Best Books 2021: Publisher's Weekly

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Best Books 2021" series you can use the best lists tag.  

The annual onslaught of Best Books has officially begun, with PW setting the pace, as usual, with their EXCELLENT Best Books Website. 

At the end of last week, Publishers Weekly, announced their Best of 2021 in 12 categories across all reading levels, here.

I mention this every year when this list comes out [and when their summer reading list comes out too] and the main reason I love to promote this best list is because it is so useful.

Why?

Because no one makes using the backlist of best titles easier than PW.  Look at these screen shots I took of the opening page:

Click on any screen shot to load the page

While the shiny new list is exciting to browse though, I want to draw your attention to to bar across the top. The bar that lists, clearly and on every single page, 1-click access to EVERY YEAR'S Best Lists and all of the Summer lists. Again, with 1-click!

I have said this hundreds of times before, but I keep repeating it because it is so important...

The back list is your best friend in RA Service.

A book that is best this year is great. But honestly, in a few weeks, they will all be checked out. Plus, your patrons are coming in to request these title specifically. They don't need much help from you to identify and request this year's best titles.

But... a book suggestion of a title that was "Best" a few years ago [especially 2-5 years ago] is like a present to your patrons. #1, the title will probably be one they would not have thought of themselves, thus making your intervention in suggesting it vital to their reading pleasure and #2, and this is the key, it will be on the shelf.

You will make a bigger service impact on your patrons and help your great collection circulate better by suggesting more backlist options. A "Best" book from a few years ago is still a sure bet. It is still a great option, one that many people thought was worth calling out then, even 5 years later, it is still an awesome read. Also if it was on one of those lists up to 5 years ago there is a very good chance that you added it to your collections and that you still have it. Give it out to someone who will love it right now!

And one final reason I love the PW Best Books portal is because it is a whole collection resource. They break titles down by genre, have nonfiction [in a few popular categories], Graphic Novels, YA, Middle Grade, and Picture Books all called out in separate lists. You can help just about every reader with this resource, and it's backlist options. There are hundreds of proven titles to suggest on one easy to use webpage.

The annual attack of the best lists has just begun, but any time of year, the PW "Best" platform is an awesome go-to resource for sure bet titles across all reading interests. And because it keeps getting added to every year and the backlist is easily accessible, it only gets more useful with age.