Happy Spring! Start the semester with a movie or book recommended by the staff at FSU Libraries. All resources are available through FSU Libraries. Visit the Scholar Support Desk at Strozier before the end of January to peruse the in-person display and grab a brochure with our recommendations!
Purple Hibiscus
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Set against the backdrop of the political unrest in post-colonial Nigeria, Purple Hibiscus tells the story of Kambili, a young girl coming of age in an abusive household. Through visiting her aunt, she begins to see the possibilities of a life free from abuse, but she must find a way to pursue that when she lives under her father’s tyranny. It’s a powerful tale that covers both the coming of age of Nigeria as the nation battles the effects of colonialism, and the coming of age of a young girl as she struggles under an abusive father.
Recommended by Olivia
The Firekeeperโs Daughter
by Angeline Boulley
This book follows 18-year-old Daunis, a biracial unenrolled tribe member, as her family is struck by tragedy and she gets caught up in a criminal investigation. The Ojibwe culture is immersive, the characters feel real, and every single detail of this well-written novel is intentional and well-placed. Led by Daunis’ strong voice and impeccable characterization, Firekeeper’s Daughter is a story you won’t soon forget.
Recommended by Eleanor, Access Services & Reserve Collections Manager
Plainwater: Essays and Poetry
by Anne Carson
A format- and genre-bending collection that gorgeously ruminates on themes of time and space and the creative endeavor to both honor and surpass them.
Recommended by Liz, Instruction & Reference Librarian
The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Part 1
by Michael Dante DiMartino
One of my favorite comfort shows is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Last summer, I decided to finally watch the sequel series The Legend of Korra. While nothing compares to the original, I loved experiencing the Avatar universe after Aang. This graphic novel picks up where The Legend of Korra TV series ends!
Recommended by Alaina, Student Engagement Associate
Alas, Babylon
by Pat Frank
This post-apocalyptic novel set during the Cold War era tells the story of a small town in Florida called Fort Repose after a nuclear war devastates the United States. The protagonist Randy Bragg, is a former military officer who becomes a leader figure in the town as they struggle to survive in a world where resources are scarce, communication is limited, and society collapses. Dun dun dun!
Recommended by Teresa
Lakewood
by Megan Giddings
This one was weird and upsetting and just a hair too close to reality – aka, the perfect horror set-up. Confronting institutional oppression, generational trauma, and the human desire to just get by for a little bit longer, Lakewood is a wild ride that builds and builds until there’s nothing left but the breakdown.
Recommended by Haley, Collections Management Archivist
Into the Drowning Deep
by Mira Grant
This one was sold to me as a horror novel starring face-eating mermaids, but it’s so much more! What if you could talk to the mermaids who are trying to eat you? How far can you go to keep the memory of someone you love, alive? How many deep sea creatures have we yet to discover that could kill us without even making a conscious effort? I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a scare, has a healthy fear of the ocean, and/or enjoys the movie Arrival.
Recommended by Haley, Collections Management Archivist
Book Lovers
by Emily Henry
Emily Henry’s Book Lovers is all about playing on romance tropes. Nora is a successful book agent in NYC with no time for anyone except her clients and her sister. Charlie is an aloof editor who may come across as harsh. What happens when the two meet again unexpectedly in a small town? I enjoyed this predictably cute story that also holds surprising depth.
Recommended by Alaina, Student Engagement Associate
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding
by Chencia C. Higgins
One of the best romances to come out over the past three years. It’s funny and romantic while dealing with real issues. The main characters will make you fall in love with them.
Recommended by Shaundra, Scholar Support Supervisor at Dirac
The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton
I read this in high school and loved it.
Recommended by Alyson, Preservation Library Assistant
My Heart is a Chainsaw
by Stephen Graham Jones
My Heart is a Chainsaw is a lovesong (or horror montage) to slashers, to growing up, and to how one copes with the unspeakable. Jade, our main character, is the outcast half-Native American girl in her small town Proofrock, and is obsessed with slasher movies. She has studied and analyzed slashers, hoping that one will come to her hometown. When a rich development begins near town and a new girl comes to school, Jade recognizes the signs; the Final Girl is here, and the horror is about to begin.
Recommended by Emily J., Strozier Circulation Supervisor
The Stand
by Stephen King
If you want a biblical length multi-character study set in one of the most well built post-apocalyptic worlds, this is the best it gets! Follow a few survivors as they do their best to traverse the horrific landscape of a dismantled America, along a path that pulls them closer to one another. From some of the scariest scenes I have ever read, to heart warming bonds this book has a little bit of everything wrapped up in a dark story of ungoverned humanity.
Recommended by Cory
Social Studies
by Fran Lebowitz
Social Commentator, Former Interview Magazine Writer, and Humorist Fran Lebowitz is one of the salient writers I’ve found in my years. She really was a “hater” before it was cool.
Recommended by Jaidyn, Student Engagement Assistant
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcรญa Mรกrquez
This is probably my favorite book of all time, a book so beautiful I can still remember the way it felt to first read it and how I didnโt want it to end. The writing is so gorgeous, the complexity of emotions and the story wrapped up in the words. This book was foundational in magical realism as a genre and the way you experience it as a reader. Family and war and love and existence, it has everything. A masterpiece and a must read.
