Top Circulating Children's and Young Adult Authors

“Knowledge is like money: To be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.”
― Louis L'Amour, Education of a Wandering Man  

In the library, "circulation" means a lot of things.  What's sometimes called the "library card desk" is also known as "circulation".  When we look at a book's record, we count how many times it has checked out as its "circs". The library's collection floats (items checked out at one branch and returned at another stay at the branch at which they are returned), but its items circulate.

Are you ever curious about which titles get checked out the most in the library system? We've generated a couple of lists of the top circulating authors for kids and young adults in the last couple of months. If they are authors of a popular series or a currently trending title, we have noted that in brackets next to their name.

From April 2014:

Top Circulating Children’s Authors
Fiction	Non-Fiction
Dr. Seuss	Jim Davis [Garfield]
Mary Pope Osborne [Magic Tree House]	Allan Fowler
Cynthia Rylant [Henry & Mudge]	Elaine Landau [Your Pet…]
Daisy Meadows [Rainbow Magic]	Gail Gibbons
Eric Carle [The Very Hungry Caterpillar]	Simon Seymour [Simon Seymour’s…]
Marc Brown [Arthur]	Joanna Cole [Magic School Bus]
Mo Willems [Knuffle Bunny]	Jennifer L. Holm [Babymouse]
R. L. Stine [Goosebumps]	Jack Prelutsky [poetry]
Stan & Jan Berenstain [The Berenstain Bears]	Steve Parker [DK Eyewitness]
Geronimo Stilton	Sandra Markle
Carolyn Keene [Nancy Drew]	Hidenori Kusaka [Pokémon Adventures]
Ron Roy [A to Z Mysteries]	David A. Adler [Cam Jansen]
Alysa Capucilli [Biscuit]	Robert Gardner [science projects]
H. A. Rey [Curious George]	Salvatore Tocci [Experiments with…]
Laura Numeroff [If You Give A Mouse A Cookie]	David West Reynolds [Star Wars]
Erin Hunter [Warriors]	Ann Heinrichs
Bobby Lynn Maslen [Bob Books]	Stuart J. Murphy
Tomie DePaola [Strega Nona]	Darlene Stille
Jane Yolen	Melissa Stewart

From April 2014:

Top Circulating Young Adult Authors
Fiction	Non-Fiction
Suzanne Collins [The Hunger Games]	Masashi Kishimoto [Naruto]
P.C. Cast [House of Night]	Rumiko Takahashi [InuYasha]
Ted Dekker [Lost Books]	Tite Kubo [Bleach]
Melissa de la Cruz [Blue Bloods]	Brian Michael Bendis [Ultimate Spider-Man]
Stephenie Meyer [Twilight]	Hiromu Arakawa [Fullmetal Alchemist]
Lisa McMann [Visions]	Katsura Hoshino [D. Gray-Man]
Amanda Hocking [Watersong]	Naoko Takeuchi [Sailor Moon]
Kate Constable [Chanters of Tremaris]	Natsuki Takaya [Fruits Basket]
Kirsty McKay [Undead]	Toshiaki Iwashiro [Psyren]
Ellen Schreiber [Vampire Kisses]	Atsushi Ōkubo [Soul Eater]
Alyson Noël [Soul Seekers]	Rei Tōma [Dawn of the Arcana]
James Patterson [Witch & Wizard]	Kazuki Takahashi [Yu-Gi-Oh!]
Ellen Hopkins [novels in verse]	Dan Slott [The Superior Spider-Man]
Jackie M. Kessler [Riders of the Apocalypse]	Kazue Katō [Blue Exorcist]
Jessica Shirvington [Embrace]	Ken Akamatsu [Negima!]
Heather Brewer [Slayer Chronicles]	Christos Gage [Avengers  Academy]
Richelle Mead [Bloodlines]	Matsuri Hino [Vampire Knight]
Meg Cabot [Abandon]	Dana Hayward [Tsubasa]
Julie Halpern	Yana Toboso [Black Butler]
Barry Lyga [Archvillain]

