| By Elyse Monahan |
Jump to the Library Reads List
Hand-picked titles from our expert editorial team are here! At Thorndike Press, our editors have a knack for picking the next great reads. They have been doing so for over thirty years! Here is a list of April titles they know your patrons will enjoy.
The Reading List Council has announced the 2017 selections for the Reading List, an annual best-of list for adult readers. Announced during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting, the list seeks to highlight outstanding genre fiction. We are excited to have many of the titles that were announced and we know your readers will enjoy all of these great reads. Titles we’ve published include:
Adrenaline Winner and Short List Nominee
**Winner — ORPHAN X by Gregg Hurwitz
9781410486370
The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them. Booklist’s starred review called it “a high-tech, nonstop thriller . . . A standout,” while Publishers Weekly’s starred review called it “an excellent series opener.” This Indie Next Pick if perfect for fans of Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, and Jason Bourne. (Basic 6 — 2/3/2016)
LibraryReads publishes a list of the top books released every month that librarians across the country love. Thorndike Press honored to have many of these titles available in Large Print. Below is the full list of Large Print LibraryReads picks just for you and your patrons!
THE WANDERERS by Meg Howrey
9781432838263
Station Eleven meets The Martian in this brilliantly inventive literary novel about three astronauts auditioning for the first-ever mission to Mars, an experience that will push the boundary between real and unreal, test their relationships, and leave each of them — and their families — changed forever. This novel is fast-paced and sharp, with some unforgettable moments of tenderness. In their starred review, Kirkus called it “engrossing . . . Although the contours of a space drama may seem familiar to a 21stcentury readership, Howrey, through the poetry of her writing and the richness of her characters, makes it all seem new. A lyrical and subtle space opera.” For fans of Emily St. John Mandel and Andy Weir. (Core 6 — 5/3/2017)
“Greg’s adventures will be bigger than ever in the new format. I’m glad we’re publishing these stories in a way that makes them more accessible for everyone,” said author Jeff Kinney.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is the most popular middle-reader (grades 4-8) series of all time. This award-winning series received rave reviews from Booklist, Horn Book Guide, Publishers Weekly and/or Library Journal. Nearly every book in the series has been #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
By Mary Kelly
When I first started out as a student, I thought my taste should gravitate to the “serious” and “important” works of literature. I kind of wanted to be that person that read Kafka or Joyce on the train or went to a poetry reading. I even wanted to wear a beret. I was hoping that I would be considered a “deep thinker” and an “intellectual” reader. I guess I wanted to be the early 1980s version of Rory Gilmore. No one needed to know that although I read widely on occasion (and sometimes with a gun to my head), I secretly loved books by the likes of Erica Jong, Jacqueline Susanne, and Sydney Sheldon. If it had a wild plot, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, I was a fan. I could chew these books up like candy. It was my secret shame reading list.
Did you know? Over 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, and the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. is women over the age of 85. A radical shift—driven by the numerous (and vocal) “baby boom” generation—pushes the portion of U.S. citizens 65 and older to be 21% by 2050. As older citizens’ self-perceptions change, … Read more
Posted June 27, 2016
When evaluating reach, most public libraries find they have no problem drawing women. But men? That can be more challenging. According to a January 2011 Harris Interactive Poll: Sixty-five percent of those polled said they had visited the library in the past year; 72% of women had visited, while just over half (58%) of men had.
As libraries try to find new ways to attract men to the library, many librarians have asked for help identifying titles that appeal to masculine tastes – beyond just westerns and nonfiction titles.
By Mary Kelly
Think about your favorite movie, book or television show. Chances are eating and drinking is essential to the plot, character, or setting. Everything from the eating cheesecake with the Golden Girls to Game of Thrones (both the book and the television show) food is almost another character. Food and drink are symbolic in every culture: making a toast with a drink, the new bride and groom eating wedding cake, bringing a casserole to someone in mourning. Sharing food and drink is our way of connecting to each other, our ancestors, and our culture. It is essentially, unspoken communication and is less about the actual food and more about what it is trying to communicate.
Posted on May 3rd, 2016
We’re having a good week at Thorndike, and this news is also good for libraries – and all readers who appreciate the ease of access that large print provides. Here’s what we’re excited about:
Our editorial staff is thrilled, as we continue our quest to put the BEST titles in the best (most accessible to all) format in readers’ hands as quickly as possible. (BEST titles in the best format?? TOP titles? Don’t want to use Best twice.
Spoiler Alert: The large print format offers benefits for people under the age of 60 with perfectly good eyesight.
Have you ever been so good at something you’ve found yourself pigeonholed? Being typecast can feel like a mixed blessing—your claim to fame shines bright, creating the shadow in which your other great qualities hide. If large print books were people, they would feel this acutely.
No doubt, large print books are a well-known solution for visually impaired readers, and those readers are typically seniors. Unfortunately for large print, being so good at solving this one problem for this one audience has led to a narrow, and sometimes inaccurate view of the usefulness of the format overall.
We’d love to enlist the expert MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to explore the issue in detail, but if you’ve ever seen the Discovery Channel show, you know their mythbusting process tends to involve blowing things up, and we’d hate to see our beloved books so abused.
So, without the pyrotechnics, here are the biggest large print myths: BUSTED!