The Truth by Terry Pratchett

Title:  The Truth

Author:  Terry Pratchett

Call #:  FSY PRA

This hilarious fantasy novel is a satire on the role of the press. A rag-tag group of humans and dwarves start printing The Ankh-Morpork Times. Their pursuit of truth ends up uncovering a political conspiracy and puts them all in mortal danger. Along the way we meet a zombie lawyer, werewolf police, a vampire photographer, talking dogs, and a fine-art loving hit man. In true British humor style, the satire is thick and the jokes are dry, but you will be cheering for the newspaper, its publishers, and the truth for all 350+ pages.

Recommended by:  Becky

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Title:  The Good Thief

Author:  Hannah Tinti

Call #:  TIN

This is a refreshingly traditional, historical adventure. It is fast paced, the hero is resourceful and lucky (maybe unbelievable so, but go with it) and it has a happy ending. Tinti uses many of Dickens’ own tricks and themes to propel her story along, including a cast of eccentric secondary characters such as a dwarf who lives on the roof, a murderous giant and a hard-of-hearing landlady. The novel is appropriately funny, heart-warming, melodramatic and bittersweet all in the right places.

Recommended by:  Becky

The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett

Title:  The Clothes They Stood Up In

Author:  Alan Bennett

Call #:  BEN

When the sedate Ransomes return from the opera to find their flat stripped absolutely bare – down to the toilet paper off the roll (a hard-to-find shade of forget-me-not blue) – they face a dilemma:  Who are they without the things they’ve spent a lifetime accumulating?  This is a quirky and offbeat, but very funny, book.

Recommended by:  Betty

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

Title: Sharp Teeth

Author: Toby Barlow

Call #: BAR

In the seedy underbelly of L.A. there are three competing packs of werewolves fighting for supremacy and seeking revenge for past injustices. Connecting the packs and their separate, yet converging story lines, is Detective Peabody, who is investigating some suspicious murders which are somehow connected to dogs. This novel is written in free verse which is unsettling at first, but ultimately it enhances the chaos of the plot. As someone who reads and writes about a lot of horror, I appreciated this novel’s originality.

Recommended by: Becky

Breathers by S.G. Browne

Title: Breathers

Author: S.G. Browne

Call #: BRO

After dying in a car accident that killed his wife, a zombie reanimates and tries to re-enter modern society. He joins a support group for zombies and is introduced to the zombie community in which a love affair soon develops. Things seem to be going great until one of the characters gets a serious craving for human flesh. This is a must read for any fan of the walking dead.

Recommended by: John

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

Title: My Year of Meats

Author: Ruth Ozeki

Call #: OZE

Jane, a Japanese-American documentary filmmaker, is enlisted to produce a show called My American Wife.  The show will be shown in Japan and its goal is to get Japanese women to cook more meat.  Akiko lives in Tokyo with her brute of a husband who handles the show’s advertising.  The novel alternates between these two women as each comes to understand the corruptness of the beef industry including the injection of meat with synthetic estrogens.  This unique, well written novel is one of my favorites.

Recommended by: Kathy

The Pig Did It by Ian Caldwell

Title: The Pig Did It

Author: Joseph Caldwell

Call #: CAL

Aaron McCloud returns to Ireland, to the home of his beloved Aunt Kitty, to reflect on his lost love and generally feel sorry for himself, only to find himself caught up in the pandemonium of pigs, family skeletons, and village life on the edge of the sea.  This first of a trilogy is witty, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Recommended by: Bobbie

Deaf Sentence by David Lodge

Title: Deaf Sentence

Author: David Lodge

Call #: LOD

This book really appealed to me because the main character is very hard of hearing. I wear hearing aids, and the difficulties he has with them are the same ones I have. It’s also a well-written study of retirement and the real adjustments we have to make in our perception of ourselves.

Recommended by: Betty