S.3 Ep.7 – 2019 Wrap Up

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On this episode we are wrapping up 2019 with our top reading picks, JMRL news, and a look ahead to what’s in store next year at JMRL. 

• Katie’s top picks are 
  • Fiction
    • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
    • The Nickle Boys by Colson Whitehead
    • Marilou is Everywhere by Sarah Elaine Smith
    • There There by Tommy Orange
    • Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audiobook)
  • Nonficiton
    • The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
    • Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
• Abby’s top picks are
  • YA
    • The Disasters by MK England
    • Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
    • Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
  • Adult
    • Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds by Ian Wright
    • The Deep by Rivers Solomon
    • American War by Omar El Akkad

Big JMRL news

• 2 near branch managers (we met our new Scottsville Library branch manager on an earlier episode)
• The Louisa County Library underwent renovations (we talked learned about the renovations on an earlier episode)
• The Nelson Memorial Library’s expansion saw its groundbreaking this year.
• Last year’s Same Page author was Lisa See, and we’re welcoming Jacqueline Woodson in March 2020 to talk about her award winning memoir in verse, Brown Girl Dreaming.
• We helped create a soil exhibit memorializing John Henry James’ life and lynching as part of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Project (we heard from participants in the related 2018 Charlottesville Community Civil Rights Pilgrimage on an earlier episode)
• We hosted our 3rd annual How-To Festival at the Central Library and can announce that the 2020 How-To Festival will take place during the Central Library’s Summer Reading Kickoff on Saturday, June 6
• Poem In Your Pocket Day was a big success!
• We celebrated 2 years of our Local Voices Collection. (We announced the creation of the collection in an earlier episode in 2017!)
• As of mid-November we have offered over 2,700 free programs for nearly 100,000 attendees! 

Library materials with the highest rates of circulation for the year

• Print titles
  • Adult
    • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was checked out 473 times
    • Educated : a memoir by Tara Westover was checked out 291 times
    • City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert was checked out 244 times
    • Normal People : a novel by Sally Rooney was checked out 243 times
    • One Good Deed by David Baldacci was checked out 200 times
  • Young Adult
    • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was checked out 66 times 
    • Smile by Raina Telgemeier was checked out 47 times
    • The House of Hades by Rick Riordan was checked out 34 times
    • The Titan’s Curse : the graphic novel by Rick Riordan &  adapted by Robert Venditti with art by Attila Futaki, color by Gregory Guilhaumond, and lettering by Chris Dickey was checked out 32 times
    • Amulet Book Eight: Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi was checked out 28 times
  • Juvenile
    • I Will Take a Nap! By Mo Willems was checked out 88 times
    • Should I Share my Ice Cream? by Mo Willems was checked out 87 times
    • Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems was checked out 85 times
    • Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems was checked out 84 times
    • Diary of a Wimpy Kid : the Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney was checked out 75 times

• Most frequently downloaded ebooks from OverDrive 
  • Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover was checked out 239 times
  • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was checked out 192 times
  • Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ngwas checked out 186 times
  • A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles was checked out 177 times
  • The Great Alone: A Novel by Kristin Hannah was checked out 157 times
  • An American Marriage: A Novel by Tayari Jones was checked out 155 times
  • The Couple Next Door: A Novel by Shari Lapeña was checked out 151 times
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was checked out 149 times
  • The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane: A Novel by Lisa See was checked out 149 times
  • A Dangerous Act of Kindness by LP Fergusson was checked out 147 times

• Most frequently downloaded audiobooks from OverDrive 
  • Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by JD Vance was checked out 166 times
  • The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was checked out 156 times
  • Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover was checked out 138 times
  • The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was checked out 132 times
  • The Fix: Amos Decker Book 3 by David Baldacci was checked out 130 times
  • The Whistler by John Grisham was checked out 124 times
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling was checked out 122 times
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was checked out 119 times
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nahisi Coates was checked out 118 times
  • Yes Please by Amy Poehler was checked out 114 times 

We recommend checking out the headliners announced for the 2020 Virginia Festival of the Book.

If you have books you’d like to recommend we read and discuss please email us at podcast@jmrl.org.

This podcast is made possible through generous support from the Friends of the Library. If you’d like to learn more or join the friends please head to their website.