Looking for a great recent book, or a captivating film in theaters now, to enjoy over the winter break? Librarians at the Rutgers University Libraries enjoyed the following choices and heartily recommend them.

Books

• 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami (Sci-fi/fantasy)
• The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (movie version coming this spring)
• The Best of Me, by Nicholas Sparks
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
• The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (recent film too)
• Zero Day, by David Baldacci
• Dances with Dragons, by George R. R. Martin (the latest installment in the Game of Thrones series)
• El ruido de las cosas al caer, by Juan Gabriel Vasquez (a suspense filled exploration of Columbia's drug war)
• Reamde, by Neal Stephenson (a thriller featuring computer game designers, Chinese hackers, Russian mobsters, Jihadists, and American gun enthusiasts)
• 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles Mann
• And Justice There is None, or A Finer End, or any one of the 13 novels in the Duncan Kincaid/Jemma James mystery series by Deborah Crombie
• Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized A City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars, by Paul Collins

Movies

• The Artist
• Hugo
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• War Horse