BostonPL_BPL Staff Picks: Best Reads of 2021Like this list

20 items

• Rise to the Sun

  Johnson, Leah

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  Teen Fiction. Olivia heads to the Farmland music festival hoping to distract herself from her endless crushes . Toni attends because the festival changed her late father's life and she's looking for some inspiration of her own. When Olivia…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Once a Warrior

  How One Veteran Found a New Mission Closer to Home

  Wood, Jake

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  Memoir. An inspiring must-read! Jake Wood, a former Marine, lost more men from his unit by suicide after coming home than by war overseas and knew he had to do something about it. He founded Team Rubicon, a disaster response non-profit…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

  a Novel

  Sendker, Jan-Philipp

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  Fiction. When a successful lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia have any idea where he might be--until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago to a Burmese woman they have never heard…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Too Bright to See

  (Newbery Honor Award Winner)

  Lukoff, Kyle

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  Children's Mystery. When eleven year old Bug's uncle dies, Bug has to figure out if his ghost is really haunting their home. On top of that, Bug is dealing with friendship drama with Moira, a best friend who goes way back. This slightly…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• How Birds Evolve

  What Science Reveals About Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity

  Futuyma, Douglas J., 1942-

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  Nonfiction. Outstanding from start to finish, this overview of bird evolution tackles questions of origin, form, behavior, intraspecies variation, life histories, and more. The foundation of the discussion is an impressive array of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Actual Star

  A Novel

  Byrne, Monica

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  Science Fiction. Monica Byrne's latest book features three connected timelines: an ancient Maya kingdom, a 2012 village in Belize, and a futuristic Earth society in the 3100's. A saga in the truest sense, you'll devour this book as you…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Unhallowed

  Hawk, Jordan L.

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  Fantasy/MM Romance. Vesper Rune is a bookbinder with a dark secret, who takes a job at the Ladysmith Museum library under false pretenses. Sebastian Rath is an archivist who is certain that the previous bookbinder's departure is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Joy of Cookies

  Cookie Monster (Fictitious character),

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  Nonfiction. Cookie Monster? A philosopher? You betcha! According to him, cookies are the answer to all of life's problems and after reading this sweet book, I'm sure you'll agree. The big blue guy espouses all things cookie and he even…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Night Came with Many Stars

  Van Booy, Simon

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  Fiction. It's always exciting when you're a few chapters in and you start to realize that the book you're reading is going to be a great one. Night Came With Many Stars the latest novel by Simon Van Booy, is one such book. Spanning three…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Last Night at the Telegraph Club

  Lo, Malinda,

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  Teen Historical Fiction. This is truly one of the best books I have ever read ever. Lo handles everything with such care; from the hours (upon hours) of research she put in to the book to give it such a realistic feel to balancing all the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Destroy All Monsters: A Reckless Book

  Issue #3

  Brubaker, Ed

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  Graphic Novel. Nobody does LA Noir quite like Brubaker and Phillips. Reckless is among their very best collaborations and this year we got two collected editions - Friend of the Devil, which came out before this one, is just as good. - PFC

• If You Come to Earth

  Blackall, Sophie,

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  Children's Picture Book. In beautiful detailed illustrations and poetic text Sophie Blackall has created a lovely book explaining our complicated world to an imagined visitor from space. She was inspired by talking with children around…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• One of the Good Ones

  Moulite, Maika • Moulite, Maritza

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  Teen Fiction. After the death of their sister Kezi , sisters Genny and Happi go on a cross country road trip to honor her and find out more about her and her death then they had known. This book had a twist that truly surprised me ( and I…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Space Between Worlds

  Johnson, Micaiah

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  Science Fiction. I read many other books this year that I would highly recommend, but when reflecting back, this one lingered on in my head far more than I would have expected. On the surface, it is a twisty, unpredictable adventure,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

  A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

  Gottlieb, Lori

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  Memoir. Gottlieb, a practicing psychotherapist and the author of The Atlantic's weekly "Dear Therapist" advice column, provides a humorous account of the therapeutic process as she herself undergoes therapy to help her deal with an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hither, Page

  Sebastian, Cat

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  Historical Mystery/MM Romance. A jaded spy and a shell-shocked country doctor team up to solve a murder in postwar England. This title is cozy-ish, as it features love scenes more explicit than usually found in the genre. A great selection…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Water Sister

  Cho, Zen

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  Fantasy. Between moving back in with her family in Malaysia, job hunting, and keeping her long-distance girlfriend a secret, Jess has more than enough to deal with — and then she learns her grandmother's ghost has been possessing her body…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Big Little Lies

  Moriarty, Liane,

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  Fiction. What dark secrets are your friends hiding? Set in a rich seaside town outside of Sydney, Australia, life seems perfect on the outside, but three moms are struggling with their own problems--divorce, intimate violence, and family…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Nonbinary

  Memoirs of Gender and Identity

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  Memoir. A groundbreaking collection of essays by thirty nonbinary, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming authors tells the stories of people who've loosened themselves from the rigid constraints of "man" and "woman" and shows how our…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Hands of the Emperor

  Goddard, Victoria

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  Fantasy. What seems like an *extremely* long book about mid-level bureaucracy is really a sensitive exploration of belonging and not-belonging, family (both originating and found) and whether you can, in fact, go home again. - JB