Staff Picks: Alexis Patterson’s Favorites

Wow, this book has so much to talk about!The story follows identical light-skinned Black twin sisters. One chooses to pass as white, while the other embraces her blackness.Their choices reflect societal norms, gender constructs, and racial inequality in America.Narrator Shayna Smalls brilliantly gives voice to the longings, regrets and despair of each character.Highly recommend this audiobook.

This classic haunted mansion trope, with its fierce female protagonist, is a fun fall book. Set in 1950s Mexico, “Mexican Gothic” follows the fabulously sassy and defiantly headstrong main character, Noemí, as she journeys to the Mexican countryside to check in on her cousin Catalina after Catalina sends a troubling letter. What happens next is a highly creative and unexpected storyline. Narrator Frankie Corzo delivers an utterly compelling, deeply chilling and intensely creepy read of this story. I verbally said “ew gross” a few times —a sign of fantastic writing.I also loved loved loved Noemí! She rejects all the 1950s social norms —she’s young and single, flirts, smokes cigarettes, and does not take no for an answer. Can you ask for more from a book??

There aren’t enough words to express how much I loved listening to Glennon Doyle read her audiobook “Untamed”. It was hard not to replay every single line in this insightful manifesto for radically loving yourself. This book was exactly what I needed during these strange times. It grounded me, brought me back to myself, and made me feel like fuck yeah I got this, I am a goddamn cheetah.