Amazon Editors:
Best Books of the Year (So Far)
Today the Amazon editors released their annual mid-year review, the Best Books of the Year So Far. In past years, the list has brought new attention to the titles picked (and, a benefit for Amazon, caused several of the titles move up their sales rankings).
The editors’ top pick is Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk (Grove Press; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample). We covered it extensively as it soared to #4 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction best seller list. It fell off just recently – Amazon’s attention may put it back on.
Nineteen other titles round out their top picks; including our Crystal Ball prediction and BEA fave, Saint Mazie (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample), by Jami Attenberg.
Little surprise that big names such as Kristin Hannah and Olen Steinhauer appear, but it is nice to see so many debut authors selected. Just over half of the top titles are first works, including books by Aline Ohanesian, Mary Norris and Lauren Acampora, whose book, The Wonder Garden (Grove, May) was a BEA Shout ‘n’ Share pick by Jen Dayton, Darien Public Library, who described it 
as, ” Short stories that read like a novel. Each can stand alone, but you’ll be so intrigued by each character that you’ll want to read them all.”
The rest of Amazon’s picks are divided into sixteen subjects, including a timely top audiobook pick – the first unabridged US recording of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (Brilliance Audio, which is owned by Amazon) read by Scott Brick.