MLC Staff Favorite Reads in 2017: Adult Edition

Just because we work in a library, it doesn't automatically follow that we all love to read. In fact, some of us don't. (And that's okay!) But a lot of us do love to read. A lot. We read to improve our minds and to learn. We read to escape everyday life and to entertain ourselves. We read to experience something new and to connect with others. We read to feel joy and sadness, love and despair. The books we chose to read in 2017 reflect all of this. Classics of fiction, obscure texts on folklore, biographies, bestsellers, comics, romance, and mysteries: they're all here in a diverse list of of books read by the staff of the Mississippi Library Commission in the past year. Let us know which books were your favorite reads of 2017 in the comments.

(Books available at MLC are linked. Check the statewide catalog to see if your local public library owns a staff pick that you'd like to read.)

Fiction

The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
2000
Recommended by Tracy C.

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
1847
Recommended by Margaret S.

Mean Streak
Sandra Brown
2014
Recommended by Gloria J.

Who Goes There?
John W. Campbell, Jr.
1938
Recommended by Daniel W.

Virgin River series
Robyn Carr
2007-2012
Recommended by Cindy N.

Dark Matter
Blake Crouch
2016
Recommended by Gloria J.

Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
1860
Recommended by Margaret S.

 

A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
1859
Recommended by Margaret S.

American Housewife
Helen Ellis
2016
Recommended by Mary Rodgers B.

 

Bound Together
Christine Feehan
2017
Recommended by Lorietha M.

 

Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi
2016
Recommended by Auriane R.

Breaking All My Rules
Trice Hickman
2013
Recommended by Demetra H.

The Rules of Magic
Alice Hoffman
2017
Recommended by Ally W. 

Castle of Water
Dane Huckelbridge
2017
Recommended by Shellie Z. 

Backseat Saints 
Joshilyn Jackson
2010
Recommended by Veronica D.

The Gunslinger
Stephen King
1982
Recommended by Josh S.

 

Crazy Rich Asians series
Kevin Kwan
2013-2017
Recommended by Shellie Z.

The Lake House
Kate Morton
2015
Recommended by Mary Rodgers B. 

The Refugees
Viet Thanh Nguyen
2017
Recommended by Elisabeth S.

Run
Ann Patchett
2007
Recommended by Tracy C.

Essex Serpent
Sarah Perry
2016
Recommended by Ally M.

 

Accidentally on Purpose
Jill Shalvis
2017
Recommended by Lorietha M.

Desperation Road
Michael Farris Smith
2017
Recommended by Susan L. 

The Bookseller
Cynthia Swanson
2015
Recommended by Mary Rodgers B.

A Study in Scarlet Women
Sherry Thomas
2016
Recommended by Ally W.

The Refrigerator Monologues
Catherynne M. Valente and Annie Wu
2017
Recommended by Annie W.

 

Sing, Unburied, Sing
Jesmyn Ward
2017
Recommended by Elisabeth S.

Miss Jane
Brad Watson
2016
Recommended by Charlotte M. 

Somebody to Love
Lori Wilde
2013
Recommended by Lorietha M. 









Nonfiction

Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality
Paul Barber
1988
Recommended by Daniel W. 

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
2007
Recommended by Auriane R.

WordPress Bible
Aaron Brazell
2010
Recommended by Eahmon J.

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
2015
Recommended by Mac B. 

What Happened
Hillary Rodham Clinton
2017
Recommended by Margaret S. 

Queen Victoria's Granddaughters: 1860-1918
Christina Croft
2013
Recommended by Lynn B.

Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
Beth Ann Fennelly
2017
Recommended by Tracy C.

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between
Lauren Graham
2016
Recommended by Mary Rodgers B.

Next Door Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust
Max Lucado
2000
Recommended by Bonita H.

Coming of Age in Mississippi 
Anne Moody
1968
Recommended by Elisabeth S.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Trevor Noah
2016
Recommended by Shellie Z.

 

You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain
Phoebe Robinson
2016
Recommended by Annie W.

Web Standards: Mastering HTML5, CSS3, and XML
Leslie Sikos
2011
Recommended by Eahmon J.

 

We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories
Gabrielle Union
2017
Recommended by Amanda R.









Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga

Ladycastle
Delilah S. Dawson, Ashley A. Woods, Becca Farrow, Rebecca Nalty, and Jim Campbell
2017
Recommended by Ally W.

 

Motor Crush, Volume 1
Brendan Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, Aditya Bidikar, and Babs Tarr
2017
Recommended by Annie W.

 

Business Cat: Money, Power, Treats
Tom Fonder
2016
Recommended by Annie W.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero
Isabel Greenberg
2016
Recommended by Elisabeth S. and Ally W.

If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle-Aged Men
Matthew Inman
2017
Recommended by Annie W.

 

Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur an Aliebn Too
Jomny Sun
2017
Recommended by Katie G.

She-Hulk, Volume 1: Deconstructed
Mariko Tamaki, Nico Leon, Matt Milla, Cory Petit, Manny Mederos, and Jeff Dekal
2017
Recommended by Ally W.

The Ancient Magus' Bride, Volume 1
Kore Yamazaki and Adrienne Beck
2014
Recommended by Katie G.

I Hate Fairyland, Volume 3: Good Girl
Skottie Young
2017
Recommended by Amanda R. 









Look for a list of our favorite juvenile reads from 2017 soon. Until next time, happy reading!