LibraryReads Recommends Great Books

Written by Jon Williams

Working as a partnership between public libraries and a group of major publishers, LibraryReads is a program designed to promote librarians’ favorite novels to adult readers each month. Beginning in September of 2013, each month they produce a list of ten newly published titles nominated and voted on by librarians across the country. That very first list was a winner right off the bat, containing, among others, the very popular Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

Since the beginning, 160 novels have been selected by LibraryReads for recommendation to patrons, with a fresh batch ready to go for the first month of the new year. With December being somewhat slow for the publication of new titles, instead of producing a new list, LibraryReads instead came out with their “Favorite of Favorites,” the very best of previously selected titles. It’s a list of great books that showcases the great taste librarians have for literature. The previously mentioned Fangirl made the list, as did another novel by Rowell, Landline. The list also includes Pulitzer Prize winner The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and National Book Award finalist All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

The book selected as the overall favorite, though, was The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, originally selected for the April 2014 list. The story of a grumpy bookseller and collector who undergoes a gradual transformation when a young girl comes into his life, it is Zevin’s eighth novel. Her first, Elsewhere, published in 2005, was a YA novel dealing with the afterlife. Since then, she has written for both teens and adults, with Storied Life being her most acclaimed work to date.

The full list of LibraryReads Favorite of Favorites can be found in our January audiobook buyer’s guide, or on our website. And for January, it’s back to the usual list of ten brand new novels for patrons to check out. This first list is headlined by such titles as As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, the new Flavia de Luce title from Alan Bradley, and The Rosie Effect, follow-up to The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simison. It also includes The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, The Bishop’s Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison, Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar, First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen, and Full Throttle by Julie Ann Walker.

Interested in LibraryReads for your library? No problem! Check out the program’s website for materials you can use to promote each month’s titles to your patrons. While you’re there, you can find out how to nominate books for the list and participate in selection, if you don’t already. Help bring your love of books—and audiobooks!—to patrons who might otherwise miss these great reads.

Hot This Week: December 29

Welcome to the last tabulation of 2014, which sees the new TMNT take the movie list by storm. Taylor Swift finishes the year strong, returning to the #1 spot on the music chart, challenged by the new release from Nicki Minaj. In fiction, Phil Klay's recent National Book Award propels his book of short stories, Redeployment, onto the list for the first time. In non-fiction, the release of Angelina Jolie's movie about the amazing life of Louis Zamperini spurs the return of Unbroken after a brief time off the list.

DVD

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Into the Storm
4. Let's Be Cops
5. If I Stay
6. How to Train Your Dragon 2
7. Tammy
8. 22 Jump Street
9. And So It Goes
10. The Expendables 3

CD

1. Taylor Swift, 1989
2. Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
3. Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
4. J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
5. D'Angelo and the Vanguard, Black Messiah
6. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
7. One Direction, Four
8. Ed Sheeran, X
9. Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine
10. AC/DC, Rock or Bust

Fiction

1. Gray Mountain, John Grisham
2. Revival, Stephen King
3. Hope to Die, James Patterson
4. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
5. The Escape, David Baldacci
6. Tom Clancy's Full Force and Effect, Mark Greaney
7. Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
8. The Burning Room, Michael Connelly
9. Redeployment, Phil Klay
10. Edge of Eternity, Ken Follett

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Patton, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. 41, George W. Bush
3. What If?, Randall Munroe
4. Yes Please, Amy Poehler
5. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand
6. As You Wish, Cary Elwes and Joe Layden
7. The Andy Cohen Diaries, Andy Cohen
8. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
9. You Can't Make This Up, Al Michaels and L. Jon Wertheim
10. The Innovators, Walter Isaacson

Hot This Week: December 22

Tammy jumps over 22 Jump Street to gain the top movie spot for the week, while the summer blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy makes its first appearance. In music, J. Cole pushes T-Swizzle to the #2 spot, at least temporarily, and is joined by newcomers Carrie Underwood and K. Michelle. While those charts see plenty of new titles, both audiobook lists see familiar favorites staying strong and simply switching positions as the holidays approach.

