Rediscovered Books’s Top 40 Display celebrating 10 years of bookselling
Owners Bruce and Laura DeLaney
Dear Bookstore Friends and Family,
Ten years ago, we opened Rediscovered Books with great expectations, incredible naïveté and hearts full of hope. Today the naïveté has morphed into idealism, but the great expectations and hope have remained the same.
We want to take you through part of our journey over the last ten years. As with any journey, the path is marked by stories. We have chosen 40 books (four from each year) that have stayed with us or marked a milestone in our reading experiences. This is not a list of the best books (though they are all very good). This is a list of books that marked an experience with our bookstore. The reviews are the tip of the iceberg- behind each book are multiple stories that affected US, our relationship with books and the people who read them.
Here they are:
2006
- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
We think this is the best book for understanding how diversity of thought is the most valuable part of being human.
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
This novel demonstrated the influence of independent bookstores.
- The Ghost Map by Steve Johnson
Laura met this author at the first trade show she attended and has recommended the book ever since.
2007
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
This re-set the bar for great fantasy storytelling.
- The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Our introduction to one of the Pacific Northwest’s best writers of place and time
- Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The voice of Ferris Bueller matched with evil librarians and the superpower of breaking everything! [Recently reissued!]
- The Absolutely True a Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Everyone should just read this book.
2008
- A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd
The haunting voice of the unheard
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The start of a new era in teen fiction
- Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Community and friendship can break the strongest curse.
This is the first book Laura correctly predicted would be a bestseller.
2009
- The Big Burn by Timothy Egan
What fire means in the west
- Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Who knew Steampunk and Zombies could be so literary?
- Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry
It’s all about the small choices we make.
2010
- Wolfer by Carter Niemeyer
Self publishing can produce amazing books.
- Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
I’ve read Kay since I was 13 years old and I am delighted to keep coming back at 48.
- A Visitor for Bear by Bonnie Becker
This is how words and pictures are supposed to work together.
- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Love knows no boundaries.
2011
- Wildwood by Colin Meloy
A winner from Laura’s first awards committee
- Volt by Alan Heathcock
Midwest Noir: Read it and understand.
- Press Here by Herve Tullet
Changed the game of what a picture book could be.
- Ready Player One by Ernst Cline
Nostalgic yet forward-looking
2012
- Redshirts by John Scalzi
Lovingly skewers a famous trope
- Anything Worth Doing by Jo Deurbruck
Pageturning Idaho adventure
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A book our children told us to read
- Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
We love historical mysteries.
2013
- Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Sometimes dark humor is the way to go.
- Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
Swashbuckling adventure in a graphic novel.
- Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
A family is a family by any other name.
- Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Best hand holding scene in any book ever.
2014
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Hands down the best book we read all year
- An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
Layer after layer of an incredible woman
- Intern’s Handbook by Shane Kuhn
Romping through murder one cup of coffee at a time
2015
- Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Dennis asked: “Does this author know you, Dad?”
- Uprooted by Naomi Novak
New looks for old fairy tales
- Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson
The design of this book is a beautiful as the words.
- The Book Itch by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Indie bookstores are indelibly tied to the needs of their community.
- H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
Death and life and what lies between
(We know there is an extra book, but 2015 was a really good year!)
2016
Books about magic and libraries are always good.
- Pax by Sara Pennypacker
A boy, a fox and shadows of The Little Prince
These stories along with many others impacted us. They are powerful is because it is though story that we connect with the myriad people we have met through our bookstore journey. Our community is full of creative, fascinating people and each of these books also connects to you.
We can’t wait to see how much more we can learn with you about our world and what it means to be a part of it.
Sincerely,
Laura and Bruce DeLaney
