Sonderbooks Stand-outs 2024

Stand-outs 0

Happy New Year!

I never like to list my favorite books of the year until the year is completely over – so choosing Sonderbooks Stand-outs is my favorite New Year’s Day activity.

During 2024, I read 470 books, distributed this way:

Rereads: 7
Adult Fiction: 36
Adult Nonfiction: 32
Teen Fiction: 80
Teen Nonfiction: 10
Children’s Fiction: 50
Children’s Nonfiction: 69
Picture Books: 186

At the end of the year, I choose and rank the ones that stand out in my mind. This is not a measure of literary merit. It is based on how much I remember enjoying reading the book, not how much I feel I should have enjoyed reading the book. And, yes, I’m afraid the order especially may depend somewhat on my mood when I make the list, subject to my whims.

Here’s the bottom line: These are books I loved. They are worth reading.

[Please remember, readers: I only review books I like. With so many books read, these books are true stand-outs.]

Also be aware that this list includes reading for the Mathical Book Prize, Capitol Choices, and CYBILS Award YA Speculative Fiction. But is completely separate from how I might vote in a committee (when I very much do consider literary merit). Also, for the third year now in 2025, after the ALA Youth Media Awards are announced, I try to read as many winners as possible and then present a program about the awards for other librarians. So many of these books I loved are last year’s winners.

I have switched to reading far more Audiobooks than ever before in 2024, and I caught up on some books I’d been meaning to read for ages, so there’s really a mix of publication years in my list. Oh, and I combined the 7 volumes that I’ve read so far of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion into one item, because it’s really one continued story, and otherwise it wasn’t fair to the other books.

I make my lists long, and split Speculative Fiction (my favorite) from the rest, so as to not have to choose. But look at how many I’m choosing from and you will realize these are true stand-outs!

Now go and check out the Sonderbooks Stand-outs 2024!

Review of Christian Mystics, by Matthew Fox

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Christian Mystics

365 Readings and Meditations

by Matthew Fox

New World Library, 2011. 406 pages.
Review written November 29, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

I heard about this book from the Richard Rohr emails I get from his Center for Action and Contemplation. Those daily emails made me interested in Christian mysticism, and this book was a good way to go a little deeper.

The Introduction to this book explains how the author is trying to show Christians mystical writings from within our own tradition. Here’s a short bit from that:

Today there is a genuine effort around the world at “deep ecumenism,” or “interfaith,” the coming together of the spiritual wisdom traditions of the world. That is a positive development. But the Dalai Lama points out that the “number one obstacle to interfaith is a bad relationship with one’s own faith tradition.” It is pitiful how few Christian leaders and Christian teachers (including in seminaries) know their own mystical lineage. These days, as revelations come to light about darkness in the Catholic Church, it is all the more important to pay attention to that which is true and deep and beautiful in the work of our Christian ancestors. Through the ages even to today, Christian mystics and activists have stirred hearts and souls. It is valuable at a time of church reformation and even revolution to tap into this wellspring of truth and renewal. Reading and praying the wisdom in these passages moves me deeply to embrace my mystic/prophet ancestors. I hope it helps to awaken the same in the reader.

The format includes 365 short readings from 32 Christian mystics, who include Jesus and Paul. After each quotation, Matthew Fox has some thoughts and questions about it.

Although there are 365 readings, they are numbered not dated, so you can begin any time during a year. Because I was using a library book, I read two pages per day. It still took a long time to finish, but is an older book, so I could renew or re-check out for as long as I liked.

The dedication also gives you an idea of what you’ll find here:

I dedicate this book to the young. They deserve and require a healthier version of religion, one that celebrates the depths of mysticism, love of the earth and the body, and a fierce commitment to community, compassion, celebrative rituals, and justice-making. They deserve a religion that is both simpler and more open to wisdom from all the world’s spiritual traditions.

May the mystics and meditations in these pages assist us all in reawakening the depths of our faith traditions, whatever they may be. May we travel lighter but stronger into a future worthy of our nobility as a species and worthy of the beauty of this wounded planet.

matthewfox.org
newworldlibrary.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Thirteenth Child, by Erin A. Craig

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Thirteenth Child

by Erin A. Craig

Delacorte Press, 2024. 497 pages.
Review written December 24, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

The Thirteenth Child is wildly popular at my library – so many holds on the audiobook, I decided to read the print book – and the hype is completely deserved.

