February Young Adult Picks

Here are some more of those great YA books you’re looking for!

Obsidian
by Jennifer Armentrout
YA ARM

Katy notices strange things in the WV town where she has recently moved. How does the hot neighbor who hates her move so fast and why is he always trying to talk to her, especially when he has forbidden her quite rudely to stay away from his twin sister?
-Serena

A Mango-shaped Space
by Wendy Maas
YA MAA

Mia Winchell appears to be a typical kid, but she’s keeping a big secret—sounds, numbers, and words have color for her. No one knows, and Mia wants to keep it that way. But when trouble at school finally forces Mia to reveal her secret, she must learn to accept herself and embrace her ability, called synesthesia, a mingling of the senses.
-Crystal

The Sky is Everywhere
by Jandy Nelson
YA NEL

Lennon “Lennie” Walker’s older sister/best friend dies very suddenly. This is a beautifully written story of grief, love, family, forgiveness and finding the courage to keep putting one foot in front of the other and learning to laugh and live again. Jandy Nelson is my favorite YA author!
-Debbie

Seconds
by Bryan Lee O’Malley
YA OMA

Katie is a chef who uses magic mushrooms to fix her mistakes and escape the consequences of her actions. Unfortunately all of her second chances lead to increasingly undesirable outcomes in O’Malley’s great followup to the “Scott Pilgrim” series.
-Mike

February Adult Picks

White Plague
by James Abel
F ABE

I really enjoyed this book! It was a well written, fast paced, and action packed thriller. I could almost hear and feel the ice moving around me while the rescuers attempted to get to the stranded crew of the Montana.
-Sara

The Job
by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg
F EVA

Charming con man Nicolas Fox and dedicated FBI agent Kate O’Hare secretly take down world’s most-wanted and untouchable felons, next job Violante, the brutal leader of a global drug-smuggling empire.
-Crystal

The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
F HAW

Rachel rides the train every morning and evening, pretending to go to a job she no longer has. She passes the house she and her ex lived in, where he now lives with his new wife Anna and their baby. Several houses down lives another couple that she fantasizes live the perfect life. The story is told by Rachel, Anna and Megan and nothing is what it appears to be.
-Debbie

Alex Cross Hope to Die
by James Patterson
F PAT

Detective Alex Cross is being stalked by a psychotic genius, forced to play the deadliest game of his career. Cross’s family – his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children–have been ripped away. Terrified and desperate, Cross must give this mad man what he wants if he has any chance of saving the most important people in his life.
-Crystal

Leaving Time
by Jodi Picoult
F PIC

Picoult’s novel about a young girl searching for her missing mother is filled with great characters and good suspense.
-Kathy

The Rosie Effect
by Graeme Simsion
F SIM

“The Rosie Effect” is a MUST read! For all his seriousness, Don Tillman is an absolute riot. The depth of his character and the way the author brings Don to life for the reader is outstanding. I love a book that makes me laugh out loud! Of course, it also brought me close to tears, and drove me crazy with frustration at some of the characters’ shenanigans. I sincerely hope to see more from Graeme Simsion soon–I can’t wait to see how Don and Rosie fare on the next “project”.
-Sara

A Spool of Blue Thread
by Anne Tyler
F TYL

This is a story of three generations living in Baltimore. The house they live in is one of the main characters. Junior Whitshank built the house, where most of the story takes place, for a wealthy family. When they moved out he bought it and he and his wife Linnie raised their family there. The book starts with Red (Junior’s son) and Abby in their final years with their children trying to decide how to help them.
-Debbie

Saint Odd
by Dean Koontz
F KOO

The future is haunting Odd Thomas. The carnival has returned to Pico Mundo, the same one that came to town when Odd was just sixteen. Odd is drawn to an arcade tent where he discovers Gypsy Mummy, the fortune-telling machine that told him that he and Stormy Llewellyn were destined to be together forever.
-Crystal

February Kids Picks

Picture Books

Please, Mr. Panda
by Steve Antony
E ANT

Mr. Panda has a plate of doughnuts to share, but most of the other animals forget to say “Please.” This is a funny book about sharing and manners.
-Serena

Urgency Emergency! Itsy Bitsy Spider
by Dosh Archer
E ARC

A spider arrives at City Hospital with some strange head injuries. How did this happen? And does it have anything to do with all the water rushing down the water spout? Early readers have never been such fun!
-Crystal

Crankenstein Valentine
by Samantha Berger
E BER

See what happens to an ordinary kid on the most lovey-dovey, yuckiest day of the year-Valentine’s Day! Cheesy cards, allergy-inducing bouquets, and heart-shaped everything? It’s enough to turn anyone into a monster! YECHHHH!
-Crystal

How to Bake a Book
by Ella Burfoot
E BUR

Discover the secret ingredients to crafting a truly delicious story! Join one lucky little girl as she learns the recipe for making the perfect story. A pinch of good, a dash of bad, some big words, and carefully cut out characters all provide the ingredients for a truly delicious read!
-Crystal

The Really, Really, Really Big Dinosaur
by Richard Byrne
E BYR

Finlay (a little dinosaur) is sitting on a grassy mound, counting jelly beans to share with his friend. A big dinosaur comes along and demands the sweets. He is rather rude, a bit of a show-off, and doesn’t believe Finlay even has a friend. Well, he’s in for a really, really, really big surprise!
-Crystal

While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat
by Amy Reichert
E REI

Rose tries and tries to get ready for bed while her mother is chatting with Uncle Fred, but she keeps getting interrupted as more people show up at the door. Oh no! There’s the doorbell again!
-Mike

Going Places
by Peter Reynolds
E REY

A boy and girl team up and use a bit of outside-the-box thinking for a creative entry in the “Going Places” contest.
-Mike

Juvenile

The Hundred Dresses
by Eleanor Estes
J EST

At the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it’s too late for apologies.
-Crystal

The Fourteenth Goldfish
by Jennifer L. Holm
J HOL

Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He’s bossy. He’s cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie’s grandfather, a scientist who’s always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this pimply boy really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth?
-Crystal

House of Robots
by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein
J PAT

It was never easy for Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez to fit in, so he’s dreading the day when his genius mom insists he bring her newest invention to school: a walking, talking robot he calls E–for “Error”. Sammy’s no stranger to robots–his house is full of a colorful cast of them. But this one not only thinks it’s Sammy’s brother… it’s actually even nerdier than Sammy. Will E be Sammy’s one-way ticket to Loserville? Or will he prove to the world that it’s cool to be square?
-Crystal

Counting By 7s
by Holly Goldberg Sloan
J SLO

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life… until now.
-Crystal