Oregon City Adult Staff Picks List

Titles recommended by Adult Services staff in the Oregon City Adult Collection.

Updated October 25, 2025
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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Oregon City Adult Staff Picks List

Titles recommended by Adult Services staff in the Oregon City Adult Collection.

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The casebook of Victor Frankenstein
Ackroyd, Peter
Paper Book
"It was at Oxford that I first met Bysshe. We arrived at our college on the same day; confusing to a mere foreigner, it is called University College. I had seen him from my window and had been struck by his auburn locks." The long-haired poet - 'Mad Shelley' - and the serious-minded...
Bad friends
Angkko
Paper Book
Included on Publishers Weekly's Best of 2018 list! A story of the enduring quality of female friendship amid a gritty landscape of abuse. "Against gorgeous, starkly sketched city scenes of South Korean alleyways and hostess bars, the rebellions and secret longings of...
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Baldwin, James.
Paper Book
A deluxe edition of James Baldwin's haunting coming-of-age story, with a new introduction by Roxane Gay and special cover art designed by Baldwin's friend and contemporary Beauford Delaney Originally published in 1953, Go Tell It on the Mountain was James Baldwin's first...
The elegance of the hedgehog
Barbery, Muriel
Paper Book
The phenomenal New York Times bestseller that "explores the upstairs-downstairs goings-on of a posh Parisian apartment building" (Publishers Weekly). In an elegant hôtel particulier in Paris, Renée, the concierge, is all but invisible--short, plump, middle...
The particular sadness of lemon cake
Bender, Aimee.
Paper Book
On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents' attention, bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift- she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. She discovers...
Midnight in the garden of good and evil : a Savannah story
Berendt, John
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A modern classic of true crime, set in a most beguiling Southern city--now in a 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword by the author The basis for the upcoming Broadway musical, coming in 2025! "Elegant and wicked . . . might be...
Anais Nin: A Sea of Lies
Bischoff, Leonie.
Paper Book
Anaïs Nin, the author of works such as Delta of Venus and House of Incest, is the patron saint of taboo-breaking pop culture sexual iconoclasts. Not only is she an inspiration for contemporary figures such as Madonna, but her oeuvre, which encompasses erotica, autobiography, essays, short fiction...
A short history of nearly everything
Bryson, Bill.
Paper Book
Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller: but even when he stays safely in his own study at home, he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of...
Bittersweet : how sorrow and longing make us whole
Cain, Susan
Paper Book
In this inspiring masterpiece, bestselling author Susan Cain shows the power of the "bittersweet" -- the outlook that values the experiences of loss and pain, which can lead to growth and beauty. Understanding bittersweetness can change the way we work, the way we create and the way we love.
Quiet : the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking
Cain, Susan.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Experience the book that started the Quiet Movement and revolutionized how the world sees introverts--and how introverts see themselves--by offering validation, inclusion, and inspiration "Superbly researched, deeply insightful, and a...
The Tao of physics : an exploration of the parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism
Capra, Fritjof.
Paper Book
After a quarter of a century in print, Capra's groundbreaking work still challenges and inspires. This updated edition of The Tao of Physics includes a new preface and afterword in which the author reviews the developments of the twenty-five years since the book's first publication, discusses...
When things fall apart : heart advice for difficult times
Chödrön, Pema
Paper Book
Pema Chödrön's perennially best-selling classic on overcoming life's difficulties cuts to the heart of spirituality and personal growth--now in a newly designed 20th-anniversary edition with a new afterword by Pema--makes for a perfect gift and addition to one's spiritual library.
Hercule Poirot : the complete short stories
Christie, Agatha
Ebook
All 51 Hercule Poirot short stories presented in chonological order in a single volume - plus a bonus story not seen for more than 70 years. 'My name is Hercule Poirot and I am probably the greatest detective in the world.' The dapper, moustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg...
Psychiatric tales
Cunningham, Darryl.
Paper Book
Mental illness is a subject full of fears and misunderstandings. Darryl Cunningham has both worked inside the psychiatric care system and suffered his own struggle with mental illness. Out of these experiences, Darryl has created Psychiatric Tales as an attempt to demystify such diverse illnesses as...