From June 2014:

Top Circulating Authors
Children’s Fiction	Young Adult Fiction
Dr. Seuss	Suzanne Collins [The Hunger Games]
Mary Pope Osborne [Magic Tree House]	James Patterson [Witch & Wizard]
Eric Carle [The Very Hungry Caterpillar]	Veronica Roth [Divergent]
Cynthia Rylant [Henry & Mudge]	John Flanagan [Ranger’s Apprentice}
Daisy Meadows [Rainbow Magic]	Cassandra Clare [Infernal Devices]
Mo Willems [Knuffle Bunny]	Ellen Hopkins [novels in verse]
Marc Brown [Arthur]	Sara Shepard [Pretty Little Liars]
Carolyn Keene [Nancy Drew]	Richelle Mead [Bloodlines]
Geronimo Stilton	Joseph Delaney [The Last Apprentice]
Sue Bentley [Magic Puppy]	P. C. Cast [House of Night]
Laura Numeroff [If You Give A Mouse A Cookie]	Neal Shusterman [Unwind]
Rosemary Wells	Alyson Noël [Soul Seekers]
R. L. Stine [Goosebumps]	Darren Shan [Cirque du Freak]
Gertrude Chandler Warner [The Boxcar Children]	Markus Zusak [The Book Thief]
Megan McDonald [Judy Moody & Stink]	John Green [The Fault in Our Stars]
Stan & Jan Berenstain [The Berenstain Bears]	Meg Cabot [Abandon]
Erin Hunter [Warriors]	Scott Westerfeld [Uglies]
Jane O’Connor [Fancy Nancy]	Lisi Harrison [Clique]
Ron Roy [A to Z Mysteries]	Anthony Horowitz [Alex Rider]
David Adler [Cam Jansen]	Lauren Oliver [Delirium]

Dr. Seuss and Suzanne Collins are our clear winners, for now!

Literary Links: Reading Recommendations for Summer Reading

Looking for suggestions for summer reading?  Look no farther.


"Seven Books You Should Read Before Summer's Over" [Forbes]

Summer Reading: Horror; Thrillers; Science Fiction; Travel [New York Times]

Summer Books Preview [Los Angeles Times]

"The 10 Best Books to Add to Your Reading List Right This Second" [Glamour]

"Summer Reading: 20 New Nonfiction Books That Will Make You Smarter" [Flavorwire]

"Eater's 2014 Cookbook and Food Book Preview" [Eater.com]

"Heat up your summer with 30 new books" [USA Today]

"This Summer's Juiciest Beach Reads: Hillary's New Memoir and More!" [Daily Beast]

9 Writers at the Top of Their Game [Kirkus Reviews]

The New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books That You Can't Afford To Miss [io9]

June 2014 LibraryReads List [LibraryReads]

10 Dark and Twisty Books for 'Gone Girl' Fans [Flavorwire]

Amazon's 10 Best Summer Beach Reads [Huffington Post]

May 2014's Best Books: 7 Must-Reads You'll Wanna Get Your Hands On [Bustle]

Summer Reading: A Perfect 10 [StyleBlueprint]


Join our Summer Reading program! It's not just for kids, and the adult grand prizes include a $300 gift certificate to Southwest Airlines and a $100 gift certificate to Bookworks!

Find more titles with our library's booklists, newsletters, or our database NoveList Plus!

A Day In The Life

For many of us, much of our waking time is spent at work (for better or worse), and every now and then, someone will decide to sit down and write about his or her experiences on the job. While memoirs from high ranking officials may get more buzz, readers often think of the heartwarming tales from veterinarian James Herriot or the brash, unapologetic stories from chef Anthony Bourdain. Workplace memoirs give us a deeper understanding of what it’s like to spend a day as someone else – the environment they work in, the challenges they face, and the interesting things that happen along the way. From the juicy tell-all to the fascinating look into a profession, these memoirs help us find new ways to relate to people, have a better understanding of their lives, and even provide us with a chuckle or helpful tidbit.

