The ABC Libraries' Best Books of 2011

All books listed below are recommended by library staff.  Thanks to all the staff members who suggested titles!

Fiction

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

The Free World by David Bezmozgis

There But For The by Ali Smith

Deathless by Catherynne Valente

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath

Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Fallen by Karin Slaughter

The Bride's House by Sandra Dallas

The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto

Heartless by Gail Carriger

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami


Children's & Young Adult Fiction


A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The Isle of Blood by William James Henry ; edited by Rick Yancey

Lost & Found: three by Shaun Tan


Nonfiction

It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy by Laurie Notaro

Life by Keith Richards, James Fox

View From Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World by Carl Safina

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal

Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan by Jeff Greenfield

Bird Cloud: A Memoir by Annie Proulx

Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart

The Churchills: In Love & War by Mary Lovell

Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past by Simon Reynolds

Just My Type: A Book about Fonts by Simon Garfield

Blood, Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton



Here are the ABC Libraries' customers' favorites - or at least the ones that had the highest circulation in November & December.


Top 20 Book Checkouts for ABC Libraries (system-wide)

Fiction

1. Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. The Confession by John Grisham
4. The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly
5. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
6. Toys by James Patterson
7. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson
8. Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods
9. The Reversal by Michael Connelly
10. Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
11. Tick Tock by James Patterson
12. Cross Fire by James Patterson
13. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
14. Live Wire by Harlan Coben
15. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
16. Sixkill by Robert B. Parker
17. Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman
18. I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark
19. Now You See Her by James Patterson
20. Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson

Non-Fiction

1. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
2. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
3. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
4. Cracking the GED
5. The World Book Encyclopedia
6. Bossypants by Tina Fey
7. The Guinness Book of Records
8. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
9. Moon Handbooks
10. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
11. The Greater Journey by David G. McCullough
12. Barron's Pass Key to the GED High School Equivalency Exam
13. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
14. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard
15. Troublemaker by Janet Evanovich
16. Kill-A-Watt energy detector
17. Cracking the SAT
18. Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
19. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
20. Cracking the ACT

Just for fun:  check out Stereotyping You by Your Favorite Book of 2011!  If I were to pick my favorite off this list, it would be Bossypants, putting me in the "Hilarious ladies and the ladies who want to be them" category.

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays to all!  All Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Libraries will be closed on Sunday, December 25th & Monday, December 26th.  Libraries will reopen on Tuesday, December 27th.

What to Read Next

This year, I did a personal book challenge called Take a Chance.  Sadly, the site that hosts this challenge will not be doing so in 2012, but I wanted to share with you the websites & methods that  they recommended to find new books to read.  I had a lot of fun finding books to read using these methods!

1: Staff Member’s Choice: Go to a bookstore or library that has a “Staff Picks” section. Read one of the picks from that section.

2: Loved One’s Choice: Ask a loved one to pick a book for you to read. (If you can convince them to buy it for you, that is even better!)

3: Blogger’s Choice: Find a “Best Books Read” post from a favorite blogger. Read a book from their list.

4: Critic’s Choice: Find a “Best of the Year” list from a magazine, newspaper or professional critic. Read a book from their Top 10 list.

5: Blurb Book: Find a book that has a blurb on it from another author. Read a book by the author that wrote the blurb.

6: Book Seer Pick: Go to The Book Seer and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

7: What Should I Read Next Pick : Go to What Should I Read Next and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

8: Which Book Pick: Go to Which Book and use the software to generate a list of books. Read a book from that list.

9: LibraryThing Pick: Go to LibraryThing’s Zeitgeist page. Look at the lists for 25 Most Reviewed Books or Top Books and pick a book you’ve never read. Read the book. (Yes … you can click on MORE if you have to.)

10: Pick A Method: Pick a method for finding a book from the choices listed below.


■Random Book Selection. Go to the library. Position yourself in a section such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Children (whatever section you want). Then write down random directions for yourself (for example, third row, second shelf, fifth book from right). Follow your directions and see what book you find. Check that book out of the library, read it and then write about it. (If you prefer, you can do the same at a bookstore and buy the book!)

■Public Spying. Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.

■Random Bestseller. Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2010 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

What are your goals for 2012?

