Tag Archives: Best of 2017

Uncategorized

Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2017

It’s getting to be that time of year, beloved patrons, when reviewing outlets, newspapers, websites, and, yes, Libraries, release their definitive  “Best of 2017” Lists.  This week, it is was Kirkus Reviews’ selections for the best fiction of the year.  Kirkus Reviews does not skimp when it comes to their best of lists, and they space out the release of their “best of” books–first, because there are So Many Good Books out there, and second, I’m sure, to give us all a chance to put them on hold at the library, or go pick them up.  Here is the schedule of the day the rest of their “Best Of” lists will be released:

Fiction: November 11
Picture Books: November 20
Middle Grade: November 27
Teen: December 4
Nonfiction: December 11
Indie: December 18

Kirkus Reviews breaks down their fiction lists into genres, providing not only the more conventional categories (mystery, sci-fi, etc.), but also a few that are delightfully unexpected (fiction with a twist of magic, Best Fictional Families of 2017…).  As a result, there is certainly something here for any fiction lover, and for those looking to branch out and find something completely new to read over the holiday season and into the New Year!

So here, without further ado, are some of the highlights Kirkus Reviews best fiction books of 2017, with links to the Library Catalog to help you get those books as quickly as possible!  You can find the full selection of titles and reviews at Kirkus Reviews website.

Best Mystery & Thriller:

MAGPIE MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz
THE SMACK by Richard Lange
SAY NOTHING by Brad Parks
EXPOSED by Lisa Scottoline
THE FIFTH ELEMENT by Jorgen Brekke ; translated by Steven T. Murray
KEEP HER SAFE by Sophie Hannah
THE LATE SHOW by Michael Connelly
A CAST OF VULTURES by Judith Flanders
MURDER IN SAINT-GERMAIN by Cara Black
DEFECTORS by Joseph Kanon
HOUSE OF SPIES by Daniel Silva
BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD by Attica Locke
FIERCE KINGDOM by Gin Phillips
LIES SHE TOLD by Cate Holahan

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy:
BORNE by Jeff VanderMeer
THE STONE SKY by N.K. Jemisin
THE STONE IN THE SKULL by Elizabeth Bear
THE REMNANT by Charlie Fletcher
RECLUCE TALES by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
THE STARS ARE LEGION by Kameron Hurley
THE SONG OF THE ORPHANS by Daniel Price
AUTONOMOUS by Annalee Newitz
A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab
NOUMENON by Marina J. Lostetter
WALKAWAY by Cory Doctorow
THE CLOCKWORK DYNASTY by Daniel H. Wilson
Best Romance Novel:

THE DAY OF THE DUCHESS by Sarah MacLean
THE UNDATEABLE by Sarah Title
DUKE WITH BENEFITS by Manda Collins
AN EXTRAORDINARY UNION by Alyssa Cole
BREATH OF FIRE by Amanda Bouchet
ROGUE MAGIC by Kit Brisby
HATE TO WANT YOU by Alisha Rai
DIRTY DANCING AT DEVIL’S LEAP by Julie Anne Long

Best Debut Novel:

MY ABSOLUTE DARLING by Gabriel Tallent
THE RESURRECTION OF JOAN ASHBY by Cherise Wolas
TEMPORARY PEOPLE by Deepak Unnikrishnan
LIVE FROM CAIRO by Ian Bassingthwaighte
THE FLOATING WORLD by C. Morgan Babst
STANDARD DEVIATION by Katherine Heiny
MARLENA by Julie Buntin
EVERYTHING BELONGS TO US by Yoojin Grace Wuertz
WHAT WE LOSE by Zinzi Clemmons
RABBIT CAKE by Annie Hartnett
THE TALENTED RIBKINS by Ladee Hubbard
GOLDEN HILL by Francis Spufford

Best Fiction with a Twist of Magic:

LITTLE SISTER by Barbara Gowdy
THE POWER by Naomi Alderman
MRS. CALIBAN by Rachel Ingalls
THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle
AFTER THE FLARE by Deji Bryce Olukotun
THE TALENTED RIBKINS by Ladee Hubbard
EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid

Uncategorized

The National Book Award Longlists!

