With winter upon us, there’s no better time to curl up in bed with a good book.
As 2022 draws to a close, WKAR asked a staff member at the Capital Area Libraries to ponder what new releases he couldn’t put down.
Jessica Trotter is a Collection Development Specialist at CADL. He says that many books stuck with him this year, and his favorites seem to change every day.
The memoir that made an impact on Trotter is It’s Hard to Be You: Tips for Being Happy Anyway is Lansing native Sharon Emery.
“He has a stutter. There is work with that as a disability. He had a child with a disability. He is losing his sister. He is losing that child,” he said. “But that’s kind of how you get through those obstacles.
“You have a lot of neat things coming out at the same time.”
Jessica Trotter, Capital Area Regional Libraries
Trotter says another surprising non-fiction find this year tells the story of a wrestling legend born in Lansing. It is called Blood and Fire: The Incredible True Life Story of the First Sheik of Wrestling by Brian R. Solomon.
He also said it was Michelle Obama The Light That CarriesJohann Hari’s Stolen Focus: Why You’re Not Paying Attention—and How to Rethink, Storyteller: Stories of Life and Music from singer Dave Grohl and River of the Gods: Wisdom, Courage, and Fear in Search of the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard were popular in the non-fiction genre.
Trotter says it’s hard to pick just one book or genre that was popular in 2022.
That’s because the disruption to the publishing industry caused by the pandemic has resulted in a flood of new books this year.
“You have a lot of neat things coming out at the same time. And it’s hard to see, you know, a lot of things that people don’t have that I think are great.”
Another book he recommends is Keeper of Peace by Michigan author BL Blanchard. It’s an amazing novel set in an alternate universe where North America was never colonized.
Some popular story books include The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, Morgan Talty’s Night of the Living Rez, What You Know About Particles by Kai Harris, Dilemmas: Counting and Reconciliation from Maud Newton and Incredibly Bright Beings by Shelby Van Pelt.
For children, he says to check Berry song. It’s a picture book by Michaela Goade. Dhonielle Clayton’s The Marvellers may be a good choice for slightly older readers who like fantasy stories.