Homesick : why I live in a shed
Davies, Catrina
Paper Book
Flow my tears, the policeman said
Dick, Philip K.
Paper Book
Winner of the John W. Campbell Award and a Hugo and Nebula award nominee, Philip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said is a rollicking chase story that combines altered reality, genetic enhancement, and drug use into a dystopian setting to create one of the most popular and enduring science...
The plover : a novel
Doyle, Brian.
Paper Book
Declan O Donnell has sailed out of Oregon and deep into the vast, wild ocean, having had just finallyenough of other people and their problems. He will go it alone, he will be his own country, he will be beholden to and beloved of no one.No man is an island, my butt, he thinks.I...
Trust
Díaz, Hernán
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 BOOKER PRIZE "Buzzy and...
This is how you lose the time war
El-Mohtar, Amal
Paper Book
HUGO AWARD WINNER: BEST NOVELLA NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARDS WINNER: BEST NOVELLA ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019 Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters--and fall in love...
The parakeet
Espe?
Paper Book
Bastien is eight years old, and his mother is ill. She often has what his father and grandparents call "episodes." She screams and fights, scratches and spits, and has to be carted away to specialized clinics for frequent treatments. Bastien doesn't like it when she goes, because when she comes...
Shades of grey : the road to high saffron
Fforde, Jasper.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling AuthorPart social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Grey tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low...
One hundred years of solitude
García Márquez, Gabriel
Paper Book
Now a Netflix original series! "One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race. . . . García Márquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound,...
The wicked + the divine. Vol. 1, The Faust act
Gillen, Kieron
Paper Book
"solid storytelling and clean, gorgeousartwork will keep readers engrossed and eager for more." - PublishersWeekly (Starred) "Gillen's penchantfor fast, sharp dialogue and McKelvie and Wilson's razor-lined,...
Team of rivals : the political genius of Abraham Lincoln
Goodwin, Doris Kearns.
Paper Book
Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Abraham Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become...
Claudius the god and his wife Messalina : the troublesome reign of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of the Romans (born 10 B.C., died A.D. 54), as described by himself; also his murder at the hands of the notorious Agrippina (mother of the Emperor Nero)
Graves, Robert
Paper Book
in the sequel to i, Claudius a republican Roman Emperor writes the inside story of his reign. Men classed Claudius as a pitiful fool. But the reign he describes is far from folly. Reluctantly launched into the purple, he emerges as a man who erred on the side of good nature and credibility. it is...
I, Claudius : from the autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, born 10 B.C., murdered and deified A.D. 54
Graves, Robert
Paper Book
A modern classic of historical fiction written in the form of Claudius's autobiography. Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus lived from 10 B.C. to 54 A.D. Despised as a weakling and dismissed as an idiot because of his physical infirmities, Claudius survived the intrigues and...
The lathe of heaven : a novel
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Paper Book
The Locus Award-winning science fiction novel by legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin, set in a world where one man's dreams rewrite the future. During a time racked by war and environmental catastrophe, George Orr discovers his dreams alter reality. George is compelled to receive...
Sapiens : a graphic history. Volume three, The masters of history
Harari, Yuval N
Paper Book
This third volume of the illustrated adaptation of the internationally bestselling phenomenon, Sapiens: A Graphic History--The Masters of History, tackles the question of the driving force of humanity's fate: is it empire, money, religion--or something else entirely--that unites us? ...
The great divide : a novel
Henríquez, Cristina
Paper Book
A TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick! A powerful novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built...
Steppenwolf
Hesse, Hermann
Paper Book
With its blend of Eastern mysticism and Western culture, Hesse's best-known and most autobiographical work is one of literature's most poetic evocations of the soul's journey to liberation Harry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no...
Nature girl
Hiaasen, Carl.
Paper Book
Honey Santana is a woman with a Plan. She may be a single mother living in a trailer park with her teenage son; she may have just been sacked from her day job for kneeing an over-friendly co-worker in the balls; she may be an obsessive compulsive with an anger management problem. But she has a Dream...
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
Honeyman, Gail
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick "Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric...
Klara and the sun
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is "an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a...
