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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Feasts of Good Fortune
Adult Nonfiction. "Chou brings her on-ramp approach to Chinese cooking full circle with fresh, uncomplicated home cooking for celebrations typical of the Chinese American experience. Master dumplings, scallion pancakes, and more, to contribute to 'tuan yuan' (the act of coming together) that define family meals in these 75 tried-and-true recipes anyone can tackle. Cowritten with Hsiao-Ching's daughter, Meilee, this deeply meaningful cookbook... celebrates the joy of the mother-daughter bond in cooking together." Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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I Might Be in Trouble
Adult Fiction. "David Alvarez is running out of time and money. His novel, The Millers, was a smashing success; his sophomore outing, not so much. His agent, Stacey, is supportive but wary... One night, David meets Robert, who fulfills all of his wildest fantasies. But in the morning, David wakes up to a dead man beside him. Panicking and with no one else to turn to, David calls Stacey. ...[T]hey begin a desperate journey across New York City, dressing the dead man and pretending he's drunk while they drag him to the hotel. Aleman's adult debut is both riotously funny and deeply touching." -Booklist
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Private Rites
Adult Fiction. "It's been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and arcane rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father dies. An architect as cruel as he was revered, his death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in... the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind... Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world." Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Rental House
Adult Fiction. "Wang returns with the story of Keru and Nate, a Chinese American woman and a white man who meet at Yale, fall in love, and get married. Some years later, they go on two vacations - to Cape Cod and the Catskills - during which both sets of parents, as well as some unexpected visitors, come to stay with them. As they share rental houses with their families (and their large dog, Mantou), racial, cultural, and class tensions come to the surface. This quietly engrossing novel is subtle and powerful in its cultural critique and will surely be relatable for anyone who has in-laws." -Kirkus
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Availability: Available
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The Serviceberry
Adult Nonfiction. "Potawatomi environmentalist Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass) explains that the Potawatomi root word for 'berry' (min) is also the root word for 'gift,' illustrating how in the tribe's 'culture of gratitude,' natural resources are seen as offerings that carry with them 'responsibilities of sharing, respect, reciprocity.' Such principles are needed to counter the concentration of resources in the hands of the few, she contends, calling for 'gift economies' in which 'the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away.' It's an eloquent call to action." -Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Time of the Child
Adult Fiction. "Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love - and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man. But in the Advent season of 1962..., Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.” Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Water, Water
Adult Poetry. "A poem is best, [Collins] feels, when it begins in clarity but ends with a whiff of mystery. In Water, Water, Collins combines his vigilant attention and respect for the peripheral to create moments of delight. Common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination, be it a cat leaning to drink from a swimming pool, a nurse calling a name in a waiting room, or an astronaut reciting Emily Dickinson from outer space. With his trademark lyrical informality, Collins asks us to slow down and glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar." Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Into the Uncut Grass
Adult Graphic Novel. "Having captured readers' attention with Born a Crime, his bestselling memoir of growing up in South Africa, comedian and television host Noah has written a parable about decision-making. With plentiful illustrations by Sabina Hahn and in language aimed at young listeners, it tells the story of a small boy so impatient to start his Saturday adventures that he rebels against the rules of his household and heads out without brushing his teeth or making his bed, despite the reminders of his stuffed bear, Walter. 'It's a picture book, but it's not a children's book. Rather, it is a book for kids to share with parents and for parents to share with kids.'" Kirkus
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Message
Adult Nonfiction. "Award-winning journalist and MacArthur Fellow Coates probes the narratives that shape our perception of the world through his reports on three journeys: to Dakar, Senegal, the last stop for Black Africans 'before the genocide and rebirth of the Middle Passage'; to Chapin, South Carolina, where controversy erupted over a writing teacher's use of Between the World and Me in class; and to Israel and Palestine, where he spent 10 days in a 'Holy Land of barbed wire, settlers, and outrageous guns.' A revelatory meditation on shattering journeys." Kirkus
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Mighty Red
Adult Fiction. "Erdrich follows the folks of the Red River Valley of North Dakota - the original home to the Ojibwe, the Dakota, and the Metis - in a captivating tale of love and everyday life amid environmental upheaval and the 2008 financial crisis. Crystal hauls sugar beets on the Geist family farm and counts her pennies while her partner, Martin, a failed actor who moonlights as a traveling arts teacher, spends money on impractical delights like salsa dancing. They share a daughter, Kismet, 18, who's reviled at her high school for being a goth until Geist scion Gary falls in love with her. Erdrich excels at the slow simmer, and once again she delivers a deliciously seductive masterwork." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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