I blame Julie and Julia:365 days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen-How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living for starting this trend of challenging yourself to follow a year long quest, & then write a book about it.  In the past, didn't people just make New Year's resolutions & then give them up after a couple of months?  Suddenly, everyone's spending a year travelling with kids (& in one memorable case, a cat) or following all the advice from women's magazines or saying yes to everyone who asks for a date or spending the last months of their twenties embarking on a multitide of adventures for a  "year of fear".  Below you can find a list of memoirs by folks who have dedicated themselves to changing up their lives, in one form or another, for a year (or thereabouts).  What do you think?  Could you do it?  Would you do it?  What challenge would you consider taking on for a year?

365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life

Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of  the Queen of Talk

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible 

The Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do

The Year of the Goat: 40,000 Miles and the Quest for the Perfect Cheese

The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes

The Year of Yes: A Memoir

A Year of Sundays: Taking the Plunge (and Our Cat) to Explore Europe

Living a Year of Kaddish

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously

Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

Diary of a Real Estate Rookie: My Year of Flipping, Selling, and Rebuilding-- and What I Learned (The Hard Way)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Give it Up: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading

Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously

Learning to Breathe: My Yearlong Quest to Bring Calm to My Life

The Feast Nearby: How I Lost My Job, Buried a Marriage, and Found My Way by Keeping Chickens, Foraging, Preserving, Bartering, and Eating Locally (All on $40 a Week)

My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir

Chastened: The Unexpected Story of My Year Without Sex

A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy

One Year Off: Leaving it All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children

The Happiness Project, or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me about Love, Sex, and Starting Over

Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea

The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time

Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living

No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes about Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process

The Know-it-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment that Transformed Their Lives

52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust

The One-Week Job Project: One Man, 1 Year, 52 Jobs


Or, if you'd prefer not to take on a major quest next year, here are some self-improvement titles to help you just have a great year!

The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Plan It, Live It

The Gift of a Year: How to Give Yourself the Most Meaningful, Satisfying, and Pleasurable Year of Your Life

A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as if It Were Your Last

Romancing the Ordinary: A Year of Simple Splendor

Life Makeovers: 52 Practical and Inspiring Ways to Improve Your Life One Week at a Time


One way or another, here's hoping you have a happy new year!

Fads & Trends, Curiosities & Wonders

I don't profess to be fashionable.  I am on the cutting edge of nothing.  So, when the Weekly Alibi ran a feature recently on "Planking/Flanking", I was fairly clueless.  Then, yesterday, a co-worker turned me on to Tebowing, & as a corollary, I discovered Owling.  How have I missed all the fun fads?

As I am wont to do when I want to learn about something, I turned to my friendly local library catalog.  A keyword search of "fads" turned up titles such as Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies, and Manias: The Origins of Our Most Cherished Obsessions, Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads,& Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America.  A good background, but none of these books were going to keep me au courant.  We do have the I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Collekshun book-wasn't that all the rage not too long ago?  Are people still doing PostSecret? How about Sh*t My Dad Says?  I guess people are still loving The Onion, since you can now pick up a copy locally.  The literary mashup genre still seems to be going strong, though I stopped reading at Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter.

However, what my search for fads did lead me to was a couple of very interesting subject headings (when looking an item record, you can find subject headings under the "Find Similar Items" tab): Popular Culture, seven glorious pages of off-the-wall books from Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live in Now to Hip, The History; & Curiosities & Wonders, which brings you New Mexico Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff, The Book of Useless Information, & Charles Fort: The Man who Invented the Supernatural. I'm sure I'll be reading in these subjects for quite some time.

Some other fun things you might enjoy:

Garfield minus Garfield

Simon's Cat on YouTube

Awkward Family Photos

The Bad Fads Museum

Cake Wrecks

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

For our next book review in the Oceans 11 reading challenge, here's a few words from library patron & friend of abcreads Susan:

The Riddle of the Sands is said to be the first espionage/thriller novel. In 1903, 11 years before WWI, Erskine Childers felt compelled to awaken Britain to Germany's growing sea power and the potential for invasion, so Britain would organize effective naval defense. The book was effective, and triggered plans for better coastal defenses. Although Childers provided a key warning to protect Britain, he later supported the Irish cause and was executed for treason.

Charles Carruthers,working at the Foreign Office, receives a letter from acquaintance Arthur Davies, inviting him to travel on his yacht to hunt ducks in the Frisian islands off Germany. Carruthers expects a luxury cruise, but upon arrival finds he and Davies are the entire crew of the far-from-luxurious Dulcibella. He soon comes to respect Davies' seamanship, and the landscape melts his condescension.