You : a novel
Kepnes, Caroline
Paper Book
*Soon to be a Lifetime drama series* "Hypnotic and scary." --Stephen King "I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious." --Lena Dunham From debut author Caroline Kepnes...
The poisonwood bible : a novel
Kingsolver, Barbara
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller * Pulitzer Prize Finalist * An Oprah's Book Club Selection "Powerful . . . [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty." --Los Angeles Times Book Review<...
My struggle. Book 1, A death in the family
Knausgård, Karl Ove
Paper Book
One of the Guardian's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, an addictive and searingly honest novel about childhood, family and grief. * Karl Ove Knausgaard's dazzling new novel, The Morning Star, is available to pre-order now * Karl...
Displacement
Knisley, Lucy
Paper Book
In a book that is part memoir, part travelogue and part family history, Knisley not only tries to connect with her grandparents, but to reconcile their past and present selves. She is aided in her quest by her grandfather's World War Two memoir, which is excerpted. Readers will identify with Knisley...
In the pines. 5, Murder ballads
Kriek, Erik
Paper Book
A Dutch cartoonist adapts five murder ballads - some of which have been covered by modern masters like Nick Cave, Steve Earle, and Gillian Welch - into ruthless graphic narratives that dig deep into the darkness of Americana, in which guns and religion maintain an uneasy balance.
We are the Brennans
Lange, Tracey
Paper Book
**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** In the vein of Mary Beth Keane's Ask Again, Yes and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest, Tracey Lange's We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame--and the redemptive power of love--in an...
The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America
Larson, Erik.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century Two...
The Futurological Congress (from the memoirs of Ijon Tichy)
Lem, Stanisław.
Paper Book
The Futurological Congress is the fourth satirical science fiction novel in the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy series from Kafka Prize-winning author Stanislaw Lem. "Nobody can really know the future. But few could imagine it better than Lem."--Paris Review
Dear Emmie Blue
Louis, Lia
Paper Book
"A delightful story about how the things we imagine to be best for us usually aren't. The reason you will love Dear Emmie Blue is because you've probably *lived* Dear Emmie Blue, in some small part of your own journey to adulthood." --Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times...
The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse
Mackesy, Charlie
Paper Book
A book for all ages, a book for all times, treasured by millions. Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was adapted into the BAFTA and Academy Award winning animated short film. #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER #1 NEW YORK...
Active hope : how to face the mess we're in without going crazy
Macy, Joanna
Paper Book
The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, the depletion of oil, economic upheaval, and mass extinction together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face this crisis so that we...
The science of can and can't : a physicist's journey through the land of counterfactuals
Marletto, Chiara
Paper Book
A luminous guide to how the radical new science of counterfactuals can reveal that the scope of the universe is greater, and more beautiful, than we ever imagined There is a vast class of things that science has so far almost entirely neglected. They are central to the...
The blackhouse : a novel
May, Peter
Paper Book
Nominated for the Barry Award Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade The first book in an enthralling mystery series from award-winning author Peter May. "A WRITER I WOULD FOLLOW TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH." -...
Lonesome dove : a novel
McMurtry, Larry
Paper Book
A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning classicLonesome Dove, the third book in theLonesome Dovetetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last, defiant wilderness of America. Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome...
Becoming
Obama, Michelle
Paper Book
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States   #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WATCH THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER * ONE OF...
What happened to you? : conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing
Perry, Bruce Duncan
Paper Book
ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the road, and What Happened to You? provides powerful scientific and emotional insights into the behavioral patterns so many of us struggle to understand....
Bewilderment : a novel
Powers, Richard
Paper Book
The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He's also about to be expelled from...
The overstory : a novel
Powers, Richard
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  An Air Force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut...
Chasing me to my grave : an artist's memoir of the Jim Crow South
Rembert, Winfred
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2022 PULITZER PRIZE Booklist?#1 Nonfiction Book of the Year * African American Literary Book Club (AALBC) #1 Nonfiction Bestseller * Named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR,?Publishers Weekly,?BookPage,...
Packing for Mars : the curious science of life in the void
Roach, Mary.
Paper Book
The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space...
