Peak Picks Current Titles Book List
New titles from the Peak Picks collection that are currently in rotation. Stop by any branch to see what's available today!
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Aflame
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Nonfiction. "Novelist and essayist Iyer shares in this luminous account the lessons that more than 30 years of visiting a Benedectine monastery in California have taught him about silence. As a result of his visits, Iyer comes to see the ways in which the sacred shows up again and again in the mundane. The author brilliantly illuminates philosophical insights about the nature of the self, the world, and how silence serves as a conduit between the two, often in elegant, evocative prose: at the monastery, 'it's as if a lens cap has come off and once the self is gone, the world can come flooding in, in all its wild immediacy.' This is stunning." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: On order
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Beyond Anxiety
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Nonfiction. "In Beyond Anxiety, Dr. Martha Beck explains why anxiety is skyrocketing around you, and likely within you. Using a combination of the latest neuroscience as well as her background in sociology and coaching, Beck explains how our brains tend to get stuck in an 'anxiety spiral,' a feedback system that can increase anxiety indefinitely. Beck provides instructions for engaging the 'creativity spiral,' in a process that not only shuts down anxiety but leads to innovative problem solving, a sense of meaning and purpose, and joyful, intimate connection with others - and with the world.” Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: On order
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Black in Blues
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Nonfiction. "Perry offers an impressionistic cultural history of the African diaspora through its connections to the color blue. As enslaved Black people in the U.S. fought to affirm their humanity, the color blue was key: 'Blue porches, planted blue flowers, written blue scriptures, blue attire, trees festooned with blue bottles: these became the cultivated habits and rituals of people denied civil society and legal recognition.' Packed with cultural references to Nina Simone, Zora Neale Hurston, Miles Davis, and Picasso's African-inspired Blue Period, this is a fascinating and creative work of popular anthropology." Booklist
Format: Book
Availability: On order
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Blob
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Fiction. "Two years after failing out of college, Vi works as a hotel receptionist and wallows over a breakup. She often copes with her emotional insecurity by drinking heavily, and during a night out at a drag show, she finds a blob in an alley and takes it home. She names the blob Bob and orders him to do chores around the house. Eventually, Bob grows into a human, one who resembles a handsome white movie star, Vi's ideal type. He accompanies her to a family dinner and agrees to let her parents think they're dating...The result is a top-notch tale of arrested development." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: On order
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The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Nonfiction. "In second grade, [Case’s] father told her that her mother had died of cancer; a short time later, her mother reappeared, and Case eventually learned that she was never even sick. Following their reunion, Case and her mother...eventually settled in Tacoma, where Case was legally emancipated from her parents at age 15. She discusses...linking up with Carl Newman to start the New Pornographers and launching her solo career in prose that's unfussy but often beautiful. Case delivers a riveting autobiography that will fascinate even those who've never heard her music." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: On order
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The Life of Herod the Great
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Fiction. "Hurston aficionados are in for a surprise, a historical novel inspired by Herod the Great. Though widely known as the evil king who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents at the time of Jesus' birth, Hurston explains... that Herod was actually a popular and extremely capable ruler. Having fictionalized the Exodus story in Moses, Man of the Mountain, Hurston planned her Herod novel as a sequel. Full of adventure, glamour, and historical figures, including Herod's close friends Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, this is a fascinating addition to the Hurston canon." Booklist
Format: Book
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Love in A F*cked-up World
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Nonfiction. "Lifelong activist and educator Dean Spade dares us to decide that our interpersonal actions are not separate from our politics of liberation and resistance. How do we divest from the idea that one romantic partner will be the solution to all our problems? How do we bring our best thinking about freedom and justice into step with our desires for healing and connection? Love in a F*cked-Up World is a resounding call to action and a practical manifesto for how to combat cultural scripts and take our relationships into our own hands, preparing us for the work of changing the world." Publisher description
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Mask of the Deer Woman
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Fiction. "Newly appointed tribal marshal Carrie Starr has just arrived at the Saliquaw reservation... Her first case is a young woman who has gone missing, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Starr knows that Indigenous women have been going missing for decades, but discovering proof that the crimes were mismanaged and ignored...seems impossible. ...Starr juggles many influences on the investigation, including politics, oil development, and a distrust of outsiders. This novel shines with Starr's outsider analysis of the reservation where her father grew up but doesn't consider her one of its own." Library Journal
Format: Book
Availability: On order
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The Three Lives of Cate Kay
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Fiction. "Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she's one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn't really exist. She's never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now. ...when a devastating tragedy from her past resurfaces, she's forced to confront the secrets that derailed her dreams and return to the place she's been running from." Publisher description
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Three Wild Dogs (And the Truth)
NEW FOR JANUARY! Adult Nonfiction. "In this heartrending memoir, novelist Zusak (The Book Thief) recounts his family's love affair with three rowdy rescue dogs: Reuben, Archer, and Frosty. Writing after the last of the three died, Zusak...processes his grief on the page, beginning with the couple's adoption of Reuben in 2009 and ending with Archer's death in 2021. In the middle is a hilarious and occasionally harrowing tale of how not to train incorrigible canines. With a soft heart and a fluid pen, Zusak delivers an elegy for three misfit creatures that will resonate even with those who've never picked up a leash." Publishers Weekly
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