Adult Fiction Staff Pick: Of Monsters and Mainframes

Of Monsters and Mainframes is an unexpectedly delightful serving of classic monsters, space, robots, horror, comedy, and a sweet side of found family. Once you pick up this book, you will have finished it and you won’t be able to determine if your stomach hurts from laughing or crying. 

On her maiden voyage the luxury cruise spaceship, Demeter, wakes up from a power down with all her passengers dead. The only survivor remaining is Dracula. When she reaches her destination, she is named a ghost ship by humanity and once her name is besmirched and it is hard to clear it. Not to mention all the succeeding voyages end in disaster one way or another. With the help of a slew of monsters and her fellow med-bay AI, Steward, Demeter must clear her name before she is decommissioned for good. 

As someone who is typically interested in horror and less so in science fiction this had everything I could want in a book! I have named this book to be my favorite of last year and recommend it to any horror, sci-fi, or comedy fan. It is also a fairly quick read despite the number of pages, due to the dialogue text sprinkled throughout as the AI characters interact with each other. 

Recommended for fans of: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, and All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Isa
Information Specialist
Cumming Library

Collection Highlights: America 250 Edition

Hello from your Collection Development team! We are excited to share some of our favorite recent titles, trending genres, and author read-a-likes.

AMERICA 250: Easy Fiction and Easy Nonfiction

Rebecca the White House Raccoon by April Genevieve Tucholke

A raccoon in the White House during the Coolidge presidency? Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Sing the 50 United States! by Dr. Seuss

In this newly discovered book written by Dr. Seuss, YOU can join along as the Cat in the Hat puts together a map of the United States of America.

Bald Eagles by Gail Gibbons

A beloved author’s take on a beloved animal.

What Emma Wrote by Ann Koffsky

A picture book biography of the remarkable woman who wrote the famous poetry lines: “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

AMERICA 250: Juvenile Fiction and Juvenile Nonfiction

My Bicentennial Summer by Greg Neri

Recounts the author’s wacky 1976 family road trip across the U.S.A.

Weird, Wild, and Rare: Extraordinary Animals of the United States by Elizabeth Eakes

Filled with fun facts, this book would be great for Weird But True! fans.

The Declaration Decoded by Katie Kennedy

A historian guides kids through the Declaration of Independence, sentence by sentence.

Five Days at the Hotel Adams by Hailey Alcaraz

Part of the new American Stories for Gutsy Girls series—will it become this generation’s Dear America? And speaking of Dear America, A Journey to the New World and The Winter of Red Snow just got reprints with fancy new covers.

AMERICA 250: Teen Nonfiction

• America Celebrates: The Most Incredible and Influential People, Places & Events of the Last 250 Years by Aubre Andrus
• America as It Happened: A Moment-By-Moment Journey Through Time, from Prehistory to the Present Day
• America's Founding Myths...and What Really Happened by Christy Mihaly
• Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary by Martha Brockenbrough
• George Washington, A Revolutionary Life by Tim Grove

AMERICA 250: Teen Fiction

• After My Brother Sam by James Lincoln Collier (Yes! My Brother Sam is Dead now has a sequel!!)
• Alex & Eliza: A Love Story by Melissa de la Cruz
• American Treasure Hunters series by Andrew Dare (New series alert!! Historical Fiction aimed at high school boys!)
• The Hunt for Confederate Gold
• The Boston Tea Party Conspiracy
• Hamilton and Peggy: A Revolutionary Friendship by Laura Elliott
• Loyalty by Avi

AMERICA 250: Adult Fiction

• Founding Mothers books by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
• America’s First Daughter
• A Founding Mother
• My Dear Hamilton

Side note: Don’t miss the collaborative novel they contributed to, Ribbons of Scarlet, about the French Revolution!

• A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon
• Harbor of Spies series by Megan Soja:
• Spark of the Revolution
• Secrets of the Revolution
• Scars of the Revolution
• The Line of Splendor by Salina Baker
• Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry
• Storm Tide by Wilbur Smith

AMERICA 250: New Narrative Nonfiction Titles 

• Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future by Fergus Bordewich
• The Summer of Death: The Great Heat Wave of 1936 and the Making of Modern-Day America by Geoff Williams
• The Hardest, Longest Race: Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America by Eric Moskowitz
• Cocked and Boozy: An Intoxicating History of the American Revolution by Brooke Barbier 
• Kingdom of Devils: A Tale of Murder in the Shadow of the American Revolution by Katherine Grandjean
• Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan

Be sure to check out the official Georgia Reads list!

Staff Pick: America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray

To celebrate America's 250th birthday, participation in the Georgia Reads for America 250 Reading Challenge is a memorable way to start! Don't forget to sign up for the reading challenge on the Beanstack app!  

My favorite book from the adult list so far is America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. The two authors teamed up and thoroughly researched the background and history of Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter and how she helped shape the history of our nation. 

Through visits to Monticello and interviews with the staff there, interviews with the descendants of Jefferson, and reading much of the correspondence written by Thomas Jefferson and his daughter, Patsy, a realistic view of life in America during the late 1700s and early 1800s is depicted by the authors. 

Excerpts from letters written by Jefferson and his daughter are printed throughout the book to support its authenticity. Actual events are supported by facts, which help the reader to understand the emotions and angst that the people from that era were subject to. 

The story is told from the viewpoint of Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph. Many of the attitudes towards women and societal norms of the period are highlighted. It is amazing how much Martha Jefferson was able to accomplish in that environment! Thomas Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemmings is also explored. 

At the end of the novel, the authors reveal any events that have been altered or timelines that have been compressed. This also helps the reader to get a true picture of the early story of our nation.

America's First Daughter is available at the library in regular print or as an eAudiobook. 

Jeanine Thompson
Outreach Specialist