This is the time of year that all the “Best” of the year lists start to appear.  And that includes books.  It seems strange that the best books of the year lists are being published when we still have December to go.  The reason for that is simple.  Book publishers send advanced readers copies to all the major publications at least six weeks ahead in order to assign a reviewer and give them time to write it.  So, they have had ample time to assess a new book.     

           

Amazon has already published their best books of the year.  They list a hundred best books as well as best books in categories such as Biographies, Cooking, Business and Science.

 

Their top book of the year is a memoir by Tara Westover, “Educated.”  This is the story of a young woman who never saw the inside of a classroom until she was 17.  Her religious fanatic father claimed that schools were just a means for the government to brainwash their citizens and refused to send her.  It was only her brother who managed to break free from their survivalist upbringing who opened the door to college for Tara.

           

In “Educated” she describes what it was like to know virtually nothing and to survive the challenges of college eventually earning a PhD from Cambridge University.  Amazon’s Book Review described it as “an inspiring reminder that knowledge is, indeed, power.”

           

Other books in the Top 20 of Amazon’s Best Books of 2018 are: “Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan, “Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U. S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man” by Lynn Vincent, “Virgin Wander” by Leif Enger, “There, There” by Tommy Orange, “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah, “Elevation” by Stephen King, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris, “Dopesick” by Beth Macy, and “The Witch Elm” by Tana French.

           

Amazon offers more lists of the best in Arts and Photography, Biographies & Memoirs, Business and Investing, Children’s, Comics and Graphic Novels, History, Cookbooks, Humor and Entertainment, Literature, Mystery, Nonfiction, Romance, Science, Science Fiction and Fantasy and Teens and Young Adults.  If you are stuck for something to read, these lists represent an excellent place to start.

           

A reminder, the library will be closed November 22-25 for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the download library, WVDELI, is always available.  So, if you want something to read the day after Thanksgiving, but dread going near the mall, all you need is your library card number to download eBooks and eAudios.  Just Google WVDELI, sign in under Bridgeport Public Library with your barcode number, and browse through your 50,000 plus choices.  You don’t even have to get out of your PJs.