Camilla's Picks

Destroyed after the loss of her young mother, Cheryl Strayed's life quickly spirals out of control with the scattering of her family and the dissolution of her marriage. After randomly seeing a book on the PCT, the author decides to head into the woods. Strayed's story is brutally honest. She doesn't always come off as the most sympathetic character, but she does emerge a strong, confident young woman capable of piecing the shambles of her life back together. The most compelling thing for me was the author's total unpreparedness for the almost impossible task before her. At 26 she's never done any long distance hiking before. Her bag is ridiculously heavy. Her boots don't fit. Yet she walks on, facing overwhelming weather, wild animals, and even scarier wild-eyed men. Weaving in stories of the trail's history as well as her own (the story of Lady the horse is almost sure to leave readers in tears), Strayed's tale may be messy at first, but it's beautifully rendered and ultimately uplifting.

Kira Walker was 5 when the Partials, human engineered part-human part-machine beings, declared war on their human masters, effectively wiping out the majority of the world's population. The small band of humans that survived flocked to Long Island, where they've been trying to find a cure for the mysterious Partial created RM disease. RM continues to destroy any hope of human procreation, but Kira has a plan to unlock the secrets of RM and find a cure: capture a Partial. As the Senate keeps lowering the age of the forced reproduction bill, Kira and her friends must act quickly. Once the action got going I couldn't put this dystopian thriller down. Battlestar Galactica meets Outbreak, Partials is the first in a promising trilogy for fans of futuristic YA lit.

Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 500 lbs and hasn't left his house in years. His only contact with the outside world is through letters he receives form Charlene, a former student. When a new letter arrives with a picture of the son, Kel, Arthur never knew Charlene had, his world is shaken. Kel Keller is an attractive, athletic, popular student at a school where no one suspects his poverty and his mother's shameful sickness. As Kel's life begins to spiral out of control, Arthur begins to put his back together. Moore's characters are so earnest and engrossing I couldn't but love them despite their many faults. Ultimately a hopeful novel about choosing your own family, Heft is a story with larger than life characters and huge heart. — Camilla

Octavia Butler never ceases to amaze me. Her last book, Fledgling is a refreshing take on the vampire genre. Shori wakes up alone in a cave with no memory of her former life. She soon realizes she has remarkable abilities and a hunger for blood that starts her on a journey of discovery as she tries to piece together who keeps trying to kill her and her family. Butler does an incredible job of using the vampire metaphor to discuss race, gender, genetics, family and what it means to be human. A great gift for sci-fi/horror/vampire lovers.

Band geek Lennie has always been happy to play second chair to her older sister, Bailey, but when Bailey suddenly dies, Lennie feels like the whole world has been sucked away. She stumbles into the path of two boys, Toby, Bailey’s boyfriend, and Joe, the new boy in school. Torn between losing herself in someone that was close to Bailey and finding herself with someone who seems to understand her, Lennie’s guilt at falling in love when she has just lost her sister is heartbreaking. I wasn’t expecting Nelson’s debut to be so sexy while beautifully and realistically depicting devastating loss. A really wonderful, heart-wrenching book about how love appears in the most unlikely places! —Camilla

Evie Wyld has crafted a breathtaking debut novel about two generations of Australian men who are irrevocably changed by foreign wars. One man grows up in a bakery until his experience in Vietnam leaves him as damaged as his absent father—the other retreats to a beach shack he hasn’t visited since he was a teenager. Wyld's Australia is almost magically creepy, a place where children go missing and strange creatures lurch outside at night. While I’m not usually a fan of stories with little to no female characters, here the absence of women plays a crucial role in Wyld's storytelling. With these characters, what goes unsaid is the most important. Wyld is a talented, precise writer who shows sparks of Marilynn Robinson-like greatness. A wonderfully haunting read. —Camilla

The “Unspeakable Days” saw the royal family of Lumatere slaughtered and the kingdom cursed and sealed off from the outside world, leaving the thousands that fled now exiled. A decade later, nineteen-year-old Finnikin, son of the former head of the royal guard, is determined to find a new home for his people. Then he meets the mysterious Evanjalin, who claims the heir to the throne survived and can lift the curse, if only they can find him. Thus begins an unforgettable adventure full of suspense, magic, romance, and a rich realism rarely seen in the fantasy genre. Fans of Robin McKinley and Graceling will love Finnikin’s world.  —Camilla

Hugo Award nominated author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a chilling dystopian adventure about humans struggling in a world nearly destroyed by greed. Fifteen year old Nailer strips old tanker ships while hoping to strike black gold and leave behind his life of violence and hunger. When he discovers a scavenge that could catapult him and his friends out of poverty he must decide between loyalty to the only family he knows or to the mysterious beautiful girl found among the wreckage. Does honor still exist in a world where blood ties mean little and the only goal is to survive at any cost?   —Camilla

I have adored Vanessa Davis’ comics since Spaniel Rage, and her new collection does not disappoint. A mish-mash of autobiographical stories and shorter diary-like entries, Make Me a Woman delves into the life of a young Jewish artist for whom nothing is too personal (check out the story about loving fat camp). Vibrant watercolor entries sit next to pencil sketches about everything from subway crushes and mustache bleaching to love/hate family relationships. I laughed out loud so much my sister grabbed the book as soon as I was done so she could see what was so funny.   —Camilla

Writer and comedian Julie Klausner marks her debut book by poking fun at, among other things, vegans, Midwesterners, and fans of Sleater-Kinney. I should have hated this tale of romantic disappointments but instead I couldn’t stop laughing. Self-deprecating, smart, and hilarious, Klausner writes about all the losers she’s dated in her quest to find love. Like Chelsea Handler but dirtier, Klausner is the intelligent lusty lady for a new generation of single girls. —Camilla

Frankie goes from geeky to gorgeous before sophomore year and suddenly the senior she likes, Matthew, is asking her out. But soon Frankie realizes Matthew has a secret he's not telling her. Instead of getting jealous, Frankie gets even by not only discovering Matthew’s male-only secret society, but also infiltrating, and maybe even taking it over. Frankie’s struggle to be loved for who she is and not how she looks (as well as her evolution into a feminist criminal-mastermind) makes her an endearing character in this witty teen novel full of pranks, witty word play, and astute commentary on gender roles. —Camilla

Not only does this cookbook have recipes for sweet treats galore, but it will also help you stock your pantry full of dairy replacements so you can whip up the best vegan cookies, brownies, cobblers, pastries, and puddings possible. The most comprehensive vegan guide to baking I’ve ever seen, I recommend the chocolate chip cookie and apple cobbler recipes. My non-vegan friends couldn’t tell the difference and asked for seconds. —Camilla

In the last years of the Ottoman Empire, Anatolia is a melting pot of religions and cultures. Ataturk’s rise to power is interweaved between passages about life in a small village where the breakdown of the country gives birth to modern day Turkey. Those who wanted more out of Jeffery Eugenides’s description of the Turkish-Greek population exchange in Middlesex will find Birds Without Wings hard to put down. —Camilla

Heroic journeys abound in this epic-of-Gilgamesh framed story about a young woman leaving her home in Australia with her son in search of his father. Place also features largely as the barren Australian landscape and gritty streets of Soviet Armenia on the brink of WWI come to life through London’s meticulous prose. Ultimately melancholy yet beautiful, Gilgamesh is a subtle story about companionship and home that will linger in your thoughts long after the final page. —Camilla