On Friday, the National Book Foundation, in partnership with The New Yorker, announced the Longlist for Fiction for the 2017 National Book Awards, rounding out the Longlists for the four categories celebrated by the Award, among the highest literary awards given in the United States.

The mission of the National Book Foundation and the National Book Awards is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America.  Though it’s had it’s ups and downs, trying to find cultural relevancy and “fit in” to American culture, the National Book Award today has emerged as an important way to recognize some of the great work going on in American literature–and a great way for us readers to discover new books!  So here are the longlists for each of the four categories that the National Book Award celebrates.  Come into the Library soon to learn about each of these titles!

The short list will come out on Oct. 4, and the winners will be announced in a ceremony on Nov. 15.  And we’ll be here for both announcements!

Fiction
Elliot Ackerman, Dark at the Crossing
Daniel Alarcón, The King Is Always Above the People: Stories
Charmaine Craig, Miss Burma
Jennifer Egan, Manhattan Beach
Lisa Ko, The Leavers
Min Jin Lee, Pachinko
Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties: Stories
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, A Kind of Freedom
Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing
Carol Zoref, Barren Island (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)

Nonfiction
Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
Frances FitzGerald, The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America
James Forman Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America
Masha Gessen, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia (Will be released on Oct. 7, 2017)
David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Naomi Klein, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need
Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
Kevin Young, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News

Poetry
Frank Bidart, Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016
Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Leslie Harrison, The Book of Endings (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via WorldCat!)
Marie Howe, Magdalene: Poems (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Laura Kasischke, Where Now: New and Selected Poems (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Layli Long Soldier, WHEREAS
Shane McCrae, In the Language of My Captor (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Sherod Santos, Square Inch Hours (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via WorldCat!)
Danez Smith, Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Mai Der Vang, Afterland

Young People’s Literature
Elana K. Arnold, What Girls Are Made Of (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Robin Benway, Far from the Tree
Samantha Mabry, All the Wind in the World
Mitali Perkins, You Bring the Distant Near
Jason Reynolds, Long Way Down
Erika L. Sánchez, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Check with your friendly Reference Librarians to order this book via ComCat!)
Laurel Snyder, Orphan Island
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
Rita Williams-Garcia, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
Ibi Zoboi, American Street

Uncategorized

The 2017 Man Booker Prize Shortlist!

In the wee hours of the morning, we learned the titles that made the shortlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize, one of our favorite fiction awards here at the Library.

As a lot of news outlets have noted, there are a number of surprises in this list.  The first is that many of the really big names who were a part of the longlist, including Sebastian Barry, Arundhati Roy, and Zadie Smith, did not make the shortlist.  The second is that two debut authors, Emily Fridlund and Fiona Mozley, who are also the youngest nominees.  For many, the final surprise is that half the list are American authors.

The bidding has begun, with bookmakers giving George Saunders’  Lincoln at the Bardo the best odds to win, and there is no doubt that speculation, debates, and a lot of reading, will be going on between now and when the final announcement is made on October 17th.  But, as noted on the Man Booker website:

If there is anyone who will find the next month more relaxing than previous ones, it is the judges themselves. Not that their work is done but rather that they can take a bit more time over things. They have read each of the shortlisted books a minimum of twice already and now they will have to read them for a third time and ask themselves not which book is a contender to win but which book deserves to win. For all concerned the next four weeks will seem simultaneously a very long and a very short time. Hopefully, for a few days at least, they can all take a couple of moments to reflect – and maybe even congratulate themselves – on what they have achieved so far.

So here, without further ado, is the shortlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.  Come in and check out these titles, and make your own educated guesses about who will win, today!

The 2017 shortlist:

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster (US)
History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (US)
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan-UK)
Elmet by Fiona Mozley (UK) (Not yet released in the US)
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (US)
Autumn by Ali Smith (UK)