Summer Reading: Best of 2016 So Far

Continuing my Summer Friday series pointing out great summer reading options for you and your patrons, we have hit the half way point in the year so that means that the best of the first half of 2016 lists are coming fast a furious.

Two I like are the Book Riot Contributor’s Best of 2016 So Far [because their contributors have such widely varied tastes] and Amazon’s Editor’s Best of 2016 So Far [because they have searchable categories]. But there are many and they are everywhere

But you could have found those lists yourself.  The purpose of this blog is to take posting a list a step further and showing you how these lists or resources can improve your service to patrons.

How does this effect you at the service desk?  Thanks for asking.  Here are a few ways.

First, patrons are seeing these lists which mean they are going to come in asking for the titles appearing on them.  We need to be ready with readalikes because these books have only been out from 1 day to 6 months; chances are many are checked out. So simply being aware that this “best of the year so far” thing is happening is step one. But if you click through and look at a few now, you can come up with some readalikes before the patrons arrive.

Second, I want to remind you that when patrons are looking for books from a specific best lists they often are not actually asking for those specific books; they are simply looking for something that is good.  I have a much longer post here where I discuss this at length and give advice.  It works for best of the first half of the year lists too.

Third, why not show them back list options of the" best books" from 2015, 2014, 2013 etc... There is ZERO chance they have read all of these and there is also a great chance these titles will be on the shelf.

The most comprehensive list of archival best lists can be found via Largehearted Boy here [2015 in length with links to previous years].

Or, try any of my “best books” posts. They are not only about “best of year.” There are literally thousands of options here for a wide range of readers.

You can also use my monthly archive in the bottom right gutter to pull up my personal best list from any year since 2007.  I try to post my personal best list on the final day of each year, so if you pull up December for any year, it should be one of the first posts.  Here is 2015’s to get you started.

What are your best books of the year so far? Share them in the comments so we all have more options to help each other.