One of the Best Books I Read in 2015: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

Celebrity memoirs are a sort of guilty pleasure for me, but unlike the creepy paparazzi pictures of a celebrity's beach vacation, a memoir allows the author a choice in what details to share about their life and mind. Which is why I especially love to listen to a memoir when the author narrates the audiobook herself. My favorite of 2015 was You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day.

When it comes to specifics, Felicia Day and I don't have much of anything in common. I'm not a violin prodigy. I wasn't homeschooled. I'm not a fan of math. And I'm definitely not a famous television actress. But I do have my own experiences as a quirky, awkward, perfectionist misfit, which made her story very easy to relate to. Her writing was both entertaining and inspirational, and her narration added to the book's overall warmth.

If you only listen to one celebrity memoir by a comedic actress this year, I highly recommend Felicia Day's. But if you're like me and one isn't enough, I can also recommend:

• Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
• Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation by Aisha Tyler

 ~Sarah, Adult Services

One of the Best Books I Read in 2015: The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo

The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo may not have been the most well written book I've read in 2015, but its one that I really enjoyed.

Mattie is the kind of girl that when given two choices will always make the wrong one.  She is smart and mostly likable but has a lot of baggage in her life that she just can't seem to lose. She never knew her father and her mother drowned her own disappointments in alcohol before she died.

The story opens with a pregnant Mattie breaking up with her loser boyfriend and packing all of her belongings (six garbage bags full) into her beat-up car and heading out to her mother's home town in Oklahoma.  She has just found out that her grandmother has left her an inheritance so she is hoping this will be the answer to a new start for her.  Upon arriving in Gandy, OK, Mattie discovers that she will not be inheriting as much as she had hoped for.  Like a true survivor she manages to lie and manipulate the people of the town who knew her mother and grandmother into helping her, or at least tolerating her.

Mattie soon discovers that her mother was much more than the person she became.  There is a mystery in town about why this golden girl suddenly packed up and left town over 30 years ago.  The deeper Mattie digs, the less clear things become.  Along the way you meet an interesting cast of characters who all have problems of their own and know more than they are willing to share.

There are some very poignant moments in this book and some laugh out loud moments too.  Mattie is very self-deprecating and funny and very aware of her lack of good judgement.  With every failure to do the right thing comes another promise to herself that she's going to get her life figured out.  I found myself caring about and cheering on this messed up young woman, waiting for her to ultimately grow up.

~Michelle, Circulation

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One of the Best Books I Read in 2015: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven came out in 2014 and was on many a Best Book of the Year 2014 list. It sounded interesting, but I didn't read it until April of 2015. And oh, how angry I was at myself for not reading it sooner! This is one of my favorite books EVER.

The novel starts a few hours before a flu spreads across the globe, decimating the population and then moves back and forth between life before the outbreak and fifteen years into the future. Mandel uses her characters to discuss the importance of art and culture and to question the value of remembering the past. It's ambitious, amazing, and awe-inspiring.

~Aisha, Adult Services

One of the Best Books I Read in 2015: Lists of Note: An Eclectic Collection Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher

Lists of Note: An Eclectic Collection Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher is an enjoyable and engaging book of 125 lists (pros and cons, wish lists, to-do lists, and others) that starts off with what I think is one of the most famous lists in pop culture: a list of “Things to Do Today” by Johnny Cash which includes “not eat too much”, “go see Mama”, and of course, “kiss June” and “not kiss anyone else”. It’s filled with fun lists like “The Fifty Dwarves” which shows the names Disney writers considered for the Seven Dwarves before choosing Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy. Some names that didn’t make it are Chesty, Flabby, Jaunty, and Sappy. It also includes serious lists like “How My Life Has Changed” by Hilary North, a woman who should have been on the 103rd floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 except she stopped to vote and was late to work. It’s a moving list of things she will never be able to with her coworkers who perished on that day, including things like “I can no longer smile at Paul”, “I can no longer confide in Lisa”, and “I can no longer take my life for granted".

One of the appeals of the book is that some of the lists are photocopies of the originals so you get to see the handwriting of people like Thelonious Monk, David Foster Wallace, and Thomas Edison. There's even a list, possibly a shopping list or recollection of past meals, by Michelangelo with illustrations of food. Even if some of the lists don't interest you, there are so many to choose from, you're sure to find one that makes you smile or inspires you to make one of your own. It's a fascinating look at something we all do and shows how a list can show a small part of your personality.

~Aisha, Adult Services

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