Best Books of 2016 Selected by Library Staff: Part 5
Then there are the staff members who can't narrow it down to just or two titles and send an entire list! Welcome to the Kelli and Jane recommendations, Part 5 in the series of staff-recommended best books of 2016.
Kelli:
Fiction:
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Homegoing by Yaa Gaasi
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, are born in different villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia marries an English colonist, lives in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle and her children go on to become administrators of the Empire. Esi is imprisoned in the Castle's women's dungeon before being shipped off on a boat bound for America, where she is sold into slavery. This novel tells the stories of these two sisters and their descendants, over seven generations. An incredible book.
Sisi: Empress On Her Own by Allison Pataki
• eAudiobook
• Large Print
While this novel continues the story of Sisi, more formerly known as Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which Pataki began in The Accidental Empress, it can stand alone. Sisi, now in her thirties, is torn between her responsibilities as Empress and her need for autonomy and an escape from the pressures of the Court in Vienna. However, her frequent absences have unintended consequences on her relationships with her children, her husband and her subjects.
Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
• eBook
In a hidden corner of a large communal garden in London, 13-year-old Grace is found unconscious and bloody. What happened to her and who is responsible? As the lives of the people living in the houses and apartment surrounding this garden are revealed, the reader is kept guessing as to what really occurred. A page turner that explores the question of how well we really know the people in our lives.
Moonlight Over Paris by Jennifer Robson
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
In the spring of 1924, Lady Helena Montagu-Douglas-Parr has just arrived in France and has one year to live with her eccentric aunt. During the summer in Antibes, she meets journalist Sam Howard. Later, back in Paris, they meet again when Helena is enrolled in art school and begins pursuing her dream to become an artist.
Nonfiction:
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The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukharjee
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Weaving science, social history and personal narrative, Siddhartha Mukherjee tells the story of one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of modern times — the discovery of the gene.
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Mayer investigates the brothers Charles and David Koch and the network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views who are behind a plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. Fascinating.
Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy
• eAudiobook
• eBook
The true story of the albino African-American Muse brothers, who were kidnapped and displayed as freaks in a popular circus show at the turn of the 20th century and their mother's search to find them.
Jane:
Science Fiction and Fantasy:
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The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Set in near future North America after world economic collapse, Stan and Charmaine have lost everything and are sleeping in their car. It doesn't take much to lure them into an agreement where they will live one month in a lovely town and one month in a not so bad prison alternating with another couple. All is peachy until Stan and Charmaine decide to make contact with the other couple. Darkly humorous and eerily prescient as always.
Morning Star by Pierce Brown
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
There are good rebels (Red) and the bad ruling elites (Gold). The Red tide is coming and what follows is a great big messy space battle. Last in Brown's "Space Opera" series, which is crying out be a film franchise. Preceded by Red Rising and Golden Son.
Planet of Exile by Ursula Le Guin
• eAudiobook
Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula Le Guin
• eBook
A science fiction classic and well worth a visit or revisit. Le Guin is an expert in Exo-Anthropology where the "aliens" are us and strange new cultures are vividly realized. Planet of Exile is available in the collection Worlds of Exile and Illusion along with two other books in the Hainish Cycle: Rocannon's World and City of Illusions (regular print and eBook formats). It is available as a standalone book in eAudiobook format.
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The Passage Series by Justin Cronin
The Passage
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
The Twelve
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
The City of Mirrors
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
A mad scientist trying to save his dying wife unleashes a virus that turns almost EVERYONE into a vampire. A young girl is humanity's only hope. This is epic scifi/fantasy!
A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab
• eAudiobook
• eBook
The latest in the good vs. bad magic genre. In this universe, multiple Londons exist for good reason. Most have magic but in one London, the magic is so dark it's been carefully hidden. Even the powerful magicians who travel between the worlds haven't been there. Of course, "someone" lets the dark side out.
Preceded by A Darker Shade of Magic.
Classics:
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Middlemarch by George Eliot
• Regular Print (Penguin Classics Edition)
• Regular Print (Random House)
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook (Duke Classics)
• eBook (Modern Library)
• eBook (Project Gutenberg)
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
I started to read My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead and realized that I needed to read the original first. Why did I take so long to read/listen to this wonderful work of literature?
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Audiobook (read by Keir Dullea)
• Audiobook (read by Alfred Molina)
• Audiobook (various performers)
• eAudiobook (performed by David Ian Davies)
• eAudiobook (read by Frederick Davidson)
• eAudiobook (narrated by Neil Hunt)
• eBook (Bantam Classic)
• eBook (Project Gutenberg)
• Large Print
Before you watch Black Sails, read or listen to the original story featuring John Silver and his Captain Flint. Yo ho ho!
More Recommendations:
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