DVD

1. Tammy
2. 22 Jump Street
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Maleficent 
5. The Expendables 3
6. Let's Be Cops
7. The Giver
8. How to Train Your Dragon 2 
9. Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas
10. The Purge: Anarchy

CD

1. J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
2. Taylor Swift, 1989
3. Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
4. Carrie Underwood, Greatest Hits: Decade #1
5. AC/DC, Rock or Bust
6. K. Michelle, Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?
7. One Direction, Four
8. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
9. Ed Sheeran, X
10. Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine

Fiction

1. Gray Mountain, John Grisham
2. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
3. Revival, Stephen King
4. Hope to Die, James Patterson
5. The Escape, David Baldacci
6. Tom Clancy's Full Force and Effect, Mark Greaney
7. Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
8. The Burning Room, Michael Connelly
9. Edge of Eternity, Ken Follett
10. Flesh and Blood, Patricia Cornwell

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Patton, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. 41, George W. Bush
3. Yes Please, Amy Poehler
4. What If?, Randall Munroe
5. You Can't Make This Up, Al Michaels and L. Jon Wertheim
6. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
7. The Andy Cohen Diaries, Andy Cohen
8. As You Wish, Cary Elwes and Joe Layden
9. Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham
10. The Innovators, Walter Isaacson

The Newsroom Fades to Black

Written by Jon Williams

The third and final season of The Newsroom concluded this past season, bringing an end to HBO’s series about the perils and challenges of trying to do serious TV journalism in an era of reality TV and the endless quest for ratings. The lead role of passionate newsman Will McAvoy was ably handled by Jeff Daniels (in quite a departure from his other recent appearance as Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber To), heading an ensemble cast that also included Sam Waterston, Jane Fonda, Emily Mortimer, and Olivia Munn, among others.

The Newsroom was created by Aaron Sorkin, who also served as the primary writer for all 25 episodes. Sorkin started his career as a playwright, and got his start in Hollywood by writing the play A Few Good Men, adapting it himself for the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. With its famous “You can’t handle the truth!” line thundered by Nicholson’s character, Sorkin’s reputation as a writer of smart, snappy dialogue was born. He would then go on to write the films Malice (currently unavailable) and The American President.

From there, Sorkin would make his first foray into the television world—in more ways than one. His first series, Sports Night (also unavailable), was, like The Newsroom, a show about doing television. Inspired by ESPN’s SportsCenter, the show focused on a group of people putting together a nightly sports show. The comedy was well received by critics but scored low ratings (perhaps inspiring one of the conflicts at the heart of The Newsroom) and was only on for two seasons. It led, however, directly into The West Wing, the breakthrough drama starring Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet and focusing on his staff and administration.

The West Wing ran for seven seasons, ending in 2006, which saw the debut of Sorkin’s next series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. With it, he returned to the world of television production, this time looking at a sketch comedy series. However, it garnered much the same reaction as Sports Night, and only lasted one season. At that point, Sorkin returned to working for the big screen, adapting books into screenplays for the hit movies Charlie Wilson’s War, The Social Network (for which he won an Academy Award), and Moneyball.

With The Newsroom heading into the sunset, one of the projects on Sorkin’s horizon is another adaptation for the silver screen, this time of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. He has said recently that he is unlikely to write again for television; if that’s true, he’s certainly left viewers with some great shows and memorable moments. Make sure you have his acclaimed work on your shelves for patrons to explore and enjoy.

Hot This Week: December 15

Three new titles join this week's DVD listing, with Tammy coming up just short of last week's #1, 22 Jump Street. Rock legends AC/DC are back on the music charts with their latest release, Rock or Bust. The fiction and non-fiction lists both saw little change from last week, with the only new title on either list being Full Force and Effect, Mark Greaney's continuation of Tom Clancy's popular Jack Ryan series.

