Every year we ask our staff across the system for their favorite books published in a given year. Enjoy this variety of fiction staff favorites, with annotations by staff members or as noted. (Created November 2023)
Knock Knock, Open Wide
"A captivating read that deftly weaves horror/Irish folklore elements into an equally interesting story of complicated family and coming-of-age." --Andrea G.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Knock Knock, Open WideRomantic Comedy
"A sketch writer for a late-night comedy show, Sally Milz pokes fun at the phenomenon of talented but average men who've gotten romantically involved with beautiful women and how the reverse never happens until she meets a pop music sensation who flips the script on all her assumptions." (NoveList Plus)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Romantic ComedyBehind the Scenes
"Two successful career-minded women kick off a tender romance at an animal rescue fundraiser, but they must contend with lingering grief and heartbreak to reach their happily-ever-after." (Kirkus)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Behind the ScenesEnlightened Transsexual Comix
"The definitive collection of Sam Szabo's "ETC" comics series, serving up a psychedelic stew of social satire and gonzo gender theory!" (Publisher)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Enlightened Transsexual ComixRoaming
"The premise seems simple—childhood friends Dani and Zoe, along with Dani’s brash, confident new friend Fiona, visit New York City during their first spring break from college in Canada—but as you might expect in a book by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, there’s a stunning, nuanced depth of emotional growth and transformation in these pages." (Booklist)
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
View RoamingChildren of Memory
"Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost. Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology – and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies." (NoveList Plus)
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View Children of MemoryInk Blood Sister Scribe
"I never liked fantasy until I read this?? I got swept up in the world building and loved this story about the magic of books." --Eliza S.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Ink Blood Sister ScribeWhere Peace Is Lost
"At the edge an isolated star system, Kel Gardavros, once a member of an Order whose military arm was disbanded and scattered across the galaxy, finds her past intruding in the form of a long-dormant Pale war machine that is suddenly reactivated, primed to kill every sentient creature on the planet." (NoveList Plus)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Where Peace Is LostStealing
"In the 1950s, strong-willed and shrewd Kit Crockett, ripped from her home and Cherokee family and sent to a religious boarding school, she, along with the other Native students, is stripped of her heritage, force-fed Christian indoctrination and is sexually abused until she decides to fight back." (NoveList Plus)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View StealingThe Covenant of Water
"Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India's Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning-and in Kerala, water is everywhere." (NoveList Plus)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View The Covenant of Water