Best Books of 2008

Browse A-Z

Place Hold Write a Review	Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek by Deborah Hopkinson Children Call#: JP Hopkinson Brings immediacy and interest to an event in Abraham Lincoln's early life, while demonstrating that someone who never became known for anything else can be an important part of history. Submitted by Lora Koehler 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	All the Wind Cracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear Science Fiction Call#: F Bear Muire, the last surviving valkyrie of Norse mythology, vows to protect the last remaining humans in a post-apocalyptic world. Submitted by Cherie Bitter 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Anila's Journey by Mary Finn Young Adult Call#: YF Finn Anila Tandy, a young woman who is half Irish and half Bengali, must find a way to support herself in 18th century India, and chooses to try to become an artist for a scientific expedition up the Ganges, in this beautifully written coming of age tale. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/08
Place Hold Write a Review	Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman Mystery Call#: F Lippman Private investigator Tess Monaghan is hired as a bodyguard to a hard partying actress on the set of a big budget TV mini-series. When one of the crew members is murdered, Tess finds her job complicated by the acting skills of the suspects. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel Children Call#: JF Bruel Takes a humorous look at the normal way cats bathe, why it is inappropriate for humans to bathe that way, and the challenges of trying to give a cat a real bath with soap and water. Includes fun facts, a glossary, and other information. Submitted by Kara Pearson 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Blackman's Coffin by Mark de Castrique Mystery Call#: F DeCastrique This new series features Sam Blackman, a feisty Army veteran who lost part of a leg in the Iraq War. During his rehab, Sam meets Tikima, a fellow veteran and amputee who invites Sam to join her private security firm. After Tikima drowns and her apartment is ransacked, Sam finds a diary from 1919 and learns of the murder of Tikima's great-great-grandfather, Elijah Robertson. Sam then investigates the connection between Tikima and Elijah. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom LDS Fiction Call#: F Hallstrom A powerful glimpse into many generations of the Palmer family. The Palmers explore love, hate and the connections of family in this collection of stories. Submitted by Natalie Giauque 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Chiquita por Antonio Orlando Rodriguez Spanish Fiction Call#: Spanish F Rodriquez Espiridiona Cenda es una enana nacida en 1869 en cuba. Gozó de la fama tanto como del misterio. Chiquita es la gran historia de sus amores, sus aventuras y debentures. Submitted by Feeny Watt 1/09
Place Hold	The Compound by S. A. Bodeen Young Adult Audiobook Call#: BCD YF Bodeen Eli and his family have lived in the compound built by Eli's father for six years. The world they knew is gone and now they can't leave, Eli's father won't let them. Submitted by Laura Berube 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	COWA! by Akira Toriyama Children's Graphic Novel Call#: J741.595 Tor Paifu, a half-vampire, half were-koala and his best friend Jose, the ghost, always get into trouble in Batwing Ridge where colorful monsters and other characters roam. But when a Monster flu goes through town they have to stop their mischievous play and save all the adults. Cowa! is a "spooktacular" manga written and drawn by the creator of Dragon Ball Z. Submitted by Carrie Rogers-Whitehead 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell General Fiction Call#: F Russell Agnes Shanklin finds herself alone, a spinster and 40 years old at the beginning of the Roaring 20s. Taking advantage of her new found independence, she journeys to Egypt and encounters love and some very famous adventurers and politicos of the day. Lyrical and beautiful in scope and language. Submitted by Joni Kohagen 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	A Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford Science Fiction Call#: F Ford An excellent short story collection containing science fiction, fantasy, realism and comedy by an acclaimed author. Submitted by Cherie Bitter 1/09
Place Hold	Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis Children Audiobook Call#: BCD JF Curtis In 1859, Elijah, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada works to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom. Submitted by Laura Berube 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan General Fiction Call#: F Samarasan Small mistakes with dreadful consequences, unexplained mysteries, and closely guarded secrets have a devastating effect on six year old Aasha, the youngest in a family of wealthy plantation owners in Malaysia. Fully realized characters provide differing perspectives in this intricately woven tale of family, race and culture. Submitted by Lee Alexander 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Every Now and Then by Karen Kingsbury Christian Fiction Call#: F Kingsbury Alex Brady shuts out all relationships when he loses his beloved father in the Twin Towers. Will he have the courage to open his heart to love again? Submitted by Nola Magneson 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Fault Tree by Louise Ure Mystery Call#: F Ure Candace, an automobile mechanic, was blinded in a car accident eight years ago. She is the only witness to an elderly neighbor's murder and the killer thinks she saw the get away car. