Joan Muyskens Pursley
If you haven’t gone into the library recently, you’ve not seen the current Featured Book Shelf’s selection of critically acclaimed books that have seldom been checked out. These books, selected by the library’s Collections Committee, deserve attention. A few are featured below, but there are many others for your perusal.
Featured fiction books include:
* Above the Salt by Katherine Vaz. Named “Most Anticipated Book for Fall 2023” by Zibby’s Books and Goodreads, it also was a People Magazine Book of the Week and a Top Three Pick by Good Morning, America. It is a sweeping love story that follows two Portuguese refugees who flee religious violence and reignite their budding romance in Civil War America.
* Mercury by Amy Jo Burns. This 2023 novel is about a blue-collar roofing family in western Pennsylvania whose loyalties are tested by long-held secrets. The New York Times called it “a compelling, character-driven story” noting that while the plot’s central mystery takes a back seat, the emotional depth of the love story and family dynamics shine. Like Above the Salt, it was a People Magazine Book of the Week.
* Mr. Texas by Lawrence Wright, a Pulitzer Prize winning author. This book is a sharply drawn send-up of Texas politics. It features a dark-horse candidate who risks his personal happiness for a career in the Texas House of Representatives.
Among the non-fiction:
* The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Ted Weiner, also a Pulitzer Prize winning writer. Published in 2025 The Mission chronicles the history of the CIA since the 1990s. In his AP review of the book, Jeff Rowe calls it “a riveting account of a vital institution that descended into turmoil with agents after 9/11, sometimes creating diabolical tortures and units operating seemingly on their own.”
* Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green. This 2025 book debuted at number one on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and was the Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Readers’ Favorite Nonfiction (2025). It explores the science, history and human impact of tuberculosis, and argues that it is not just a biological crisis, but a crisis caused by human choices, poverty and unfair healthcare systems.
* The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life by Authur Firstenberg. Amazon calls this 2017 book “a groundbreaking history of electricity from a scientist and journalist telling the story from an environmental point of view, outlining the effects that this fundamental societal building block has had on our health and our planet.”
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