There’s something for everyone on the Featured Books shelf! (Photo by Linda Bono)
Linda Bono
If you haven’t visited the Robson Ranch Library recently, you might just want to check it out! On May 1 the library staff introduced a new highlight called the Featured Books shelf, and the new shelf has been enthusiastically received by patrons. The shelf is easy to spot, but if you don’t see it immediately, ask the volunteer on duty at the desk to point it out.
The Featured Books shelf is themed, and the theme will change every other month. Our first theme, in place for the months of May and June, has been Celebrity & Media Book Picks. Books on display will change frequently as patrons borrow a displayed book and another book from our collection replaces it. For this particular theme, we’re mixing a variety of books—hardcover, paperback, and large print—and drawing from various genres.
Are you aware of how many celebrities now recommend books and/or host book clubs? Lots! In our collection, we’ve found books recommended by the people you’d expect: Oprah, Jenna Bush Hager, Reese Witherspoon, and Good Morning America, and some you might be surprised by: Bill Gates, Diane Rehm, Barack Obama, and even Jimmy Fallon. Have you tried a Celebrity Pick? Here’s your chance!
You’ll find some terrific selections on the library’s Featured Books shelf. Following are just a few of the books you might come across on the new shelf and the words of the celebrity recommending them:
Jenna Bush Hager and Oprah bonded over Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. In December 2020, Jenna announced it as her Read with Jenna Book Club Pick. Oprah had chosen it for her book club 20 years earlier in 2000! They talked about it on the Today show. Jenna was assigned it in her sophomore English high school class and remembers that it changed her forever. Oprah said, “To be able to read Toni Morrison … is one of the greatest joys in life.”
Along with many others, Jimmy Fallon and Bill Gates highly recommend Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. “This is a gem!” were Jimmy’s words when announcing it as his first pick for the Fallon Book Club. Bill Gates wrote, “I loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow! in his GatesNotes blog.
“There’s so much to love about this thrilling, roller coaster of a novel” is how Reese Witherspoon recommended The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave.
Bill Gates was surprised by Hillbilly Elegy. “The fact that Hillbilly Elegy [by J.D. Vance] is not just an important read but also a great one came as a bit of a surprise to me,” he said in his GatesNotes blog.
The Historical Fiction genre is popular with many of our patrons, and that’s the theme we’ll be featuring in July and August. We hope you will find some satisfying reads, discover some new authors, and enjoy the new Featured Books shelf as the months and book themes change.