It’s been a good year to be a reader, beloved patrons. And a good year for music and movies, and all the other beautiful things that libraries provide! And here, we are celebrating the year in books, music, and movies with as many people as possible! In addition to having a Peabody Library Staff “Best of 2018” List, we will also be featuring some selections from our friends at other NOBLE libraries, as well!
And we’re eager for your input, too! The NOBLE Collection Management Working Group is assembling nominations for a “NOBLE Book Awards”, and NOBLE staff have been asked for their input. So please let us know what books you’ve loved this year, and we’ll be sure to pass them on to the NOBLE Book Awards committee, but also to feature them here on the blog so that other readers can benefit from your recommendations! Nominations will be accepted until December 16, so get yours to us today! You can tell us in person, or via email (click the word “email” for our address).
And so, without further ado, let’s get to our first round of “Best of 2018” selections, courtesy of our marvelous staff! In our request for nominations, we stipulated that books, movies, or albums could be from any year, but they had to have been enjoyed in 2018. So you’ll see plenty of oldies-but-goodies on this list to savor, along with some new titles!
From the Teen Room:
Light Filters In by Caroline Kaufman: Caroline Kaufman is also known on Instagram as @poeticpoison, where her startling, stunning poetry gained a large fan following, as well as attention from mainstream publishers. In this collection of her work, Kaufman does what she does best: reflects our own experiences back at us and makes us feel less alone, one exquisite and insightful piece at a time. She writes about giving up too much of yourself to someone else, not fitting in, endlessly Googling “how to be happy,” and ultimately figuring out who you are. Insightful, honest, funny, and deeply moving, these are poems for verseaholics and newcomers alike!
From the Children’s Room
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab: Schwab is a gifted fantasy author with a boundless imagination, and while this new series may be marketed towards younger readers, it’s one for her fans of all ages. Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn’t like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead . . . and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they’re about to get much stranger. When Cass’s parents start hosting a TV show about the world’s most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And when Cass meets a girl who shares her “gift,” she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil — and herself.
From our Staff: Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in the world and the charm of the city and the people is so clearly evident here. The fact that Schwab is a brilliant writer doesn’t hurt either. Aside from the wonderful sense of place present in the book, it’s a fun, creepy ghost story that isn’t too intense, but still manages to give the chills. This is a kids’ book easily enjoyed by adults as well.
From the Public Service Desk:
A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland: If you, like us, love the act and the art of storytelling, then this is the book for you. While Rowland’s world-building is superb, the real power of this story lies in its analysis of creation and narrative, making it a deep, funny, bewitching journey. Arrested on accusations of witchcraft and treason, Chant, a storyteller, finds himself trapped in a cold, filthy jail cell in a foreign land. With only his advocate, the unhelpful and uninterested Consanza, he quickly finds himself cast as a bargaining chip in a brewing battle between the five rulers of this small, backwards, and petty nation. Or, at least, that’s how he would tell the story. In truth, Chant has little idea of what is happening outside the walls of his cell, but he must quickly start to unravel the puzzle of his imprisonment before they execute him for his alleged crimes. But Chant is no witch—he is a member of a rare and obscure order of wandering storytellers. With no country to call his home, and no people to claim as his own, all Chant has is his wits and his hapless apprentice to help him.
Until next week, dear readers–enjoy!
