Previews, Reviews, and Collection Development
The Collection Development and Evaluation Section (a part of the Reference and User Services Association, or RUSA) has announced its selections of the most outstanding works of 2012 (though the winners and contenders were largely published in 2011). These awards are unique in the pantheon of best lists, representing as they do the judgments of [...]
Stephanie Chase, interim reference, adult services, and programming coordinator, Multnomah County Library, loves Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding (Little, Brown). What We Said: Succeeding on many levels, this highly enjoyable and intelligent novel offers several coming-of-age tales set against the background of an exciting and convincing baseball drama. Harbach paints a humorous and resonant [...]
Miriam Tuliao, assistant director of branch collection development, New York Public Library, loves Theresa Weir’s The Orchard: A Memoir (Grand Central). What We Said: Eerie and atmospheric, this is an indie movie in print. You’ll read and read to see where it is going, although it’s clear early on that the future is not going [...]
Kaite Stover, readers’ services manager, Kansas City Public Library, loves Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One (Crown). What We Said: The conclusion is perhaps a bit predictable and the moral a bit pat, but it’s a feel-good ending all around. A great geek beach book and an unapologetic romp with brains and style. What She Says: [...]
Anna Mickelsen, reference librarian at the Springfield City Library, MA, loves Meghan O’Rourke’s The Long Goodbye (Riverhead) What We Said: One of the few memoirs I’ve read that keeps me chewing over an issue, with painful, charged, and meaningful descriptions of bereavement. This touched many nerves and deserves to be read. What She Says: Is [...]
Neal Wyatt, RA expert and LJ columnist, loves Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches (Viking). What We Said: Destined to be popular with fantasy and paranormal aficionados, this enchanting novel is an essential purchase. Harkness is an author to watch. Nine-city author tour; the novel will be translated into 32 languages. What She Says: Years [...]
Robin Nesbitt, technical services director, Columbus Metropolitan Library, loves Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead (Houghton Harcourt). What We Said: This is not to be missed—Claire is a moody, hip, and meticulous investigator. Gran (Dope; Come Closer) builds an addictive sense of anticipation with a fantastical frame. Alternately gritty and dreamy, [...]
Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Township Library, King of Prussia, PA, loves Killing the Cranes: A Reporter’s Journey Through Three Decades of War in Afghanistan (Chelsea Green) by Edward Girardet What We Said: With his vast experience inside Afghanistan during different conflicts, Girardet presents strong evidence that foreign powers from the British to the Soviets to [...]
Maura Deedy, head of Reference and Adult Services, Weymouth Public Libraries, MA, loves The Tiger’s Wife (Random) by Téa Obreht and The Call (HarperPerennial) by Yannick Murphy, both linked by the roles animals play in our lives. What We Said About The Tiger’s Wife: Demanding one’s full attention, this complex, humbling, and beautifully crafted debut [...]
Independent library consultant Katie Dunneback loves The Restorer (Mira: Harlequin) by Amanda Stevens What We Said: (Ahem, we didn’t review it. So many books, so little time. Apologies, Amanda Stevens. We hope Katie’s take below will suffice.) What She Says: The first in the “Graveyard Queen” series (there’s a prequel novella called The Abandoned well [...]
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