Read it right now: Truevine, and other new nonfiction

This week is all about the brand new stuff that readers and critics are loving.

Truevine
by Beth Macy

In 1899, young albino African American brothers, George and Willie Muse, were taken from the tobacco fields near Roanoke where they worked and made to join the circus as freaks. Convinced their mother was dead they spent decades traveling the world as a popular sideshow attraction: Eko and Iko, the sheep-headed cannibals or Ambassadors from Mars. That, and their mother's fierce fight to get them back, make for an incredible story. Keen and well-researched, Truevine is a fascinating and compelling read.

It looks like Paramount and Leonardo DiCaprio might be trying to acquire the rights to put this story to film. Hmm, I wonder how it will translate to the screen without sensationalizing the Muse brothers' story.

At The Existentialist Cafe
Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
By Sarah Bakewell

Did your New Year's resolution have anything to do with reading more about philosophy? Really? Well, good! You'll love this book then. It's the lively life story of existentialism, starring Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, who was (sort of) inspired by apricot cocktails. Just give it a chance? It's getting rave reviews!

You Can't Touch My Hair
And other things I still have to explain
by Phoebe Robinson

Phoebe Robinson, super funny stand-up comedian, host of the Sooo Many White Guys podcast and co-host of 2 Dope Queens, has written this fantastic collection of essays on race, gender and culture in America.

Did I mention she's super funny?

Me, always.

Born a Crime
by Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, South African comedian and host of The Daily Show, is seriously insightful and funny. This is one of those laugh and cry, cry and laugh kinds of books. Born to a white Swiss father and black Xhosa mother in apartheid South Africa, he spent much of his childhood hidden away indoors as living proof of their crime. Born a Crime is deeply moving and the audiobook happens to be narrated by none other than Trevor Noah himself--well worth a listen.

...And top it off with a slice of Damn Fine Cherry Pie!

The final episode of Twin Peaks aired 26 years ago but it refuses to go away--and that's just fine by me.

(Ok, I don't know if anyone is raving about this but I'm always looking for any chance to throw in a Log Lady gif.) This unauthorized cookbook has all you need to prepare damn fine pie, damn fine coffee (and FYI, David Lynch has his own line of coffee and it is legit), and host your own (damn) Log Lady tea party. #goals

Check THIS out: Top Ten Most Checked Out Books of 2015!

We just geeked out over NYPL's cool map featuring the top books checked out in 2015 at each of their branches. In fact, we liked it so much that we had to make one of our own.

Overall, the Top Ten Most Checked Out Books of 2015 at Richmond Public Library are:

#1: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
#2: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
#3:Gray Mountain by John Grisham
#4: The Cartel 5: La Bella Mafia by Ashley & JaQuavis
#5: The Family Business 3 by Carl Weber
#6: The Escape by David Baldacci
#7: Memory man by David Baldacci
#8: NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson
#9: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
#10: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

How many of our most popular books have you read? Any surprises in this list? I love how unique and special each of our branches are and how that individuality is reflected in their taste in books. Click on your branch location on the map to see what the top ten looks like in your neighborhood!

Happy New Year, and happy reading!

The "Best Reads of 2013" List you've been waiting for!

If you're like us you have been obsessively poring over end of the year reading lists like it's the end of the world, adding titles to your never-ending "must read before the end of the world" list.  And surely you've been dying to see what RPL has to say.  Well, here it is: the list you have been waiting for! We have asked the staff from the Richmond Public Library to give us their top books read during 2013 and have compiled those recommendations into the end of year lists to end all lists. Enjoy! 

Happy New Year to you all!

Books for Children:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Garcia-Williams

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Daisy Gets Lost by Chris Raschka

Who Goes There? by Karma Wilson

Old Mikamba Had a Farm by Rachel Isador

Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter




Exclamation Mark! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal 
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg 
Trouper by Meg Kearney and EB Lewis, and 
Lost Cat by Roger Mader

When the world was waiting for you by Gillian Shields

Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

Hold Fast by Blue Balliett

When Did You See Her Last by Lemony Snicket

That Is Not A Good Idea and I'm A Frog by Mo Willems

Books for Teens:
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth
Yaqui Degado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
Fat Angie by e. E. Charlton-Trujillo

Books for Adults:
The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure  

Foundation by Peter Ackroyd 

Kansas City Lightning: The rise and times of Charlie Parker by Stanley Crouch

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Me Before You Jojo Moyes 
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend Matthew Dicks 
The Silver Star Jeanette Walls

Behind the Beautiful Forevers Katherine Boo

Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature by Philip Nel

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Second honeymoon by James Patterson

Longest ride by Nicholas Sparks

Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon
The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

Bomb Shell and Final Cut by Catherine Coulter
Dark Witch, Whiskey Beach, and The Witness by Nora Roberts

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The People in Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler

MaddAddam (Final book in the trilogy) by Margaret Atwood

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Kill City Blues (A Sandman Slim #5) by Richard Kadrey

The Thicket by Joe Lansdale

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

The Good Lord Bird: A Novel by James McBride 
The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell 

Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini

Vintage Tomorrows: A Historian And A Futurist Journey Through Steampunk Into The Future of Technology by James Carrott
The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
How to Be a Complete Dandy: A Little Guide for Rakes, Bucks, Swells, Cads and Wits by Stephen Robins

A Constellation Of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

The Dinner by Herman Koch
The Tenth of December by George Saunders
How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
Falling To Earth by Kate Southwood

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Life After Life by Jill McCorkle

Cooked, A Natural History of Food by Michael Pollan 
Knocking On Heaven's Door, The Path To a Better Way of Death by Katy Butler

Death of Santini by Pat Conroy

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry
The Amber Room by Steve Berry
The Stand by Stephen King
World War Z by Max Brooks
One Second After by William Forstchen