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Fields of Home by Rachel Ann Nunes LDS Fiction Call#: F Nunes Mercedes Johnson has a quiet life in Wyoming with her husband Wayne and their three boys. For twelve years Mercedes has been hiding a secret, a past mistake, a terrible heartache. When she bumps into Dr. Brandon Rhodes at the local grocery store, her life begins to unravel. Will everything she loves be taken from her? Submitted by Natalie Giauque 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Finding Daddy by Louise Plummer Young Adult Call#: YF Plummer Utah author Plummer has written a stunning thriller that is not for the faint of heart; but if you like your fiction dark and fast-paced, this might be the book for you. Mira knows nothing about her father, and her mother and grandmother are reluctant to give her any information, so she begins to search on her own, not knowing just how badly things are going to turn out for them all. Takes place in Utah, and contains graphic violence. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Barron Mystery Call#: F Barron Queen Victoria's beloved Albert lays dying of typhoid. Victoria wonders how she will go on and she calls for her barrister Patrick Fitzgerald for advice. On his way to see Victoria he is attacked, and Patrick senses there is a royal secret that some one is willing to kill for. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Full Circle by Davis Burn Christian Fiction Call#: F Burn A hotshot financial analyst who has lost it all and a broken-hearted world traveler work together to solve a mystery and right a wrong, while relearning everything they thought they knew about love. Submitted by Nola Magneson 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson Mystery Call#: F Larsson A disgraced journalist and tattooed computer hacker investigate a prominent Swedish family whose daughter disappeared many years ago. Is she still alive? Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Good Neighbors, Book One: Kin by Holly Black, illustrated by Ted Naifeh Young Adult Graphic Novel Call#: Y741.597 Bla When 16-year-old Rue Silver's mother disappears and her father turns into a couch potato after he is accused of the murder of one of his students, she attempts to solve both mysteries and discovers that she has a dangerous blood tie to the faery world. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Children, Horror Call#: JF Gaiman Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts. This juvenile fiction book will delight adults as much as it does children. Submitted by Darlene Dineen 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones Young Adult Call#: YF Jones The sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle and it doesn't disappoint! Charmain is sent to take care of the house of her great-uncle, the wizard, while the elves are curing him, and makes all kinds of discoveries. A magical coming-of-age story about a girl who has pretty much had her head in a book all her life, and now she has to take on mad little blue men servants, an evil lubbock, a clumsy wizard's apprentice, a house with many rooms and few instructions, and finding the "elf gift" for the king before he becomes completely bankrupt. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham Children Call#: JP Graham After a pigeon slams into a skyscraper and falls to the sidewalk below, it is rescued by a small boy. He and his parents care for it until it can be released. A beautiful many-layered story, with words and pictures full of hope. Submitted by Lora Koehler 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Inner Circle by Mari Jungstedt Mystery Call#: F Jungstedt A pony is decapitated and drained of blood. Then a young archaeology student disappears and is found decapitated and drained of blood. Police Superintendent Anders Knutas races to find the connection. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventure in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger Young Adult Graphic Novel Call#: Y741.595 Ste American author, animator and rabid fan (otaku) of Japanese pop culture and dolls takes a dream trip to Japan and visits all her favorite places to shop, eat and dress up in cosplay costumes. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	El Juego Del Angel por Carlos Ruiz Zafon Spanish Fiction Call#: Spanish F Zafon En la turbulenta Barcelona de los años 20 un joven escritor obsesionado con un amor imposible receibe la oferta de un misteriosa editor para escribir un libro como no hay existido nunca, a cambio de una fortuna y, tal vez, mucho más. Submitted by Feeny Watt 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Just After Sunset by Stephen King Horror Call#: F King Stephen King is back with a collection of short stories that blend the unusual with the ordinary. A stationary bike, Stonehedge and a cat are all stories that take you to a disturbing new place. Submitted by Darleen Dineen 1/09
Place Hold	Just Grace by Charise Mericle Harper Children Audiobook Call#: BCD JF Harper When Grace, named "Just Grace" by her teacher because there are three other girls named Grace in her class, decides to cheer up her sad neighbor, things don't turn out exactly the way she planned. Submitted by Laura Berube 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Kaput and Zosky by Lewis Trondheim Young Adult Graphic Novel Call#: Y741.594 Tro These two wacky characters are alien barbarians dedicated to conquering and/or destroying new planets in the most violent ways possible, and it always turns out quite badly for them, but is very amusing for the readers. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Killing Room by Peter May Mystery Call#: F May The mutilated bodies of 18 women are discovered in a mass grave in Shanghai. Detective Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell are investigating to see if the murders are related to a killing in China. They are horrified to find out that the women may have been subjected to live autopsies. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Likeness by Tana French Mystery Call#: F French Detective Cassie Maddox is called to the scene of a murder. The victim looks like Cassie and is using the name Lexie Madison, the name that Cassie used as an undercover policewoman. The only way to solve the murder is for Cassie to assume Lexie's identity to try and flush out the killer. