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Here is a list of our favorite books read this year.

Scott, Head of Adult Services

Wellness by Nathan Hill
Do you believe in love at first sight? Jack and Elizabeth live across from one another in different apartment buildings. A chance meeting at a concert starts their love affair, set in the early 90s with Chicago of the backdrop. The novel follows the ups and downs of Jack and Elizabeth's marriage, but the book is much more than that. It's funny, insightful, and critiques art, culture and our modern way of life. The writing is stellar. Pristine. Masterful! I loved Hill’s first book, The Nix.  Some books you just want to speed through. This is one I took my time with, and so glad I did.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
This true story follows a young couple who steals their way through art galleries, churches, museums, and castles throughout Europe. The amount of paintings, sculptures and antique weapons they steal over a five year period is absolutely staggering. Their technique is very simple. They walk into a gallery during open hours and grab stuff off walls and out of displays when no one is looking, in corners where security cameras don't reach.  This is one book I haven't been able to stop talking about since I listened to it on audio. 

Babel, or the necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford Translators' Revolution  by R.F. Kuang.
This fantasy novel takes place in London in the 1800s, and follows a group of students at Oxford studying magic. The students hail from different parts of the world and speak many languages. Magic in this world works by combining two languages and these students are the top pupils of their class. Kuang tackles some big issues like colonialism and racism but she does it with such skill. She is great at building characters and I was fascinated by her world building.
 

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Katie, Head of Youth Services

Mexikid written and illustrated by Pedro Martin.

On the surface, Mexikid is a graphic memoir set in the 1970s about Pedro, a Mexican American boy, and his family's road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico to live with them in California.  Like any classic road trip story, there's an unforgettable cast of characters, plenty of adventures, and lessons about family and growing up.  But it's so much more than that.  The scope of storytelling is just epic, and the graphic novel format works beautifully here.  Pedro Martin takes us on our own journey as readers, with page-long asides explaining everything from 1970s pop culture to the layout of the family's used Winnebago (featuring preteen sarcasm at its finest).  And I haven't even talked about Abuelito, the entire reason for the road trip.  He is given the hero's treatment, with his adventures done in a classic comic book style.

Mexikid also explores the immigrant experience in a way that I think is new to the world of children's literature. 

The majority of this book takes place in Mexico, and we experience Mexico from Pedro's perspective, as a bit of an outsider.  His Spanish isn't great.  He loves Star Wars and the Fonz.  As he explains it, he is "a kid who doesn't quite belong to either place."  Adding more complexity: Pedro is one of nine siblings, and he is one of the four youngest siblings who were born in the US ("somewhat Mexican"), while his older siblings were born in Mexico ("somewhat American").  Like everything in this book, this is all portrayed with poignancy and humor.  
 

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Ina, Adult Services Librarian
 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
It was a very powerful book, I would recommend it for Book Clubs. Coming from an addicted teenage mother, an abusive stepfather, a corrupt foster care system reeking of abuse is what Demon Copperhead endures at the young age of ten years old. Working on a tobacco farm, then with a family who has him sleeping in a dog room, hungry, taking leftovers from school lunch trays, he endures - somehow without speaking up to his case worker for fear of what his next foster situation would be. His next one turns out to be life altering in more ways than one. This is an in your face strong depiction of the opioid epidemic in Appalachia. It’s depressing and heartbreaking to read. I was drained at times. As with other books by Kingsolver, there is a social message here, but it’s not just told with statistics of addictions, deaths, but through the moving story of a character as a little boy and then as a young man, with all of the horrors he faced in between, feeling as real as it gets. Unfortunately, we live in times when the power of addiction in society at large are all too real and this story is another great representation of its effects.
 

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

Mad Honey is another excellent pick for a book club. There are a lot of hot topics in this book, a great tool to start some engaging conversations.

As far as the murder mystery, I really enjoyed this aspect of Mad Honey. At the beginning of the book, you start off with Asher as a suspect. However, as the book progresses, you discover that there are quite a few people who have motive. This is a coming of age story that goes back and forth in time, with all the intensity of a teenage romance, all the tensions and suspense of a murder mystery and a courtroom drama to boot amidst a challenging narrative of secrets, lies and deception. I enjoyed the book and the atmosphere it created and all the issues it raised.

Covenant of water by Abraham Verghese

I fell in love with this book despite the fact its size intimidated me in the beginning. I’ve admired and loved all of Verghese’s previous book (Cutting for Stone). At over 700 pages, across eight decades and three generations (between 1900-1970) The Covenant of Water weaves history and medicine into an enormously powerful story of human connections, of secrets and triumphs. Set in Kerala in South India, Big Ammachi and her extended family suffer from a peculiar malady involving an aversion to water, a medical mystery that ties together much of the narrative. Verghese adds to the mix an exploration of love, caste, and poverty, of farming and art, of faith and activism. This is a novel to read and reread. And then, the ending is … amazing, do not skip the ending, I cried and cried. Do not rush or skip it, even if you are ready to finish the book.
 