DVD

1. 22 Jump Street
2. Tammy
3. Maleficent 
4. The Expendables 3
5. Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas
6. The Giver 
7. X-Men: Days of Future Past
8. The Purge: Anarchy
9. Sex Tape
10. Hercules

CD

1. Taylor Swift, 1989
2. Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
3. AC/DC, Rock or Bust
4. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
5. One Direction, Four
6. Idina Menzel, Holiday Wishes
7. Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine
8. Mary J. Blige, The London Sessions
9. Frozen Soundtrack
10. Ed Sheeran, X

Fiction

1. Hope to Die, James Patterson
2. Gray Mountain, John Grisham
3. The Escape, David Baldacci
4. Revival, Stephen King
5. Tom Clancy's Full Force and Effect, Mark Greaney
6. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
7. The Burning Room, Michael Connelly
8. Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
9. Flesh and Blood, Patricia Cornwell
10. Edge of Eternity, Ken Follett

Non-Fiction

1. Killing Patton, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
2. 41, George W. Bush
3. Yes Please, Amy Poehler
4. What If?, Randall Munroe
5. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
6. The Andy Cohen Diaries, Andy Cohen
7. You Can't Make This Up, Al Michaels and L. Jon Wertheim
8. As You Wish, Cary Elwes and Joe Layden
9. The Innovators, Walter Isaacson
10. Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham

Grammys More Than Just Music

Written by Jon Williams

In case you missed it somehow, the Grammy Award nominations were announced last week in an all-day event that culminated in a concert special that came with the Album of the Year nominees. The artists and albums up for that coveted award are Beck’s Morning Phase, Beyonce’s self-titled surprise, Pharrell’s GIRL, Ed Sheeran’s X, and Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour. You can find these CDs, along with all the others up for awards in all categories, in our collection of 2015 Grammy nominees.

When you hear about the Grammys, your mind automatically turns to music—which is only natural, as the awards honor the best and brightest in the music industry, and at the ceremony the awards themselves take a backseat to some of the most notable performances of the year. With that in mind, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that not all Grammy Awards are given out for music. One such award is that for comedy album, which has a stellar lineup this year. Here are the nominees for this year:

Louis C.K. – Oh My God: Even if you don’t know Louis C.K. by sight, chances are excellent that you know his work. In addition to his standup, he has a long and successful comedy writing career, including for Letterman and Saturday Night Live. He has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, winning in 1999 for The Chris Rock Show, and again just last year for his own show, the acclaimed FX series Louie.

Jim Gaffigan – Obsessed: If there’s one overarching theme in Jim Gaffigan’s comedy, it’s that he likes to talk about food. A lot. He has authored two books of humor: Dad Is Fat and Food: A Love Story; the titles should give you some idea. As such, his humor is generally pretty clean and family-appropriate. Although he doesn’t maintain a steady presence in Hollywood, it’s certainly not out of the ordinary to see him on film or TV, with roles in Super Troopers and That ‘70s Show, to name just a couple.

Patton Oswalt – Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time: Patton Oswalt, on the other hand, is all over the place. Performing as a comedian for over twenty years, he has also gotten regular Hollywood work. He does a fair amount of voice work, most notably starring as Remy the Rat in Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille. Most recently he’s had a recurring role on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s also frequently found on Twitter, where he’s been known to experiment with the form as a method of delivering comedy.

Sarah Silverman – We Are Miracles: Like Louis C.K., one of Sarah Silverman’s first jobs was writing for SNL, although she had little success and was fired after one season. Obviously, that hasn’t deterred her, as she has gone on to become one of the biggest names in comedy. She, like Patton Oswalt, has done some voiceover work, such as in Wreck-It Ralph, and plenty of other acting work besides. She has appeared on Louie, and most recently was in the Seth MacFarlane comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Weird Al Yankovic – Mandatory Fun: Okay, so this one actually is musical in nature, as well as being hilarious. Al took the Internet by storm earlier this year with the release of this, his fourteenth album, releasing a video per day for a week, including parodies of Pharrell’s “Happy” and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” We wrote about him and his career at the time, but one thing we failed to mention (specifically) is that he won a previous Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2003 for Poodle Hat.