If anything, after reading them you can say, “thank goodness I don’t have that job.”

Check out these workplace memoirs:

How About Never--Is Never Good for You?: My Life in Cartoons by Bob Mankoff

Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet by Heather Poole

I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse edited by Lee Gutkind

Confessions of a Surgeon: The Good, the Bad, and the Complicated by Paul A. Ruggieri

Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile by Nate Jackson

Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison [ebook]

Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg

Waiting: True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg

Waiter Rant: Thanks For The Tip by The Waiter

Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-In-Training by Tom Jokinen [ebook]

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

Summer Reads

Now that summer is almost here, I'm ready to dig into my pile of young adult books that take place during the summer. For me, there's something about books that take place during the summer that have a kind of magic that books set during the school year don't. Here are my top young adult summer reads.

Great by Sara Benincasa

Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard



13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi



I'm also looking forward to several books that are set during the summer.

Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

What are you planning on reading this summer?

Book News

Several exciting things have been happening recently in the young adult book world. Today, I'm sharing the things I'm most excited about.

First up, the news about Dangerous Girls, by Abigail Haas, being optioned as a movie. Abby McDonald, the author, (Abigail Haas is a pseudonym) Tweeted about it in May.

DANGEROUS GIRLS is out in paperback, hurrah! And it's been optioned for a movie and I'm writing the script, double hurrah!
— Abby McDonald (@abbymcdonald) May 5, 2014

Just because the book has been optioned as a movie doesn't mean it will actually be made into a movie, but I'm hoping that in this case, it'll make it to the big screen, since it's one of my all-time favorite books.

Love Letters to the Dead, by Ava Dellaira, has also been optioned as a movie, with Dellaira set to write the screenplay. Ava Dellaira is from Albuquerque, and Love Letters to the Dead takes place in Albuquerque, so I'm hoping this means that if filming starts, it'll be filmed in Albuquerque.

Delirium, by Lauren Oliver, has been picked up by WIGS and Hulu as a TV series. The book was originally developed as a TV show for Fox, but the network passed on the series. WIGS and Hulu have picked up the show only for a month, starting on June 20.

The cover for Dangerous Boys, the companion to Dangerous Girls, has been revealed.

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder? Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces…

There isn't a U.S. release date for Dangerous Boys yet, but it comes out in the U.K. this August. 

(Image and summary courtesy of Goodreads.)

The cover of Ensnared, the final book in A.G. Howard's Splintered trilogy was also revealed.

After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She’s determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles... and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world—a parallel dimension filled with mutated and sadistic netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that’s gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But even if everyone succeeds and comes out alive, can they all truly have their happily ever after?

(Image and summary courtesy of Goodreads.)

The last thing isn't about a young adult book, but it is about a Stephen King book. I recently heard that the movie IT was going to be remade; the Internet Movie Database lists the remake as being in development. There's no word yet on when the movie might be released, but I'm still excited to see how it will compare to the original movie.

Is there anything happening in the book world that you're excited about? Tell us about it in the comments!



New & Novel: Books for Little Abecedarians

\ ey-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn \  , noun;  

1. a person who is learning the letters of the alphabet.

2. a beginner in any field of learning.

Alphabet books for beginning readers generally present the letters of the alphabet alongside words beginning with the same letter - think "A is for apple". According to Wikipedia, this tradition dates back to the hornbooks of Shakespeare's day and is considered to be one of the oldest genres in American literature. Alphabet books can be very straightforward - again, "A is for apple" - or have more creative formats, such as poems that use many words that begin with the same letter or stories told alphabetically, such as the Apple Pie ABC. Nowadays, there are even alphabet apps!

Besides introducing beginning readers to the alphabet, alphabet books also function to teach phonics, build vocabulary, introduce sequencing, help readers begin to recognize point of view, and more.

