book lists

Image of colorful autumn leaves

The Thanksgiving holiday is a time to focus on home, family, feast, and reflection. Here are some recommendations designed for ways to honor old traditions or start new ones; for […]

image of skeleton reading a book

Halloween is just around the bend, and soon we’ll be setting our clocks back and presenting more dark hours for those “things that go bump in the night.” If you […]

Photo of bowl of pasta with grated cheese sprinkling down on it

It’s October 25: World Pasta Day–Celebrate! While you slurp your spaghetti or fork up fusilli, check out some titles you can get from the library to enjoy (sauce on the […]

Ocean/beach showing horizon and two arms holding up an open book, with text: "2016-2024"

  The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, 2016 Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an […]

Image of four people on bench each reading a newspaper or magazine, with text: "2001-2015" Image credit: "reading#2 by rschmidtz, used courtesy of CC by 2.0 Attribution License

Image Credit: “reading#2” by rschmidtz, 2015, used courtesy of CC by 2.0 Attribution License   The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, 2001  Yann Martel’s 2001 novel Life of Pi tells […]

Image of two older people reading books on a park bench (image source: "Reading" by Zorilla, 2015, used courtesy of CC by 2.0 License) with text: "1990-2000"

  The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow, 1990 The unexpected suicide of his wife of 31 years impels Alejandro Stern, the accomplished, self-contained criminal defense lawyer who defended Rusty […]

PPL140: 1975-1989

  Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow, 1975 Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Ragtime focuses on a representative cross-section of America in the era prior […]

Listen Up! Audiobooks

  Some narrators do such a great job that they really enhance the “reading” experience. If you listen to a lot of audiobooks and have favorite narrators, you can search […]

Photo of boy and staff reading books (Allendale Branch Library: Image Source: Pasadena Digital History--Pasadena Public Library collection) with text: "1960-1974"

The years from 1960-1974 were (famously) an era of social change, political turmoil, and generational conflict. Works published during these years addressed themes including race and racism; mental health institutionalization; […]

Image of painting "Compartment C Car" (1938) by Edward Hopper with text: "1940-1959"

  The Iceman Cometh [play] by Eugene O’Neill, 1946 The play is set in New York City in 1912 and chronicles the lives of a group of lonely denizens who […]