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Staff Recommendations

Erica S.'s Recommendations

Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
Graphia

Our Price: $9.99

Deadened by a self imposed reading list of slogs and shoulds? Let Cashore’s "Graceling" remind you of the engrossing adventures of the books you first loved, and couldn’t get enough of. An afternoon of guilt-free young adult fantasy will enliven your upcoming summer reading list; a well written story, interesting concept, and the ability to make you remember what it’s like to not want to put a book down. Also a fantastic pick for any actual young adult in your life.

Reflections in a Golden Eye
by Carson McCullers
Mariner Books

Our Price: $10.00

Set in a remote southern army base during peacetime, "Reflections in a Golden Eye" is a startling novella, chronicling the experiences of two couples. It packs a few punches - infidelity, latent homosexuality, mutilation, revenge - it’s disturbing, compelling and completely engrossing. What makes it more interesting is that the extraordinary events are based solidly in the ordinary, chronicling how boredom and sedentary living can erupt, twisted and brutal.

I liked "Reflections in a Golden Eye" more than McCullers’ more well received and popular title, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," and recommend it as something to try if you were slightly underwhelmed by that book, or as further reading if you loved it.

Other Voices, Other Rooms
by Truman Capote
Vintage Books

Our Price: $13.95

Other Voices, Other Rooms is a grotesque, coming-of-age fairy tale that launched Truman Capote onto the literary stage at the tender age of 23. It's the story of Joel, a young Southern boy, sent to live with his father, a man he doesn't know, in a crumbling Gothic estate. Instead of his father he finds an insular world of servants and family members, all bizarre, and peppered with dead birds, rubber balls and fractured sunglasses.

This is a first novel at its best. It is touching, disturbing, honest and a little creepy. As Capote became a more controversial literary figure later in his career, this book is a reminder of his enormous talent.

note: Try reading Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen as a primer.

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