Here's a list of some fun ABC items for kids you can find in the ABC Library catalog:


Professor Whiskerton Presents Steampunk ABC by Lisa Falkenstern

The ABC of Fabulous Princesses by Willy Puchner

123 Versus ABC by Mike Boldt

ABC Zooborns by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

Sign Language ABC by Lora Helle

V is For Vegan: The ABCs of Being Kind by Ruby Roth

An ABC of Pirates by Caroline Stills

El alfabeto de Dios by Sue Cochran [Spanish language]

ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art ABCs in English and Spanish by Cynthia Weill and K.B. Basseches ; wood sculptures from Oaxaca by Moisés and Armando Jiménez [Spanish language]
 
ABC x 3: English, Español, Français by Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter

Journey Around Chicago from A to Z by Martha Day Zschock

Museum ABC produced by the Dept. of Special Publications, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

For the Love of the Packers: An A-to-Z Primer for Packers Fans of All Ages by Frederick C. Klein [eBook]

Vietnam ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of Vietnam by Theresa Alberti

123s and ABCs by Ella Jenkins [music CD]

I Love My ABC's: Animals  [DVD]


For more ABCs, try a subject search of "Alphabet books".

If you are interested in more adult abecedarian titles such as The ABCs of Bridge or The ABCs of Handwriting Analysis, try this search like this.

Clean, Organize, Simplify!

Oh, hey there and hello! If you're here it means that you've got a cleaning disaster on your hands.  Or maybe it means that you've decided it's high time to learn how to keep your bedroom looking like it belongs to an adult, not a fourteen-year-old with a burning desire to assert your independence and irritate your mom with the power of stacks and stacks of clothes piled all about the place.
~Jolie Kerr

We picked up a copy of Jolie Kerr's new housekeeping book and can't put it down! Kerr writes a column online called "Ask a Clean Person", in which no question is too grotty - from how to "divide chores so you don't kill each other" to how to "clean, preserve, and/or salvage your wedding dress" (visit her Tumblr to ask her your own question!).  Her book, though humorous, got us thinking about all sorts of housekeeping, so we compiled this list of some helpful guides from the library catalog.  We've tried to cover all the bases - get organized, simplify, household tips for men, tips from Jane Austen, for your studio, even weekend makeovers. Whether you have a specific question to answer or are just looking for helpful tips, we hope we've provided something to meet your needs!


My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag - And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha by Jolie Kerr

Living Simple, Free & Happy: How to Simplify, Declutter Your Home and Reduce Stress, Debt, and Waste by Cristin Frank [eBook]

Secrets of An Organized Mom: From the Overflowing Closets to the Chaotic Play Areas - A Room-By-Room Guide to Decluttering and Streamlining Your Home for a Happier Family by Barbara Reich

Clutter-Free Home Living: The How-To Guide by Eugenia Orr [eBook]

Clutter Rehab: Tips and Tricks to Become an Organization Junkie and Love It! by Laura Wittmann [eBook]

How to Be Comfy: Brilliant Ways to Make Your House a Home by Shannon Lush & Jennifer Fleming [eBook]

How to Get Things Really Flat: Enlightenment For Every Man on Ironing, Vacuuming and Other Household Arts by Andrew Martin

A Broom of One's Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning, and Life by Nancy Peacock

Adopting the Minimalist Lifestyle by Ariel Horowitz

The Weekend Makeover: Get a Brand New Life By Monday Morning by Jill Martin & Dana Ravich

The Organized Kitchen: Keep Your Kitchen Clean, Organized, and Full of Good Food - And Save Time, Money, (And Your Sanity) Every Day! by Brette Sember [eBook]

Inside the Creative Studio: Inspiration and Ideas For Your Art and Craft Space by Cate Coulacos Prato

Jane Austen's Guide to Thrift: An Independent Woman's Advice On Living Within One's Means by Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones

Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life By Reducing Your Waste by Bea Johnson
   

Find more titles with subject searches!  Helpful subjects are Orderliness, House cleaning, Home economics, Storage in the home, Organization.