Staff Picks
These are books that our staff enjoyed and recommend. Come visit us in the shop in-person to pick up your copy, or grab it online through our partners Libro.fm or Bookshop.org.
Happy reading!
Water Moon - Samantha Sotto Yambao
"A gentle fantasy - or so it seems - until you reach the dark underbelly of the world where regrets and memories are traded. Traded for what? Well, you have to read it to find out. Wonderful!"
- MMW
How the Universe Got Its Spots - Janna Levin
"I love Janna's books! She is such an amazing teacher that she makes me feel like I could have some true understanding of physics. The intermixing of her personal memoir only adds to the charm of this book. I'm so glad it was reissued."
- MMW
"A beautiful and brilliant little book that ponders the finitude of the universe within the heartfelt memoir of an astrophysicist standing isolated at the extreme knowledge-boundaries of her field of research. And you don't need to know any crazy math to understand what she's telling you!"
- CCA
Underland - Robert MacFarlane
"This was easily my favorite non-fiction read of 2024. Encompassing science, travel, and history writing, Underland weaves a captivating story about the underground in all of its aspects - in literature, in geography, and in the human spirit. I learned and felt so much reading this book."
- CCA
Our Infinite Fates - Laura Steven
"This is a beautiful love story - unfolding over centuries, over many lives, over many stories. Two lovers travel through time, killing each other before they turn 18.
The how and why of this long fatal love chase at the center of it all is an added bonus. Beautifully written!"
- MMW
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
"Call me a stereotype, but if a book's synopsis includes first contact with extraterrestrial life, I'm all over it!
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The Sparrow is a really unique little sci-fi book somewhat reminiscent of Carl Sagan's Contact. After the Arecibo telescope receives a radio transmission of alien 'singing' from the Alpha Centauri system, while the world's governments argue about what to do, the Vatican sends a mission of scientists and missionaries to discover the source.
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Mary's prose is lovely, and her characters feel like real people, like good friends of yours. The unfolding extraterrestrial mystery juxtaposed with spiritual pondering of our relationship with God and the universe at large also kept me thinking."
- CCA
