't help but get lost in. 

A little slow to start but once it starts you just can't put it down.

For fans of women taking a stand and defying expectations and reality. 

Cackle - Rachel Harrison 

This speculative fiction from Harrison is a spooky good time. I loved reading this one for Halloween. It follows Annie, as she moves to a new town to start over and in the process makes new friends and discovers a new side to herself. 

For fans of speculative fiction, strong female characters, and those not afraid of spiders. 

Shady Hollow - Juneau Black

Of course, there would be a cozy mystery. This one is a little more unique where all the characters are woodland creatures. And our lead is the clever fox, Vera Vixen a reporter at the local paper who is on the hunt for the murderer of the cantankerous old toad that lived in the pond.

For fans of cozy mysteries, cute characters, and clever mysteries. 

House of Hunger - Alexis Henderson

This gothic horror retells the nature of vampires as Marion fights to survive. Lush in description, this bloody tale leaves your heart racing as it quickly advances to the climax and an ending that you'll never see coming. 

For fans of vampire stories, gothic horror, and never knowing what happens next.

The Sandman Vol. 1 - Neil Gaiman

A timeless classic that has recently been adapted into a tv series. I don't know why it's taken me so long to read this series but I am happy to finally do so. 

I think everyone should read this!

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

 

The Kitchen Front was a deeply meaningful story written by bestselling author Jennifer Ryan, author of the Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle.  

During World War II, the BBC hosted a radio program to help British housewives be more creative with their food rations.  The focus of the program was to share recipes and cooking tips to help manage rations.  The radio program, hosted by cuisine expert Ambrose Hart, decides to hold a cooking contest to try and find the program’s first female co-host to add a woman’s touch to the show.

The four main characters competing for a chance to co-host the radio program are women who are each very different in their own way and each woman has personal struggles that they are enduring.  There is Audrey Landon a young widow who is trying to find a way to pay her bills and to keep a roof over her children’s heads.  Miss Nell Brown the kitchen maid who is looking for a chance to leave her job and find freedom.  Lady Gwendoline Strickland is searching for an opportunity to escape her rich husband’s abuse.  Zelda Dupont a trained chef who is also pregnant hopes to win the cooking competition so that she can land a job as a top London chef. 

The challenges that the women face is far too much for them to handle by themselves.  However, as the story unfolds, the four women establish close friendships and become their own support network.  Through the wisdom that friendship and caring offer, each woman is transformed by the end of the story into a different person who is better able to handle their circumstances.  The Kitchen Front was heartwarming with many touching moments.  ~JE

 

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

 

 5/5 ⭐

This mind-blowing follow-up to A Psalm for the Wild-Built will leave you reflective and wanting for simplicity.

We are greeted once more by Sibling Dex and Mosscap as they continue their journey toward the city so Mosscap can ask their question "What do people need?"

While stopping in surrounding villages to seek answers and let Mosscap meet more people, Dex themselves is struggling with feeling burnout and guilt over taking care of themselves. And Mosscap must learn what it is to be sentient and what they want beyond their question. 

With even more exploration of burnout and not knowing what you want when you have at your fingertips anything you could want, Becky Chambers gives us a way to work through struggles we might not be able to put into words. 

~CP

Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette

 

 5/5 ⭐

This first in a new cozy mystery will leave you desperate for more. 

It hits all the marks of a great cozy, small town life, a bookstore cat, and murder. 

A once journalist turned bookshop employee, Callie Padget is surrounded by supportive family and friends as she looks into the sudden death of a popular local. Who just so happened to die in the same place and manner as Callie's own mother decades before. 

As she travels across the beautiful scenery that is Cattail Island, experience every twist and turn and wait for an ending you won't expect. 

I cannot wait to see what happens next with this series. 

Staff Picks - Chelsea's Top 5 for the First Half of 2022

We are halfway through 2022 and I thought I would share my top 5 titles I have read so far. I read a lot for my work and for myself. So, trying to narrow the list down seemed impossible. Which is why I decided to pick 5 for the first half of 2022 and another 5 at the end of the year. 

Without further ado, here is my list!

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney - This title will be released on 8/30/22. 

This mystery/thriller takes inspiration from one of Agatha Christies more challenging stories And Then There Were None and it does a fantastic job at it. I could not put this title down and read it in just one sitting.

I can't wait for you to get your hands on it. 

If you like Agatha Christie, challenging puzzles, and incredible twists, you'll like this one. 

From Below by Darcy Coates - 

Another incredible horror from my favorite author in the genre, From Below, takes us out to sea and the mysteries that lie below in the deepest parts of the ocean water. 

Join this crew of adventurers as they uncover horrible secrets of what happened to the SS Arcadia all those moons ago. 

If you like atmospheric horror and ghost stories, this one is for you.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - 

If you like coffee, pastries, and fantasy, I have news for you. This cozy fantasy follows Viv, the retired barbarian orc looking to settle down and open a coffee shop. 

And if you think that it might be too laid back and gentle, you've got another thing coming. There is just enough action and challenges they have to face to make it engaging up until the end. 

Suffice to say I am hoping to see more from these characters!

Perfect for those new to fantasy and looking for an introduction to the genre.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - 

I love Becky Chambers's work a lot. And this sci-fi novella series is no exception. I have recommended it to almost everyone I know that reads actively. 

This cozy sci-fi takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery and learning what is important to you and how to manage that with what is expected of you. I learned a lot about myself by reading this and I hope you do as well. 

If you like thought-provoking reads or are looking for something easy to get into the sci-fi genre, pick this one up. 

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake - 

Now, for me, this one was a surprise, because I am not the biggest fan of romances. But there was more than just romance here. There was a lot of self-reflection and familial events that made it feel much more fleshed out and solid. 

This was the first in a new series and I am excited to read the next one when it is out!

A positive LGBT+ romance for all. 

*All titles are available to check out through the library or are in the process of being ordered for the collection. 

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott 

Superb, chillingly darkly hilarious and heartbreakingly horrific. A black author is on a book signing tour for his best selling novel, Hell of a Book. He is experiencing loads of anxiety-out of body experiences- as he travels from city to city presenting in books stores, TV studios, and Town Hall venues essentially to discuss the success of his book, the plot and the reasons he wrote it. His brain literally becomes more and more unhinged as he pushes himself into discomfort and his behavior/persona gradually unravels. He is haunted by his brutally violent past resulting in flashbacks to personal tragedies that cloud his ability to function and remember details about his life. The writing is superb, chillingly, darkly hilarious and the story heartbreakingly real and horrifying. 

I could not put it down. The writing is mature and powerful. I appreciate reading about social topics that give me insight and understanding and I feel like in this case, Mott highly succeeded. It did win the 2022 National Book Award. My rating:

JB