Chelmsford Staff’s picks for best of 2017!

Books, Library Information, Reading Room, Staff Picks, Teen, Uncategorized

There’s always room for one more Best of the Year list – especially if that list is made up of picks from your favorite librarians! Here is a list of fiction, nonfiction, audio and video that kept us going last year – there are favorites here for everyone! If you need more recommendations for your TBR list, contact us anytime through our Bookwise service!

Supriya:The Great Gatsby brilliantly recast in the contemporary South: a powerful first novel about an extended African-American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream.  Jeff: Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Lisa: As World War I raged across the globe, hundreds of young women toiled away at the radium-dial factories, where they painted clock faces with a mysterious new substance called radium. Assured by their bosses that the luminous material was safe, the women themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered from head to toe with the glowing dust. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" were considered the luckiest alive--until they began to fall mysteriously ill. As the fatal poison of the radium took hold, they found themselves embroiled in one of America's biggest scandals and a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights. The Radium Girls explores the strength of extraordinary women in the face of almost impossible circumstances and the astonishing legacy they left behind. Diane: "Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. His newest book is an utter flop, the critics have turned against him, relatives near and far hound him for money. While his wife plans a lavish holiday party for their ever-expanding family and circle of friends, Dickens has visions of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, he refuses ... On one of his long night walks, in a once-beloved square, he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy, who might be just the muse he needs"
Donna:"Some women get everything. Some women get everything they deserve. Amber Patterson is fed up. She's tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more--a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne--a socialite and philanthropist--and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale. Amber's envy could eat her alive...if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne's compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family's life--the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne's closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces. With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent."   Donna's Pick - In the Midst of Winter, by Isabel Allende: "Exploring the timely issues of human rights and the plight of immigrants and refugees, the book recalls Allende’s landmark novel The House of the Spirits in the way it embraces the cause of “humanity, and it does so with passion, humor, and wisdom that transcend politics” (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post). Eileen: Goodbye, Vitamin is the wry, beautifully observed story of a woman at a crossroads, as Ruth and her friends attempt to shore up her father's career; she and her mother obsess over the ambiguous health benefits - in the absence of a cure - of dried jellyfish supplements and vitamin pills; and they all try to forge a new relationship with the brilliant, childlike, irascible man her father has become. (From Goodreads)  

This was one of Eileen's favorites from last year: Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller and a wealth of detail about organized crime, the merchant marine and the clash of classes in New York, Egan’s first historical novel is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a magnificent novel by one of the greatest writers of our time.
Danny:The Powder Mage Trilogy, Brian McClellan - Danny says: "There are three books in this series (and he’s writing more in that world): Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, and The Autumn Republic. These books are (annoyingly) compulsively readable. I say annoyingly, because it was hard to function between reading sessions. The magic system is intriguing, with a whole group of people who have an affinity for black powder, and can do all sorts of interesting trick shots, such as shooting a bullet without a gun, or shooting two bullets at once from the same gun accurately. Mystery, war, intrigue, these books have almost all of it at some point. There are so many moments in these books that are just downright satisfying." (Book 1 of the trilogy pictured here)  

The Lightbringer - Danny says: "There are 5 books with book 5 releasing this year: The Black Prism, The Blinding Knife, The Broken Eye, The Blood Mirror, and The Burning White. A word of warning, the first book is a slow starter, but once this series gets going it does not slow down for a minute. The cast is seriously awesome, the intricacies of individual characters and how they interact are complex and interesting. Everything is an onion in these books, you just have to keep peeling back another layer. Couple that with a stellar magic system based on wavelengths of light and it’s a real winner…except the beginning of that first book. (Book 1 pictured)

