Pima County Public Library Ultimate Staff Picks 2012

Library folk love to read, they read terrific books, and they  love to talk about the books they think are terrific. So the Ravenous Readers got to thinking: wouldn't it make a great reading list if we asked library staff from all over the Pima County Public Library system to tell us the name of the single most terrific book they read in 2012?

So that's what we did --  and we gathered the results into the First Annual Pima County Public Library Ultimate Staff Picks List, which we present here, to help you find a good title to start the new year right. Happy New Year, and Happy Reading!

Children's

When Charlie McButton Lost Power
Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games), illustrated by Mike Lester (Children’s Picture Book) A great rhyming story with fantastic illustrations about a boy suffering from electronic toy withdrawal during a power outage. After an episode spent in time-out (tackling his sister’s toys for their batteries), Charlie realizes how much fun he can have--without electricity.  
Elizabeth, Collection Development Office

Fiction
                         

The Age of Miracles 

Karen Thompson Walker

An apocalyptic coming-of-age story: when the earth's rotation slows, day and night are thrown off track and crops start to fail...

Cindy, Nanini Library

Read and Greet

Our warm welcome goes out to PCPL’s newest branch - Oro Valley Public Library. What better way to meet the staff than to learn their reading tastes? So check out their picks and get to know the Oro Valley team.

Amy recommends Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson.         

Marianne travels to join her twin sister in Edenbrooke for the summer, and discovers romance and adventure when she meets the dashing Sir Philip.

Betty recommends Pip’s Trip by Janet Stoeke. 

After failing to convince her fellow hens to join her for a ride, adventurous Pip climbs inside the farmer's truck only to realize there is no place like home.

Staff Picks

Here are some titles that our staff enjoyed reading last month.

Helene liked The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan which follows a group of roommates from the class of 1989 as they prepare for their twentieth reunion weekend at Harvard.

Jenn enjoyed Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan.  The book goes behind the famous multiple-personality case, showing the willing patient, her ambitious shrink, and the imaginative journalist who spun their story into bestseller gold.

Vicki Ann liked Heft by Liz Moore.  Overweight Arthur hasn't left his apartment in 10 years.  Kel is a poor kid in a rich school.  These two opposites form an unexpected friendship that changes their lives. 

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Staff Picks

Here are titles our staff has recently enjoyed.

Helene enjoyed Cocktail Hour Under The Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller.  A memoir about growing up in Africa.  Her family deals with survival, war, loyalty, and what it means to be family. 

Patti recommends Bond Girl by Erin Duffy.  The world of high finance in high heels.  Alex manages to get to the top at one of Wall Streets prestigious firms, just in time for the economy to collapse. 

Karen liked The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  Experts have all sorts of ideas about what would make us happier.  Each month for a year Gretchen tries a new resolution to see what works and what didn't, and she reaches some surprising conclusions.

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Staff picks

These are the titles our staff enjoyed reading last month.

Patti enjoyed The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly.  Lulu stumbles across a collection of letters written by her great great grandmother Jo March.  She finds comfort and guidance from those letters as she deals with her own sisters.

Betsey recommends Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpren.  This is is a hilarious tour through high school clique-dom, as Jessie tries to find new friends.

Karen liked Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos.  Six years after their friendship ended, Pen receives a letter from her old friend, Cat. She will end up revisiting her complicated feelings about her former friend. 

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Staff Picks

Here is what our staff recently enjoyed reading.

Betsy and Heather recommend Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. Two stories weave back and forth, one told in prose and the other in pictures as two children search for what is missing in their lives.  Ultimately they find they need to be open to the wonders of the world.  

Helene enjoyed The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson.  It's an enchanting love story set in P. T. Barnum's American Museum in 1865 New York City.  The main character, Bartholomew, is The World's Thinnest Man. 

Karen liked The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok.  This is Mira's memoir.  Her mother is a homeless, schizophrenic whom she has been estranged from for seventeen years. After a car accident affects Mira's memory, her mother's diaries and letters allow her to build a memory palace and regain pieces of her childhood. 

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Staff Picks

Here are some of the books our staff has been reading this past month.

Jenn recommends The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey.  The holy grail of surfing is the 100 foot wave.  Follow a tribe of extreme surfers as they get the adrenaline high from conquering these waves and living to tell about it. 

Maureen recommends Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry.  Zombies have taken over most of the world.  Benny reluctantly gets apprenticed to a zombie hunter and it will ultimately teach him what it means to be human. 

Heather recommends 101 Places Not to See Before You Die by Catherine Price.  Here is a humorous look at some of the least appealing places to visit.  A few spots in Arizona even make it into this book. 

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Staff Picks

Here is some of what our staff has read this month.

Helene recommends Paper Trails: True Stories of Confusion, Mindless Violence, and Forbidden Desires, A Surprising Number of Which Are Not About Marriage by Pete Dexter. A collection of Pete Dexter's newspaper columns on life, death, and everything in between.

Maureen enjoyed Mare's War by Tanita Davis. Two teenagers reluctantly join their grandmother on a cross country road trip and find themselves entranced by her stories about serving in the African American regiment of the Women's Army Corps during World War 2.

Nyssa recommends Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. Two Chinese sisters are sold into marriage to American husbands to settle their father's debts. Through it all their bond as sisters sustains them.

More picks.