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Adult Services Staff Picks December 2021 Favorite Books of the Year |
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Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala
Recommended by: Sarah L.
Returning home to help save her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, Lila Macapagal is shocked when her ex-boyfriend, a notoriously nasty food critic, dies suddenly, moments after they had a confrontation, leaving her the only suspect.
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The Binding
by Bridget Collins
Recommended by: Tim
Imagine letting go of your past and forgetting your worst memories by literally binding them away in a book. A delicately-woven, dual-perspective magical realism tale with a slow burn romance, The Binding imagines exactly this and may even speculate on what happens when everyone's books burn. This story will grab hold of your head and heart and won't let go for a long, long time.
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Festival Days
by Jo Ann Beard
Recommended by: Laura
A collection that includes seven essays and two pieces of short fiction captures both the small moments of daily existence and times when life and death hang in the balance, including the title work about a searing journey through India.
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Humans
by Brandon Stanton
Recommended by: Lori
The best-selling creator of Humans of New York draws on his international travels to chronicle the universal experiences of real people in 40 countries whose everyday hardships reflect the state of the world today.
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Letter to a Stranger : Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us
by Colleen Kinder
Recommended by: Sarah V.
An anthology of short, intimate second-person essays by a diverse range of writers, each honoring a fleeting encounter with a stranger met while traveling that left a profound and lasting impact.
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The Lost Apothecary
by Sarah Penner
Recommended by: Brandee
Secretly dispensing poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them, a London apothecary triggers unintended consequences that shape three lives across multiple centuries.
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Once Upon a Broken Heart
by Stephanie Garber
Recommended by: Rachel
Desperate to stop the love of her life from marrying another, Evangeline Fox strikes a deal with the wicked Prince of Hearts—a bargain that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy.
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One Last Stop
by Casey McQuiston
Recommended by: Claire
August sees the same beautiful girl on the subway every single day. As she gets caught up in the details of impossible Jane -- subway savior who seems to be displaced in time from the late '70s -- the pieces of August's life seem to fall apart and reassemble in an even better formation... but will the new picture include happiness for her roommates, her diner, her mother, and most importantly, August herself?
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These Precious Days
by Ann Patchett
Recommended by: Sarah R.
Warm, thoughtful, and moving- I thoroughly enjoyed this essay collection from one of my favorite novelists. She touches on a number of subjects, from reading children's books to her relationships with her three fathers, always with superb writing that reminded me life is indeed precious in both mundane and extraordinary ways.
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The Uncommon Reader
by Alan Bennett
Recommended by: Cathy
Utterly charming novella about the Queen stumbling across a mobile library that visits Buckingham Palace regularly and her escape through books into reality.
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