Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 2
Each year library staff members select their personal favourite books of the year. These are not necessarily books that were published in 2016, but they reflect the best reading experiences we had in 2016.
Mike:
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The Nix by Nathan Hill
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
A wonderful debut novel that shows how our personal lives are affected by the political world, presented through the lens of a son that was abandoned by his mother.
Susan:
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How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball
• eAudiobook
• eBook
Donna:
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Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
The main character Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) lives alone in the small Sussex village of Edgecombe St. Mary some years after the death of his wife. A witty old bachelor attached to the quiet society of the village in which he lives, he loves shooting, civility and a well-brewed cup of tea.
As he finds himself drifting into a closer and closer friendship with a fellow villager, Mrs. Jasmina Ali, who runs the village shop, he brushes up against the censure of his neighbours for his “inappropriate liaison”.
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Set in New York city in 1871, the book follows the life of a young girl named Moth who lives in poverty with her mother on Chrystie Street, a poor area without sewers where people live in squalor as they can, and die when they can no longer hold the tatters of their lives together.
Wendy:
Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms by Eugenia Bone
• ebook
A food writer becomes obsessed with wild morels and plunges headlong into the insular, colourful world of mushroom hunters. Funny, nerdy, fascinating.
More Recommendations:
- Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 1
- Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 3
- Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 4
- Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 5
- Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Young Adult and Children's Literature
8 thoughts on “Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 2”
not crazy about these book..
Oh wow. That one on mushroom is interesting! Thanks!
My, don’t library staff have eclectic tastes. And that is a very good thing!!!!
Loved Major Pettigrew!
Me neither. My fave book this year was The Rosie Project, which we read at our book club. Otherwise I mostly read romance and YA. Oh, and Stephanie Plum!! (p.s. I’m staff)
No wait, I take that back. Favourite book of the year: Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen!
Maria and all fans of YA books,
All the YA books people have recommended will be published in a separate blog post on Thursday, January 26.
Well, actually, I think there’s an overrepresentation of novels. I would draw a parallel between that overrepresentation and the Library’s habit of featuring almost nothing but novelists (Peggy Atwood first among equals) in any promotional campaign. We never hear about nonfiction books as a reason to visit the library (except for specific transactional how-to items that are meant to make you Better As a Person), and we certainly never hear about using the library to borrow music, movies, or (God forbid) magazines.
I wonder if the allegiance these library staff hold toward the novel would survive a reading of David Shields’ _Reality Hunger_.
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2612516&R=2612516
Mine didn’t.