The order of time
Rovelli, Carlo
Paper Book
One of TIME's Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade "Meet the new Stephen Hawking . . . The Order of Time is a dazzling book." --The Sunday Times From the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Reality Is Not What It...
Blindness
Saramago, José.
Paper Book
No food, no water, no government, no obligation, no order. Discover a chillingly powerful and prescient dystopian vision from one of Europe's greatest writers. A driver waiting at the traffic lights goes blind. An...
The complete Persepolis
Satrapi, Marjane
Paper Book
Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's best-selling, internationally acclaimed graphic memoir of growing up as a girl in Iran during the revolution has for twenty years been a classroom staple, a feminist manifesto, and one of the most popular and widely known graphic novels of all time. <...
I Like You Hospitality Under the Influence
Sedaris, Amy
Ebook
The charismatic and multi-talented Amy Sedaris is many things: actress, author, and yes, David Sedariss sister. Now, she takes on the world of entertaining in this blisteringly funny collection of bizarre tips, recipes and craft ideas (like mini pantyhose plant-hangers!) perfect for hosting an...
Harleen
Sejic, Stjepan
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller! 3 GRAPHIC NOVELS IN 1 VOLUME- A bold retelling of the tragic origin of Harley Quinn, told through the eyes of the only person who knows her better than anyone- Harleen. Dr. Harleen Quinzel has a theory- mental illness is a...
Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore
Sloan, Robin
Paper Book
A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life--mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of...
The werewolf at dusk : and other stories
Small, David
Paper Book
Long celebrated as a modern master of graphic literature, David Small has elicited in his work comparisons to Stan Lee and even Alfred Hitchcock. His internationally acclaimed graphic memoir, Stitches, told the story of a childhood in disarray. Werewolf at Dusk, appearing nearly fifteen years...
A tree grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Betty
Paper Book
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century. From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude,...
Beyond that, the sea
Spence-Ash, Laura
Paper Book
"Spence-Ash has written the novel in eight points of view, but each character is utterly three-dimensional and distinct. This debut novel captivated me from start to finish." --Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton Series A sweeping, tenderhearted love story,...
The secret lives of colour
St. Clair, Kassia.
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer.'
The elements of style
Strunk, William
Paper Book
You know the authors' names. You recognize the title. You've probably used this book yourself. This is The Elements of Style, the classic style manual, now in a fourth edition. A new Foreword by Roger Angell reminds readers that the advice of Strunk & White is as valuable today as when it was...
The shootist
Swarthout, Glendon
Ebook
Kiss the ground : how the food you eat can reverse climate change, heal your body & ultimately save our world
Tickell, Joshua
Paper Book
Discover the hidden power soil has to reverse climate change, and how a regenerative farming diet not only delivers us better health and wellness, but also rebuilds our most precious resource--the very ground that feeds us. Josh Tickell, one of America's most celebrated documentary...
A gentleman in Moscow
Towles, Amor
Paper Book
The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers * A New York Times "Readers' Choice: Best Books of the 21st Century" Pick From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway and Table for Two, a beautifully transporting novel about a...
Honor : a novel
Umrigar, Thrity N.
Paper Book
THE JANUARY 2022 REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "In the way A Thousand Splendid Suns told of Afghanistan's women, Thrity Umrigar tells a story of India with the intimacy of one who knows the many facets of a land both modern and ancient, awash in contradictions...
Cat's cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt.
Paper Book
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is an irreverent and highly entertaining fantasy about the playful irresponsibility of nuclear scientists, beautifully repackaged as part of the Penguin Essentials range. 'All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.'
Slaughterhouse-five, or, The children's crusade : a duty-dance with death
Vonnegut, Kurt.
Paper Book
A special fiftieth anniversary edition of Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece, "a desperate, painfully honest attempt to confront the monstrous crimes of the twentieth century" (Time), featuring a new introduction by Kevin Powers, author of the National Book Award finalist The Yellow Birds<...
On earth we're briefly gorgeous : a novel
Vuong, Ocean
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller * Nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction * Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century ...
A people's history of the United States
Zinn, Howard
Paper Book
THE CLASSIC NATIONAL BESTSELLER "A wonderful, splendid book--a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." -Howard Fast Historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United...
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