The 2013 List of Best Books Lists

If you're like us, you like to give books for the holidays, especially ones for those nieces and nephews who love to read. But which ones? I confess I love love love the "best books of the year" lists that I find all over the internet.

In case you enjoy them too, here is a collection for your perusal. P.S. Unlike the other titles we talk about here, these books aren't necessarily in the library's catalog.

First on the list is our own Southwest Books of the Year! This year there are 7 Top Picks and 27 Panelist Picks. Southwest Books of the Year considers titles published during the current year that are about Southwest subjects, or that are set in the Southwest.

Enjoy!

All Ages
PCPL's Southwest Books of the Year
Best Books of 2013 (NPR)
Goodreads Choice Awards 2013
National Book Awards (and finalists)
The 13 Best Biographies, Memoirs, and History Books of 2013 (Brain Pickings)

Looking Back at 2012

I have lots of various book lists going at a time; wishlists, to buy, currently reading, finished, etc.  This is the time of the year that I like to create yet another list, my favorites from the year.  It's always fun to look back at past literary adventures.  Certain books were not all that memorable, as evidenced by the fact that I can hardly remember the plot much less the character's name.  Other titles could be written in bold type, because they were so much fun.  Looking back I see I have read a lot of dystopias along with my standard fantasy and teen contemporary titles, so this list is heavily skewed in that direction.  Hmm, maybe my New Year's Resolution could be to branch out a little more.  Anyway, here were some of my favorites from the past year.

The Selection by Kiera Cass
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
A Touch of Power by Maria Snyder
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

And may the New Year, bring many more.

Best Books of 2012 Galore!

This is the time of year when I am out in the book stores picking out great reads for my family and friends, especially my nieces and nephews. But which ones? I confess I love love love the "best books of the year" lists that I find all over the internet.

In case you enjoy them too, here is a collection for your perusal. P.S. Unlike the other titles we talk about here, these books aren't necessarily in our catalog.

Here goes:

All Ages
Book Riot's Best Books of 2012
Best Books 2012 (Publisher's Weekly)
Goodreads Choice Awards 2012
Southwest Books of the Year (Pima County Public Library)
25 of the Most Wonderful Book Covers of the Year (Atlantic Wire)

Adults
10 Best Books of 2012 (New York Times Sunday Book Review)
100 Notable Books of 2012 (New York Times Sunday Book Review)
What To Read Awards: The Salon Book Critics’ Poll (Salon Magazine) just added
Notable Books for Adults (ALA/RUSA)
Best Books 2012: Top Ten (Library Journal) just added
Best Books 2012: More of the Best (Library Journal) just added
Librarian Nancy Pearl's Picks For The Omnivorous Reader (NPR Books)
Great Reads In Store: Indie Booksellers Pick 2012's Best (NPR Books) just added
Our Editors Select The Best Books Of 2012 (Huffington Books)
The Slate Book Review Top 10 of 2012 (Slate Magazine)
2012 Books: Slate Staff Picks (Slate Magazine)
Overlooked Books of 2012 (Slate Magazine)
Nerdfighter Book Recommendations (author John Green) just added
The 10 Best Books of 2012 (And 5 Almost Worth Burning) (Hollywood.com)
The Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration (ALA/RUSA)
Best Art Books of 2012 (Brain Pickings)
Best Design Books of 2012 (Brain Pickings)
Best Science Books of 2012 (Brain Pickings)
Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2012 (Brain Pickings)
Going Vegan: 5 Favorite Cookbooks from 2012 (Oregon Live)
Favourite Comics, Art Books & More (Drawn blog)

Children and Teens
Best Books 2012 (School Library Journal)
Notable Children’s Books of 2012 (New York Times)
Best Children's Books of 2012 to Give as Gifts (Parenting Magazine)
Children's Books 2012: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing (NYPL)
Cybils Award Finalists for 2012
The Best Illustrated Children’s Books and Picturebooks of 2012 (Brain Pickings)
My Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2012 (so far) (Abby the Librarian)
Best Young Adult Books of 2012 (Goodreads)
Judy B.'s 2012 Top Teen Fiction Reads (Tattered Cover)
Judy B.'s Favorite 2012 Non-Fiction Teen Reads (Tattered Cover)
Christmas Book Ideas for Teens (YA Nerd blog)
Top 10 Science and Health Books for Youth (Booklist)
Outstanding Science Books for Students K–12 (National Science Teachers Assn)
Children's Books (NPR Books)
Your Favorites: 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels (NPR Books)

