King County Library System (KCLS), one of the largest library systems in the country, released its selections for the Best Books of 2017. The annual list includes KCLS’ top 25 titles each under four categories: adult fiction, adult nonfiction, teens and children’s.
Best Book Lists are selected by nominations from King County Library System librarians and staff members who, collectively, read and download hundreds of books each year. Once nominations are made, KCLS Reader’s Services Specialist, Emily Calkins, reviews all titles before final selections are made by a team of adult, teen and children’s librarians.
“It’s a tough choice to make! So many great books come out each year, and our staff are passionate about the books they read and recommend,” said Calkins. “We’ve come up with four wonderful lists, and we think any reader will find something to love on them.”
Following are King County Library System’s Best Books of 2017:
Best Adult Fiction Books 2017: (in order of author’s last name)
- Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
- American War by Omar El Akkad
- My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
- This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
- Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
- The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The Dry by Jan Harper
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
- The Leavers by Lisa Ko
- Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
- The Bad Luck Bride by Janna MacGregor
- The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta
- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
- The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
- Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
- Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
- Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Best Adult Nonfiction Books 2017: (in order of author’s last name)
- You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
- American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
- Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
- The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
- We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-nehisi Coates
- The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
- Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Jr. Forman
- Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
- Ghost of Seattle Past by Jaimee Garbacik
- Hunger by Roxane Gay
- Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as An Adult by Bruce Handy
- We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby
- No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need by Naomi Klein
- Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco
- Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
- Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II by Liza Mundy
- Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics by Lawrence O'Donnell
- The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals by Joel Satore
- Daring to Drive: a Saudi Woman's Awakening by Manal Sharif
- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
- The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson
- Make Trouble by John Waters
- Why We March: Signs of Protest and Hope: Voices From the Women's March
- The Card Catalog: Books, Cards and Literary Treasures
Best Teen Books 2017: (in order of author’s last name)
- The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
- City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson
- Crack in the Sea by H.M. Bouwman
- Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
- The Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley Doyle
- Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
- Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
- Here We Are: 44 Voices Write, Draw, and Speak About Feminism for the Real World edited by Kelly Jensen
- Amina's Voice by Hena Khan
- We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
- The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
- Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
- One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
- When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
- Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
- Loving Vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case by Patricia Hruby Powell
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
- Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Thick as Thieves by Megan Whelan Turner
- Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
- American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Best Children’s Books 2017: (in order of author’s last name)
- Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander
- Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
- Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
- She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton
- Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
- Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell
- Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt
- Star Crossed by Barbara Dee
- The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy
- Windows by Julia Denos
- Moto and Me by Suzi Eszterhas
- When's My Birthday by Julie Fogliano
- Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart
- Real Friends by Shannon Hale
- The Good for NOTHING Button! by Charise Mericle Harper
- Egg by Kevin Henkes
- All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jackson
- Shark Lady by Jess Keating
- Lost and Found Cat: the True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey by Doug Kuntz
- Train I Ride by Paul Mosier
- A Different Pond by Bao Phi
- Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jerry Pinkey
- Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
- Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
- Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
All Best Books 2017 are available to borrow in various formats, including print, audio, digital audio and eBook, at your local KCLS library or online to download at www.kcls.org.
