Staff Reads

Looking for some ideas of what to read? These are some of the books our staff members are currently reading or recently finished.

See our Goodreads page https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/160032-bryan-college-station-public-library-friends to view book covers, read reviews, and comment on what you’re reading. You can also make a list of books you want to read.

Staff Reads from 2021:

Staff Reads from 2020:

  • 10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak
  • Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor
  • American Sign Language Phrase Book (with DVD) by Lou & Barbara Bernstein Fant (adult nonfiction, language-learning)
  • Anger is a Gift by Mark Ohiro (YA realistic fic Black lives matterish and LGBTQ)
  • Atkins: Eat Right, Not Less by Colette Heimowitz
  • Attack on Titan: Junior High, vol. 1 by Saki Nakagawa (YA graphic novel, manga)
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X (nonfiction, biography/autobiography)
  • Back Roads to Belonging: Unexpected Paths to Finding Your Place and Your People by Kristen Strong (adult nonfiction)
  • The Backstagers, vol. 1, written by James Tynion IV, illustrated by Rian Sygh
  • The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (YA dystopian fiction)
  • Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
  • Beartown by Fredrik Backman
  • A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen
  • The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (humor, chapter book)
  • The Big Awesome Book of Hand & Chalk Lettering by Dina Rodriguez (adult nonfiction)
  • Bigmama Didn’t Shop at Woolworths by Sunny Nash (adult nonfiction, memoir)
  • Black Butler, vol. I, by Yana Toboso
  • Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown
  • Bless me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya (coming of age novel, classic of Chicano literary canon)
  • Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
  • The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
  • The Breakdown by B.A. Paris (adult fiction, thriller)
  • Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (YA fantasy)
  • Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris (adult fiction, thriller)
  • By the Book by Amanda Sellet
  • Camino Winds by John Grisham (mystery, thriller, adult fiction)
  • Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley
  • Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
  • Christmas Kitchen Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch (adult nonfiction eBook)
  • Circe: A novel by Madeline Miller (adult fiction, audiobook version)
  • The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
  • Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
  • Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
  • The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang
  • Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (suspense)
  • Crookedstar’s Promise by Erin Hunter (juvenile fiction, fantasy/adventure)
  • Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes
  • Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto (young adult fantasy)
  • The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez
  • Daring Greatly by Brené Brown (adult nonfiction)
  • The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason
  • Dawn by Erin Hunter
  • Dead Voices by Katherine Arden
  • Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
  • Dear Martin by Nic Stone
  • Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends are Becoming Our Best Medicine by Maria Goodavage (adult nonfiction)
  • The Doll People’s Christmas by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brett Helquist (children’s picture book)
  • Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy
  • A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole
  • The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
  • Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (young adult fantasy)
  • Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks (adult fiction, romance)
  • Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
  • Extreme Prey by John Sandford
  • Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy (teen fiction)
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Field of Prey by John Sandford (mystery)
  • Flamebringer by Elle Katharine White (fantasy)
  • Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr
  • Fortune and Glory by Janet Evanovich
  • The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
  • Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel (beginning reader fiction; a celebration of friendship; 5 stories full of fun and adventure; the illustrations are so charming that it’s good even if you just look at the pictures)
  • From the Land of Genesis by Stephen J. O’Shea
  • Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
  • Gathering Prey by John Sandford (adult fiction, thriller)
  • Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
  • George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade (history, adult nonfiction)
  • Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
  • The Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can by Tererai Trent
  • Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong
  • The Great Influenza by John M Barry (adult non-fiction)
  • The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp
  • Harley Quinn: Make ’em Laugh #1 Head Shrink, written by Mark Russell, illustrated by Laura Braga, colored by Luis Guerrero, lettered by Marshall Dillon, cover by Andrew Robinson (digital comic book, teen)
  • Healthy Aging by Andrew Weil
  • Heartwood Box by Ann Aguirre
  • Holiday by Candlelight by Laurel Greer (new adult Hanukkah fiction)
  • Hollywood Park : a memoir by Mikel Jollett
  • “home: habitat, range, niche, territory: A Dr. Mensah Story” by Martha Wells (science fiction short story)
  • House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) by Sarah J. Maas
  • The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (fiction, series of vignettes, little episodes about a 12-year-old Chicano girl in the Hispanic part of Chicago, over the span of one year)
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss (children’s picture book)
  • I Don’t Want to Die Poor by Michael Arceneaux