The set-up is that Hazel, the thirteenth child in her family, was given away by her desperate parents to the god of Death. However, he didn’t care for her right away, but came and took her on her twelfth birthday. And from there, he’s got a long life set out for her. She’s going to be an amazing healer. In fact, she has a gift that when she touches a sick person, she gets a vision of how to heal them. But sometimes, instead she sees a Deathshead – and then she’s supposed to kill the person to avert catastrophe – for example, a person with the plague who will spread it to thousands of others if she doesn’t act.

This reminded me of two of my favorite young adult novels: Little Thieves, where the protagonist is also a thirteenth child and is given away by her parents to gods; and Grave Mercy where a whole convent of nuns serve the god of Death as assassins and see a mark on the people they are supposed to kill.

As in Grave Mercy, the protagonist can’t help but wonder what will happen if she doesn’t kill the person with marked for death. In both books, there are consequences if she doesn’t.

Eventually, Hazel becomes a healer at court with the ear of the king, but that means that her actions are all the more weighty.

This book pulled me in as much as those other two favorites did, though by the time I finished, it hadn’t won my heart quite as completely. (Still really good, though!) There’s an odd chapter in the middle that’s a very sexy dream, right after she’s met the prince. At first, I thought maybe the author was trying to tip her hand that this is a romantasy, since there hadn’t been much sex yet, so this was to get us warmed up for what’s to come – but no, this was the sexiest chapter in the book, and didn’t feel at all warranted by the encounter with the prince so far. If it was to show she was attracted to him, it felt out of place at that point. (And I’m sorry, but I rolled my eyes so hard when his hands found “parts of me I never even knew existed.” It’s a dream. It’s all coming from your subconscious. You knew those parts existed.)

One other nitpicky detail is that there’s no way, chemically speaking, that an ill human body can produce a glittering golden discharge. If it’s a magical illness, it’s not going to be solved by some special herb. However, I did love the way Hazel, despite her gift, has to study healing and is able to use logic and knowledge to determine a cure when her gift fails her.

Despite those two small quibbles, I loved this book. It’s long, but I read it quickly because it was so immersive. I didn’t really notice the quibbles until I was done and thinking over the book, because I loved the character so much. The plot gets a tiny bit convoluted toward the end of the book, but nothing it can’t sustain. And I absolutely loved the tender and beautiful Epilogue that shows us what happens for most of our beloved characters many years down the road. It answered the question as to whether the author is going for a sequel – no, this is definitely a stand-alone, and a good one.

erinacraig.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Calculating Chimpanzees, Brainy Bees, and Other Animals with Mind-Blowing Mathematical Abilities, by Stephanie Gibeault, illustrations by Jaclyn Sinquett

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Science, Starred Review 0

Calculating Chimpanzees, Brainy Bees,

and Other Animals with Mind-Blowing Mathematical Abilities

by Stephanie Gibeault
illustrations by Jaclyn Sinquett

MIT Kids Press, 2024. 88 pages.
Review written December 18, 2024, from my own copy, sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review

Here’s a book that tells a fascinating story about what goes into mathematical thinking – because it’s telling how scientists figure out how much of it animals are capable of.

First, they look at guppies. Yes, fish! Can guppies, with their tiny brains, count? Well, it turns out that when faced with two alternatives, guppies can choose the larger shoal to swim near (the better to not be eaten by predators). While explaining the experiments the scientists did, we learn about relative numerosity judgment, object-tracking systems, approximate number systems, and the numerical size and numerical distance effects.

Next up are hyenas. Researchers recorded the whoops of different hyenas and simulated a group approaching with hyena whoops. The hyenas would change behavior if there were more or fewer hyenas in the simulated group than their own group. They were wary with more intruders and aggressive with fewer. Along the way, the reader learns about subitizing and all the different things that happen when a human counts.

Chapter 3 is about a highly intelligent African grey parrot named Alex and how he even learned to use numerals and do simple math, even when the question was given with numerals. The super-interesting story of how they designed experiments for Alex to show he really understood what he was doing also teach the reader about equivalence (swapping four objects for the numeral 4, for example) and ordinality.

Next was a chapter about chimpanzees, and, yes, they can do calculations. Some experiments they described involved hiding groups of oranges in different places – and the smart chimp could pick the number that matched the total number of oranges. Even more amazing, when they put numerals in place of the oranges, the chimp still picked the correct total the very first time they tried it. This chapter covers ways humans – and chimps – do addition (though we don’t know which one this chimp was using) – counting all and counting on.

