Peak Picks Current Titles Book List
A complete list of current Peak Picks titles.
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The Manor of Dreams
Adult Fiction. "A week before her death, Vivian Yin mysteriously changes her will. The Oscar-winning actress' daughters are shocked when their family's beautiful but deteriorating estate in California goes to Elaine Deng, whose parents were once employed at Yin Manor. Their suspicions are further heightened when Vivian's autopsy comes back positive for poison. So, the two sides make a deal: Vivian's daughters will leave without a fuss if they can't prove that Elaine killed their mother by the end of the week. Li's adult debut beautifully intertwines historical fiction, mystery, and romance, including an LGBTQ love story, in this multigenerational saga." Booklist
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Marsha
Adult Nonfiction. "Black trans icon Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)...is best-known for being the person who threw the first brick at the Stonewall riots in 1969 and creating the STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) organization with fellow activist Sylvia Rivera in 1970. [T]his biography is abundant with stories about other things in Johnson's life, such as the Angels of Light and the many people she influenced. Tourmaline does not shy away from tales of jail, addiction, and violence that continue to affect people on the streets and the trans community. A raw, well-told biography of an LGBTQIA+ pioneer." Library Journal
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Moral Ambition
Adult Nonfiction. "Historian Bregman (Humankind) presents a passionate ode to a life of activism. Arguing that most people waste their lives toiling away at 'mind-numbing, pointless, or just plain harmful jobs,' he calls on readers to harness their skills to make 'the world a wildly better place.' His advice for doing so includes forging smart alliances that further one's cause...and taking strategic steps to meet objectives. [I]dealists will be galvanized by his relentlessly energetic tone and inspiring profiles of well -and lesser-known activists. The result is an inspiring jolt to the system." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Old School Indian
Adult Fiction. “In Curtis's electrifying debut, a restless and gravely ill Miami bookseller takes stock of his life and his Mohawk heritage. Abe Jacobs, 43, returns to the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation on the border of New York State and Quebec in 2016, hoping his healer uncle Budge Billings can cure his rare and life-threatening illness. Now, as Abe undergoes his treatment, Budge regales him with Mohawk creation stories and Abe reflects bitterly on the erosion of their culture and language. Moments of heartbreak shape the present-day narrative...Even more impressive is Curtis's ability to find harmony in the novel's distinctive voices. This astonishes." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Spent
Adult Graphic Novel. "In this self-deprecating and delightful graphic novel, an archly fictionalized Alison finds herself flummoxed by commercial success. Though each 'episode' of the graphic novel shares the title of a chapter in Marx's Das Kapital, Bechdel's alter ego is alternately too confused, distracted, despairing, or creatively blocked to start a revolution. The bold, full-color art displays Bechdel's signature style: detailed characters, assured panel work, and welcomely realistic representations of queer and older folks' naked bodies. For Bechdel's fans, it's a dream to see her skewer fame with such hilarious precision." Publishers Weekly
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Storybook Ending
Adult Fiction. "April, a smart and lonely tech worker, worries work from home has gotten out of hand: she's left an anonymous note in a book for Westley, the clerk at her Seattle neighborhood bookstore... But thanks to fate, Laura - a busy single mom who had given up on love - buys the book, finds the note, and thinks Westley has left it for her. Meanwhile ,Westley...is too distracted...to notice either of the two women. But as April and Laura's anonymous correspondence continues back and forth, their mundane routines are challenged, sparking a glimmer of hope. Is a happy ending in the cards for them?" Publisher description.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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What Will People Think?
Adult Fiction. "This beautifully written debut tackles serious issues...using stand-up comedy as a framing device. Mia is a second-generation Palestinian American who has lived with her traditional grandparents since she lost her parents. She and her father shared a love of stand-up, and Mia has been working on her own comedy act in secret. Her heritage is great fodder for her comedy, but her work as a magazine fact-checker pays the bills. When a reporting job opens up...her best friend submits a writing sample for her, along with a video of her stand-up that goes viral. [Mia] is terrified that her new notoriety may lead to [her grandparents'] deportation." Library Journal
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Audition
Adult Fiction. "Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. She's an accomplished actress in rehearsals for an upcoming premiere. He's attractive, troubling, young---young enough to be her son. Who is he to her, and who is she to him? In this compulsively readable, brilliantly constructed novel, two competing narratives unspool, rewriting our understanding of the roles we play every day - partner, parent, creator, muse - and the truths every performance masks, especially from those who think they know us most intimately. Taut and hypnotic, Audition is Katie Kitamura at her virtuosic best." Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Big Chief
Adult Fiction. "Hickey's engrossing debut revolves around a tribal power struggle and a young political fixer's reckoning with his identity. At 30, narrator Mitch Caddo is the youngest-ever operations director for the Passage Rouge Nation of Lake Superior Anishinaabe in Wisconsin. Due to his 'white-passing face' and Cornell law degree, Mitch is derided as a 'J. Crew Indian,' but his close friendship with tribal president Mack Beck... affords him power and prestige. Now, however, Mack's facing a tough reelection challenge from opponent Gloria Hawkins... who happens to be backed by Mack's adoptive father, Joe. It's a fresh take on the political novel." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Book of Alchemy
Adult Nonfiction. "After being diagnosed with leukemia at 22, Jaouad was inspired by Michael Bierut, a design professor who'd asked his graduate students to perform 'one creative act for 100 days,' to start a daily journaling practice in hopes of finding meaning in her illness. With this as a model, she gathers prompts from 100 novelists, journalists, and artists who invite readers to begin their own journaling practice. The prompts are varied enough to appeal to devoted diarists and newbies alike, and Jaouad poignantly interweaves her own intimate meditations on creativity, pain, and art." Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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