May Staff Picks
Looking for your next great read? Need to fill some spots in our 26 in ’26 Reading Challenge? Here’s three books our staff have loved recently.
In need of more recommendations? Check out past Staff Picks on our What We’re Reading page, or complete a short form and we’ll email you a list of personalized recommendations.
Sarah says:
“I used this book to complete category 19 (a book set somewhere you’d love to visit – Australia, in this case) in our 26 in ’26 Reading Challenge, although I also could have used it for category 29 (a book that takes place within 24 hours). Unfolding over the course of one night in a stream-of-consciousness narrative, the unnamed protagonist describes an evening spent preparing for and attending a party. Listening to the audiobook, which was read by the author, felt like getting an intimate glimpse into a friend’s inner world. Each time I hit play, I looked forward to hearing more of her thoughts and descriptions – especially about her cat, Porkchop. This own-voices story told from a neurodiverse perspective includes a strong focus on sensory details and social observations of the people around her. If you enjoy introspective stories of quiet, but revolutionary, self-acceptance that open up the universe, this book is worth a read.”
Shawna says:
“As someone who reads a fair amount of shipwreck stories, this one stood out. I had never heard of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897 – 1899, despite it being a milestone in the history of exploration. As you may have guessed, things go wrong rather quickly on the journey and the team becomes the first, very unprepared, people to overwinter in Antarctica. It’s one of the more extreme stories of testing human limits I’ve read – ground collapsing underfoot, weeks without sunlight, staying ahead of scurvy, and battling the psychological effects of isolation (not always successfully). In fact, NASA still studies the expedition as a simulation of the extremes of space. I was impressed at how seamlessly Sancton weaves together what must be countless logbook and journal entries so it feels like the characters are telling you the story themselves.”
Dan says:
“Near Flesh is the only published collection of short stories by acclaimed Geek Love author Katherine Dunn. For some readers (myself included), that sentence is all the recommendation required. For those who haven’t read Dunn’s work, this posthumously published collection of tales may be the entry point to her wild imagination that they have been waiting for and need. Dunn’s work, epitomized in Near Flesh, is often concurrently grotesque and familiar; her protagonists are in search of, or more often confronted by, aspects of the world and themselves that are unsettling and often violent. Dunn is not for the faint of heart, but for those willing to face her words, the payoff is singular, remarkable, unforgettable characters, prose, and stories.”