  • In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (new popular adult Christmas rom-com fiction)
  • Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho
  • The Insurrection (The Initiation #3) by Chris Babu (young adult dystopian fiction)
  • Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (adult nonfiction)
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (classic, African-American, adult fiction)
  • Lavender Lies by Susan Wittig Albert
  • Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick (adult fiction)
  • The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (murder mystery, adult fiction)
  • Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  • Locked In by John Scalzi
  • Looking for Alaska by John Green
  • Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
  • Lucky Dog Lessons by Brandon McMillan
  • Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
  • Max the Brave by Ed Vere
  • Mediocre by Ijeoma Oluo
  • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyers
  • Miss Iceland by Auður A. Ólafsdóttir
  • Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr
  • Murder on a Mystery Tour by Marian Babson, audiobook read by Steven Crossley
  • My First Kwanzaa by Karen Katz (children’s picture book)
  • My life as an ice cream sandwich by Ibi Zoboi (middle grade novel)
  • My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins (holiday short stories for teens)
  • Network Effect by Martha Wells
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
  • New Kid by Jerry Craft (YA graphic novel)
  • New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
  • The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (all ages, classic)
  • Normal People by Sally Rooney (adult fiction, audiobook)
  • Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger (adult fiction, mystery)
  • Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens (crime novel, adult fiction)
  • The Nutcracker in Harlem by T. E. McMorrow, illustrated by James Ransome (children’s picture book)
  • On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
  • Once I Was You by Maria Hinojosa
  • The One and Only by Emily Giffin
  • One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
  • Open Season by C.J. Box (adult fiction, murder mystery)
  • Ophelia by Lisa Klein
  • Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
  • Out of the Blue by Jan Wong
  • The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose by Oprah Winfrey
  • People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (adult fiction)
  • Pidge’s Story by Cala Spinner
  • The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (adult fiction)
  • Poppy by Avi (juvenile fiction, fantasy)
  • Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage: My Life with Yogi Bhajan by Pamela Saharah Dyson (adult nonfiction, memoir)
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (fiction, classic)
  • A Promised Land by Barack Obama
  • The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
  • The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
  • Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
  • The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (adult fiction)
  • Redwood Bend by Robyn Carr
  • Rescue Dogs: Where They Come From, Why They Act the Way They Do and How to Love Them by Pete Paxton with Gene Stone (adult nonfiction)
  • Rhett and Link’s Book of Mythicality by Neal and McLaughlin
  • The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery Book by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile (adult nonfiction)
  • Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah, written by Sylvia A. Rouss, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn (children’s picture book)
  • The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Bryan Lee O’Malley
  • Scythe by Neal Shusterman
  • The Searcher by Tana French
  • Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke (YA fantasy fiction)
  • Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
  • Shamed by Linda Castillo (adult fiction, suspense)
  • Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr
  • A Shiloh Christmas by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (children’s fiction, chapter book)
  • Shuri (a Black Panther novel) by Nic Stone (middle grade fiction, between advanced juvenile fiction and YA fiction; Marvel fiction spin-off with purple font)
  • The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
  • Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
  • So This is Love by Elizabeth Lim
  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (adult nonfiction)
  • Solo Leveling Vol 1 by ParkSon Choi
  • Spirit Run by Noé Álvarez
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds, adapted from Stamped from the Beginning by and with an introduction from Ibram X. Kendi
  • The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (fantasy, adult fiction)
  • The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson
  • Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
  • Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
  • Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr
  • They Called Us Enemy, written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, art by Harmony Becker
  • This is All I Got: A New Mother’s Search for Home by Lauren Sandler
  • Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
  • Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard
  • Tranquility Falls by Davis Bunn (fiction)
  • Trophy Hunt by CJ Box
  • Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (YA fantasy)
  • The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  • The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis (juvenile fiction)
  • The Weather Machine by Andrew Blum
  • The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
  • What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand (romance, adult fiction)
  • What is not yours is not yours by Helen Oyeyemi
  • When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
  • Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger
  • Winter Kill by C. J. Box
  • A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
  • The Witch Elm by Tana French (suspense)

Staff Reads from 2019:

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