Staff Fiction Favorites

Art thief RASL navigates through parallel realities to escape his past sins and the government spooks hunting him for his in-ventions. From the mind of Bone-creator Jeff Smith, this is a no children’s story, but rather a story of sex, murder, and the legacy of Nikola Tesla that is quite simply bad-ass. - Jocelyn

Vampires before Twilight: mysterious, threatening, and no sparkles, where magic and discrimination against demons are real. Sunshine is an unusually talented baker with an unusual heritage buried in normalcy. Abandoning her simple life for a night, she lands in one of the strangest, most delicious Beauty and the Beast stories ever re-told. -Jocelyn

This is one of those books that seem to be rarer and rarer, where finishing a story leaves you with a pleasant shiver up your spine, as you consider the possibilities of your world and society – and the facts of your existence. Funny, scary, creepy, uplifting, heart breaking, hopeless, hopeful – these stories run the gamut of the experiences of life, realized by the inevitability of death. –Jocelyn

A brutal, final collection of poems by a master of the dramatic monologue. These are character stories that the poet wrote to the very end of her life, meditating on themes of “Womanhood,” “Brotherhood,” “Discipline,” religion and her own “Cancer Chronicles.” - Steve

In this terribly stunning narration, Xavier and his aunt Niska share a story that is full of battles, weaving his experiences with the horrors of World War I with the cultural clashes of Native life in Northern Canada, and contrasting his fight against morphine addiction with her struggle to navigate her spiritual heritage. It's beautiful and suspenseful journey. – Nici

Particularly sumptuous in it's historical details, you'll feel like you're being befriended by Cleopatra herself as this autobiographical narrative winds through her story of love and loss. It's a compassionate and realistic portrayal of a woman so often cast in a disparaging light, and the light, personal tone of the writing makes the thousand pages fly by. –Nici

Oh so much fun! This historical romance and dashing adventure is just the escapist story to pull you through a rainy day. Willig sets up a wonderful scenario, fleshes it out with playful characters, and brings it to an appropriately satisfying conclusion. A pure pleasure to read. –Nici

I don't usually like horror or zombie books, but this one is awesome. When a strange mutating disease spreads around the youth of Seattle in the mid-1970s, these kids find themselves split between the diseased and the healthy, and the ostracized mutants are forced to band together against an unknown threat. I can't stop thinking about it and I can't recommend it enough. - Ali

The unlikely son of teenage mother and a one-legged father, Henry Smart has grown up in squalor in the streets of turn of the century Dublin. With his good lucks and street smarts, Henry works his way into the Easter Uprising of 1916, where he will play a pivotal role as a national hero in the emerging Republic. History and poetry combine to make this a truly unique and gritty novel. -Eric

If you’re looking for fiction to absolutely fall into, this is it. Fallon’s stories illuminate military life; specifically Ft. Hood, an expansive but insular military base in Texas where everything is available on base. This remarkable book never gets political or voyeuristic, but instead offers stunning characters and stories that are difficult to leave behind. -Kat

What if everyone’s pain suddenly became visible? What if our headaches and toothaches and bad backs and tumors all glowed an iridescent white, and we could diagnose each other with a glance? This is the phenomena in the background of Brockmeier’s stunning novel, which brings together an unlikely collection of characters in an exploration of pain and the possibility of empathy. -Kat

Please, please ignore the fluffy bunny on the cover of this book. There is a rabbit in the story, yes, but there is nothing fluffy about this novel. It’s a story about loss and estrangement and sexuality and Nebraska, and many, many other things. It’s quiet but complex, and lush and surprising at every turn. One of my favorite reads last year. Don’t miss it! -Kat