New Materials - July 19, 2022

A biweekly selection from our shelves, as curated by your favorite SPL librarians!


For the week of July 19, 2022:  Fiction | Nonfiction | Graphic Novels | Movies/TV, Music & More


Fiction

Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage by Nancy Atherton

In the twenty-fifth installment of the bestselling Aunt Dimity series, when an inscrutable newcomer arrives in Finch, Lori is determined to befriend him--and in the process discovers Finch's own heart-wrenching past.

The Family Chao The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

Brimming with heartbreak, comedy, and suspense, The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town.

Nettle & Bone Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself. On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

The Return of Faraz Ali The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad

Sent back to his birthplace--Lahore's notorious red-light district--to hush up the murder of a girl, a man finds himself in an unexpected reckoning with his past..

Run and Hide Run and Hide by Pankaj Mishra

Run and Hide is Pankaj Mishra's intimate story of achieving material progress at great moral and emotional cost. It is also the story of a changing country and global order, and the inequities of class and gender that map onto our most intimate relationships.

We Do What We Do in the Dark We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart

A novel about a young woman's life-altering affair with a much older, married woman.

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Nonfiction

Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford

Kate Crawford is a senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research, the inaugural visiting chair of AI and Justice at the École Normale Supérieure, and the Miegunyah distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne. She co-founded the AI Now Institute at New York University, and leads the Foundations of Machine Learning international working group. She lives in New York City.

The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives by Jonathan Malesic

Going beyond the how and why of burnout, a former tenured professor combines academic methods and first-person experience to propose new ways for resisting our cultural obsession with work and transforming our vision of human flourishing.

Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays by Jill Gutowitz

Perfect for fans of Samantha Irby and Trick Mirror, a funny, whip-smart collection of personal essays exploring the intersection of queerness, relationships, pop culture, the internet, and identity, introducing one of the most undeniably original new voices today.

The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary-Frances O'Connor

Based on O'Connor's own trailblazing neuroimaging work, research in the field, and her real-life stories, The Grieving Brain does what the best popular science books do, combining storytelling, accessible science, and practical knowledge that will help us better understand what happens when we grieve and how to navigate loss with more ease and grace.

Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald

Life on the Rocks is an inspiring, lucid, meditative ode to the reefs and the undaunted scientists working to save them against almost impossible odds. As she also attempts to help her daughter in her struggle with mental illness, Berwald explores what it means to keep fighting a battle whose outcome is uncertain. She contemplates the inevitable grief of climate change and the beauty of small victories.

What's the T?: The Guide to All Things Trans and/or Nonbinary for Teens What's the T? : The Guide to All Things Trans and/or Nonbinary for Teens by Juno Dawson

Discover what it means to be a young transgender and/or nonbinary person in the twenty-first century in this frank and funny guide for teens.

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Graphic Novels

Chivalry Chivalry by Neil Gaiman

An elderly British widow buys what turns out to be the Holy Grail from a second-hand shop setting her off on an epic visit from an ancient knight who lures her with ancient relics in hope for winning the cup.

Dune: House Atreides Vol. 1 Dune: House Atreides Vol. 1 by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

The New York Times best-selling Dune: House Atreides comes to comics for the first time, as adapted & scripted by the novel's co-writers Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, from the prequel novel based on Dune creator Frank Herbert's notes and original vision.

I'm a Wild Seed I'm a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee de la Cruz

In this delightfully compelling full-color graphic memoir, the author shares her process of undoing the effects of a patriarchal, colonial society on her self-image, her sexuality, and her concept of freedom. Reflecting on the ways in which oppression was the cause for her late bloom into queerness, we are invited to discover people and things in the author's life that helped shape and inform her LGBTQ identity. And we come to an understanding of her holistic definition of queerness.

Our Colors Our Colors by Gengoroh Tagame

Set in contemporary suburban Japan, Our Colors is the story of Sora Itoda, a sixteen-year-old aspiring painter who experiences his world in synesthetic hues of blues and reds and is governed by the emotional turbulence of being a teenager. He wants to live honestly as a young gay man in high school, but that is still not acceptable in Japanese society. Sora's world changes forever when he meets Mr. Amamiya, a middle-aged gentleman who is the owner and proprietor of a local coffee shop and is completely, unapologetically out as a gay man.

The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories by Rumi Hara

The Peanutbutter Sisters is a glorious balance of contradictions, at once escapism and realism, science fiction and slice of life.

Sea of Sorrows Sea of Sorrows by Rich Douek

In the aftermath of the Great War, the North Atlantic is ripe for plunder by independent salvage crews. When a former naval officer hires the SS Vagabond, he leads the ship to a sunken U-boat, and a fortune in gold. Tensions mount as the crew prepares to double cross each other, but the darkness of the ocean floor holds deeper terrors than any of them have bargained for!

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Movies/TV, Music & More

Movies/TV

Jack Irish. Season 1 Jack Irish. Season 1
Format: DVD

When an Australian aid-worker is kidnapped by Muslim extremists, a high-stakes race to save his life pits East against West in these exciting new episodes. From the island of Mindanao in the Philippines to Melbourne, Jack Irish is caught in a global web of religious zealotry among right-wing Christians and media-savvy jihadists.

The Madame Blanc Mysteries. Series 1. The Madame Blanc Mysteries. Series 1.
Format: DVD

Antiques dealer Jean White is nearly bankrupt after her husband's sudden death, and so she heads to their one last asset: a cottage in antiques hub Sainte Victoire, France. There, Jean begins investigating his death, aided by sympathetic taxi driver Dom. She soon finds the colorful locals have a treasure trove of other mysteries for her to assess, too.

Music

Anastasia: The New Broadway Musical Anastasia: The New Broadway Musical by Various
Format: CD

Arriving 20 years after the animated musical film it was based on, the stage version of Anastasia, about the Russian Grand Duchess, opened on Broadway in April 2017. This original Broadway cast recording was released two months later. While the musical does features several songs from the film, including Oscar nominee "Journey to the Past," they are outnumbered by new songs by the same songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, who in the interim picked up Tony Awards for Ragtime.

Feeling Good: Her Greatest Hits & Remixes Feeling Good: Her Greatest Hits & Remixes by Nina Simone
Format: CD

The new album gathers the most iconic songs recorded throughout her career and includes seven remixes by some of the hottest, in-demand DJs worldwide. The first single from the set is a remix by English DJ/producer Joel Corry (Charli XCX, Ed Sheeran) of the timeless classic album. The album includes seminal songs such as Mississippi Goddam; Strange Fruit; I Loves You Porgy; I Put A Spell On You; Nina Simone's timeless version of Feeling Good.

Royal Tea Royal Tea by Joe Bonamassa
Format: CD

One of Joe Bonamassa's primary influences was Eric Clapton, so the idea behind Royal Tea makes some sense: he spends the 2020 album saluting British blues. This may seem like a distinction without a difference, since Bonamassa has never shied away from Zeppelin nods on his albums, but Royal Tea does indeed sound different than his other studio albums.

& More

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur
Format: Spoken CD

From the creator of The Good Place and the cocreator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world.

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