BEST BOOKS
An annual roundup of the year's best books!
Early each year, our librarians compile lists of the best books they read that were published in the previous year. Then, they present them to the public!
And sometimes, in the summer, they do it again, only this time it is lists of all time favorites in different categories.
These events are a delightful evening filled with books, conversations, and a sweet treat.
See our lists below!
If you want to keep up on what our librarians are currently reading, check out our blogs.
Best Books Lite 2026 - Dig Into History
Shaina's picks
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Lovely War by Julie Berry
The Summer Before the War by Julie Berry
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Women of the Blue & Gray: True Civil War Stories of Mothers, Medics, Soldiers and Spies by Marianne Monson
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Belgravia by Julian Fellowes
Elizabeth's picks
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Glass Virgin by Catherine Cookson
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Mariah's picks
Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen
When Winter Robeson Came by Brenda Woods
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
CAROLINE's picks
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal about the Japanese American Incarceration by Elizabeth Partridge & Lauren Tamaki
Murder Among Friends: How Leopold and Loeb Tried to Commit the Perfect Crime by Candace Fleming
From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Mairi's picks
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley
The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects by Deborah Lutz
Charlotte Brontë’s Life Through Clothes by Eleanor Houghton
The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme
How to Be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life by Ruth Goodman
McKenna's picks
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
James by Percival Everett
Carla's picks
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II by Robert Matzen
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
The Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick
Best Books 2025
Adult Lists
carla's picks
Heart the Lover by Lily King (Fiction)
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Jajumdar (Fiction)
Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service by Michael Lewis (Nonfiction)
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Nonfiction)
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (Memoir)
Sisterhood of Ravensbrück: How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis in Hitler’s All-Female Concentration Camp by Lynne Olson (History)
Finding My Way by Malala Yousfzai (Memoir)
Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Memoir)
1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – And How it Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin (History)
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst (Biography)
We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes (Fiction)
The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig (Historical Fiction)
Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian (Historical Fiction)
Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (Fantasy)
Antidote by Karen Russell (Historical Fiction/Magical Realism)
Erika's picks
The Favorites by Layne Fargo (Fiction)
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab (Horror/Fantasy)
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green (Nonfiction)
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Fiction)
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Memoir)
The Love Haters by Katherine Center (Romance)
Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver (Romance)
Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder by Bellamy Rose (Romance/Mystery)
And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens (Romance)
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez (Romance)
Marcie's picks
King Sorrow by Joe Hill (Horror)
Red City by Marie Lu (Fantasy)
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig (Fantasy)
Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill (Fantasy)
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Science Fiction)
When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory (Science Fiction)
Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith (Fiction)
Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Historical Fiction)
One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter (Historical Fiction)
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd (Mystery)
The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan (Mystery)
Dead Money by Jakob Kerr (Thriller)
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson (Thriller)
amber's picks
The Rules of Matrimony by Anneka Walker - Matchmaking Mamas #4 (Romance)
A Proper Governess by Kasey Stockton - Hearts of Harewood #2 (Romance)
Whispers of Shadowbrook House by Rebecca Anderson (Romance)
Winterset by Tiffany Odekirk (Romance)
Love in a Mist by Sarah M. Eden - Gents #5 (Romance)
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Fiction)
My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Fiction)
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man] by Jesse Q. Sutanto - Vera Wong #2 (Mystery)
Someone is After LuLu Depree by Josi S. Kilpack (Mystery)
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher (Fantasy)
The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case by Chuck Hogan (True Crime)
My Next Breath: A Memoir by Jeremy Renner (Memoir)
Teen Lists
Rosalia's picks
Hekate by Nikita Gill (Fantasy)
Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray (Fantasy)
Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley (Thriller)
Hello Sunshine by Keezy Young (Graphic Novel/Horror)
Jen's picks
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven (Romantasy)
Needy Little Things by Chantelle Desamours (Thriller)
I am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins (Fantasy)
One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins (Historical Fiction)
Carving Shadows into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer - Forging Silver into Stars #2 (Fantasy)
Fearless by Lauren Roberts - The Powerless Trilogy #3 (Romantasy)
Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli - The Crimson Moth #2 (Romantasy)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games (Fantasy)
A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne (Fiction)
When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven (Mystery)
Alyssa's Picks
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming (Nonfiction)
I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang (Speculative Fiction)
The Siren and the Star by Colby Cedar Smith (Historical Fiction)
Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross (Romantasy)
Every Borrowed Beat by Erin Stewart (Romance)
The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor (Fantasy)
Holy Terrors by Margaret Owens - Little Thieves #3 (Fantasy)
American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad that Haunted a Nation by Barb Rosenstock (Nonfiction)
The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker (Fiction)
Oxford Blood by Rachael Davis-Featherstone (Mystery)
Children's List
Caroline's List
Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel by K. Woodman-Maynard (Comic)
Night Chef by Mika Song (Comic)
Free Piano [Not Haunted] by Whitney Gardner (Comic)
Danilo Was Here by Tamika Burgess (Historical Fiction)
No Purchase Necessary by Maria Marianayagam (Realistic Fiction)
Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Historical Fiction)
The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri (Historical Fiction)
The World Entire: A True Story of an Extraordinary World War II Rescue by Elizabeth Brown (Nonfiction)
Are We There Yet?: The First Road Trip Across the USA by Stacy McAnulty (Nonfiction)
Five Little Friends by Sean Taylor (Picture Book)
Sundust by Zeke Peña (Picture Book)
Fairy Walk by Gaia Cornwall (Picture Book)
Joella's Picks
Night Light by Michael Emberley (Comic)
We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! by Kon Tan (Intermediate Fiction)
The Invincible List of Lani Li by Veeda Bybee (Realistic Fiction)
Benny on the Case by Wesley King (Mystery)
The Free State of Jax by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Mystery)
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman (Fantasy)
A World Without Summer by Nicholas Day (Nonfiction)
A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet by Martha Brockenbrough (Nonfiction)
Ceecee: Underground Railroad Cinderella by Shana Keller (Picture Book)
Go, Sloth, Go! by Toni Yuly (Picture Book)
I Hate Everything! by Sophy Henn (Picture Book)
Take a Breath, Big Red Monster! by Ed Emberley (Picture Book)