Find Top Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of 2014…in Large Print | Gale Blog: Library & Educator News

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The highly anticipated annual Publisher’s Weekly Best Books list gets the full attention of three enthusiastic groups of people:

Authors, who want their book to be on it
Readers, who refer to it to discover new books for their must-read list
Librarians, who use it to develop their collections with high-quality, relevant titles

Well, this year’s list has arrived, and it’s stocked with great books that readers in every community are itching to read.

Better yet, 20 books on the list are available in large print from Thorndike Press. As you know, large print provides access to the broadest swath of readers in your community. It’s not just a bigger font size that makes reading accessible for the visually impaired. It’s also proven to improve letter and word recognition, aid reading comprehension, and promote feelings of confidence and satisfaction when reading, making it ideal for beginning or reluctant readers, ESL/ELL student, or, really, any reader. (Want to know more about the benefits of large print? Read about large print myths.)

You can bring these top titles to your library—with the confidence that these are essential building blocks in your collection development strategy AND that readers at all levels will enjoy being able to read them more easily and with greater comprehension.

Without further ado [drum roll, please], here are 20 titles from the PW list available to you and your patrons in large print:

Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood — The highly acclaimed feminist writer presents nine stories with her signature dark humor and playfulness. (February 2015)
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt — After years of watching her work ignored or dismissed by critics‚ artist Harriet Burden presents her art behind three male masks.
Euphoria by Lily King — English anthropologist Andrew Bankson, haunted by his brothers’ deaths and increasingly isolated by his research‚ encounters Nell Stone and her wry and mercurial husband‚ Fen‚ who have just fled the bloodthirsty Mumbany.
Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch — When a medical procedure goes wrong and actor Ralph Meier winds up dead‚ Dr. Marc Schlosser conceals the error. But the truth is‚ he’s not exactly upset that Ralph is gone.
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee — In long-declining future America‚ workers in labor colonies provide pristine produce and fish to elite villages that ring the settlement. Fan‚ a fish-tank diver, leaves her home on a quest that will soon become legend to those she left behind.
Lila by Marilynne Robinson — Lila is rescued by a canny young drifter and together they craft a life on the run. When Lila arrives in Gilead‚ she struggles to reconcile her life and hardship with her husband’s gentle Christian worldview, which paradoxically judges those she loves.
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas — Born in 1941, Eileen Tumulty is raised by her Irish immigrant parents in Queens and marries Ed Leary, a scientist nothing like the men she grew up with. This epic tale charts the story of the American Century, particularly the promise of domestic bliss and economic prosperity that captured hearts and minds after WWII. (January 2015)
Bark by Lorrie Moore — Eight masterly stories deliver a heartrending mash-up of the tragic and the laugh-out-loud — the hallmark of life in Lorrie-Moore-land.
The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black – In the early 1950s‚ Philip Marlowe takes a case from a young‚ beautiful client. Marlowe soon discovers that he is tangling with one of the Bay City’s richest families.
The Sting of the Drone by Richard A. Clarke — In Washington‚ the Kill Committee gathers in the White House Situation Room to pick targets for the United States drone program. And in the mountains, where the drones hunt their prey‚ someone has decided to fight back.
The Good Girl by Mary Kubica — Born to a prominent Chicago family‚ Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night‚ she is abducted by an enigmatic stranger. But, instead of delivering her to his employers‚ he decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin.
The Forgers by Bradford Morrow — The rare book world is stunned when reclusive collector Adam Diehl is found on the floor of his Montauk home: hands severed, surrounded by valuable inscribed books and original manuscripts that have been vandalized beyond repair. (March 2015)
The Farm by Tom Rob Smith — Daniel believed that his parents were enjoying a peaceful retirement in Sweden. But with a single phone call‚ everything changes. Daniel becomes his mother’s unwilling judge and jury as she tells him an urgent tale of secrets‚ of lies‚ of a crime and a conspiracy that implicates his father.
The Martian by Andy Weir — Six days ago‚ astronaut Mark Watney was one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now‚ he’ll be the first person to die there. Mark is stranded alone with no way to even signal Earth. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet.
The Peripheral by William Gibson — Where Flynne and her brother, Burton, live, jobs outside the drug business are rare. Burton’s job seems to be simple: work a perimeter around the image of a tower building and edge little buglike creatures back. When Flynne takes over for him, what she sees might be a game, but it might also be murder. (February 2015)
Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story by Rick Bragg — New York Timesbestselling author Rick Bragg‚ tracks down the greatest rock and roller of all time‚ Jerry Lee Lewis — and gets his own story‚ from the source‚ for the very first time.
John Wayne: The Life and Legend by Scott Eyman – Based on interviews with Wayne and his family members and many other resources, this book traces the Duke from childhood to stardom and beyond. John Wayne is brilliantly profiled in this insightful biography of a true American legend.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs — An honest account of a young man’s relationships—with his struggling mother, with his incarcerated father, with his teachers and friends and fellow drug dealers. This book encompasses the most enduring conflicts in America: race, class, drugs, community, imprisonment, education, family, friendship, and love. (March 2015)
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson — For five years‚ Hayley and her father‚ Andy‚ have been on the road as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in his hometown so Hayley can attend school. But will being back home help Andy’s PTSD‚ or drag him to the edge of hell?
Half Bad by Sally Green — In modern-day England‚ witches live alongside humans: White witches‚ who are good; Black witches‚ who are evil; and Nathan‚ who is both. He is trapped in a cage. Nathan must escape before his 17h birthday to receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch — or he will die.