Every month we let you know what we’ve been reading and our monthly recommendations. You’ll get to see new titles with fabulous reviews from the Bay Books team. We’re sure you’ll love these fantastic books just as much as we do. We recommend a wide range of genres and themes. So get ready to explore more books!
Tina’s Picks
While this Stephen King novel came out in 2021, I just now read it as I was not a fan of the cringe-worthy, nightmare inducing, horror writing of the kind that the talented Mr. King is known for these days. But in this one, he steps into the realm of the hard-boiled noir thriller. The main character, Billy, is an avid reader (Loved him immediately!), and also a talented hired assassin. While posing as a reclusive writer, and as he awaits the opportunity to complete his ‘job’, things get very complicated when he rescues a young woman (Alice) who has been roofied, raped and thrown into a gutter. With typical precision, Billy completes the job but then begins crisscrossing the country with Alice to carry out a final hit on a Very.Bad.Guy. Is Billy a good guy? Is Billy a bad guy? No one presses the emotional buttons like Stephen King. You won’t be disappointed in this novel!
Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe
I couldn’t help myself. This title has been sitting on our shelves, mocking me with its tales of thought-provoking examinations of human nature. It did not disappoint with its accounts of human motivations, choices, follies, and morality—or lack thereof. Who doesn’t love a good tale of counterfeit wine business or shifty Swiss banking? Very entertaining!
The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger
The Light Eater How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoe Schlanger Award-winning environment and science reporter Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the Plant kingdom and reveals the astonishing capabilities of the green life all around. It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents. This book is massively interesting!
Skye’s Picks
The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
In a world where being pretty is everything, Tally can’t wait to turn pretty herself. When one of her friends turns pretty three months before she does, Tally finds friendship with a girl named Shay who teaches her about the dead world and how being pretty might really be just skin deep. Shay and Tally might share a birthday but that doesn’t mean they share ideals… so between a new friend, a hidden place, and a boy who runs it all.. her entire perspective is put to the test and maybe being pretty isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. A great young reader series especially if they liked “The Giver”.
A tantalizing tale of witches, demons, sacrifices and power. Here’s a few basic rules:
1) Witches must give back to their power source so they may take, when there is only take their magic crumbles.
2) Vessels are demon inhabited molds, they appear human but the demon inside has no soul. They hate the witches for trapping them in these bodies but also rely on them for their blood which nourishes them and keeps them powerful.
3) A male witch may either keep his powers or be stripped of them if they want a family.
4) A century ago there was a massacre at the school that still has gone unanswered and the murderer never found. So when Hollows Grove finds Willow she must keep her secrets close and certain enemies closer. The Coven have never seen power like hers in centuries so they’ll stop at nothing for their plans to come into place, they didn’t count on her fiery attitude, the murders to start up again, nor for her to be under the protection of the aloof headmaster and Vessel Alaric Grayson Thorne. Will she survive this? Read and find out..
Nathan’s Pick
Mamushka by Olia Hercules is a fantastic cookbook that is full of recipes any enjoyer of Eastern-European and Caucasian cuisine will enjoy. Spending every summer of my childhood and teenage years in my Armenian grandparents house, many of these recipes are staples of any kind of celebration. Chickpea and mutton soup, Yogurt and sorrel, fruity lamb, and many more were served often. While there is no Paklava recipe, Ms. Hercules does have a companion book with Mediterranean cuisine. Both are highly recommended for both the diversity of recipes and the ease of instruction.
Wendy’s Pick
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
This mixed genre novel is equal parts romantic comedy and sci-fi/time travel, set in the near distant future. A government employee lands a promotion and healthy raise – only to find out after accepting the position that she will be working for a newly established, top secret department tasked with snagging citizens (“expats”) from across history in order to study the safety/feasibility of time travel. Her exact role is that of “bridge” – essentially a companion, who lives with and monitors the expat assigned to her. Enter Commander Graham Gore, from the year 1845, who is more than a little taken aback by his new circumstances – co-habitating with a single woman who shows her legs and uses all manner of electric contraptions and technology. As the project progresses, a romantic relationship develops and choices must be made. A creative and fun read!
