It's the end of the year and while some people are excited about brown paper packages tied up with string, we're listing some of our favorite "things" from this year. Staff members sent in their favorite and most memorable books and media from the year. We hope you find something you love to carry you into 2017! Click on the links to request these items from the catalog.

Adult Fiction
The Fireman by Joe Hill
I’ve enjoyed each of Joe Hill’s novels, but this one shows how much his writing has matured. The post-apocalyptic New England setting is full of local landmarks and fascinating characters. This is a big book, but it’s a page turner and kept me on the edge of my seat right up until the very satisfying ending. Also highly recommend Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and The Sellout by Paul Beatty - all three of these are great audiobooks too!
-Theo

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati
An epic book about two woman doctors in 19th century New York City. It's filled with fabulous  historical details, women's rights issues, romance, family, and tragedy. It has something for everyone but most of all it is just a great story. 
-Clare

Night and Day by Iris Johansen
Iris Johansen is my favorite author and her latest book, Night and Day, did not disappoint.  The protagonist is Even Duncan, a world known forensic sculptor. This is the most recent book of the Even Duncan series. Joe Quinn is her significant other and Jane is their adopted daughter, now and adult. We also meet Bonnie, Eve’s daughter who was murdered and her remains were never recovered until many years later. Even and Joe find themselves in precarious situations because some people don’t want the skull to be identified so they have to hunt down Eve and Joe which brings then to places across the world. Iris has several different series of which some of the main characters play secondary rolls in other series like Kendra Michaels. The first Iris Johansen book I read was Firestorm from 2004 which started my love of her books!
-Gerry

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her. As the war progresses, the sisters' relationship and strength are tested. With life changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Vianne and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.
-Kim B. 

We Love You Charlie Freeman by Kaitlin Greenidge
One of the most different and innovative books I have read in a long time. The story of an African-American family who are hired by a research company to live with a chimpanzee and teach it sign language.  Dealing with race, sexuality, but also wit and joy, this is a timely novel for sure. 
-Tricia

We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children—Alex, now fifteen, and Luna, six—in their tiny apartment on a forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay. But now Letty’s parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life.
-Kim B.

Adult Nonfiction
The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams
I'm a National Parks passport holder, and I love trying to visit as many of our National Parks as I can. When I can't travel, I love reading about them, and Williams' book is a beautiful and thought-provoking way to do a little armchair traveling. This collection of essays about different national parks isn't only descriptions of the landscape; Williams also includes personal reflections about her life as an artist and her family's history, as well as historical context for the creation of some of the parks as well as more recent history about activists' struggles to protect and redefine national parks. Someone looking for a straight-forward history of the National Parks Service would be better served by Ken Burns' National Parks: America's Best Idea documentary (and accompanying book), but a reader willing to accompany Williams on her journey will find a lot of treasures.
-Renata

Furiously happy : a funny book about horrible things by Jenny Lawson.
Jenny explores her lifelong struggle with mental illness in an incredibly humorous, laugh-out-loud way. This is a book about embracing everything that makes us who we are - the beautiful and the flawed - and then using it to find joy in fantastic and outrageous ways.​
-Barbara

Childrens
Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Bruce is a grumpy bear who becomes even grumpier when his favorite food, geese eggs, hatch before he can eat them!  What’s worse, the new goslings think Bruce is their mother and try as he might he cannot get rid of them!  A tale showing even the oddest folks are capable of love and caring, sure to make you laugh and worthy of reading again and again, especially aloud!
-Beth K.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Castle Crenshaw learned that he is a fast runner on the night his father threatened his mom with a gun. Now, his dad is in jail and Castle is getting into altercations at school. When he shows up at a track practice and outruns the star athlete, Castle is invited to be part of the team. Will he be able to stay out of trouble long enough to make it to the first track meet?  A story about redemption, understanding and believing in yourself.
-Amy

YA
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
This book will probably break your heart. Charlie has had a rough life: drugs, cutting, homelessness, and abuse. Her journey from feeling broken to feeling hopeful again is really lovely without being sentimental.
-Anna

Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung
A lot of blurbs for this Australian YA novel compared it to the movie Mean Girls, which I think is slightly accurate, but also ultimately does a disservice to Lucy and Linh. Like Mean Girls, Lucy and Linh has some very funny insights into girls' friendship and cliques, but Lucy and Linh has much more cutting observations about race and class than Mean Girls. The story of scholarship winner Lucy's attempts to navigate an expensive boarding school is a compelling page-turner that will make adult readers relieved to have their school days behind them. (Or, if you're still in school, take heart from Lucy!)
-Renata

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
Lee is the new best historical fiction author in YA! Following up 2015's also great Under a Painted Sky, Lee writes so well about girls' friendships. A story about the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake and unlikely friendship between entitled white girls and a plucky Chinese-American heroine. Mercy Wong is your new favorite heroine!
-Anna

Films/TV
Edge of Seventeen (film)
Hilarious and realistic coming of age story. Characters are well developed and it feels like a fresh take on a saturated topic. You will wish you had a high school teacher like Woody Harrelson.
-Tricia

Stranger Things – Netflix Original Series (not yet released on DVD but available to stream via Netflix)
For those of us who lived through the 80s, Stranger Things is a wonderful look back at a time when young teens roamed free of watchful parental eyes, and adventures and mysterious things were happening even in quiet Midwest towns. 
-Beth M. 

Albums
Lemonade by Beyoncé
The visual album is a triumph. Dealing with race, feminism, family, and love, this stunning compilation is a remarkable work of art.
-Tricia

Peiades' Dust by Gorguts
 Gorguts is not typical death metal. This long-lived Quebecois band creates deep, intellectual, eloquent musical art, here telling the story of the House of Wisdom, a scholarly library and institution in Baghdad from the 8^th to 13^thcenturies.
-Jesse

The Violent Sleep of Reason by Meshuggah
The Swedish juggernaut’s 8^th album is unrelenting, dissonant, challenging (yet with hints of melody) heavy metal.
-Jesse

You Want it Darker by Leonard Cohen
In a year of great music, You Want it Darker was my favorite album. Leonard Cohen’s gravelly voice and haunting melodies are at their best in his final album. Like David Bowie earlier this year, this album is a perfect farewell gift to his fans and one of the best he’s released. If you liked this album, also check out Blackstar from David Bowie and Skeleton Tree from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.
-Theo

Looking for more suggestions? Give the Reference Desk a call at 978-623-8430. Or, if you're still looking for gift ideas fillout our Giftmatch suvery and we will suggest some present ideas!