Category: Staff Picks

“After growing up watching Jennette McCurdy, this was an insane read! Exposes a lot of filth in the TV/film industry, and sheds light on the complexity of family relationships. Easy to read, hard to swallow.” – Alexander (staff)

* #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * MORE THAN 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD!

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. 

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

This is not a crime fiction story it is true.  It tells  how Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Klan in 21 states controlled  the police and elections with an eye to the Presidency – preaching hatred for Blacks, Catholics, Jews, and Immigrants.  In 1924 the Klan grew at an alarming rate – even kiddie klans – signs for Klan approved businesses  all taking over the small towns in the Midwest and more until the life of Madge Oberholtzer held him accountable. A powerful book that has a message for us today. – Betty (Volunteer)

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Alex is 22 and getting by on her looks, charm and willingness to bend the truth. As things unravel for Alex over the course of a week I found myself both rooting for and against her. Dark and interesting. Would we expect anything less from Emma Cline? – Emily (Staff)

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Allende weaves the stories of two displaced characters at the center of a tale of migration and immigration. A beautifully written novel about leaving and loss and families we find and make for ourselves. My own family stories echoed throughout the pages. – Allison (Staff)

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A masterful true story of life on a sailing warship in 1742, of typhus and scurvy, of arduous, dangerous labor, and eventually of shipwreck, mutiny and court marshal. -George Cooper, Store Founder

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain.

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I laughed, I cried, and I connected with Tove’s delightful and informative book about the world of backyard chicken keeping. You don’t need a flock of your own to LOVE this book! You’ll certainly gain an appreciation for our feathered friends and the people that love them. – Camila (Staff)

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“The summer of ’96, Coalfield, TN. The friendship of two awkward teens leads to a world wide phenomena. A coming of age story of obsession and what happens if we lean into that obsession or try to run away from it. I love this book! A fun, light read with substance.” – Emily (staff)

An exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives forever

Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s house and who is as awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.

The posters begin appearing everywhere, and people wonder who is behind them and start to panic. Satanists, kidnappers—the rumors won’t stop, and soon the mystery has dangerous repercussions that spread far beyond the town.

Twenty years later, Frances Eleanor Budge gets a call that threatens to upend her carefully built life: a journalist named Mazzy Brower is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that?

A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson’s trademark wit and blazing prose, Now Is Not the Time to Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, and the power of art. It’s also about the secrets that haunt us—and, ultimately, what the truth will set free.