Suspense, crime and food piqued Huntsville readers’ interests last year, according to the Huntsville Public Library’s (HPL) Top 10 of 2017 calculations.
On the adult fiction top 10 list, eight of the books fall under the suspense, mystery or crime categories with popular thriller author John Grisham making the list twice. That’s no surprise, says Cortney LeGros, HPL’s Coordinator of Outreach, Programs and Partnerships. “(Suspense and mystery) are our bread and butter. It’s a good representation of what people like to read.” What is interesting, notes Chief Librarian Deborah Duce, is that Kristin Hannah’s novel The Nightingale has been on the list for two years in a row. (See the top 10 adult fiction books here.)
Huntsville Public Library’s top 10 adult fiction books of 2017 (Image: Julie Manczak)
But on the screen, drama ruled with a bit of action and fantasy thrown in for good measure. Only one suspense flick made the list: The Girl on the Train based on the book if the same name by author Paula Hawkins and featuring Emily Blunt as unreliable Rachel. And still a popular item 15 years after it was released, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was there, too, much to the surprise of eLibrarian Julie Manczak. (You’ll find the full list of top DVDs here.)
On the adult nonfiction list, it was almost all about food with five cookbooks or healthy eating tomes landing in the top 10, including two bestselling Oh She Glows vegan cookbooks by Oakville’s Angela Liddon, perhaps due in part to the library’s popular cookbook club. Three memoirs made the cut as well. And also making the list: The Official MTO Driver’s Handbook. Go, new drivers! (See HPL’s top 10 adult nonfiction list here.)
Both of Oakville author Angela Liddon’s Oh She Glows cookbooks made HPL’s top nonfiction book list for 2017
Young adult (YA) fiction was evenly split between fantasy/science fiction and relationships, also no surprise. Nicola Yoon appears twice with her novels Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star. There, too, is prolific YA author John Green with The Fault in Our Stars. (See the full YA list here.)
As for younger readers, mostly silly stories were tops with the Big Nate, Captain Underpants and Wimpy Kid books well represented, along with perennial favorites like Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl’s Big Friendly Giant. Wonder, a book by R.J. Palacio that is now a feature film, is on the list of favourites, too. It’s a story about ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and chronicles his first year at school after having previously been homeschooled. (See the top 10 children’s fiction books here.)
And for the youngest book lovers of all, the top picture books included two from the popular If You Give a… series — If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and If You Give a Dog a Donut — along with winter classic The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. (See HPL’s top 10 picture book list here.)
Stop in at the library or log in at huntsvillelibrary.net to check out any of these books, or place a hold if someone else got to them first.
If you love to talk books, LeGros is working on a new bookclub for this year — stay tuned for details.
There are also some Valentine’s craft days coming up for kids, including green screen photos and button making, notes Manczak.
And if a good book isn’t enough to chase away the January blues, the library now has a light therapy lamp in circulation in addition to the one available for use in the library, says LeGros.
HPL’s top 10 lists were calculated based on the highest number of checkouts for circulating materials in each category. Chief Librarian Deb Duce compiled the data, Emily Middleton created the lists in the online catalogue, and Julie Manczak created the accompanying images.
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