                           The Shadow Campaigns - Danny says: "There are five books in this series (book five releases on January 9th!): The Thousand Names, The Shadow Throne, The Price of Valor, Guns of Empire, and The Infernal Battalion. This fantasy world takes heavy inspiration from the Napoleonic wars and corresponding historical era, including the types of weapons and military tactics. The Thousand Names skews more towards military fantasy, while the Shadow Throne skews more towards political fantasy (though not lacking in action during a pseudo-French revolution). Later books blend those together. The quality is consistent throughout, and I was hard pressed to put these books down."                                The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison - Danny says: "First and foremost, this book is character driven. There’s something very sweet and human about the personal elements in this book. It’s not action packed. The plot centers around the mystery of the king’s death and the intrigue that accompanies his exiled, unwanted, half-goblin son taking over the throne."
Becky:Becky's Pick - One of the Boys by Daniel Magariel: "The three of them—a twelve-year-old boy, his older brother, their father—have won the war: the father’s term for his bitter divorce and custody battle. They leave their Kansas home and drive through the night to Albuquerque, eager to begin again, united by the thrilling possibility of carving out a new life together. The boys go to school, join basketball teams, make friends. Meanwhile their father works from home, smoking cheap cigars to hide another smell. But soon the little missteps—the dead-eyed absentmindedness, the late night noises, the comings and goings of increasingly odd characters—become sinister, and the boys find themselves watching their father change, grow erratic, then violent." (from the publisher)   "Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At fourteen, she roams the woods along the northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous: Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father. Then Turtle meets Jacob, a high-school boy who tells jokes, lives in a big clean house, and looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. And for the first time, the larger world begins to come into focus: her life with Martin is neither safe nor sustainable. Motivated by her first experience with real friendship and a teenage crush, Turtle starts to imagine escape, using the very survival skills her father devoted himself to teaching her."   Where Should We Begin takes you into the antechamber of our most intimate moments so that we might learn, explore, and experience alongside the couples who have been gracious enough to let us in.  A federal agent tracks four people who suddenly seem to possess entirely new personalities, leading to a startling discovery about humanity's future.
Sara: In the aftermath of a war between gods and men, a hero, a librarian, and a girl must battle the fantastical elements of a mysterious city stripped of its name.                             Despite his aversion to war, work, and most people (human or otherwise), teenaged Elliott, a human transported to a fantasy world where he attends a school for warriors and diplomatic advisers, finds that two unlikely ideas, friendship and world peace, may actually be possbile.                                 Feyre returns to the Spring Court on a reconaissance mission about the invading king. As a spy, the future of the entire kingdom may rely on her ability to play her part perfectly, and her decisions about who to trust and which allies are best will decide the outcome of the coming war.                              An aroma expert embarks on what she fears will be a life of solitude and dreams of a normal high school existence before an accident leads to an unexpected forbidden romance. As one of only two aromateurs left on the planet, Mimosa knows her future holds a lifetime of using her sense of smell to mix base notes, top notes, and heart notes into elixirs that help others fall in love-- while she remains alone. Mimosa dreams of a normal high school existence and having a boyfriend, but falling in love would take away her talent. When she accidentally gives an elixir to the wrong woman, she must rely on the high school soccer star for help... and discovers that sometimes falling in love isn't a choice....
When her perfectly planned summer of quality time with her parents, her serious boyfriend, and her Bible camp unravels and long-hidden family secrets emerge, Lucy must figure out what she is made of and what grace really means.  After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.  "Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them." Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she's worked for begins to crumble.
A year after his mother disappeared in her hot air balloon, Seraphin and his father receive a clue that sends them to a Bavarian castle where lurks a force that would stop at nothing to conquer the stars.  Teenagers Rachel and Henry find their way back to each other while working in an old bookstore full of secrets and crushes, love letters and memories, grief and hope.
Vickie: In 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the woods. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even in winter, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store food and water, to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothes, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed, but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of the why and how of his secluded life--as well as the challenges he has faced returning to the world. A riveting story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded                  Roxane Gay addresses the experience of living in a body that she calls 'wildly undisciplined.' She casts an insightful and critical eye over her childhood, teens, and twenties -- including the devastating act of violence that was a turning point at age 12 -- and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life. With candor, vulnerability, and authority, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen.  Mike:The veteran journalist exposes the practices of opposition research to reveal how political leaders use their influence to shape public opinion, connecting popular misconceptions to strategic smear campaigns that have influenced voters.  Charlene: It's 1947 and American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a fervent belief that her beloved French cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive somewhere. So when Charlie's family banishes her to Europe to have her "little problem" take care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister. In 1915, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance to serve when she's recruited to work as a spy for the English. Sent into enemy-occupied France during The Great War, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents, right under the enemy's nose. Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launching them both on a mission to find the truth ... no matter where it leads
