Poverty, By America
by Matthew Desmond
A heartbreakingly enlightening read. You may be familiar with Matthew Desmond's Pulitzer Prize winning look at housing entitled, Evicted.
Staff Recommendations
Looking for your next read? Want to know what we’re reading? You’ve come to the right spot. Here, staff members from every department recommend some of their favorite reads!
If you’d like help with What to Read Next, you can request a recommendation and our staff will pick out a few options based on your interests.
Filter by Audience, Genre, or click on a staff member’s name to see what else they’ve recommended.
The Sixth Extinction
by Elizabeth Kolbert
I didn’t realize we are living through a mass extinction until I read this book! Elizabeth Kolbert explores how past extinction events shaped life on Earth and what scientists are seeing today as species disappear at an accelerating pace.
Circe
by Madeline Miller
Banished by Zeus because of her power, Circe is forced to live alone on her own island. This gives her the opportunity to do 2 things, get to know mortals and develop her witchcraft.
Signs Preceding the End of the World
by Yuri Herrera
Makina has been asked by her mother to track down her estranged brother who disappeared three years ago in the U.S. Her journey, crossing the border from Mexico and searching the U.S.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari
An absolutely fascinating account of the history of our species. For anyone even mildly interested in science or human biology, this book is a must-read.
Reincarnation Blues
by Michael Poore
Everyone gets 10,000 tries to live a perfect life or they face oblivion and Milo is closing in on 10,000. I had no expectations for this book when I picked it up.
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
This epic WWII story is one of the best you will ever read. The characters stand out as very real, and the setting in France comes to life.
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Can the apocalypse be peaceful? Set in a world where a virus has wiped out the vast majority of the population.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: & Other Lessons from the Crematory
by Caitlin Doughty
One part coming-of-age as a mortician memoir, and another part examination of funeral rituals across the world, and all parts hilariously macabre. You do not have to share the author's fascination with death to be engrossed by this book.
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
One of my favorite books of all time, but it's best to go in knowing as little as possible! An incredible novel that explores the human experience from one of the best writers of the 21st century.
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
During the first year of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln's son, Willie, tragically died. Lincoln would spend the next few nights visiting his son's crypt to grieve.
Say Nothing: a True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
by Patrick Radden Keefe
Equal parts True-Crime mystery and pseudo-family crime drama, this true story explores the era known as " The Troubles" in Northern Ireland spanning from the 60s to the early 2000s.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
An incredible and hysterical "road trip" across the galaxy. A great read for anyone who enjoys humor, absurd stories, and musings about the meaning of life.