Holiday Post: Books and Reading.

Welcome to 2017 here at The Itinerant Librarian. We continue with the 12 Days of Christmas, and  here is my holiday post on books and reading.  I know many folks take a few moments at this time of the year to look back at what they read in 2016; I will be posting my own 2016 reading report later this  month. I also know those folks may be looking for reading ideas for 2017, and that is where this post comes in. I hope some of these links are helpful to folks. I will add my comments here and there. If I have read something featured in any of these lists that I think is worth recommending I will. As always, comments are welcomed.

Some of the big lists

This is a sampling of the usual suspects. You know, the big shot lists that almost everyone looks at.

• It does not get any bigger than Amazon, and yes, they have their list of customer favorites for 2016. See what the hot sellers have been for them in terms of new releases. These are their customer favorites in terms of sales. I leave it to my readers to make of that what they will.
• The New York Times announced their 100 Notable Books for 2016. Much of the fiction on the list is literary fiction, which I do not care for personally. However, the nonfiction part of the list features some books that may be relevant to the hard times coming in 2017. There are quite a few titles on their nonfiction list I am interested in including: Dark Money and  Evicted (which is already on my TBR list). Their nonfiction list has a few others I am interested in, so this is a list I may revisit down the road.
• Here is The Washington Post's list of best books for 2016. They offer their top ten then their notables in various categories. In the graphic novels category, I have March: Book Three and Sheriff of Babylon (volume 1 and volume 2) on my TBR list. From their nonfiction list, The Bad-ass Librarians of Timbuktu has been on my TBR for a while. Maybe this is the year I finally get to it. I am also interested  in Ten Restaurants That Changed America and maybe United States of Jihad. In science fiction, Infomocracy sounds intriguing. It is one I had not heard of until I read the WaPo piece. 
• Newsday has a list of books they think deserved more buzz in 2016. From the list, I may consider giving The Limousine Liberal a look.
• The Guardian has their best of 2016 lists in part one and part two. From this list, Weapons of Math Destruction has been on my radar for a while. It sounds like a book I ought to read not only as an informed reader but also as a librarian. Gangster Warlords also sounds interesting to me. Then again, I always find Latin American history interesting.
• The Telegraph has their best 50 books for 2016.
• Maclean's has their list for best books of 2016. From this list, The Money Cult sounds interesting to me, and I may consider adding to my TBR list. 

Other Lists

These are other lists I have found that may be of interest. They are not quite from the big shots.

• Inc magazine offers their best 10 nonfiction to give as gifts this holiday season. From this list, I have Atlas Obscura on my TBR list. I follow the Atlas Obscura blog on my feed reader, so the book interests me. The rest of the books on the list are the kind of stuff they think appeals to business readers (no surprise there).
• BuzzFeed has a list of their 18 Best Nonfiction for 2016. They link to other lists in other categories too.  
• Mother Jones has a list of the books they are giving as gifts this year. From their list, My Father the Pornographer is on my TBR list. So is Listen Liberal. 
• Here is Book Riot's list. 
• Blake Butler at Vice offers the 22 best books he read in 2016.
• The TED people have a list of 70 books to make you feel hopeful at the end of 2016. Given this has been one seriously fucked up year, that is one hell of a tall order. The list does have a bit of everything.
• Ask a Manager lists her 2016 book recommendations. This is another list with a bit of everything, past and present. 

Books to help you understand things

2016 as I mentioned was a seriously fucked up year. So of course we are getting lists to help you understand just what the hell happened. Here is a sampling of that.

• The media has gotten a lot of flak for their lousy coverage of events in 2016, especially the U.S. election. And they deserve all the criticism they get; they dropped the ball on that. Still, understanding the media is important, so here is a reading list for understanding the media from Book Riot.
• Signature offers a list of 7 books to understand the incoming Trump administration.This is a bit different of a list. It is not really books about Trump. Only real book about him or with his name is his own Art of the Deal. It is more books on topics that will be affected by the man. I can offer you two books I have read that may help you understand Trump better and are not on this list. One is Ted Rall's Trump: a Graphic Biography (link to my review), and the other is Yuge! 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump (link to my review). Believe me, Doonesbury has been warning us about Trump for years.

A bit of diversity

From international reads to ethnic groups to LGBT, here are some books to help you diversify your reading.This is not comprehensive; it is just a sampling of things that came in my feed reader. If you have other lists related to diversity you want to add, feel free to link them in the comments for me to check out.

• Here is an essential Boricua (that is Puerto Rican for those who may not know) reading list for 2016 from the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY. I was glad I came across this list as it is hard for me to find this kind of books let alone lists where I am at now. The list covers various categories. I will do my best  to pick out some items to read from this list, and if I do, I will review them here on  the blog. 
• Remezcla has a list of 15 must read books from Latin America and Latino authors.
• Based on a True Story has a list of books featuring LGBT characters that she read in the past year. This may give you a start in reader's advisory.
• The folks at Words Without Borders has a list of their favorite international reads. These are mainly works in translation to English.
• Via The Japan Times, a list of recent books about Japan. 
• Via BuzzFeed, a list of books by Indian authors published in 2016.
• NPR offers a small list of best books in translation.  
• Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia offers its best books for 2016. It even breaks it down by categories such as fiction in Spanish language and fiction in Catalan. 

Some graphic novels and comics

Graphic novels and comics are one of my favorite reading formats, so naturally I have to offer some suggestions.

• Mental Floss has a list of what they consider the 31 most interesting comics of 2016. I thought I read a lot of comics and graphic novels in 2016, yet I managed to miss a lot of these. To me, some of these seem intriguing, others not so much. See what you can discover. 
• Here is Slate's list of ten comics and graphic novels.

 Some adult fare

And finally, here is a bit for folks who like erotica and sex writing. If you are not one of those folks, you can skip this last link.

• Violet Blue offers her list to help you kink your Kindle (or other e-reader, or in some cases you can get them in print). I will warn her site can be NSFW. From this list, I do have the Circlet Treasure of Erotic Wonderland on my TBR, and I will review it after I read it.