RPL nominates for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

Did you know that Richmond Public Library is a nominating library system for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award?  

It's true!

The award, which "aims to promote excellence in world literature", was established in 1994, the first prize being awarded in 1996. Past winners include City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (2013), Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (2011), and My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (2003).  Nominations on the basis of "high literary merit" are made by hundreds of libraries in major and capital cities worldwide. 

The team has met, read, debated, discussed, read some more, discussed more, again with the reading some more, and finally we voted.  Now we proudly share with you our final 3 picks for the books published in 2013 which we felt were literary achievements worthy of this award  (drumroll, please):

The People in the Trees
By Hanya Yanagihara

This astonishing debut novel purports to be the memoir of Dr. Norton Perina, a scientist who seeks the secret to the apparent immortality of a primitive Micronesian people, with devastating consequences for them, and ultimately, for himself.  Although the narrator is despicable and his story unrelentingly pessimistic, this novel will haunt its readers long after they put it down.

The Good Lord Bird
By James McBride

Little Onion, a 10 year old slave boy, is mistaken for a girl after being freed by abolitionist John Brown and his raiders, and becomes an unwitting (and unwilling) participant in Brown's quixotic fight to end slavery.  His colloquial, tall-tale prose offers a humorous, irreverent perspective on the historic mythologies and realities of racism, and what happens when good intentions and good words are not enough.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

by Karen Joy Fowler

Equal parts funny and heartbreaking, Karen Joy Fowler's sixth novel "starts in the middle" and takes the reader back to the murky world of 1970s behavioral psychology experiments through the unreliable memories of a young woman recalling a childhood trauma that drastically altered her and her family.  The novel deftly explores ethics, memory, animal rights issues, and the meaning of family.  With a knockout twist that the author masterfully conceals, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a breathless joy to read.

The nominating team assembled at Cask to discuss their favorites to win.  There was much to toast about.

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