--Lisa, your Facebook Librarian

One of my favorites makes a top 100 list

Over the summer, NPR listeners voted on more than 5,000 science fiction and fantasy titles.  The nerds... ahem... I mean the experts over at NPR then narrowed the list down to the top 100 picks.  The result is an eclectic mixture of classic and modern titles.  Some of the titles I expected to see.  If it had been missing obvious cult favorites like Lord of the Rings, Dune, or Star Wars, I would have had to dismiss it as an inferior list. Many of my old favorites were there, but imagine my delight when one of my new favorites made the cut.  Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher is relatively new and Butcher's other series The Dresden Files seemed to be the more well known. 

Happy New You!

What are your New Year's resolutions? Learning a new skill, traveling the world, reinventing yourself, or getting around to something you've put off for a while? I just put up a display of books to help get you started. Here's the virtual version!

• Freerunning and parkour amp running and jogging up a notch, into an extreme sport. Do you dare try?
• Get crafty! Arizona's own Crafty Chica writes about sparkly, fun, Mexican-heritage-inspired crafts, not to mention fashion and style. She even penned a little crafty fiction! And you can save the planet by delighting your friends and family with recycled crafts from Recyclo-Gami, Craft Activism, Upcycling, or Steampunk Emporium.
• Take an offbeat vacation with The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel. Challenge your travel-mates to a game of "Trip Poker": winner picks a destination...and loser pays. Already have a destination in mind? We keep some always-available guidebooks in our ebook collection.Visit our digital downloads page and see if we have the right one for you! (P.S. If one of your resolutions involves reading classics, we have plenty of free public domain ebooks available that don't count against your checkout limit and never expire.)
• Create something really important, a lasting video record of a life-and death struggle where all of human existence hangs in the balance. That's right, I'm talking about making your own zombie movie with Filming the Undead!
• A lot of resolutions involve diet and exercise. Our collection includes books that run the gamut from vegan diets to pilates to fat acceptance; something for everyone!
• Maybe all this talk about diet got you thinking about growing your own food. We have a wide selection of gardening books, and we've got an awesome seed library to check out...literally!
• Finally, do you have trouble sticking to your resolutions, feeling like they're important, or even remembering them after a few months? (Me too!) This Year I Will offers tips on making lasting changes in your life. And although I have a pretty low tolerance for the self-help genre, Sark always makes me feel creative and inspired.

But library resources don't end with books! Visit our website to...

• Learn a language,
• Research your family's genealogy,
• Find articles, instruction videos, and more for all kinds of hobbies,
• Or start a business!

We also offer a wide variety of free classes in person at your local branch, where you can learn anything from computer basics to GED prep to languages to photo editing to Excel!

What are your resolutions? How do you use the library help you reach your goals?

Sea Stories

It's August. It's hot. Let's face it, all of us in Tucson are dreaming about the beach... and when we say beach, we think beach reads. A beach read tends to hold the connotation of something light, something fun, something that probably falls into the guilty pleasure category you hide under your bed.

I've got another variety of beach reads for you: sea stories. Pirates and adventures and tales of the high seas! My one problem: I have so many favorite sea stories it was almost impossible to pick out one or two to highlight. But I love lists, so I am going to start a list of some of my all time favorite sea stories, and invite you all to keep this list rolling. If you are reading this from our library website, please click through to our blog page to add your favorite to our comment section.

1. Piratica by Tanith Lee (as swashbuckling as it gets)
2. The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman (for all the Gaiman fans out there)
3. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Web + book = Double the fun

I don't have a computer at home, so anytime I want to search on the Internet I bike over to my closest public library. Some of my favorite quirky websites are publishing books, so those of us who can't keep up on the web can at least read about the fun world we live in. Here are three great books that will entertain for hours (and feel free to follow up on the web).
First we'll start with cakes, specifically Cake Wrecks. Now I've had my share of cake mishaps - the three-layered cake that leaned like the tower in Pisa, the checkerboard cake that was as dry as a checkerboard, etc. But the pictures in this book literally take the cake - and they are all professionally created in bakeries across the country!