From immersive fantasies to intimate biographies to family-favorite movies, Sno-Isle Libraries readers have chosen their top titles of the past year. They include:
Biography
In My Beloved Monster, Caleb Carr, the bestselling author of The Alienist tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker — and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can during their 17 years together.
Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi
Readers voted The Ministry of Time as their top pick of the year. An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.
General Fiction
The emotional novel Tell Me Everything captured our readers’ hearts. Return to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to Strout’s beloved cast of characters — Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess and more — as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”
Historical Fiction
Kristin Hannah’s Vietnam-war saga The Women was one of Sno-Isle’s most checked out titles of the year and a much beloved favorite of readers. It follows 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath as she joins the Army Nurse Corps and her brother in war. Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
Young adult Ashley Elston’s first adult novel, First Lie Wins, became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese’s Book Club pick, and our readers’ favorite mystery of the year. At the center of this fast-paced, cat-and-mouse mystery is Evie Porter, who seems to have it all — a perfect, doting boyfriend, a charming house with a white picket fence, a flourishing garden and an enviable circle of friends. But there’s one small problem: Evie Porter doesn’t exist…
Romance
Named a Must-Read Book of 2024 by NPR and Time magazine, Funny Story by Emily Henry is a shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common. Scruffy and chaotic Miles is the opposite of buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers bet she’s FBI or in witness protection. Avoiding each other at first, the roommates bond over heartbreak and hatch a plan — one that includes posting misleading photos of their summer adventures.
From a wide array of nonfiction books that educate and inspire, That Librarian rose to the top to become our readers’ favorite nonfiction title of the year. Part memoir, part manifesto, readers loved the inspiring story of a Louisiana librarian advocating for inclusivity on the front lines of our vicious culture wars.
Disney’s summer blockbuster Inside Out 2 delighted moviegoers and Sno-Isle members of all ages. The familiar voices inside 13-year-old Riley’s head navigate her world seamlessly — until a new emotion, Anxiety, shakes things up.
You’ve seen what readers have chosen as their favorite titles of the year. Now check out which titles Sno-Isle Libraries’ staff named as their favorites of 2024.
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