Maya's Staff Picks (Top Favorite)

I highly recommend these top-rated books as a must-read because they offer a unique blend of captivating storytelling, relatable characters, and thought-provoking themes that will resonate with readers of all genres. These books have been widely acclaimed for their exceptional writing, well-developed plots, and ability to evoke emotions, making them a valuable addition to any bookshelf. Whether you're looking for a thrilling adventure, a heartwarming romance, or a journey of self-discovery, these books are sure to captivate and leave a lasting impression long after the final page is turned. In addition, the non-fiction titles provide valuable knowledge and expert insights on topics such as science, history, and personal development, while the biographies grant readers a unique glimpse into the lives of inspiring individuals who have shaped our world. Meanwhile, the sci-fi and fantasy novels transport us to new and imaginative realms, exploring complex themes and ideas that challenge our understanding of the universe and our place within it. With their engaging narratives, well-researched content, and memorable characters, these books are sure to educate, entertain, and inspire, making them a must-read for anyone looking to expand their minds and broaden their horizons.
 

Showing 1 - 20 of 24  There are a total of 105 valid entries on the list.

1. 1984

Book cover for "1984"
Star rating for 1984
Author:
Orwell, George, 1903-1950
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities. Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever... "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."...

2. Alexander Hamilton

Book cover for "Alexander Hamilton"
Star rating for Alexander Hamilton
Author:
Chernow, Ron
Average Rating:
3.9 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow's biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today's America is the result of Hamilton's countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. "To repudiate his legacy," Chernow writes, "is, in many ways, to...

3. All the light we cannot see: a novel

Book cover for "All the light we cannot see"
Star rating for All the light we cannot see
Author:
Doerr, Anthony, 1973-
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
"From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six,...

4. Because of Miss Bridgerton

Book cover for "Because of Miss Bridgerton"
Star rating for Because of Miss Bridgerton
Author:
Quinn, Julia, 1970-
Series:
Rokesby series volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Everyone expects Billie Bridgerton to marry one of the Rokesby brothers. The two families have been neighbors for centuries, and as a child the tomboyish Billie ran wild with Edward and Andrew. Either one would make a perfect husband... someday. But sometimes fate has a wicked sense of humor. There is only one Rokesby Billie absolutely cannot tolerate, and that is George. He may be the eldest and heir to the earldom, but he's arrogant, annoying, and...

5. Daisy Jones & the Six: a novel

Book cover for "Daisy Jones & the Six"
Star rating for Daisy Jones & the Six
Author:
Reid, Taylor Jenkins
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
"Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne....

6. Fahrenheit 451

Book cover for "Fahrenheit 451"
Star rating for Fahrenheit 451
Author:
Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012
Average Rating:
3.9 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Ray Bradbury's internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and...

7. Frankenstein

Book cover for "Frankenstein"
Star rating for Frankenstein
Author:
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.

8. Girl, wash your face: stop believing the lies about who you are so you can become who you were meant to be

Book cover for "Girl, wash your face"
Star rating for Girl, wash your face
Author:
Hollis, Rachel (Event planner)
Average Rating:
3 stars
Formats:
Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD

Discover how to become the joyous, confident woman you were meant to be.

Do you ever suspect that everyone else has life figured out and you don't have a clue? If so, Rachel Hollis has something to tell you: that's a lie.

If you have ever said any of these things to yourself . . .

  • Something else will make me

    • ...

    9. The good neighbor: the life and work of Fred Rogers

    Book cover for "The good neighbor"
    Star rating for The good neighbor
    Author:
    King, Maxwell (Maxwell Evarts Perkins)
    Average Rating:
    4 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    Drawing on original interviews, oral histories and archival documents, the author traces the iconic children's program host's personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work.

    10. Grit: the power of passion and perseverance

    Book cover for "Grit"
    Star rating for Grit
    Author:
    Duckworth, Angela
    Average Rating:
    4.4 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    "In this must-read book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, athletes, students, and business people--both seasoned and new--that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called "grit." Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, MacArthur "genius" Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly...

    11. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

    Book cover for "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"
    Star rating for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    Author:
    Shaffer, Mary Ann
    Average Rating:
    4.2 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    In 1946, writer Juliet Ashton finds inspiration for her next book in her correspondence with a native of Guernsey, who tells her about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club born as an alibi during German occupation. As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking...

    12. Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

    Book cover for "Harry Potter and the deathly hallows"
    Star rating for Harry Potter and the deathly hallows
    Author:
    Rowling, J. K.
    Series:
    Harry Potter (Original series) volume 7.
    Average Rating:
    4.9 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    At a time when the forces of evil seem to be gaining the upper hand, Harry comes of age in the wizarding world, and must take on and defeat Voldemort--or be killed himself.

    13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

    Book cover for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
    Star rating for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    Author:
    Rowling, J. K.
    Series:
    Harry Potter (Original series) volume 6.
    Average Rating:
    4.9 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    Harry searches for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort, and thereby finds what may be his only vulnerability. Sixth-year Hogwarts student Harry Potter gains valuable insights into the boy Voldemort once was, even as his own world is transformed by maturing friendships, schoolwork assistance from an unexpected source, and devastating losses.

    14. The invention of wings

    Book cover for "The invention of wings"
    Star rating for The invention of wings
    Author:
    Kidd, Sue Monk
    Average Rating:
    4.4 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    "The story follows Hetty 'Handful' Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family. The novel begins on Sarah's eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership over Handful, who is to be her handmaid. "The Invention of Wings" follows the next thirty-five years of their lives. Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke (a feminist, suffragist and, importantly, an abolitionist), Kidd allows herself to go...

    15. Little women

    Book cover for "Little women"
    Star rating for Little women
    Author:
    Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888
    Series:
    Little Women series volume 1.
    Average Rating:
    4.6 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.

    16. A man called Ove: a novel

    Book cover for "A man called Ove"
    Star rating for A man called Ove
    Author:
    Backman, Fredrik, 1981-
    Average Rating:
    4.3 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    A curmudgeon hides a terrible personal loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship. "A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door"--Amazon.com.

    17. The millionaire next door: the surprising secrets of America's wealthy

    Book cover for "The millionaire next door"
    Star rating for The millionaire next door
    Author:
    Stanley, Thomas J.
    Average Rating:
    4 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook
    Description:
    "Why aren't I as wealthy as I should be?" Many people ask this question of themselves all the time. Often they are hard-working, well educated middle- to high-income people. Why, then, are so few affluent. For nearly two decades the answer has been found in the bestselling The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy, reissued with a new foreword for the twenty-first century. According to the authors, most people have it...

    18. News of the world: a novel

    Book cover for "News of the world"
    Star rating for News of the world
    Author:
    Jiles, Paulette, 1943-
    Average Rating:
    4.2 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    "In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust. In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers...

    19. Pachinko

    Book cover for "Pachinko"
    Star rating for Pachinko
    Author:
    Lee, Min Jin
    Average Rating:
    4.3 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, Large Print, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    "PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan. So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate...

    20. Ready player one

    Book cover for "Ready player one"
    Star rating for Ready player one
    Author:
    Cline, Ernest
    Series:
    Ready player novels volume 1.
    Average Rating:
    4.4 stars
    Formats:
    Book, Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
    Description:
    "In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the Oasis.Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines - puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first...