Need to key down between your classes? Check out OTC’s Hamra Family Library: a great place to study, to center, and to relax with a good book … such as these reading suggestions from our library friends. We’re sure that you’ll find these books surprising and enlightening, with something for the lover of serious nonfiction, as well as fun escapist stories. All of these titles are available for checkout at the library (many in multiple formats), so feel free to put one on hold through your student or employee account. Or stop by for even more reading picks!
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Great mystery premise: Four strangers hear the dying scream of a murdered woman in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library. The quartet soon bonds and almost immediately the group begins to experience the strange machinations of a stalker as bodies pile up. Is one of the quartet responsible? Lots of twists and turns, as it is framed as a manuscript with the “author” receiving advice from a fellow writer who seems a little too fascinated with the concept of murder. (Recommended by Gail Eubanks).
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Historic true story: Not far from the Ozarks, members of the Osage Indian Nation were once the richest people per capita in the world, thanks to oil discovered on their land. Unlike many other native tribes, the Osage owned their land, and the discovery brought sudden wealth to a people previously decimated by war and disease. Then, gradually, members of the Osage Nation began disappearing – poisoned, bludgeoned to death and systematically murdered. Author David Grann humanizes this essential history. (Recommended by Sarah Mabee).
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Historical Fiction: This novel centers on Marie de France, a fierce and formidable 12th century noblewoman banished to an abbey, and the struggles she faces in attempting to lead the abbey to power and prosperity. The descriptions of medieval life are vividly detailed; and, despite the intervening centuries, Marie faces challenges that are very relatable to the modern reader. (Recommended by Sarah Fancher).