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The Connection staff picks

Newspaper people are book people. This month we are sharing some of the staff of The Castle Pines Connection’s favorite books with you. We cross and bend genres from true crime to humor, thriller, nonfiction, romance, fantasy, self-help and more. So take a look at our staff picks and maybe find your new favorite book.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick illustrates how society can pull apart in the face of difficulties, but also how individuals come together. When everyone wakes up to a wooden box containing information about exactly how long they will live, the choices about how they handle that information make all the difference.

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins is a how-to self-help book supporting the reader in dealing with frustration, feeling overwhelmed and letting go of everything we cannot control.

City on Fire by Don Winslow is book one of the Danny Ryan trilogy. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, the story fictionalizes dueling Irish and Italian crime syndicates during the 1980s and 1990s. Ryan, full-time father, friend and longshoreman, and sometimes muscle for the Irish syndicate, must put his dreams of escaping to warmer climates on hold to keep his family and friends safe.

Quicksilver by Callie Hart is book one in the Fae & Alchemy series. Protagonist Saeris Fane finds herself far from home and in the middle of a centuries-long conflict in a foreign realm. She makes an alliance with a handsome Fae warrior, but will that keep her safe or hasten her demise?

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel tells the tale of Stéphane Bréitwieser, who stole more than 300 pieces of art over the span of eight years—but never for money. He squirreled his contraband away in a pair of secret rooms, all for his personal enjoyment.

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins is satire through the centuries. This story crosses time in search of immortality in the form of perfume, with Alobar, a recently dethroned 8th century king, and Pricilla a present-day amateur perfumer. The tale weaves across the globe in and out of myth.

City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Ambergris by Jeff VanderMeer is a collection of linked short stories set in the fictional city of Ambergris, where dichotomy rules. Using dark humor and horror, VanderMeer’s works collide to give the reader a genre-bending and thought-provoking experience.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain argues that introverts, quiet and unassuming people, are severely undervalued in our society. That underrating comes at a cost to everyone—extrovert and introvert alike. Using stories of real people, including famous names like Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss and Steve Wozniak, Cain illustrates how quiet can be a superpower.

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby is a mystery thriller full of festering secrets hiding under the veneer of Southern tranquility in Virginia. Just a year on the job, Titus, the first black sheriff in Charon County, faces corruption, systemic racism and a serial killer on the loose.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods tells intertwining stories of Martha, Opaline and Henry. Books and tales make up the connecting threads across time and distance, with a vanishing bookshop in the middle of everything.

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict is an historical fiction about the life of Hedy Lamarr. A beautiful actress married to an arms dealer in the years leading up to World War II, Lamarr overheard Third Reich plans. After fleeing her husband and Austria in 1937, Lamarr continued to make films but also co-invented a radio guidance system that prevented disturbances in Allied torpedoes.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt uses research to explain the cultural shift away from play-based childhood into a technology-focused childhood and the correlating rise in mental health crises in teenagers and young adults. Haidt suggests four simple actionable steps can be taken “to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood,” states the book description.

 

By Celeste McNeil; courtesy photos

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