JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 113
May is abloom thanks to these books with flowers on the cover, our latest prompt from the Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.
This prompt is more versatile than you might think, with plenty of options beyond gardening books. (Yes, there’s even horror, as Michael shows.) Listen below to learn more about our picks.
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Michael’s Pick
This gothic novel, set in the woods of 1899 North Carolina, follows Sonia Wilson, who takes a job as an illustrator for a reclusive entomologist named Dr. Halder.
While taking a break from illustrating insects, Sonia stumbles across a mysterious, wedge‑shaped shed in the woods. Isolated and padlocked, the shed is clearly something she was not meant to find.
Sonia’s investigation pulls her toward a horrifying truth: Dr. Halder’s studies have led him down a twisted path—one that no one around him is fully prepared to face.
Pairing: North Carolina Style Pulled Pork
Carrie’s Pick
The 14 essays in Inciting Joy are longer than those in his 2020 collection The Book of Delights, but both collections share similar concerns. Prizewinning poet Gay believes that joy, gratitude, and delight always exist alongside sorrow, grief, and even anger.
In lyrical, funny, and thoughtful prose, Inciting Joy covers such topics as his father’s death from cancer, gardening, skateboarding, Richard Pryor, pickup basketball, a community orchard, and more.
Pairing: Lemon Balm and Mint Tea
Jacqueline’s Pick
Powerless is a young adult dystopian fantasy novel and the first book in the Powerless trilogy. Paedyn Gray is an Ordinary in a kingdom that privileges Elites.
When she accidentally saves the king’s son, she’s forced into the Purging Trials—a brutal competition meant to showcase Elite abilities. Since Paedyn has none, she must rely entirely on her fighting skills and her ability to bluff her way through.
Pairing: Lemon Tarts