The final chapter was about honeybees. The scientists used sugar-water treats to train bees to choose the smaller number when presented with pictures of shapes – and the bees could do it even when the card had zero objects. Along the way in this chapter, the author talks about the concept of zero and how it did take humans a long time to grasp it.

And for all of the chapters there’s added value of an interview with the scientists who did the experiment plus a page for each chapter of related experiments you can try with a friend. The introduction and sections threaded through all the chapters include the story of the horse Clever Hans and how scientists use precautions to be sure they aren’t tipping the animals off.

I thought this whole book was completely fascinating, and it’s written in an engaging way that should capture the attention of the 9- to 12-year-olds it’s designed for. Really interesting stuff! You’ll gain insight on the thought processes behind the way you – and animals – do math.

mitkidspress.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Don’t Think of Tigers, by Alex Latimer

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Don’t Think of Tigers

by Alex Latimer

Random House, 2024. 32 pages.
Review written December 17, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

The cover of this picture book is brilliant – one look and you know what’s going on. And you’re absolutely thinking of tigers.

Sure enough, the author sets up the premise that whatever you picture in your mind, he will draw on the next page. He starts with a picture of a cow doing ballet to show it works. After that, we get these instructions:

But before we start, I’ve just got one thing to ask you.

I really, really can’t draw tigers, so whatever you do, please

DON’T THINK OF TIGERS!

All right – now picture ANYTHING you like.

(Just no tigers.)

You guessed it, there’s a tiger on the next page, and, sure enough, it’s not a very good picture of a tiger.

And so the silly book goes, trying more and more silly things to keep the reader from thinking of tigers and showing more and more silly drawings of tigers, though they’re getting a little better as it goes.

At the end, he asks the reader to think of every part of the tiger – stripes and whiskers and eyes and tail – and the result is a beautiful picture of a tiger walking out of the jungle. And he finishes up by asking the reader to draw what he’s thinking of.

And then – there’s a note at the back. There’s a small picture of an ugly painting of a kid, and he tells about when he was in school and painted a picture of himself and an older kid saw it and told him he better not ever try to be an artist.

I felt horrible. And so from that day, for a very long time, I stopped painting or drawing or sketching. I’d love to tell you that the boy was wrong and that I was actually an artistic genius.

But do you know what? My picture really was terrible. It really was a very, very bad painting.

(I had tried to use all of the colors to paint my face, and it ended up messy and lumpy and my eyes were askew and my nose looked like a moldy mushroom.)

But I just wish someone had told me back then that making bad pictures is part of learning to make good ones. It’s the same with riding a bike or learning to swim. No one on Earth has ever been very good the first time they tried anything.

Every artist out there has made tons of awful paintings and hideous drawings and horrible sketches.

So I want to encourage you to make bad pictures! Let’s make lots and lots of stinkers!

Because that’s the only way to make good ones.

Now, I don’t necessarily like books where the point has to be spelled out. But the main part of this book is so much silly fun, I don’t mind a serious Author’s Note at the end with a really great message.

So there you have it: Delightfully silly fun combined with overcoming fear of doing something poorly. Now to just find a kid to share it with.

alexlatimer.co.za

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of A Christmas Visitor, by Anne Perry, read by Terrence Hardiman

Audiobooks, Christmas, Fiction Review, Mystery 0

A Christmas Visitor

by Anne Perry
read by Terrence Hardiman

Blackstone Audio, 2006. 3 hours, 59 minutes.
Review written December 24, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

Okay, here’s one last cozy Christmas mystery for this year. This is the second one written by Anne Perry. The sleuth in this book is the gentleman Henry Rathbone, a friend of William and Hester Monk from her Victorian mystery series. He’s the same main character as in A Christmas Odyssey, a book I decided not to review because it’s not really a cozy mystery, searching the “dark underbelly” of London for a friend’s long lost son, and contains some casual transphobia against the characters found there.

But this book has plenty of coziness and snow-covered landscapes to get you in a Christmas mood. Henry Rathbone is the title visitor, visiting a family of friends at their estate in the Lake District of England. But unfortunately, a few weeks before, Judah, the owner of the estate, was found dead after apparently trying to cross icy stepping stones late at night after his son’s recital. Judah was a judge, and meanwhile, a man recently freed after years in prison, is accusing Judah of wrongfully imprisoning him in order to buy his estate.