Christine:Dauer recounts how she found Sadie while donating blankets to a no-kill shelter. Sadie had been found in the mountains of Kentucky with a bullet hole between her eyes and one in her back-- put there after she had a litter of puppies and left to die. Strangers found her and took her to a veterinarian; Sadie's back legs were paralyzed, and the prognosis was grim. Dauer explains how Sadie's life-- and her own-- was transformed through unconditional love and second chances.                    Eric O'Grey was 150 pounds overweight, depressed, and sick. After a lifetime of failed diet attempts, and the onset of type 2 diabetes, O'Grey went to a new doctor, who surprisingly prescribed a shelter dog. And that's when O'Grey met Peety: an overweight, middle-aged, and forgotten dog who, like O'Grey, had seen better days. The two adopted each other and began an incredible journey, forming a bond of unconditional love that forever changed their lives. Over the course of their first year together, O'Grey lost 150 pounds, and Peety lost 25. As a result, O'Grey reversed his diabetes, got off all medication, and became happy and healthy for the first time in his life. He started dating after being alone for fifteen years--and eventually reconnected with the long-lost love of his life. And Peety? His affection would lead the way on the doggie adventure of a lifetime.                                    A sports journalist relates the story of Ivy League freshman and track star Maddy Holleran, who seemingly had it all and succeeded at everything she tried, but who secretly grappled with mental illness before taking her own life during the spring semester.                       A coming-of-age memoir by a young woman who was Jackie Kennedy's personal assistant and sometime nanny for thirteen years describes her witness to significant historical events and the lessons about life and love she learned from the beloved First Lady.
Courtney:Stretching from the tribal wars of Ghana to slavery and Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the north to the Great Migration to the streets of 20th century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi's has written a modern masterpiece, a novel that moves through histories and geographies and--with outstanding economy and force--captures the troubled spirit of our own nation   Presents a literary memoir of poems, essays, and intimate family photos that reflect on the author's complicated relationship with his mother and his disadvantaged childhood on a Native American reservation.   Birds of all feathers flock together in a fun, rhyme-filled offering by the creator of Maisy.
Lyndsey:Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, tendency to wear the same clothes year in, year out), means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kind of friends who rescue each other from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond's big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one   Told in mesmerizing prose, with charm and rhythm entirely its own, Castle of Water is more than just a reimagining of the classic castaway story. It is a stirring reflection on love's restorative potential, as well as a poignant reminder that home--be it a flat in Paris, a New York apartment, or a desolate atoll a world away--is where the heart is   Eleven-year-old Alex Petroski, along with his dog, Carl Sagan, makes big discoveries about his family on a road trip and he records it all on a golden iPod he intends to launch into space
Jessica:Jess: Women with a biological ability to emit electic shocks and turn centuries of female oppression on it's head! This thrilling, immensly original and fantastically written novel by Naoimi Alderman has to be your next book. It's in the vein of Margaret Atwood and Ursula Le Guin, both of whom informed her writing, and great for anyone looking for an entertaining, literary-sci-fi mediatation on history and the stories we tell ourselves to support the status quo.   Jessica: "This epic, atmospheric love story set during WWII in German-occupied France and then Germany tells the story of two sisters: one who jumps into the resistance at the first chance, risking her life and love, and one more reluctantly drawn in as the threats to he family and friends increase. It's a thrilling, enduring tale, based on true events, and it's our OneBook Chelmsford selection for 2018!"   A fantastic puzzle within a puzzle, a great layered mystery with well-drawn, instriguing characters. Ava has returned home to upstate NY and her family's failing vineyard and the life she tried to escape becasue her wild child sister Zelda has died. But Ava doesn't belive it becasue 1. Zelda wouldn't be so clumsy and unadventurous as to die in a fire from a lit cigarette, and 2. because Zelda is still communicating with Ava even after her apparent death! Zelda leads Ava on a scavenger hunt that takes her through a fantastic cast of characters and adventures. Will Ava find out the truth of Zelda's disappearance? This book was very hard to put down.                         A powerful and moving novel about a young boy, navigating life in the suoth with a drug addicted and haunted mother, an incarcerated father, a little baby sister to protect and the beauty and tragedy of the American South. Ward's novel is mesmerizing.
As the twentieth century draws to a close, Maria is at the start of a life she never thought possible. She and Khalil, her college sweetheart, are planning their wedding. They are the perfect couple, "King and Queen of the Racially Nebulous Prom." Their skin is the same shade of beige. They live together in a black bohemian enclave in Brooklyn, where Khalil is riding the wave of the first dot-com boom and Maria is plugging away at her dissertation, on the Jonestown massacre. They've even landed a starring role in a documentary about "new people" like them, who are blurring the old boundaries as a brave new era dawns. Everything Maria knows she should want lies before her--yet she can't stop daydreaming about another man, a poet she barely knows. On February 22, 1862, two days after his death, Willie Lincoln was laid to rest in a marble crypt in a Georgetown cemetery. That very night, shattered by grief, Abraham Lincoln arrives at the cemetery under cover of darkness and visits the crypt, alone, to spend time with his son's body. Set over the course of that one night and populated by ghosts of the recently passed and the long dead, Lincoln in the Bardo is a thrilling exploration of death, grief, the powers of good and evil, a novel - in its form and voice - completely unlike anything you have read before. It is also, in the end, an exploration of the deeper meaning and possibilities of life, written as only George Saunders can: with humor, pathos, and grace.  John despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. He asks a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But then someone else ends up dead, sparking a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man’s life.