4 Stars

This action-packed space story is full of suspense and excellent writing. The story follows Jacklyn, the first mate on a space colony shuttle, who is forced to perform as the captain after the captain locks himself in his room. This space shuttle has traveled through space for centuries. It originally took people from Earth to a new planet to habituate, but things were unexpected. Humanity had to head back to Earth, hoping to continue survival, so Jacklyn has lived her entire life on the shuttle. Their journey back is interrupted, and humanity is threatened by a creature intruder that will remind horror movie fans of the Alien franchise.

-Caitlin
Posted 6/2/2023

4 Stars

Bodie Kane and her chlorine-tinged memories return to her New Hampshire boarding school as a temporary professor. Here, she’s met with resurfaced trauma as her podcasting class chooses to research the tragic death of Bodie’s classmate, Thalia. In this wicked, winding narrative, Makkai dares to speak to us like we’re the killer. And until we answer the questions, who is to say we aren’t? 

-Hannah
Posted 6/2/2023

5 Stars

In the middle of a busy summer season, acquaintances of their mutual friend Walter agree to embark on a week-long getaway. The trip starts as ideal with the stunning scenery and luxurious vacation home, but then disaster changes their worlds forever. Mounting tension and expertly-paced reveals, combined with expressive yet realistic artwork, make this a sure pick for fans of horror and graphic novels.

-Amity
Posted 5/27/2023

4 Stars

On the sketch show, The Night Owl, Sally Milz is an expert love-story writer; but she struggles to go off script in her own romantic endeavors. Enter stage left: Noah Brewster, dreamy popstar and this week’s host of TNO. Can Sally and Noah go from cheap laughs (at each other’s expense) to the priceless bond of true love before the show goes live? Sittenfeld’s story is a masterclass in authenticity and exploring how the funniest parts of love sometimes stem from thinking nobody could ever feel that way about you.

-Hannah
Posted 5/27/2023

3 Stars

The quaint town of Shady Hollow isn’t used to crime, so evidence of murder after the death of a creature in town leaves everyone on the tips of their paws. When the police force leaves something to be desired, local reporter Vera Vixen takes the lead in investigating the murder, which soon turns into a second murder. This traditional murder mystery story is plot-driven with a large cast of animal characters who live in a woodland area.

-Caitlin
Posted 5/22/2023

A long and dramatic read, we follow Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, on his journey home to Cold Mountain. With the perspectives of Inman and Ada, you read as each person struggles to find their way back to one another. A truly heartbreaking and eye-opening novel that takes readers through one soldier’s story after the Civil War.

-Val
Posted on 5/19/2023

5 Stars

What’s more Minnesotan than a supper club? It’s the owners and the reliable old-timers who come back, year after year. This novel combines several perspectives of a family establishment – the Lakeside Supper Club – and all the beautifully mundane and monumental moments in its history. With prose that tugs at the heartstrings, this is a novel meant for anyone who’s been lucky enough to love or be loved by someone from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

-Hannah
Posted 5/11/2023

4 Stars

This book follows a raised survivalist, Mara, as she becomes a contestant on a survival TV show. It is not a traditional thriller, but the story and circumstances continuously create unsettling real-life survival fears in the reader. It is hard to put down as tensions continue escalating from typical survival TV show challenges to panicked wilderness survival for the group after the show’s crew stops showing up to film. The author was a contestant on the survival show Naked and Afraid, and her survivalist background makes for a more authentic and engrossing read. 

-Caitlin
Posted 5/10/2023

5 Stars

Big Vape is a thorough investigation of the company Juul Labs and how their sloppy debut to market created a nicotine vaping epidemic among American teenagers. The device, which originated as a graduate school project for smoking cessation, quickly reversed a several decades’ long trend of decreased nicotine use in juveniles.

Ducharme crafts a detailed history from the vape’s inception to the creators’ reckless public release of the product and how their careless marketing and lack of research sabotaged an invention that could have been revolutionary in reducing adult nicotine use.

-Colleen
Posted 5/2/2023

4 Stars

When is the line crossed from help to control? Civil Townsend struggles with this question; she wants to make a difference, to give control back to her patients, but in the end, she wonders if she has stepped into the shoes of a controller. Emotionally intense, dramatic, and issued-oriented, this well-researched historical novel inspired by true events is an important read.

-Michelle
Posted 5/2/2023