As the family gathers from far-flung corners of the earth, it’s left to Henry to break the news to Judah’s siblings, rather than leave it to his widow. It seems strange that Judah would have gone for that walk late at night, and no one believes the accusation for a moment, so there’s plenty to investigate, and we get time with the interesting family members at the same time.

I have clearly listened to too many Anne Perry Christmas mysteries this year – I’m starting to be annoyed by how they can be weak on actual proof of the crime, and that it’s just about figuring it out, which is often guesswork. But still, taking me to Victorian England in the snow at Christmas time is a nice way to honor the holiday.

anneperry.us

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of When the World Tips Over, by Jandy Nelson

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Teen Fiction Review 0

When the World Tips Over

by Jandy Nelson
read by Michael Crouch, Alex McKenna, Briggon Snow, Caitlin Kinnunen, and Julia Whelan

Listening Library, 2024. 17 hours, 16 minutes.
Review written December 17, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

When the World Tips Over is a family saga for teens, with a strong dose of magical realism. Our main characters are the three siblings Wynton, Miles, and Dizzy Fall, all named after their missing father’s favorite trumpet players, as well as a mysterious rainbow-haired girl who joins the story later along the way.

As the story opens, 12-year-old Dizzy has had a terrible day, with a disgusting boy farting in her face and her former best friend joining in the laughter about it. So she climbed over the fence and walked blindly away from the school, but she wasn’t paying attention when she stepped into the street, and that was her first encounter with the rainbow-haired girl, who pushed her out of the way of the truck barreling down upon her. But she didn’t see the girl afterward, so Dizzy is convinced she’s an angel.

Miles is the next sibling to see the rainbow-haired girl. His siblings call him “Perfect Miles,” but not fondly. What they don’t know is that he’s quit track, the math club, academic decathlon, volunteering at the animal refuge, and even going to school altogether. He’s been intercepting notes to his mother. On top of that, he’s gay but hasn’t dared to come out to anyone. Oh, and he can have conversations with dogs. The next-door neighbor’s dog is his best friend.

And then he meets the rainbow-haired girl, when he should be in school. They drive around in her vintage orange truck, and he can open up to her like nobody he’s ever met before. He can feel hope returning.

Then there’s Wynton, the oldest brother. He’s been kicked out of the house after driving under the influence and knocking the head off the statue of their ancestor in the town square, and after stealing their mother’s wedding band to pawn for money to buy a new bow for his violin. Wynton has his big chance coming up – he’s going to perform in front of a scout that could bring him into the big time. But his mother has heard it before, and nobody’s paying attention. And he runs into the rainbow-haired girl after the concert, when he’s again under the influence. But she’s not able to get him out of the road in time.

That’s all just the beginning. As the story winds on, we learn more about the rainbow-haired girl, and how she grew up driving around northern California with her mother in an RV named Sadie May. We also learn about the history of the Fall family and their ancestors who came to Paradise Springs from Europe, bringing magical vines. We learn the identity of those ghosts Dizzy’s always been able to see, where their mother got her gift for baking food so good it makes you fall in love, why their father left and never came back, and how that rainbow-haired girl turns out to be connected to them.

There are lots of coincidences in this book, but they’re explained by magic and destiny – which ended up being a little weak for me, but that’s the grinchy part of me, and it makes a nice story.

But there’s also lots of abandonment and betrayal in the back stories, and that’s where it was just a little too harsh for me, along with the Cain-and-Abel curse on the family. I’ve been abandoned and betrayed myself, so that hit me a little too hard to be completely outweighed. And this covers not only romantic partners, but children as well – so it’s not quite a feel-good story for me.

Though I do completely love the explanation at the end for the title:

I do believe now that when the world tips over, joy spills out with all the sorrow.

But you have to look for it.

That’s a message I can get behind.

jandynelson.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of A Christmas Escape, by Anne Perry

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Mystery 0

A Christmas Escape

by Anne Perry
read by Steven Crossley

Recorded Books, 2015. 3 hours, 41 minutes.
Review written December 20, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

Yes, I’m listening to one Anne Perry Christmas novella after another in the lead up to Christmas, after I finished all the eaudiobooks my library has available that are eligible for the Cybils in the Young Adult Speculative Fiction category. Overdrive informs me that this is the thirteenth one she wrote.

I enjoyed this one for having quite a different flavor from the others – instead of being set in a remote English village, it’s set on an island in Italy, next to an active volcano. Our main character Charles Latterly isn’t obviously from any other of Anne Perry’s books. He’s a lonely gentleman going on vacation over Christmas to warmer shores. The host makes him welcome in the small hotel, with wonderful food, and assures them that it has stood safely there at the foot of the volcano for generations.

