RA Tip: Rounding Out My #Libfaves16 Top Ten

The past few days have been great as I checked Twitter off and on for the #libfaves16 hashtag. Along with many other librarians, my personal TBRead pile has multiplied and I'll need the holiday break to try and deplete it a bit before getting into some of the titles I am anticipating for 2017! :-)

The previous blog post showed my #libfaves16 tweets for numbers 10 to 6, so for completion's sake, here are the tweets for my final countdown ... 

#libfaves16 No 5 – STILETTO by @DenimAlley: ROOK Myfanwy Thomas is back! Witty banter, paranormal paranoia & diplomacy? Such fun!

#libfaves16 No 4 – PENRIC’S DEMON by Lois McMaster Bujold: a clever, innocent, newly designated sorcerer teams up with an unruly demon!

#libfaves16 No 3 – Ben Winters’ UNDERGROUND AIRLINES read by William DeMeritt: terrific voice, what if tale of slavery in 21^st Century U.S.

#libfaves16 No 2 – THE FATE OF THE TEARLING by Erika Johansen: Kelsea/Kaite vs Row Finn; thrilling conclusion to great epic Fantasy series!

No 1 for #libfaves16 – THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY by Genevieve Cogman: good & evil librarians, a dragon, a vampire & a Great detective, OH my! 

Have I added a title or two to your TBRead pile? :-)

Tweeting Your Top Ten Titles for 2016

Every December for the last few years, over a ten day period, librarians tweet about their favorite Top Ten books of the year using a specific hashtag. This allows for tracking and compiling the titles to produce a final Top Ten list.

This year #libfaves16 started Monday, December 12 and will run for ten days until Wednesday, December 21; a final Top Ten list will be posted shortly after the 21st. Librarians everywhere are invited to tweet about their top reads of the year, counting down from #10 and ending with their all-time #1 favorite for 2016. The rules are simple: 

• Use the #libfaves16 hashtag
• Titles must have been published in 2016
• Post one title a day
• Type the title in ALL CAPS
• Include the author

I was curious to rediscover what titles I had tweeted about in the past so went and found my December 10, 2014 blog post - RA Tip: FAVORITE READS FOR 2014! Sadly, I neglected to compile my top ten titles for #libfaves15 but I have been participating this time and my first five #libfaves16 tweets are listed below:

#libfaves16 No 10 - BECAUSE OF MISS BRIDGERTON by Julia Quinn, read by Rosalyn Landor: historical, witty & thoroughly romantic

#libfaves16 No 9 - SHADOWED SOULS ed by Jim Butcher & Kerrie L Hughes: 11 thrilling supernatural tales by urban fantasy authors 

#libfaves16 No 8 - Paulette Jiles’ NEWS OF THE WORLD read by Grover Gardner: lyrical Western, former soldier & 10-yr old Kiowa captive girl 

#libfaves16 No 7 – SLEEPING GIANTS by Sylvain Neuvel: jaw-dropping ‘are we alone in the Universe’ speculation, 1^st in Themis Files series

#libfaves16 No 6 - MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout, read by Kimberly Farr: pull up a comfy chair & listen as Lucy tells her story

I will blog about 5 through 1 in a few days in another post.

FYI, on Saturday, 12/17/2016 I was privileged to participate in helping tally the results for #libfaves16. I had a great time monitoring the hashtag throughout the day and recording the titles! :-)

September 2015 LibraryReads Top Ten Announced

And the September favorite is ...

The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo 

 “At once tragic and hilarious, this book is a roller coaster of a read. You'll find yourself rooting for the snarky and impulsive but ultimately lovable Mattie. At the heart of this tale is a beautifully unraveled mystery that has led Mattie to her current circumstances, ultimately bringing her to her first real home.” Patricia Kline-Millard, Bedford Public Library, Bedford, NH



The rest of the LibraryReads September Top Ten are: 

Make Me: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child 

House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison

Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart

The Scribe: A Novel by Matthew Guinn

The full list with annotations is available at LibraryReads

For those who enjoy listening to an audio version, here is a link to a recent Booklist Reader post about the September 2015 LibraryReads on Audio! 

May 2015 LibraryReads Top Ten Announced!

The May 2015 Top Ten list of titles with the most votes has been released. The full list with annotations can be found at LibraryReads.