As they explore "the sands", Davies confesses his ulterior motive for having Carruthers along....Carruthers can speak German. Davies is certain they must uncover a military plot against Britain based on the tidal sands of the Frisians.

The writing is relaxed and descriptive, and the story proceeds at a slow pace, enjoyable for readers who enjoy detailed settings and gradual plot buildup. The narrative includes and frequently references maps to describe in detail how Carruthers and Davies navigate the waterways. The late season (October) is an important factor in their quest, creating many challenges and the occasional advantage due to weather.

A few suspenseful scenes qualify the book as a thriller, but this is a story to savor at leisure, not a page-turner that keeps you up late to finish. Carruthers and Davies are on a quest for evidence to back up their hypothesis and solve an intellectual puzzle (what is the signifcance of the sands?). The wealth of nautical and historical detail will delight pre-WWI naval buffs.

Georgette Heyer

I profess that I have never read one book by Georgette Heyer, but yet I found myself curious as to the staying power of her novels through the years.  Who was this woman who continues to charm women the world over with her light, often witty romance novels?  Although, they are not just frippy romance works, they are often historical in nature, with details that took a lot of research.  Georgette wanted her works to be accurate and had over 1,000 reference books to help with certain facts about clothing, hats, prices, shops, foods, and how people addressed each other.  She even purchased a letter written by the Duke of Wellington to accurately portray his style of writing in the novel An Infamous Army. 

Ms. Heyer was born in 1902 in Wimbeldon, London and grew up with two younger brothers, Boris and Frank.  She was named Georgette after her father George, who after serving with the British Army in World War I went on to teach at King's College London.  He encouraged his children to read and no restrictions were placed on the titles they chose.  When she was 17, she began a serial work titled The Black Moth to amuse her brother Boris who was often sick and her father felt it had great potential.  He found a publisher for the book and it was published in 1921. 

In 1920 she met a young man by the name of George Ronald Rougier and after her father passed away in the spring of 1925, they became engaged and married in August of that year.  Ronald was a mining engineer and soon after they were married he was sent to the Caucasus Mountains in Russia and Georgetter stayed home and wrote her next novel, These Old Shades.  The book came out in the middle of the 1926 General Strike and no publicity was put out about the novel, but yet it sold 190,000 copies.  She realized she could sell books without having to deal with interviewers and never once gave another interview or helped to promote her published works.  Ms. Heyer also wrote thrillers and detective novels, but those books were never quite as popular as her historical fiction. 

Her books did very well during the Great Depression and World War II as many readers felt her books were great escapist literature that helped them cope with the difficulties of their lives.  Readers in the United States were introduced to her works via mass-market paperbacks in 1966 and many felt she had invented the historical romance and its subgenre, the Regency romance.  She received no mentions from most critics, but it was not something she was concerned with.  As long as her readers liked them, that was good enough for her.  Yet, the many authors today who style their works in the historical romance or Regency genre owe much to Georgette Heyer, who blazed the trail for them to follow.  In fact under "Regency fiction" as a keyword search in the catalog there are over 332 titles listed!

Ms. Heyer passed away in 1974 and at the time of her death, forty-eight of her novels were still in print.  Her last novel, My Lord John was published posthumously.  The library does not own all of them, but there are thirty-two titles in the catalog and others could be ordered through Interlibrary Loan if you wish to challenge yourself to read them all. 

Here are some of the titles that the library has in the catalog:

Beauvallet

Devil's Cub

The Talisman Ring

Penhallow

Arabella

April Lady

Sylvester

Black Sheep

Sprig Muslin

The Masqueraders

While searching the web for information on Ms. Heyer I came across several websites that may be of interest.

goodreads.com-Links to the Georgette Heyer section with some quotes from some of her best novels and testimonials by her fans.

historicalnovelsociety.org-A short article on an appreciaton of her work.

amazon.com-This link has an extensive listing of her titles provided by her representative and most of her titles are available as e-books.

abebooks.com-Another article, with covers of her works

georgetteheyer.blogspot.com-This is a Perpetual Reading Challenge with no set time or date to complete

austenfans.com-At this link you can send Georgette Heyer e-cards to all your friends!

librarything.com-Another listing of a majority of her titles.