Charles goes out walking on the hillside the next day and encounters a charming fourteen-year-old girl and her elderly guardian. But when they get back to the hotel, there’s disharmony among the guests when the visiting author claims that someone tried to push him off the mountain.

And then things get much more frightening the next day when the volcano begins to erupt. To be completely safe, they need to get down to the beach, but that means walking a long way – and sure enough, before they set out they discover a murder.

I enjoyed listening to this one a bit more than the others, because the danger of the eruption had me riveted. The mystery itself felt contrived, and the motive unlikely, and it wasn’t solved by deduction so much as guesswork. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story. And I liked the friendly, almost fatherly relationship that developed between Charles Latterly and the teenage girl in the time of danger.

And, yes, everything resolves and most of the characters reach safety on Christmas Day.

anneperry.us

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Bibsy Cross and the Bike-a-thon, by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Dung Ho

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review 0

Bibsy Cross and the Bike-a-thon

by Liz Garton Scanlon
illustrated by Dung Ho

Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 112 pages.
Review written October 25, 2024, from a book sent to me by the publisher.

Bibsy Cross and the Bike-a-thon is a new beginning chapter book series about an irrepressible third grader named Bibsy Cross. This is the second one I’ve read.

In this book, Bibsy is excited about taking part in a “Bikes for Bucks for Books” event at the local library – so of course she got a fan here.

Bibsy forms a team with her best friend Natia, and is torn because she very much wants to win a prize for bringing in the most money for the library. Then on the day of the Bike-a-thon, things happen to mess up her plans.

I like Bibsy’s spirit – she has a tendency to raise her hand in class and share so much information that she tries the patience of her teacher. And I like the way her family shares “sweet-and-sours” at the dinner table – sweet things that happened and sour things that happened, and even ways the sour things have something sweet come out of them. And I love the way her parents are sympathetic about everything that happens to Bibsy, sweet or sour.

There are pictures on almost every page of this book, and not a whole lot of words per page, so this book is perfect for a kid building confidence in their reading.

lizgartonscanlon.com
dungho.me
rhcbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of A Christmas Beginning, by Anne Perry

Audiobooks, Christmas, Fiction Review, Mystery 0

A Christmas Beginning

by Anne Perry
read by Terrence Hardiman

Blackstone Audio, 2007. 4 hours, 7 minutes.
Review written December 19, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

Another cozy murder mystery for Christmas! I’ve discovered I can make up for always needing to read for the Cybils Awards in December by listening to audiobooks of some of the titles I’ve missed. Overdrive informs me that this is Number Five. I think I might have read it many years ago, but now the completist in me wants to write a review. The order definitely doesn’t matter, because most of the characters come from various others of Anne Perry’s books.

A Christmas Beginning features Superintendent Runcorn of the London police, a former boss of Monk – the main detective in one of Anne Perry’s other series. (I hope to listen to some of those other series soon.) It appears that Runcorn and Monk don’t like each other much.

In this book, Runcorn has come to the small island of Anglesey on vacation at Christmastime. To his surprise, he runs across a disagreeable man he knew in conjunction with a London case. But this is notable because during the course of that case he fell in love with the man’s beautiful sister, Melisande. He goes to church in hopes of encountering her as well. He does, but learns that her brother has gotten her engaged to a local constable who is also a gentleman. Runcorn is very aware throughout the book of his socially inferior status, which was all the more important in the late 1800s when this is set.

Later in the churchyard, Runcorn discovers the body of a beautiful young lady whom he also saw in church, the sister of the vicar. She was a friend of Melisande, who begs him to help solve the case. It turns out that the young lady had been courted by three different men, including Melisande’s brother and her current fiance. The woman seems to have been killed by someone who knew her, because she was facing the assailant and didn’t run away. So if Runcorn can figure out why those courtships ended, maybe he can learn about the case. And even though solving the case will make the local constable look good, he cares so much about Melisande’s peace of mind, he can’t bring himself to turn away.

And that’s the crux of this novella – solving the crime is dependent on learning about the relationships of the deceased. And you’ve got a little romance thrown in as well. It’s more of a story than a puzzle, but it’s a nice cozy Christmasy one – you can read about the characters out and about in the cold while you’re cozying up to this book by a fire.

anneperry.us

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?