"Reading Lists Announced"

 PART II - BEST BOOKS READ IN 2004
The public’s response to our requests for lists of books read in 2004 has been phenomenal. I wish to thank everyone for submitting his/her list.
As promised, an impartial patron was pressed into service to select the winning “List” out of all the submissions.

We had so many responses that we divided them into two categories: Adult and Juvenile.
The lucky winners are: Carol Goering for her “List of 10 Favorite Books for 2004”in the Adult Division; Megan Nichols represents the Juvenile Division. (Grade 4-7) Congratulations and thanks to both Carol and Megan!

Carol Goering from Platte Center can help me choose books for the Library any time!! She has a very eclectic pattern to her reading. I love all of her choices.
1. “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini (Fic)
2. “A Risk Worth Taking” by Robin Pilcher (Fic)
3. “Swallows of Kabul” by Yasmina Khadra (Fic)
4. “The Forest Lover” by Susan Vreeland (Fic)
5. “Girl With a Pearl Earring” by Tracy Chevalier (Fic)
6. “Loud and Clear” by Anna Quindlen (Non-Fic)
7. “Eventide” by Kent Haruf (Fic)
8. “Light on Snow” by Anita Shreve (Fic)
9. “Bookseller of Kabul” by Asne Seierstad (Non-Fic)
10. “A Good Year” by Peter Mayle (Fic)

Megan Nichols has been busy reading the Golden Sower nominees. I’m so proud of her accomplishments; she is just a 5th grader at Emerson Elementary School. Her reading choices were:
1. “Ruby Holler” by Sharon Creech
2. “Storm Warriors” by Elisa Lynn Carbone
3. “Summer of Riley” by Eve Bunting
4. “Edison Mystery” by Dan Gutman
5. “Loser” by Jerry Spinelli
6. “Pictures of Hollis Woods” by Patricia Reilly Giff
7. “Fair Weather” by Richard Peck
8. “When the Circus Came to Town” by Laurence Yep
9. “Addie Across the Prairie” by Laurie Lawlor

I promised in my last column that I would continue publishing the “Best Books of 2004” lists by the rest of my co-workers. Brad Hruska, the Children’s Librarian, read the following:
1. “Debt-Free Living by Larry Burkett
2. “Bringing Up Boys” by James Dobson
3. “He Chose the Nails” by Max Lucado
4. “Purpose-Driven Life” by Rick Warren

Peggy Engel, who heads the circulation (check-out) area, sees a lot of books cross her desk. She loves the books from the best-seller lists. Peggy is able to recommend titles not only from the “New Fiction” shelves at the library, but her expertise lies in the fact that she’s well-versed in all the fiction genres. Her choices include:
1. “Five People You Meet In Heaven” by Mitch Albom
2. “Fire Storm” by Iris Johansen
3. “Fatal Tide” by Iris Johansen
4. “The Wedding” by Nicholas Sparks
5. “Sunny Chandler’s Return” by Sandra Brown
6. “3rd Degree” by James Patterson
7. “Ten Big Ones” by Janet Evanovich
8. “Sam’s Letters to Jennifer” by James Patterson
9. “Emma’s Secret” by Barbara Taylor Bradford
10. “Nighttime Is My Time” by Mary Higgins Clark

In a few weeks, I will finish listing all the books read by library staff. I am very grateful to all the people who participated in this exercise, especially my co-workers. Without their valued input, it would be so much more difficult for me, as the Library’s book selector, to gauge the reading interests of the many people who walk through the doors of the Columbus Public Library.