Recommended by Lindsey W., Extended Campus & Distance Services Librarian
The Davenports
by Krystal Marquis
It’s an entertaining yet educational debut work based on a true family in 1910s Chicago who were among the rich and socially-connected Black elite. The book centers around two sisters, their friend and their maid who all face their own unique challenges as they come of age during this transformative time.
Recommended by Shaundra, Scholar Support Supervisor at Dirac
Literary Sisters Dorothy West and Her Circle: A Biography of the Harlem Renaissance
by Verner D. Mitchell
Dorothy West is one of my favorite authors. Ms. West was one of the leading lights of the late Harlem Renaissance, a period of heightened societal and artistic blossoming of Black people in America in the 1920s and 1930s. Her seminal work for me is the Wedding, which highlights lives Blacks in the upper echelon on Martha’s Vineyard. This book beautifully talks about West and the other impactful Black women artists and authors that made up her circle.
Recommended by Shaundra, Scholar Support Supervisor at Dirac
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
by Kate Moore
I stumbled upon this novel and was instantly captivated and pulled into the lives of ‘the radium girls’ as history has dubbed them. But before they were the radium girls, they were just as unrecognizable as you or I. They were bright young women with families, friends and jobs. And radium was just a popular new substance on the market that everyone wanted to have. It was perfectly safe for the girls to paint themselves at work with radium to make themselves glowโฆor so they were led to believe. Their fight in the face of personal tragedy will inspire you to fight for what you believe in.
Recommended by Crystal M., Student Engagement Librarian
Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
The tag line for this book is famously “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space.” This is not wrong. But consider a murder mystery. Consider the opportunity to ascend to demigodhood, having trained for this exact moment that you had no guarantee would ever come. Consider the relationship between a necromancer and her sword-wielding cavalier, sworn to protect her to one flesh, one end. Consider Skeletor and He-Man as teenage girls.
Recommended by Haley, Collections Management Archivist
Blonde
by Joyce Carol Oates
A beautiful exploration of the fictional interiority of Americaโs biggest celebrity deity. Part diary, part dream/nightmare, part cautionary tale, part screenplay, Blonde serves as a posthumous love letter to the unprecedented life of Marilyn Monroe. The dichotomy between image and individual, public and private, and seen and unseen function as Oatesโ reminders of the extreme distortion and consumption of the celebrity in American culture.
Recommended by Sarah
Can the Monster Speak?: A Report to an Academy of Psychoanalysts
by Paul Preciado
This book is quite accessible, despite its daunting title. Paul Preciado, a trans man and queer theorist, prepared this speech for a prestigious psychoanalytic conference— but was unable to finish it due to heckling and booing. We’re lucky he published it for us to read now. In just about 80 pages, Preciado challenges the idea that gender = biological sex, calling into question the entire framework of sexual difference and asking us to rethink our most basic notion of bodies, sexualities, and identity.
Recommended by Lila, Student Engagement Assistant
The Crying of Lot 49
by Thomas Pynchon
A little puzzle of a book about the very amazing and very desperate human inclination to make meaning of things, even when perhaps they have no significance. A fantastic read if you’d like a brush with existential dread, a lot of laughs, and a big think on mail distribution systems.
Recommended by Liz, Instruction & Reference Librarian
Blood of Elves
by Andrzej Sapkowski
First book in The Witcher series (not including the prequels). Very clever dialogue which is impressive considering it is a translation from Polish. Has me excited for the rest of the series!
Recommended by Calvin, Strozier Technology Desk Hiring Supervisor
Everlost
by Neal Shusterman
It is technically a children’s book but offers incredibly unique views on death and the afterlifeโone of my all-time favorite books.
Recommended by Alyson, Preservation Library Assistant
The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt
I adore this book. The character building and epic story are intoxicating. A mystery, an epic tale, and quintessentially human to its core. I read all of Tarttโs books after finishing this, but it remains my favorite.
Recommended by Lindsey, Extended Campus & Distance Services Librarian
Where Europe Begins
by Yลko Tawada
Fantastic collection of short stories about boundaries (of place, of communication, of culture), occupying liminal spaces, and the alchemical nature of language. This dreamy collection takes its play seriously.
Recommended by Liz, Instruction & Reference Librarian
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
This is the book that ignited my love for reading and made me a literature major. Dorian Gray is equal parts spooky, decadent, and queer. The story of an ethereally beautiful man who has his portrait paintedโฆwhat could possibly go wrong?
Recommended by Lila, Student Engagement Assistant
Mrs. Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf
Woolf is a master of lyricism. She writes not a novel, but a sensory world— a place where you can hear the leaden tolling of the clocktower, smell the flowers at the florist’s shop, and follow the characters as they make their way down the thin, twisting streets of London. This book is worth reading just for the imagery.
Recommended by Lila, Student Engagement Assistant
Roman Holiday
Directed by William Wyler
Fans of The Crown, La La Land, and Eat Pray Love will enjoy this timeless romantic comedy. Set against the backdrop of 1950s Rome, a young princess abandons her responsibilities to explore the city and ends up falling in love. In terms of Audrey Hepburn’s most famous movies, this one is my favorite, followed by Sabrina (1954).
Recommended by Emily M., Student Engagement Coordinator
A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
This is a book about friendship, about connection, about love that is heartbreaking and intimate. It has haunted me since I finished it, and I think of it often. A truly profound novel, written beautifully, about the highs and lows of life and love.
Recommended by Lindsey W., Extended Campus & Distance Services Librarian
Photos courtesy of Amazon and IMDb
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