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Young Adult Call#: YF Doctorow Terrorism brought close to home in this not-so-futuristic tale about San Francisco teens held for days by the Department of Homeland Security, and then released into what has become a virtual police state. Experts in computer hacking, these teens try to find a way to set things right when the government has failed them. Submitted by Patricia Foster 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger Children Call#: JP Berger Afraid to fall, a leaf determinedly hangs on, until it finds the courage to fly. Submitted by Lora Koehler 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore General Fiction Call#: F Gilmore This is a marvelous first novel about a young girl who dreams all of her life of leaving her sleepy Georgia town for a bigger city, and more experiences and opportunities. She realizes her dream of leaving, only to find that her real dreams were in front of her all the time. Filled with humor, pathos and memorable characters. Submitted by Joni Kohagen 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Love Letters of Joseph and Emma by Angela Eschler, illustrated by Liz Lemon Swindle LDS Non Fiction Call#: 289 Eschler Learn more about the personal life of the prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma Hale Smith in this beautifully illustrated book. Submitted by Samantha Hastings 1/09
Place Hold	Madapple by Christina Meldrum Young Adult Audiobook Call#: BCD YF Meldrum A girl who has been brought up in near isolation is thrown into a twisted web of family secrets and religious fundamentalism when her mother dies and she goes to live with relatives she never knew she had. Submitted by Laura Berube 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Mine Errand From the Lord by Boyd K. Packer LDS Non Fiction Call#: 289 Packer A great gospel reference from President Packer on 25 key topics like the Great Plan of Happiness and Temple Work. Submitted by Samantha Hastings 1/09
Place Hold	Miranda by John Little Horror Call#: F Little What happens when a man's first conscious knowledge is of his death and then he proceeds to live his life backwards. A story of isolation and beginnings that start with endings, leaving the feeling that life really has no choices. A fast novella to read. Submitted by Darlene Dineen 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	A Modest Proposal by Michele Ashman Bell General Fiction Call#: F Bell Six high school friends. One tragic and mysterious car accident. One box full of special memories and secrets. Meet the Butterfly girls: Lauryn, Emma, Andrea, Chloe and Jocelyn. Fashion designer Lauryn longs to design modest evening wear and fall in love before her 30th birthday. Or else. Or else she'll be forced to marry her long lost high school boyfriend, Jace. That would be bad, wouldn't it? Or would it? Submitted by Natalie Giauque and Ruby Cheesman 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	My Heart Remembers by Kim Vogel Sawyer Christian Fiction Call#: F Sawyer Orphaned in a tenement fire, three Irish immigrants are sent to Missouri to be adopted on the orphan train. Maelle desperately searches for her siblings who were separated from her seventeen years before. Submitted by Nola Magneson 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich General Fiction Call#: F Erdrich The brutal murder of a family in 1911 rural North Dakota and the subsequent lynching of innocent men has effects that reverberate through each generation of their descendants. Erdrich's mythical storytelling of intersecting lives, jealousies, loves and lusts is complex and rewarding. Submitted by Lee Alexander 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale Children's Graphic Novel Call#: Y741.597 Hal This is not your ordinary Rapunzel who waits in a tower for her prince to come. This Rapunzel is a cowgirl who uses her long hair to round up outlaws, ride enormous beasts and save the land from her wicked adopted mother. Rapunzel's Revenge is an action packed adventure that's not your ordinary fairytale. Submitted by Carrie Rogers-Whitehead 1/09
	Salt River by James Sallis Eaudiobook Mystery John Turner is now the sheriff of a rural community near Memphis, hoping it will be a quiet way to end his career. But the son of the former sheriff crashes through the front wall of city hall. While investigating, John makes some startling discoveries about the case and his own uncertain future. Submitted by Linda Worstell 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi Children Graphic Novel Call#: J741.597 Kib After their father dies, Emily, Navin and their mother move to a mysterious mansion to start a new life. After investigating a noise in the basement they are pulled to a new world where their mother is eaten by a gelatinous monster with huge teeth. Now Emily and Navin must journey in this alternate world and use the power of a magical amulet to save their mother. Submitted by Carrie Rogers-Whitehead 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	That Book Woman by Heather Henson Children Call#: JP Henson "What makes that Book Woman risk catching cold, or worse"? Cal wonders about the woman who brings books by horse, whatever the weather. Though he's not the readin' type, he decides he'll learn, to find out. This book about a Pack Horse Librarian in Appalachia, told from the perspective of one of her customers, shines. Submitted by Lora Koehler 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	The Whole Truth by James Scott Bell Christian Fiction Call#: F Bell Steve's brother was kidnapped from their bedroom when he was five years old. Thirty years later, as an attorney, he represents a notorious criminal and discovers information that will blow his world apart. Submitted by Nola Magneson 1/09
Place Hold Write a Review	A World Too Near by Kay Kenyon Science Fiction Call#: F Kenyon Titus Quinn is sent to destroy an engine in an alternate universe that is designed to use the Earth's universe as a power source. Submitted by Cherie Bitter 1/09