Jilleen Moore's Evolving Top Picks

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."

So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel by Gregory David Roberts, set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated...

The Goldfinch

“The Goldfinch was always one of those books I was intimidated to start. It's so long! And sprawling! Was I really going to commit to thirty hours of a book about a painting? The answer is: I waited much too long to get to this truly incredible story, and if you--like me--are daunted by this book's length and scope, the audiobook is for you. Read by veteran stage actor David Pittu (and award winning audiobook narrator), I was rapt from the opening scene to the very last. The story follows Theo Decker from the day he loses his mother in a terrorist attack inside New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art through the rest of his youth. Theo is bounced through households, adrift without his mother, from the Upper East Side apartment of a wealthy schoolmate to his father's Las Vegas subdivision, always accompanied by the small, precious painting he took from the museum on the fateful day his mother died. It's an incredible coming of age tale, read by Pittu with humor and perfect dramatic timing. Despite the many hours I spent with this audiobook, I was sad when it was over. It is just that good.”

Liv, Books Are Magic

From the award-winning author and New Yorker contributor, a riveting novel about secrets and scandals, psychiatry and pulp fiction, inspired by the lives of H.P. Lovecraft and his circle. Marina Willett, M.D., has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror... Read more »

Rabbits

“Oh the joy ride that is Rabbits! A game? A conspiracy? Quantum physics? A clever puzzle of a novel that is a compulsive read. Stranger Things meets Ready Player One. It’s fun!”

Melissa DeMotte, The Well-Read Moose

Old Path White Clouds presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Drawn directly from twenty-four Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, and retold by Thich Nhat Hanh in his inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life slowly and gently over the course of eighty years, partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy,...

A heartbreaking story about a Nigerian poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves, by Man Booker Finalist and author of The Fishermen, Chigozie Obioma.

"It is more than a superb and tragic novel; it's a historical treasure."-Boston Globe

Set on the outskirts of Umuahia, Nigeria and narrated by a chi, or guardian spirit,... Read more »

The Pulitzer Prize–winning, New York Times betselling novel of North Korea: an epic journey into the heart of the world’s most mysterious dictatorship.

“Imagine Charles Dickens paying a visit to Pyongyang, and you see the canvas on which [Adam] Johnson is painting here.”—The Washington Post

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother—a singer...

Entangled Life

“An ecological, fungi-based restructuring of your world view given to us as only a brilliant biologist could offer. Sheldrake says, 'Without this fungal web my tree would not exist. Without [...] fungal webs no plant would exist anywhere. All life on land, including my own, depends on these networks.'”

Kaya, Collected Works Bookstore

The Feather Thief

“The Feather Thief is true crime at its best — a tale starting with the Amazonian explorations of Darwin-era naturalists, rooted in the eccentric sensibilities of Victorian collectors, fueled by the obscure cult of fly-fishing tying, and culminating with a shocking 2009 British Museum heist by a shy American flautist. All of these elements are deftly brought together at a thriller’s pace by author Kirk Johnson, a veteran of the Iraqi reconstruction effort suffering from PTSD, who stumbles across the story while fly-fishing in New Mexico in 2011. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up.”

Keltie, Parnassus Books

A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are. • The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Alex Green is a young... Read more »

Ring Shout

“The emotionally charged, wild ride of Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark was one I did not want to end. Clark pulled me into the life of Maryse and her band of monster hunters and held me hostage. With beautiful language, deep characters, and a fully immersive world, this story of vengeance and self-forgiveness unfolds. By the end, I was in tears. Ring Shout perfectly takes on a dark, violent history, but also an uncertain, terrifying future. Everyone needs to read Ring Shout.”

Sophie Giroir, Cavalier House Books

Soon to be a TV Series on AMC starring Pierce Brosnan and co-written by Philipp Meyer.

The critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling epic, a saga of land, blood, and power that follows the rise of one unforgettable Texas family from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the oil booms of the 20th century.

Part epic of Texas, part classic...

Station Eleven meets The Hunger Games in this ruthless, captivating story of a young woman’s survival in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon after the rest of the world has collapsed.

As the old world dies, we all must choose to become predators. Or become prey.

The old world has been ravaged by war and disease, and as far as Lynn McBride is... Read more »

A guide to plant spirit ritual and witchcraft, with practical instruction on the use of botanicals especially associated with the beloved goddess Hekate and her daughters Circe and Medea.

Bringing pharmakeia (the practice of plant spirit witchcraft) into contemporary times, Entering Hekate's Garden merges historical knowledge with modern... Read more »

In this New York Times bestselling extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.

"Mine is a story of craving: an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free... Read more »

Acclaimed novelist Jewell Parker Rhodes is an American Book Award winner. Rhodes' Ninth Ward is a stunning tale set against the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Orphaned 12-year-old Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who birthed her, in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. Although Lanesha is different-able to see ghosts like that of her dead... Read more »

A powerful, gripping YA novel about the insidious nature of racism, the terrible costs of unearthing hidden truths, and the undeniable power of hope, by New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed. Perfect for fans of Sadie and Dear Martin.
 
Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. And one thing she’s learned as editor of her school... Read more »

Circe

“Unlike most of my peers, I did not learn about mythology in school. Circe intimidated me for far too long before I finally took the plunge to read it. How glad I am that I faced my fear! Even to my untrained mind, the chronicles of Circe were easy to follow, and with Perdita Weeks’ sublime narration, soon I was engrossed. Ostracized and outcast, Circe—the goddess, the witch—exhibits unbelievable strength and passion in her many years, and Madeline Miller has molded her into the feminist icon of my dreams. After spending so much time with her, I was emotional to say goodbye. This one should not be missed!”

Mary, Raven Book Store