10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in January

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles are:

  1. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley
  2. A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith
  3. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
  4. The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin
  5. A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor
  6. The Wind Is Not a River by Brian Payton
  7. Orfeo by Richard Powers
  8. The Kept by James Scott
  9. Little Failure: A Memoir by Gary Shteyngart
  10. The First True Lie by Marina Mander

O, The Oprah Magazine Picks 10 Best Books of 2013

oO, The Oprah Magazine has highlighted some wonderful books throughout the year, but has chosen the following as the 1o Best Books of 2013.

The Isle of Youth by Laura van den Berg – This book explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception. From a newlywed caught in an inscrutable marriage, to private eyes working a baffling case in South Florida, to a teenager who assists her magician mother and steals from the audience, the characters in these bewitching stories are at once vulnerable and dangerous, bighearted and ruthless, and they will do what it takes to survive.

Country Girl: A Memoir by Edna O’Brien – A rich and heady accounting of the events, people, emotions, and landscape that have imprinted upon and enhanced one lifetime.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert – A story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia.

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell – A magical new collection of short stores.

The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner – The riveting story of a young artist and the worlds she encounters in New York and Rome in the mid-1970s—by turns underground, elite, and dangerous.

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride – The story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade—and who must pass as a girl to survive.

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed.

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith – A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel’s suicide.

Dog Songs by Mary Oliver – A collection of new and favorite poems, celebrating the dogs that have enriched the poet’s world.

The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis – In riveting prose, Shacochis builds a complex and disturbing story about the coming of age of America in a pre-9/11 world.

Entertainment Weekly Picks Top 10 Nonfiction Books of the Year

enter2Entertainment Weekly has issued it’s Top Ten Best Of list for 2013.  Here are their choices for best nonfiction books.

Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink – Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink’s landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina – and her suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice.

Fosse by Sam Wasson – An intensively researched biography of choreographer Bob Fosse.

With or Without You by Domenica Ruta – A haunting, unforgettable mother-daughter story for a new generation—the debut of a blazing new lyrical voice.

The Last Train to Zona Verde by Paul Theroux – An ode to the last African journey of the world’s most celebrated travel writer.

The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber – This book more than chronicles nurse Cullen’s deadly career and the breathless efforts to stop him; it paints an incredibly vivid portrait of madness and offers a penetrating look inside America’s medical system.

The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti – In the picturesque village of Guzmán, Spain, in a cave dug into a hillside on the edge of town, an ancient door leads to a cramped limestone chamber known as “the telling room.” Containing nothing but a wooden table and two benches, this is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secrets—usually accompanied by copious amounts of wine.

Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff – A breathtaking blend of mystery and adventure and is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices of our military personnel and a tribute to the everyday heroism of the US Coast Guard.

The Cooked Seed by Anchee Min – An immigrant story that takes the author from the shocking deprivations of her homeland to the sudden bounty of the promised land of America, without language, money, or a clear path.

Book of Ages by Jill Lepore – A revelatory portrait of Benjamin Franklin’s youngest sister and a history of history itself. Like her brother, Jane Franklin was a passionate reader, a gifted writer, and an astonishingly shrewd political commentator. Unlike him, she was a mother of twelve.

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright – An investigation into The Church of Scientology.

For the Top 10 list for movies, TV, albums and songs, see the December 13, 2013 issue of Entertainment Weekly.

2013 Goodread’s Choice Award Winners

Every year Goodreads lets its users nominate and vote on their favorite books of the year. This is the only major book award that I know of which is decided by the public rather than publishing and the media. I will admit to being a member of Goodreads, and having voted for my favorites in a number of categories. I am happy to say that I voted for a few of the winners. Here is a list of the best books of 2013 according to Goodreads and its membership.

Fiction: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Mystery & Thriller: Inferno (Robert Langdon #4) by Dan Brown

Historical Fiction: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Fantasy: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Niel Gaiman

Paranormal Fantasy: Cold Days (The Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher

Science Fiction: MaddAddam (MaddAddam Trilogy #3) by Margaret Atwood

Romance: Lover At Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood #11) by J.R. Ward

Horror: Doctor Sleep (The Shining #2) by Stephen King

Memoir & Autobiography: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

History & Biography: Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones
Nonfiction: The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum by Temple Grandin and Richard Panek

Food & Cookbooks: Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist by Tim Federle ; illustrated by Lauren Mortimer

Humor: Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh

Graphic Novels & Comics: Beautiful Creatures: The Manga by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl; adaptation and illustration by Cassandra Jean and lettering by Abigail Blackman

Poetry: The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien; edited by Christopher Tolkien

Debut Goodreads Author: Tangled (Tangled, #1) by Emma Chase

Young Adult Fiction: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Young Adult Fantasy: Allegiant (Divergent, #3) by Veronica Roth

Middle Grade & Children’s: The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4) by Rick Riordan

Picture Books: The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, with pictures by Oliver Jeffers

Top 10 Library Downloads of 2013 : Audiobooks

Libraries are about more than physical books these days. More and more people are discovering the free downloadable books their library has to offer. Cheshire Library has over 4000 e-book titles and over 1500 audiobook titles in our collection. Here are some of the most popular downloads from our online audiobook collection:

AUDIOBOOKS – Adult Fiction

                                                    
1.    A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
2.    12th of Never, by James Patterson
3.    The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
4.    The Forgotten, by David Baldacci
5.    Inferno, by Dan Brown
6.    The Hit, by David Baldacci
7.    Bad Monkey, by Carl Hiaasen
8.    A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin
9.    The Black Box, by Michael Connelly
10. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin

                                

  AUDIOBOOKS – Adult Nonfiction

1.     Bossypants, by Tina Fey
2.    Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris
3.    Dad Is Fat, by Jim Gaffigan
4.    Orange Is the New Black, by Piper Kerman
5.    Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
6.    Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly
7.    Argo, by Antonio Mendez

8.    Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD
9.    No Easy Day, by Mark Owen
10. Wild by Cheryl Strayed