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Welcome to Library Booklists and Bibliographies Online "Best of 2014" Book Lists « older | Main Largehearted Boy Page | newer » Online "Best of 2014" Book Lists For the seventh straight year, I am aggregating every online "best of 2014" book list I find in this post. Please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me with a blog, magazine, newspaper, or other online media list I have missed. Daily updates to this list. Revisit previous years' lists from 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2000-2009 (best of the decade) online year-end book list collections. #khibookswap (top books) 100 Great Books Before Lunch (favourite books)100 Great Books Before Lunch (favourite graphic novels)125 Water Street - Liz Whaley (favorite books)27gen (best books)4th Estate (favourite books)7:30 Bookclub (best books)80 Books (favorite books) A.E. (best arts and photography books)Amazon (best audiobooks)Amazon (best biographies and memoirs)Amazon (best business and investing books)Amazon (best children's books)Amazon (best comics and graphic novels)Amazon (best crafts, home & garden books)Amazon

Auckland Libraries Staff Picks Black Irish by Stephen Talty: South Buffalo Takes Care of Its Own I kept seeing the book cover for Black Irish by bestselling author Stephen Talty in industry publications and it intrigued me. When I read the concept, I decided it was a thriller I wanted to try since it features a deeply rooted Irish community in an area I don’t normally associate with being Irish. I know that may seem like an odd reason to pick a book but I sometimes pick books for odd reasons. If you like psychological thrillers then read on because this one is definitely worth exploring further. When thirty-one-year-old Absalom “Abbie” Kearney was growing up in South Buffalo, NY, she always felt like the odd person out. “And with a flash, the picture of a young face came to him [Jimmy Ryan]. When Jimmy Ryan’s ritualistically tortured body is found in the basement of St. “She began to pull out the object. “’I had the scanner on,’ he [her father] said, his accent still bearing the traces of County Clare in Ireland…’I know a construction worker who lives across the street.’

The Book Case Blog | Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Book Blogs Donald Harstad worked for 26 years as deputy sheriff and chief investigator for the police department of Clayton County, Iowa. Harstad transforms those experiences into thrilling mysteries with his popular Carl Houseman series. The sixth in the series, November Rain, finds Houseman far from his usual heartland setting, as he travels to the UK to consult on a kidnapping case—and to protect his own daughter. In a guest post, Harstad shares a bit of the real-life inspiration behind November Rain. Guest post by Donald Harstad I’ve written six novels about a fictional deputy sheriff named Carl Houseman, set in a fictional county in northeast Iowa. I certainly never thought I would write a book until I actually wrote my first. Scenarios. The first officer arrived 19 minutes after I called. That’s where Eleven Days, my first novel, had originated. For my latest, November Rain (Crooked Lane Books), I send Carl to London for an assist in a homicide investigation. Thanks, Donald!

Review: The Return by Silvia Kwon Set in rural Victoria in the 1960s, Silvia Kwon’s debut novel, The Return, looks at small-town Australia, post-World War II. Paul has been working and living in Japan away from his family. Back home, his mother, Merna, pines for his return and his dad, Frank, a war veteran, was against him ever going and can’t wait for Paul to leave Japan behind him. Eventually, Paul does return to visit, but he’s brought a Japanese woman home with him. While Merna tries her best to be accepting, Frank, still very much tormented by the war, sees Paul’s actions as a kind of betrayal, and a similar resentment is felt among a number of the townsfolk. In town, the young couple face discrimination and things at home aren’t much better. There are tender moments throughout the book; Kwon nicely handles intimacies between the young couple and between Merna and her son. Ella Mittas is a freelance reviewer.

LibraryReads - Books Recommended by Librarians REVIEW: REACH FOR THE DREAM BY ANNE MCCULLAGH RENNIE | Write Note Reviews Author: Anne McCullagh Rennie Michael Joseph RRP $29.99Review: Monique Mulligan The first chapter of Reach for the Dream is a cracker. A bushfire, a tragedy and two young children left without a mother and a home, and with a lifetime of terrible memories. The central character is Alice Ferguson, who at eight years old loses her mother and baby brother in horrific circumstances. Of course, things don’t quite work out that way; Thomas is happy enough to leave his children in the care of Bea and only returns sporadically before finding a new wife. While the first chapter was enough to reel me in, the rest of the novel didn’t quite live up to my expectations for a number of reasons. The other issue I had was with characterisation. Overall, Reach for the Dream didn’t quite hit the spot for me and left me with mixed feelings. Available from good bookstores and Penguin Books Australia. Bookish treat: I feel a yearning for scones. Like this: Like Loading...

RA for All: library blogs Right after ALA Annual every year there is always a big buzz in the library community. Yes, a huge number of librarians return to their work energized, sharing ideas, and making plans for future programs and services. But, there is also the business side to the annual meeting and that too can make some waves that ripple out to all librarians whether they went to the conference or not. ALA is a huge organization that is supposed to represent every single librarian. Because it cannot possibly do that as one entity, there are also many smaller associations, roundtables and committees to handle specific service populations and library types. This makes sense. Well, I was not at ALA Annual, but something happened in some of the business meetings which I have strong feelings about. The new policy is indeed a gag order. No booklists. "Have someone else do it" sounds great in theory, but it's not always a possibility for many, for any number of reasons.

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