Five great recommendations from staff member Christopher Jennings Penders. Click on a title to place a hold! To find previous Chris Picks just click on the “what to read” link at the bottom of this page or type “Chris Picks” into the search bar on our home page.

Erin Hart has a four-book series starting with Haunted Ground about several perfectly preserved bodies that are discovered in peat bogs around the Irish countryside. Nora Gavin, the protagonist of the series, must decide whether the bodies are ancient or recent.

I discovered John Banville in the late 1980s when I read The Book of Evidence, a first-person narrative about a prisoner accused of murder. I have since gone on to read other books by Banville and have yet to be disappointed. The Sea and Eclipse are two others I have enjoyed.

I read Patrick McGrath’s Asylum several years ago, at the behest of an old friend. Like Banville above, Patrick McGrath strikes me as very literate. I love his style of writing even though he touches on dark themes.

William Trevor is another Irish writer I’ve read multiple times. The Story of Lucy Gault and Felicia’s Journey are standouts. Both have dark elements running through the books but as with McGrath, the literate style of Trevor makes these books page-turners.

And one for the kid in all of us: Eoin Colfer. I read The Wish List and it was very amusing.  Laughed out loud several times throughout the book. Then of course Artemis Fowl.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Month!

See you in April.