Emily’s Picks
Videogame: Pikmin 3: Deluxe
Such a sweet, fun, mellow little game! Play as a team of tiny explorers and gather a squad of Pikmin– cute 
little plant creatures with unique powers –to help you solve puzzles, fight alien creatures, and collect food to save your home planet!
CD: Labyrinth: The Original Soundtrack 
Feeling nostalgic? This soundtrack has all the iconic David Bowie songs from the Jim Henson classic, as well as a few selections from Trevor Jones’ weird and wonderful score. Synth-y and danceable, and very, very fun. It will have you doing the Magic Dance!
Jessie’s Picks
DVD: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
“Jake Peralta is a Brooklyn detective with a gift for closing cases and little respect for authority. When no-nonsense commanding officer Raymond Holt joins the 99th precinct with something to prove, the two go head-to-head.”
Audiobook: Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen 
“Lady Georgiana Rannoch has once again been called into service by Her Majesty the Queen. This time she’s sent to Nice on a secret assignment that’s nothing to sneeze at – recovering the Queen’s stolen snuff box. As much of an honour as it is to be trusted by Her Majesty, an even greater honour awaits Georgie in Nice – as Coco Chanel herself asks Georgie to model her latest fashion. But when a necklace belonging to the Queen is stolen on the catwalk, Georgie has to find two priceless items – and solve a murder. How’s a girl to find any time to go to the casino?”
John’s Picks
DVD: The Woman in the Iron Coffin
This gripping documentary pieces together the clues to uncover more about the identity of a woman mysteriously buried in a rare iron coffin in Queens, New York City. The puzzle begins with twenty-first century construction workers discovering the coffin, but you go back in time and learn about the history of nineteenth-century manufacturing, NYC social life, slavery, and smallpox. An informative journey!
CD: Harvest by Neil Young
Maybe one of the best albums of all time? This 1972 album helped propel Neil Young’s early career and includes some of his most iconic songs like Heart of Gold & Old Man. It’s an absolute rock classic with rhythmic music and a touch of folk.
Kim’s Picks
DVD: The World Before Your Feet
Quitting his civil engineering job, Matt Green spent six years-plus hoofing it over the five boroughs of New York City. Sleeping at friends’ homes and cat sitting for the $15.00 per day he needed to survive his 8,000-mile journey during which he found the site of the first birth control clinic in the U.S. and was entranced by a community garden in an unlikely venue, Green and his audience learn that the process is the goal.
Libby eBook: Chomp by Carl Hiaasen 
Wahoo the boy, Tuna the girl, Alice the alligator, Derek the TV reality show star, and a concussion-causing frozen iguana are prime characters in this exciting and funny tale by humorist and social activist Carl Hiaasen. Ostensibly a young adult novel like Skink: No Surrender, it can be enjoyed by adults as well. Hiaasen’s pleas for environmental responsibility fit seamlessly into the action.
Mary’s Picks
DVD: Hector and the Search for Happiness
A heartwarming journey that’s a great pick me up if you’re feeling in a rut yourself. You can’t go wrong with travel and meeting a diverse group of people.
CD: Dolly by Dolly Parton
I’m not a country music fan, but absolutely love Dolly Parton. I love her music, her voice and her as a person. Her music will put a smile on your face and put you in a good mood.
Stephanie’s Picks
DVD: CB Strike
“Cormoran Strike is a war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. Though he’s wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike’s unique insight and his background as an SIB Investigator prove crucial in solving complex cases that elude the police.”
Audiobook: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
“A flight attendant wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened. Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and 
the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police – she’s a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home – Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it’s too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?”
All quoted material is from catalog.ccls.org.
quite match that output in quantity, the month’s few big releases are sure to make up for it in quality. Pieces of a Woman, a critically acclaimed drama about grief and motherhood, starts streaming on January 7th. Later on comes Netflix’s big release of the month, Outside the Wire, a sci-fi action thriller starring Anthony Mackie as a soldier who must team up with an android to stop a devastating nuclear attack. Finally, on the 22nd, The White Tiger makes its premiere on the streaming service. Fans of last year’s Parasite might enjoy this story of a young Indian man who goes from an impoverished driver to a wealthy socialite using only his wit and cunning.
