As the cool air sets in and the holiday tunes chime, I’m getting rolled into the jolly holiday spirit like any other years. Indeed, this is the most wonderful season of the year. In our book industry, every year this time we reward talented authors with awards and celebrate the most popular titles in various forms. Hence, our Recommended Magazine team again reviewed our circulation statistics in the past 12 months and developed six top 10 lists to pay tribute to the authors (or editors) of the top borrowed titles. The following are the three books in the first places of our teen, adult, and children’s fiction and non-fiction physical book categories. If you want to find out all the books included in these top 10 lists, please go directly to the bottom of this post.
But of course, while we totally respect the statistical data and are happy for the award-winning or top selling authors, we understand many gifted authors and their brilliant works won’t make those arbitrary spots – there is only one winner for most awards and limited mentions in any of the “top x” reading lists. Just like a sophisticated traveler would want to know the quaint, unique places outside of those top must-see sites in any city, I suspect you might be curious to know what are the notable works outside of our top 10 lists this year? (Ok, I know you can’t answer me, LoL) So, I’m taking this opportunity to share a few great works that didn’t make our top 10 lists. If you’re interested, please read on!
Obviously, there are a lot of awesome titles worth mentioning here, and I wish I could list them all, but limited by length and time, I’m mainly sharing three titles that I have read (or been reading) – they are not necessarily published in 2024, but because of their brilliance, they continue to stay on the high places in our statistics charts, even though they didn’t make it into the top 10s.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Abraham Verghese, the physician, writer, author of the major bestseller Cutting for Stone, has delivered another masterpiece. All copies together circulated 306 times in the past 12 months at VPL. It’s in the 11th place amongst all our adult titles (fiction and nonfiction physical books).
Set in Kerala on South India’s Malabar Coast, The Covenant of Water spans from 1900 to 1977, following three generations of a family cursed by water – in each generation, one family member has died by drowning. The story opens with a 12-year-old girl married to a 40-year-old widower with a young child. The girl will eventually mature into the future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi, and will witness the remarkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life that is full of hardship and loss, triumph and joy. In 724 pages, the work explores the sense of community, examines the colonial history, challenges the caste system, and exposes injustice.
But what makes the novel unforgettable is the author’s medical knowledge and the ruthless depiction of those breathtaking scenes of survival and the many ways his characters are made vulnerable by simply being alive. Through his physician’s lens, he brings readers the dawning awareness that each character is beholden to something much more powerful and more encompassing than emotional turmoil: the physical bodies they inhabit, and their biological realities, be it disfiguring scars or developmental challenges, incurable afflictions or hereditary diseases, fatal accidents or debilitating addictions – it is the body that contains ambiguities and mysteries. (Publishers Weekly)
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Penned by Gabrielle Zevin, author of the bestselling novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, her recent adult book stays in the 15th place in our adult title category. All copies together circulated 269 times in the past 12 months at VPL, even though the book was published in 2022.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a story about a complicated friendship that spans three decades: two childhood friends who were apart, but then bumped into each other – one tried to ignore while the other insisted on rekindling the friendship. Eventually, they didn’t just design a game together but also built an empire together in the videogame industry, yet they never became lovers even though they loved each other.
Gabrielle Zevin is just that kind of author who really knows the art of storytelling. I’ve learned so much about the videogame industry from the book, but the game design segments, same as Zevin’s comments on racial prejudice and the weirdness about LA, are naturally blended in with the story, none of that felt forced.
The Fury by Alex Michaelides
If you are fans of closed-circle mystery writers such as Agatha Christie, Lucy Foley, and Alice Feeney, or if you simply want to take a break from those heavy, thought-provoking books and are searching for a fast yet quality read, you can turn to Alex Michaelides. The author of the buzzy bestseller, The Silent Patient, has just delivered another “character-driven, atmospheric delight!” The e-audio version of his new book takes the 14th place in our e-book/e-audiobook category. The e-audiobook circulated 113 times on our e-platforms in the past 12 months at VPL.
The Fury begins with Elliot’s unreliable narrative. As Elliot builds toward the bloody opening incident, he dwells on each character’s personality and flaws, revealing himself in the process, from his painful childhood that pointed him toward love of the theater to his complicated relationship with a much older, wealthy author … Michaelides keeps readers on deliciously unsteady ground throughout, ratcheting up the tension until he arrives at the final series of reveals. Yes, some scenes do look familiar, but the twists and turns will not disappoint! (Library Journal & Publishers Weekly)
Finally, if you read up to this point, please do click on the lists below and find out more about our top 10 titles!