Does your reading list go to 11? Check out what King County Library System intern Jenna Zarzycki picked for her top 11 of 2011 and see if you agree.
Fiction – Adult
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
- Children’s librarian Lucy is kidnapped by one of her favorite 10-year-old patrons (or is it the other way around?). The two embark on a road trip that helps them both wrestle with the challenges that face them.
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
- Humanity fights to survive hordes of robots bent on world domination. The book is well written and interesting despite the take-no-prisoners action feel.
Nonfiction – Adult
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden
- Two girls from well-to-do families on the East Coast decide to take a teaching job in a tiny settlement out west during the early 1900s.
Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors
- During the summer a journalist travels to New Mexico to take his place as a fire lookout in one of the state’s national parks.
Nonfiction – Children or Teen
How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg
- This book describes in gruesome detail how a bevy of famous historical figures died.
Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer
- Discusses the different sounds that elephants makes and posits why they make them. Did you know that elephants squeak?
Fiction – Children or Teen
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- Seventeen-year-old Karou has always lived a double life. Some of the time she’s an art student in Prague and the rest she runs errands for a fantastical group of creatures. It isn’t until Karou meets a seraphim named Akiva that she begins to unravel the mystery of her past.
- After moving to Nigeria an albino named Sunny discovers her magical heritage. A richly imagined world (and a new method of making magic!) that takes place deep in Africa.
- A lowly kitchen boy has adventures with cruel masters, romance, bumbling detectives and ferocious land-bound pirates.
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
- Alternately tells the stories of two children from opposing tribes in Africa. One is a boy fleeing war and the other is a girl who has to make a grueling daily hike simply to get water.
The Secret Box by Barbara Lehman
- A group of students discover a box hidden under the floorboards with instructions to a mystery location. This is a wordless picture book.
King County Library System
The King County Library System has four libraries in Bellevue. It should be during the construction of a new parking structure.
Check out your libraries here:
, 1111 110th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004425-450-1765
, 14250 SE Newport Way, Bellevue, WA 98006425-747-2390
, 15590 Lake Hills Blvd, Bellevue, WA 98007425-747-3350
15600 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98008425-644-6203