Also debuting its third season is Matt Groening’s hilarious animated fantasy series Disenchanted (look for it on the 15th). Those looking for a calmer start to the New Year can tune in on the 1st for Headspace Guide to Meditation, a brand new series dedicated to teaching the basics of relaxing, mindful meditation. Fans of the eccentric antics of Nicholas Cage will want to catch his new series, The History of Swear Words, where the actor breaks down the etymology and linguistic history of everyone’s favorite oaths and curses—premiering on January 5th, it’s sure to be an interesting time. Finally, closing out the month is the new series Fate: The Winx Saga, a teen fantasy-drama based on the nostalgic cartoon series.
check out some of the less-traditional Christmas films we have in our collection.
out there, both 
snowed in at a little old cabin on Christmas Eve.
out to the ballet– this year or any year –this recording is a great substitute! The timeless ballet is performed by the legendary Bolshoi Ballet Company from Russia. The choreography in this production is splendid, the set design is gorgeous (and appropriately festive!), and of course that classic score is as beautiful as ever. This is the perfect watch to get you in the holiday mood.
Melbourne. In ‘Murder Under the Mistletoe,’ Phryne’s Christmas in July turns deadly when trapped inhabitants at a snowed-in mountain lodge find themselves being killed off according to the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.” 
by stars Tim Allen (as Luther Krank) and Jamie Lee Curtis as (Nora Krank). The Kranks decide to skip Christmas, but when they’re in desperate need of a Christmas miracle, their militant-like neighbors pitch in to show them the true meaning of the holiday.
progressive and culturally diverse city in the world. How did it get like that? Well, Russell Shorto argues NYC’s progressive roots are founded in its colonial Dutch origins. New York City was named after the Duke of York (King Charles II’s older brother), when the English seized the colony from the Dutch who called the island New Amsterdam. Shorto tells the often overlooked story of New York City’s Dutch colonial history and how that period is still impacting the city nearly 400 years later.
mecca for thin crust, charred (not burnt) pies: New Haven, Connecticut. Italian immigrant workmen started the revolution when they couldn’t find anything in the U.S. like their home pies. The century-old Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern enjoy a friendly competition to rank as the best. Celebrities and politicos have made pilgrimage to each. Musicians Michael Bolton and Lyle Lovett wax enthusiastic about their favorite emporia. Remember: the oven is key.
The journey that led to Charles Dickens’ creation of ‘A Christmas Carol’, a timeless tale that redefined the holiday.
community. Buddy, as he comes to be known, knows that he’s “special”. When he’s 30, Buddy learns from Santa that he’s really a human. He decides to go in search of his father, to find out where he belongs. He walks to Manhattan, and is immediately run over by a cab. His father at first rejects him and Buddy ends up in a department store where other elves are working. But all the while, things are looking bad for Santa Claus. When Santa crashes his sleigh in Central Park, it’s Buddy’s moment to shine.”
singer/songwriter Lizzy Grant stitched together the iconography of a fading American dream with soaring but melancholic pop songwriting, becoming an icon unto herself in the process. Her distinctive approach blurred sadness and longing just as it did past and present, drawing on the influence of classic American pop while integrating modernized touches like trap beats and millennial cultural references. With [her] sixth album … Lana Del Rey expands her vision with the most daring and vulnerable work of her catalog.”
home in this inspiring musical adventure.
fall in love with How to Ruin Christmas, a miniseries centered around an outcast daughter returning home and making a mess of her sister’s picture-perfect Christmas wedding, and then tune in again for A California Christmas, in which a rich young man finds yuletide romance while posing as a farmhand. Or if you want to indulge in some cozy nostalgia, take a look The Holiday Movies That Made Us, a fun docuseries that takes a closer look at some of our favorite Christmas films, premiering December 1st. Finally, Great British Bakeoff fans should snuggle up with their own Christmas treats to watch The Great British Baking Show: Holidays, which promises to deliver some festive fun.
some possible Oscar contenders. On the 4th there’s Mank, David Fincher’s black and white behind-the-scenes story of the making of Citizen Kane, starring Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried. Then the 18th will see the premiere of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a biopic of the real-life blues singer that boasts some stellar performances, including a star turn from Oscar-winner Viola Davis as well as the final film appearance of the late, beloved actor 
season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina arrives just before the New Year, on the 31st. But new things are in store as well! Tiny Pretty Things, a drama set in a ballet school and based on the novel by Sona Charaipotra, makes its series premiere on the 14th of this month. And fans of Shonda Rhimes are sure to be thrilled by the showrunner’s new series Bridgerton, a historical drama set in Regency London, which follows eight sisters as they look for love in high society.
Perhaps the most familiar type of Thanksgiving movie is the kind about a family getting together for the holiday, often to somewhat disastrous or at least dysfunctional effect. The most famous of these is probably 
Who could forget the charming pairing of Steve Martin and John Candy, and all the antics they get up to on their way back home for the holiday? It’s a classic, and for good reason. But another, much more overlooked movie in this category is 
consider. The classic Peanuts special 