#leisurereads

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No Angel is a Rough Ride

No criminal wants an undercover cop poking around, but few groups distrust outsiders more than the Hells Angels. To gain acceptance from these outlaw motorcyclists, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agent, Jay Dobyns undertook a two year long operation that became an obsession, outlined in the book No Angel. From beginning to end, Dobyns wants to stop the gun and drug dealing of the Angels, but along the way he becomes attracted to the lifestyle and the members. The members seem like colorful characters who live by their own rules. Like Dobyns, readers cannot forget these characters are capable of great violence. Overall, this book provides a unique story of law enforcement. Also, it offers an inside look at two groups, the Hells Angels and undercover police, that do not like attention.

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A Treasury of Victorian Murder by Rick Geary

Through A Treasury of Victorian Murder, Rick Geary leads the reader through a detailed historical investigation of several famous murders of the 19th and 20th centuries with a sharp visual narrative. From Jack the Ripper and President Abraham Lincoln to more obscure (but no less chilling!) cases such as that of H.H. Holmes.  

His restrained caricature and monotonously uniform line style combine to give the readers clarity as they become familiar with the people involved in each case, their distinct manners and their circumstances laid out as plainly as possible.  This plain style helps the author delve into the controversy surrounding each case with strong authority.  Each story reads like a snapshot in time, a daguerreotype of death that reveals detail but conceals a firm conclusion.

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Soon I Will Be Invincible

In this authorial debut novel, Austin Grossman switches us between two first-person narratives chapter by chapter. One of the perspective characters is Fatale, a newcomer to a heroic team and a woman adapting to life as a cyborg. The second perspective character is Doctor Impossible, a villain with Malign Hypercognition Disorder and a series of failed world domination attempts on his record. This dual perspective approach makes the motivations of the characters in the story crystal clear, and gives the events a personal texture.

Soon I Will Be Invincible expertly imagines a super-heroic world without giving in to frivolousness or excessive grittiness. Events and characters in the book read as fantastic without becoming unnatural to the story - truth as it is held in the minds of the characters holds up the storytelling well. This book is a fun, engrossing read with some humor, action, and mystery.

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Say Yes, Please to Amy Poehler's New Book

Amy Poehler has conquered TV with stints on Saturday Night Live, a lead role on Parks and Recreation and memorable hosting position on various award shows. Now she can add author to her resume. Her memoir Yes, Please illustrates her life-long love of comedy. She recounts stories from growing up and her early comedy career including the friends she’s made and the colleagues who helped her along the way. Poehler’s writing exhibits the same funny and good-natured charm of her characters on television.

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Understanding Pretty

In Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, the first edition of this futuristic series, Tally, a 16 year old anxiously awaits her birthday. She has lived a life of being unattractive—or for lack of a better word “ugly.” Tally is preparing for surgery, a rite of passage in her town, Uglyville; Surgery to transform her into a visually attractive creature. However, this transformation may not be all it’s promised to be. Uglies promises many thrills and may leave you thinking differently about visual beauty, friendship, and self-worth.

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The Sculptor brings Graphic Novels to Leisure Reading Collection

Want to try something new in our leisure reading collection?

For the first time, the Leisure Reading Collection contains a graphic novel! Author Scott McCloud, best known for his graphic non-fiction such as Understanding Comics and Making Comics, has turned to fiction. His new graphic novel, The Sculptor, follows artist David Smith as he strikes a deal with Death that allows him to sculpt anything he can imagine. To gain this talent, however, David only has 200 days to live. With this premise, the book explores themes of life and death, love, and the joys of everyday life.

Do not be fooled by this “comic book!” This book, with exceptional blue and black ink drawings, tackles its themes in as literary a manner as any traditional novel.