1. The Bloodless Boy – Robert J Lloyd
I don’t read a lot of historical fiction which is strange because I love history and I love fiction, but I picked up a copy of Lloyd’s book on a whim and quickly fell head over heels into it. Reminded me quite a bit of The Alienist by Caleb Carr, just, you know, set 300 years earlier and on a different continent. It’s led to a week’s worth of cramming my gray matter with information about the English Civil War.
2. Ben & Jerry’s Thick Mint Topped
There is mint chocolate chip ice cream…and then there’s Thick Mint Topped. The official description from Ben & Jerry’s website: “Mint Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie Swirls & Mint Chocolate Cookie Balls Topped with Chocolate Cookies & Chocolatey Ganache.” They forgot to include a warning that you will eat the whole thing in one sitting which will make you feel really gross but you’ll also have zero regrets because it is absolutely delicious.
3. The Last Cuentista – Donna Barba Higuera
Buckle up. A fantastic, compulsive read that will hook you right away and leave you wanting more. We passed a copy around the North Branch workroom and everyone read it in less than 48 hours. A very deserving Newbery winner. I recommend reading it and eating a pint of Thick Mint Topped at the same time!
4. The Shining Girls – Lauren Beukes
A patron recommended this book from 2013 and I’m oh-so-glad she did. I love a good wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey story – especially one that involves a murder mystery. This one is about a serial killer who is able to jump through time and one of his intended victims is determined to stop him. It’s a bit darker than I usually go, but it was really good. Two books about serial killers this month? I really need baseball to start soon. Sigh.
5. The Only Rule Is It Has to Work– Ben Lindbergh & Sam Miller
Speaking of baseball… One of my favorite baseball writers, Sam Miller, has stepped away from covering the game. After listening to his farewell on the Effectively Wild podcast, I pulled out Miller’s phenomenal book co-written with podcast co-host Ben Lindbergh. The two take over the baseball operations department for the Sonoma Stompers, an Indy league ballclub in California, and attempt to bring some of their most sabrmetric-iest ideas to fruition.