All of the nominees have plenty of hilarious material available; SmartBrowse each of their names on our website for their films, audiobooks, and standup specials on DVD and CD. Who do you think is the funniest of the bunch?

Hot This Week: December 8

The action comedy 22 Jump Street, starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, debuts atop this week's movie listing, with three other new titles showing up as well. In music, it was a week of resurgence, with Taylor Swift reclaiming #1 and the ever-popular Frozen soundtrack climbing back onto the chart, along with Ariana Grande and Maroon 5. The fiction list grows even more top-heavy with James Patterson joining Baldacci, Grisham, and King, while the non-fiction list remains largely the same from last week.

DVD

1. 22 Jump Street
2. Maleficent 
3. The Expendables 3
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
5. Neighbors
6. Sex Tape
7. Hercules
8. The Purge: Anarchy
9. Earth to Echo
10. Edge of Tomorrow

CD

1. Taylor Swift, 1989
2. Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
3. Various Artists, ShadyXV
4. One Direction, Four
5. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
6. Rick Ross, Hood Billionaire
7. Ariana Grande, My Everything
8. Frozen Soundtrack
9. Maroon 5, V
10. Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine

Fiction

1. Hope to Die, James Patterson
2. The Escape, David Baldacci
3. Gray Mountain, John Grisham
4. Revival, Stephen King
5. The Burning Room, Michael Connelly
6. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
7. Prince Lestat, Anne Rice
8. Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
9. Flesh and Blood, Patricia Cornwell
10. Blue Labyrinth, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Non-Fiction

1. 41, George W. Bush
2. Killing Patton, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
3. Yes Please, Amy Poehler
4. What If?, Randall Munroe
5. The Andy Cohen Diaries, Andy Cohen
6. You Can't Make This Up, Al Michaels and L. Jon Wertheim
7. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
8. Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham
9. Choose Your Own Autobiography, Neil Patrick Harris and David Javerbaum
10. As You Wish, Cary Elwes and Joe Layden

Hot This Week: December 1

Welcome to December! The news after the long holiday weekend is that Taylor Swift has been bumped from #1 by One Direction. Likewise, in fiction, the latest from thriller-meister David Baldacci debuts at the top, moving Stephen King to #2. In non-fiction, on the other hand, the top titles remain the same, with Brooke Shields's new memoir being the only newcomer at #10.

DVD

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
2. Hercules 
3. Edge of Tomorrow
4. Neighbors
5. Maleficent
6. Sex Tape
7. A Million Ways to Die in the West
8. Mr. Peabody & Sherman
9. The Fault in Our Stars
10. Godzilla

CD

1. One Direction, Four
2. Taylor Swift, 1989
3. Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
4. Nickelback, No Fixed Address
5. Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine
6. Pink Floyd, The Endless River
7. Foo Fighters, Sonic Highways
8. In This Moment, Black Widow
9. Idina Menzel, Holiday Wishes
10. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour

Fiction

1. The Escape, David Baldacci
2. Revival, Stephen King
3. Gray Mountain, John Grisham
4. The Mistletoe Promise, Richard Paul Evans
5. The Burning Room, Michael Connelly
6. The Cinderella Murder, Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
7. Flesh and Blood, Patricia Cornwell
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. The Job, Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
10. Prince Lestat, Anne Rice

Non-Fiction

1. 41, George W. Bush
2. Killing Patton, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
3. Yes Please, Amy Poehler
4. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
5. The Andy Cohen Diaries, Andy Cohen
6. What If?, Randall Munroe
7. Small Victories, Anne Lamott
8. Dreamers and Deceivers, Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe
9. Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham
10. There Was a Little Girl, Brooke Shields