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Best books of the year
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Monday, December 16, 2019

Diana Friend

Communications and Marketing Director
(785)580-4486
dfriend@tscpl.org 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Library Shares Local Best Books of 2019
(TOPEKA) In 2019 Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library readers favored fiction with mystery, suspense and thrillers topping checkouts. While checkouts closely followed national trends, library staff and the library’s Facebook friends highlighted many other reads.   

“There is no one way to pick the best books of the year,” said Readers’ Librarian Miranda Ericsson. “Everyone has an opinion, and each list is a little different.”

Librarians monitor book reviews and blogs to see what titles are trending from multiple angles, including award winners, movie or TV adaptations, and smaller presses. Psychological suspense and Young Adult fiction are very popular, as are books about women’s experiences, own voices authors and memoirs. The following are 10 of the titles library staff picked as their best reads of 2019:
  • “The Winter of the Witch” by Katherine Arden
  • “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • “¡Ya supéralo!” by Cesar Lozano
  • “Beneath the Sugar Sky” by Seanan McGuire
  • “Cilka’s Journey” by Heather Morris
  • “The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper” by Hallie Rubenhold
  • “Guts” by Raina Telgemeier
  • “The Witches are Coming” by Lindy West
  • “Frankly in Love” by David Yoon
  •  “The Bright Unknown” by Elizabeth Byler Younts
The following are the top 10 books checked out from the library that were released in 2019:
  1. “Redemption” by David Baldacci
  2. “Wolf Pack” by C.J. Box
  3. “Under Currents” by Nora Roberts
  4. “The Chef” by James Patterson
  5. “Liar Liar” by James Patterson
  6. “Run Away” by Harlan Coben
  7. “The First Lady” by James Patterson
  8. “The Boy” by Tami Hoag
  9. “Neon Prey” by John Sandford
  10. “The Big Kahuna” by Janet Evanovich
The list reflects national bestseller trends, with books written by well-known authors and series that keep readers hooked. Books that have a big demand are often available as 14-Day Bestseller Express checkouts. These books move faster because they cannot be renewed or put on hold and they only check out for two weeks. “I call them lucky day books, because you might just get that hot title you’re on hold for as an express and skip past the line,” said Ericsson.

The library has seen a big uptick in the number of digital audiobooks checked out. “The biggest barrier to reading for many people is just time,” Digital Librarian Amber Bonnett said. “People love that they can listen to audiobooks while doing other activities.”

Another way to see what people in the community are reading is to follow the weekly “What are you reading” conversation on the library’s Facebook page. These comments show that many readers are catching up on what was hot the year before. Here are three titles published in 2018 that were most frequently commented on in 2019:
  • “Becoming” by Michelle Obama
  • “Educated” by Tara Westover
  • “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
The library catalog, book blogs and podcast provide reading recommendations all year long. The blogs Lost in the Stacks, Fiction Five, Book Fix and What YA’ Reading provide reading suggestions on a variety of genres. The library’s podcast, The Bookmark, provides stellar staff picks in weekly 30-minute episodes. Miranda Ericsson, Chris Blocker and Autumn Friedli discuss books to add to reading lists with a different library guest each week.
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About the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library
The library’s mission is sparking curiosity and connecting our community through literacy and learning. Our core values are excellence, curiosity, literacy, freedom, teamwork and accountability. We help transform the lives of citizens through five Community Impact Goals: every child will be ready for kindergarten • everyone will discover their passion for learning • everyone will continue learning new ways to live their best life • Topeka and Shawnee County will be an engaged community of readers • the library will be a learning organization committed to excellence in: leadership, planning, customer focus, process management and partner focus.











 
Copyright © 2019 Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, All rights reserved.


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