Inspired by one of our main floor displays, here are some SMSU McFarland Library book and movie recommendations to help you take a break from reality for a bit! Just make sure you get back to studying/working on your final projects/papers after your break!!
Call #: PS 3568.U76678 S63 2008
A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end. (Summary from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159094/the-sparrow-by-mary-doria-russell/)
Call #: PS3 613.O74875 N54 2012
Summary: Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways.
Call #: PR 6066.R34 S66 2000
Summary: A satirical comedy on the subject of death. It begins when Death decides to take a holiday and turns over the shop to his granddaughter, Susan, with the assistance of Death of Rats, a rat skeleton. Unfortunately, Susan does not have the stomach for such a heartless trade and this threatens the success of the establishment.
Call #: PS 3605.L468 T87 2005
The Turtle Warrior is the story of the Lucas family, who live in a beautiful and remote part of Wisconsin inhabited by working-class European immigrants and the Ojibwe. By 1967 the Lucas farm has fallen into disrepair, thanks to the hard drinking of John Lucas, who brutalizes his wife and two sons. When the eldest, James, escapes by enlisting to fight in Vietnam, he leaves young Bill alone to protect his mother with only his own will and the spirit of his brother to guide him. (Summary from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/903751.The_Turtle_Warrior)
Call #: PS 3603.L548 R43 2017b
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days. When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself. Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win. (Summary from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/209887/ready-player-one-by-ernest-cline/
Call #: PR6057.A319 G73 2010
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead. There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod's family.
(Summary from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2213661.The_Graveyard_Book)
Call #: PR 6101.L43 P69 2017
In The Power the world is a recognisable place: there's a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power - they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly. (Summary from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29751398-the-power
