Every book its reader, every reader its book. There are some on the list that you will likely love, and some that you may roll your eyes at, but these are the books that kept our staff learning and laughing last year. Without further ado, here are the Marion Public Library Staff Picks from 2020!

Adult

• The Vanishing Half: Brit Bennett
• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires: Grady Hendrix
• Magic Lessons: Alice Hoffman
• His Only Wife: Peace Adzo Medie
• Mexican Gothic: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Sun Down Motel: Simone St. James
• South of the Buttonwood Tree: Heather Webber

Adult Honorable Mentions:

Adult Fiction

• The Girls with No Names: Serena Burdick
• Peace Talks: Jim Butcher
• The Chill: Scott Carson
• Highfire: Eoin Colfer
• American Dirt: Jeanine Cummins
• The Girl with the Louding Voice: Asi Dare
• Well Played: Jen DeLuca
• Beach Read: Emily Henry
• The Henna Artist: Alka Joshi
• Writers and Lovers: Lily King
• The Exiles: Christina Baker Kline
• Qualityland: Marc-Uwe Kling
• House of Earth and Blood: Sarah J. Maas
• Jingle All the Way: Debbie Macomber
• If I Never Met You: Mhairi McFarlane
• A Deadly Education: Naomi Novik
• The Boyfriend Project: Farrah Rochon
• Rodham: Curtis Sittenfield
• Light Changes Everything: Nancy E. Turner
• One by One: Ruth Ware

Adult Nonfiction

• All Ages Welcome: Recruiting and Retaining Younger Generations to Library Boards, Friend Groups, and Foundations: Lina Bertinelli, Madeline Jarvis, Kathy Kosinski, Tess Wilson
• Solutions and Other Problems: Allie Brosh
• I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness: Austin Channing Brown
• Fire Story: Brian Fies
• Get Out Of Your Own Way: Dave Hollis
• Didn’t See That Coming: Putting Life Together When Your World Falls Apart: Rachel Hollis
• Wow, No Thank You: Samantha Irby
• Let Love Rule: Lenny Kravitz
• Matty Matheson: Home Style Cookery: Matty Mattheson
• A Promised Land: Barack Obama
• Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics: Dolly Parton
• My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: Jason Rosenthal
• Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal: Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand
• Open Book: Jessica SImpson
• Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close: Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman

YA/Teen

• Felix Ever After: Kacen Callendar
• This Book is Anti Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell

YA/Teen Honorable Mentions:

• Cinderella is Dead: Kalynn Baryon
• The Betrothed: Kiera Cass
• The Voting Booth: Brandy Colbert
• Winter White and Wicked: Shannon Dittemore
• Dancing at the Pity Party: Tyler Feder
• Raybearer: Jordan Ifueko
• Grown: Tiffany D. Jackson
• Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You: Ibram X Kendi and Jason Reynolds
• What I Carry: Jennifer Longo
• Go With The Flow: Karen Scheemann and Lily Williams
• Ember Queen: Laura Sebastian
• Return of the Thief: Megan Whalen Turner

Children’s and Middle Grade

• Class Act: Jerry Craft

Children's and Middle Grade Honorable Mentions:

• Cozy: Jan Brett
• The Only Black Girls in Town: Brandy Colbert
• The Yawns Are Coming!: Chris Eliopoulous
• 96 Miles: J.L. Esplin
• No, Fuzzball!: Isabella Kung
• Evelyn Del Ray is Moving Away: Meg Medina
• Bear Came Along: Richard T Morris
• The Button Book: Sally Nicholls
• Speak Up: Miranda Paul
• I Got the School Spirit: Connie Schofield-Morrison
• Clean Getaway: Nic Stone
• Test This Book: A Laugh out Loud Picture Book about Experiments and Science: Louie Zong