But for those who just can't wait ... the winners are:


Uprooted by Naomi Novik 

(SCCCLD staff - I have 2 ARCs for Uprooted! If interested, 'Publish' & 'Confirm' your request using comments link below. Include: 1st name, 1st letter last name / branch code - so I'll know where to send the ARC. There will be a random drawing from ALL requests 
next Tuesday)

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (a YA title which be listed on the catalog shortly)

A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi 

(SCCCLD staff - I have not 1, not 2, but 3 ARCs for The Water Knife! If interested, 'Publish' & 'Confirm' your request using comments link below. Include: 1st name, 1st letter last name / branch code - so I'll know where to send the ARC. There will be a random drawing from ALL requests next Tuesday)

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

Early Warning by Jane Smiley

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson 

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths 

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton

RA Tip: LibraryReads January 2015 Top Ten Announced!!

The first Top Ten list for 2015 has come to pass and the winner is ... As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust: a Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley.

Lizzi Gall of Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, MI) describes the book ...

"After the unexpected recover of her mother's body brings the de Luce's family secrets to light, Flavia's life is turned upside down. Now on her way to a Canadian boarding school, she must survive her first term-and more importantly, uncover the mystery of a corpse found in her dorm room chimney the night she arrives. A delightful installment in the series!"

Check out the complete January 2015 list at LibraryReads. A PDF of the annotated list is also available - use it with a display or as a customer handout!

Note: the due date for LibraryReads has changed to six weeks ahead of the publication month. For example, the nomination deadline for February 2015 titles is December 20, 2014 with March 2015 titles due by January 20, 2015.

RA Tip: FAVORITE READS FOR 2014!

For the last 10 days, library staff from all over have be tweeting TOP 10 titles for 2014. If you didn't know, tweeting about your Top 10 reads of the year has become an annual event with the titles posted once a day in reverse order from December 1 through December 10. [NOTE: you can play catch up if you miss the starting date or happen to skip a day ... ]

See last year's post RA Tip: FAVORITE READS OF 2013!

Using #libfaves14, participants list title, author and a brief description using fewer than 130 characters. I participated again this year so here are my Top 10 reads for 2014, posted on Twitter over the last few days: 

10. Gaiman’s THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE: part childhood reminiscence, mythology, & innocence lost, with lyrical language #libfaves14

9. DRACULA VERSUS SANTA - DeJesus & Power: hilarious Graphic Novel with Christmas symbols facing off famous monsters #libfaves14

8. THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY – G. Zevin: made me feel like I was wandering the aisles of a small cozy bookstore #libfaves14

7. THE BOOK OF LIFE: search for Ashmole 782 concludes with life & family becoming more complicated for Diana & Matthew #libfaves14

6. Cain’s ONE KICK: dynamic between Kick & Bishop is intense, 2 determined, flawed individuals working toward a common goal #libfaves14

5. DANGEROUS WOMEN: great anthology of new short stories by 21 different authors who write is multiple genres #libfaves14

4. STORM FRONT: listened to with family during long drive, believe have turned my children into lifelong Dresden fans!  #libfaves14

3. FIRST LORD’S FURY - on a Jim Butcher kick in 2014: finished listening to last title in his Codex Alera fantasy series #libfaves14

2. IN THE KINGDOM OF ICE: fascinating nonfiction about lost ship & crew searching Arctic passage to the North Pole in 1880s #libfaves14

1. THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING by Erika Johansen: an epic fantasy debut with magic, mystery, adventure; 1^st in series #libfaves14

What were your top 10 reads for 2014? Let's use the COMMENTS: link below and you'll only need to list the title and author. :-)

RA Tip: LibraryReads October 2014 Top Ten Announced!!

And the winner is ... A Sudden Light: a Novel by Garth Stein (Published by Simon & Schuster)

From the LibraryReads announcement:

"Garth Stein has given us a masterpiece. This beautiful story takes readers on a thrilling exploration of a family estate brimming with generations of riveting Riddell family ghosts and secrets. This is a true exploratory novel, taking readers through secret passageways, hidden rooms, and darkened corridors that engage all of the senses."

Whitney Gayle, James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, CT

The full list of October 2014 Top Ten titles can be found at:  LibraryReads 

RA Tip: November 2013 Top Ten LibraryReads List

The November 2013 Top Ten LibraryReads list has been announced and the # 1 favorite title is Belman & Black by Diane Setterfield. Some of you may be familiar with Setterfield's debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, published in 2006.

See the full Top Ten list for November 2013 in your browser.