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Sharon, Adult Services Librarian

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

         This is the story of a family that is together on their cherry farm in Michigan during the pandemic. The mother, Lara, is picking cherries with her three daughters while she relates a story from her youth about when she was dating a famous actor.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

           This is a fun mystery about a baking competition called Bake Week. At first there is some sabotage among the contestants, and then someone turns up dead.

 

 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

            This novel is about four men who become friends in college and then move to New York to make their way in the world. It is a beautifully written book that deals with trauma and abuse. It is not for everyone. 

 

 

 

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

              This collection of essays is both deeply personal and hilarious. It is also somewhat profane. Irby shares the details of her life and career without holding back.

 

 

 

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Liza, Youth Services Reference Assistant

 Tegan and Sara: Junior high by Tegan and Sara

               As a big fan of Tegan and Sara’s music, when I saw that they were coming out with a graphic novel I dove in. Twin sisters find themselves separated in middle school after years of being together in classes. This is such a great coming of age story, and deals with handling all of the twists and turns during middle school years.  Everything from new friendships, puberty, crushes, and of course siblings.  They are forced to find a way independently, and manage to create great friendships. It is a quick read, and I loved the art on the pages.

Poverty by Matthew Desmond

Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted showcases the true inequality and dismissive legislation that keep poor people poor, and rich people rich. I definitely recommend this book to everyone. It is an in-depth analysis on tax breaks, labor unions, zoning laws, and our consumption overall as an economy. A UW-Madison graduate and Professor of Sociology, he illustrates and begs us to ponder solutions to the question, Why is poverty so affluent in one of the richest nations, and what can we do about it?

All Good People here by Ashley Flowers

               Fellow crime junkies unite! Ashley Flowers, host of podcast Crime Junkie delivers in this mystery/ thriller about a cold case in Wakarusa, Indiana.

Margot Davies returns to her hometown, Wakarusa, to care for her uncle. As a girl, her neighbor January Jones was killed and it still remains unsolved. Margot takes it upon herself to investigate the case after another girl named Natalie is mysteriously taken.
 

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Eva, Reference Assistant

Foster by Claire Keegan

In Claire Keegan’s long short story, a young girl is sent away to live with somewhat distant relatives in rural Ireland. She is dropped off by her father with no discussion of when she’ll be picked up. I say ‘somewhat distant relatives’ because explicit details like the exact relation and explanations of why quickly give way to the nuance, impressions, and emotional discovery of the girl. The mystery of the girl’s experience with her new family is uncovered slowly through the building of trust and affection. This is a deeply moving story with plenty of twists and turns.

A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
All this year I’ve read all of Ernaux’s available books within our county system-and I recommend them all. She won the Nobel Prize in 2022, the first French woman to ever win the award. I find her work consuming. Maybe it’s my love of non-fiction, documentaries, sociology, etc. She happens to have a near photographic memory for not only the pivotal moments of her life including cultural context, but also the exacting details of a moment in time. She combines the two to re-create the atmosphere she is examining. Her memories are stark. Her writing neutral and non-sentimental puts you into the rhythmic simplicity of life which sometimes can be very profound.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

I enjoyed this light read. A stoic widow, Tova, who lost her only son 30 years’ prior makes an unlikely connection with an octopus and a wayward traveler. The narration alternates between Tova and Marcellous (the remarkably bright creature). So fun to have his perspective. Having an 8-year-old son, I’m rich in facts about sea creatures. I knew octopus’s had three hearts, but I never knew they had 9 brains! A central brain in their mantle and a small brain for every tentacle giving each the ability to operate independently. Extraordinary! Well, it’s clear Marcellous is proud of his intellect, but will he help solve the mystery of Tova’s missing son?

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Heidi, Youth Services Reference Assistant

 

When I reflected on the books I read in 2023 that I liked the most, I realized that they all share a common theme: the books are all about disparate characters who come together to form a community or family of sorts. They all include heartbreaking stories, yet I found them each to be ultimately uplifting.

Still Life by Sarah Winman

 The story spans a number of decades, beginning in the aftermath of WWII in England, continuing through the great flood of the Arno River in Florence, Italy in 1966, and beyond.  I read most of the book understanding the title to refer to a type of painting.  It was only toward the end of the book that I understood the title to mean that despite the many difficulties the characters endured over the years, it was “still, life”.  I found the beautiful writing to be very evocative.  Winman, a bestselling author, also wrote the acclaimed Tin Man. 

You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg

 This book, set in current-day Albany, centers on a small group of people who work and shop at a dying mall in Albany, New York that is going to close for good soon.  I found the connections formed between the characters to be very compelling. Many of them have quiet dreams of lives that are more fulfilling.  Then a shooting at the mall acts as a catalyst for some of the characters to take steps to achieve their goals.  Lin-Greenberg is a Chinese-American writer who has previously written short stories.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Set on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the central character is a young woman who moves into an unusual apartment building to learn more about her deceased mother who lived there many years ago.  Filled with magical realism, a genre I love, and quirky characters, the book tells the backstory of each of the residents of the apartment building, including a few ghosts, and how their lives intersect in surprising ways.  Allen has written many magical novels, all set in the South and filled with characters whose interesting secrets are revealed as the novels unfold.  Her first novel, Garden Spells, was published in 2017.