2011 Staff Favorites

Before we finish off 2011 (and dive headfirst into 2012), the staff at TFPL would like to share our favorite books with everyone. Pick up one of these to read during the holiday week. And have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Books published in 2011:

Caleb’s Crossing – Geraldine Brooks (Jennifer)

Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel – Susan Vreeland (Susan)

Cold Vengeance – Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Haley)

Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India – Joseph Lelyveld (Nirmala)

Hammered – Kevin Hearne (Kathleen)

Hell Is Empty – Craig Johnson (Barbara)

Hexed – Kevin Hearne (Kathleen)

Hounded – Kevin Hearne (Kathleen)

Lethal – Sandra Brown (Barbara)

Lola and the Boy Next Door – Stephanie Perkins (Erica)

The Marriage Plot – Jeffrey Eugenides (Nirmala)

The Matchmaker of Kenmare – Frank Delaney (Kate)

Murder Under the Microscope – Jane Bennett Munro (Mareda)

The Name of the Star – Maureen Johnson (Erica)

Now You See Me – S.J. Bolton (Beth)

The Paris Wife – Paula McLain (Susan)

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared – Alice Ozma (Susan)

The Return of Captain John Emmett – Elizabeth Speller (Jennifer)

Rules of Civility – Amor Towles (Jennifer)

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption – Laura Hillenbrand (Amy)

The Woman Who Heard Color – Kelly Jones (Mareda)

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Older Books:

Crank – Ellen Hopkins (Erica)

Cross Bones – Kathy Reichs (Haley)

Free Fire – C. J. Box (Barbara)

The Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin (Kate)

The Good Times Are All Gone Now: Life, Death, and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town – Julie W. Weston (Susan)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J. K. Rowling (Amy)

The Iron Duke – Meljean Brook (Beth)

Learning Joy from Dogs Without Collars: A Memoir – Lauralee Summer (Susan)

Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned – Judd Winick (Beth)

Rapunzel’s Revenge – Shannon and Dean Hale (Erica)

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine – Lauren Willig (Jo)

Term Limits – Vince Flynn (Barbara)

Through Wolf’s Eyes – Jane Lindskold (Stephanie)

Vida – Patricia Engel (Nirmala)

Lord of the Far Island – Victoria Holt (Nirmala)

N is for Noel

The word “noel” comes from the Latin natalis, which means birthday – which is definitely appropriate for the occasion. Although you see it in a few English language songs (The First Noel), we usually think of it as a French word – “Joyeux Noel”. Outside of Christmas, it’s also used as a name; it was most popular as an American boy name in 1938.

In the spirit of the season, here are a few books written by authors with “Noel” in their names. Enjoy(eux Noel)!

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Noel Alexandre

• The Unknown Modigliani: Drawings from the Collection of Paul Alexandre

Noel Barber

• A Farewell to France

Noel Thomas Boaz

• Evolving Health: The Origins of Illness and How the Modern World is Making Us Sick

Noel-Anne Brennan

• The Sword of the Land

• Daughter of the Desert

Noel Falk

• The Plant Doctor’s Prescriptions for a Healthy Garden

Noel Riley Fitch

• Anais: The Erotic Life of Anias Nin

• Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child

• Paris Cafe: The Select Crowd

Noel B Gerson

• All That Glitters

• The Grand Incendiary: A Biography of Samuel Adams

• Special Agent

• The Yankee Rascals

Noel Grove

• Birds of North America

• The Nature Conservancy: Preserving Eden

• Wild Lands for Wildlife: America’s National Refuges

Noel T Holley

• The Milwaukee Electrics: An Inside Look at Locomotives and Railroading

Noel Hynd

• Cemetery of Angels

• Countdown in Cairo

• The Enemy Within

• A Room for the Dead

• The Sandler Inquiry

• Truman’s Spy

Jean Noel Jeanneney

• Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge: A View from Europe

Noel Kingsbury

• Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls

• The Ultimate Planting Guide

Noel M Loomis

• Heading West: Western Stories

• Pedro Vial and the Roads to Santa Fe

Noel Malcolm

• Bosnia: A Short History

Alyson Noel

• Blue Moon

• Dark Flame

• Everlasting

• Evermore

• Kiss and Blog

• Kisses from Hell

• Night Star

• Shadowland

Katharine Noel

• Halfway House

Noel Perrin

• Last Person Rural: Essays

• Third Person Rural: Further Essays of a Sometime Farmer

Noel M Tichy

• Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls

Noel Whittall

• Paragliding: The Complete Guide

Noel F Snyder

• Birds of Prey: Natural History and Conservation of North American Raptors

• The California Condor: A Saga of Natural History and Conservation

• Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation

EBOOKS ARE HERE!

Lots of excitement here at TFPL, as we’ve just added eBooks to our collection! We’re working with a group of 7 other libraries in our consortium, and we’ve just opened up the platform. Click here, or click on the tab marked eBooks in our catalog.

There are about 200 books so far available – fiction, nonfiction, and kids – and we’ll be adding more titles monthly. You’ll be able to download to read on a computer, a mobile device, or an eReader (including all the big ones, like the Kindle, the Nook, or the Sony). There’s also a great help section, but if you have any questions, you can always call a Reference Librarian for additional help.

The system works just like our in-house system. Ebooks can only be checked out to one person at a time, but you can have two items checked out and three on hold. When you check out an item, you can choose a 7 or 14 day checkout.You can also return items early or wait until they “disappear”.

Try it out and let us know what you think!

Best Books of 2011

Besides the holidays, December almost always brings the end-of-the-year wrap-ups. So, in keeping with our traditions, we’ve compiled the “Best Books” lists of three of our favorite review organizations. We chose each one for a different reason – Amazon.com because their editors usually highlight the popular titles, Publishers Weekly because they emphasize titles from different genres, and the New York Times because they focus on the more literary titles.

Whatever your preference, check the lists for a book you may have missed – and send 2011 off with a bang!

The Best Books of 2011 – Amazon.com

Best Books 2011 – Publishers Weekly

100 Notable Books of 2011 – The New York Times

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And for a title that is highly recommended, check out one of the books that made all three lists:

• Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
• Blue Nights by Joan Didion
• Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson
• The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick
• Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
• The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
• The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

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Look for Staff favorites coming later this month!