We are well and truly in Best of the Year season – check out these lists from Amazon, BookPage, Harper’s Bazaar, Oprah, Time, Vulture, and of course, Publishers Weekly. And remember to check out the NYT/NYPL list of Best Illustrated Children’s Books!
And in case you missed it, voting is now open for the Goodreads Choice Awards! Even if you aren’t interested in voting (although it is fun), this is a great way to see the most popular books of the last year across genres/subject/age levels – super helpful to fill in any gaps in your knowledge and/or collection.
And speaking of filling in the gaps, here’s a public service announcement about December – it is a VERY slow month for publishing. Take the opportunity to use the last of your materials budget* to do what you couldn’t earlier in the year – whatever that may be. Scope out these end of year lists and go back to get the stuff you missed or passed on the first time. Take a chance on new authors, small presses, or the weird, under the radar books that aren’t guaranteed circulation blockbusters. Or, and I know this isn’t something we normally do in our system, buy a duplicate copy of something super popular to help fulfill system-wide holds. (Looking at you, Britney… and you, Iron Flame…)
Speaking of those big books, why not make sure you’ve got some picks for people to check out while they’re waiting for their holds to come through? Here’s a list from the Tacoma Public Library for what to read after Britney’s memoir, and Library Journal has some readalikes for Iron Flame.
Looking ahead, we’ve got December picks from Library Reads and Indie Next – go ahead and print ’em out for yer corkboard.
In awards news, we’ve got the National Book Award winners, the Carnegie Medal finalists and the Hugo Award winners.
In the mood for a festive display? Library Journal’s display Shelf can get you started with 72 holiday fiction picks.
Finally, #FridayReads: I’ve just gotten my hands on a copy of the very Sweeney Todd-looking Edith Holler and am looking forward to starting that tonight. In my earbuds is Your Mama’s Kitchen, and I’ve been dipping into my DVD collection while sewing Christmas gifts. Happy reading/listening/viewing!
*Assuming you’re on a January to December budget year, of course.
