Island Books

Get ready for a slew of recommendations from our outstanding children’s section! We’ve compiled lists for each age range, from pictures books to early chapter books, graphic novels to YA, with everything in between. Each section has had fantastic titles come out that we’ve loved showcasing to kids (and their adults).

Our Children's Specialist, Lillian, says: "I stopped calling these lists "Best of the Year" a while ago because the first question I asked anyone who wants a recommendation is - what are you interested in? A book that I think is good might not be good for you or your reader. That's why we call these lists Favorites. We collect them up by age group or section, some lists are longer than others (picture books started out with 42 titles!), and they're a collaboration between the staff who work in the kids/teens section."

We’re giving you a head start this year on our favorite reads of 2023, starting with fiction! We’ve found winners ranging from literary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy and romance, translated works, thrillers and short stories. The staff had a great reading year and overlapped favorites in several instances. Nancy, Brad and Caitlin all loved The Librarianist, by Patrick de Witt, and raved about it enough that I put it on my own TBR. The cozy historical fantasy Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett, was a hit with me, Lillian, Becca and Jes.

We have something a little bit different for you this week. As a start to our series of posts about our favorite books of the year, we want to talk about The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. This delightful book should work as a present for almost anyone on your list. Why do I feel I can say that? Because almost everyone on staff has read it, and we all loved it! From the fantasy and romance readers to the literary fiction and nonfiction readers, we've all found ourselves recommending The Thursday Murder Club time and time again.

Lil gave me her elevator pitch for the book earlier this week: "What happens when a former spy moves into your fancy retirement community? Murder, that's what. But who did it and why? More importantly, which community room is available to reserve so you and your friends can meet to solve the crime? If this doesn't sound like a great set up for a book, you should probably still give it a try. Based on the wide variety of readers here who loved it, you're probably going to love it too. There's humor, friendship, love, suspense, and a satisfying conclusion. There's not much more I look for in a cozy read." And cozy it is. This is the type of book you pick up when you want something warm and comforting and kind that has substance.