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Books & More

Books are what libraries are famous for and we have plenty of them for readers of all ages. So it doesn’t matter if you prefer fiction or nonfiction, we’ve got you covered. Check out some of our staff favorites or let us create a personalized reading list just for you.

  • Book Spotlight
  • Staff Picks
  • Trending Topic
  • Book Club Sets

Book spotlight | Books That Make Cents

Get Good With Money
30-Day Money Cleanse
Budget Travel
Debt 101
Ask questions, save money, make more
smart money smart kids
Beyond getting by
Convenience Store Woman
Budgeting 101
The holy grail of investing
temporary
Severance
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Rich AF
$10 dinners : delicious dinners for a family of four that don't break the bank
The Total Money Makeover
The guru gap
Nolo's guide to estate planning
How to make your money last : the indispensable retirement guide
Money for Millennials : manage and build your financial security
Ready for Anything
I survived capitalism and all I got was this lousy t-shirt

staff Picks | What We're Reading

Long Live Evil
Water Moon
Emma
What the River Knows
We'll prescribe you a cat
Happy Land
The Boyfriend
The Business Trip
The Let Them Theory
In a Dark, Dark Wood
Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Running Close to the Wind
Dreams Lie Beneath
The bakery dragon
Eddie Winston Is Looking For Love
What Have You Done
Dream count : a novel
The Energy Bus

TRENDING TOPIC | Caribbean American Heritage Month

Tell it to me singing
Ibis
Sturge Town : poems
Speak to me of home
Sweetness in the skin
Jamaica ginger
The ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
A house for Miss Pauline
The human origins of Beatrice Porter and other essential ghosts
Passiontide
Belly full
The pepperpot diaries
Las madres
Puerto Rico : a national history
Cuba : an american history
Silk cotton
Relentless
Village weavers
Bodega bakes

Book Club Sets | Our Recommendations

Reserve copies for your whole book club with just a few simple clicks. We offer an array of titles perfect for your book club. With your library card, you can check out a set which includes 12 to 15 copies — conveniently packaged in a heavy duty Lexington County Library tote bag. Each set checks out for 1 month (30 days) so everyone has more than enough time to finish the book and discuss.

The Librarian Spy
The Stranger Beside Me
Spare
Dutch Girl
Flat Broke With Two Goats
Born a Crime
Fire on the Track
The Good Neighbor
Hillbilly Elegy
Educated
The Bromance Book Club
The House of the Spirits
Afterlife
My Sister, the Serial Killer
Wild Women and the Blues
The Hours Count
My Ántonia
Gunpowder Green
To Kill a Kingdom
The House on Mango Street

NoveList Plus

Looking for great read-alikes? You can log on to NoveList to browse recommendations for any age group. You’ll need the Discus password provided by South Carolina State Library. If you don’t have a Discus password, call any library branch and we’ll be happy to help.

NextReads Newsletters

Sign up for monthly newsletters based on your favorite genres to get reading recommendations delivered straight to your inbox. Genres and topics include: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, New York Times Best Sellers, Page to Screen, Romance, Thrillers and Suspense, and much more.

 

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award winners, best sellers & hot topics

Book Lists & Reading Recommendations

Book Awards for Children's Books

Caldecott Medal
Chooch Helped (2024)

Chooch Helped (2024)

Hot Dog (2023)

Hot Dog (2023)

Watercress (2022)

Watercress (2022)

We are Water Protectors (2021)

We are Water Protectors (2021)

The Undefeated (2020)

The Undefeated (2020)

Hello Lighthouse (2019)

Hello Lighthouse (2019)

Wolf in the Snow (2018)

Wolf in the Snow (2018)

Radiant Child: the Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (2017)

Radiant Child: the Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (2017)

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (2016)

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear (2016)

The Adventures of Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend (2015)

The Adventures of Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend (2015)

Coretta Scott King
2023 Author Winner

2023 Author Winner

2023 Illustrator Winner

2023 Illustrator Winner

2023 Author Honor

2023 Author Honor

2023 Author Honor

2023 Author Honor

2023 Author Honor

2023 Author Honor

2023 Illustrator Honor

2023 Illustrator Honor

2023 Illustrator Honor

2023 Illustrator Honor

2023 New Talent Award

2023 New Talent Award

2023 New Talent Award

2023 New Talent Award

Newberry Medal
Freewater (2023)

Freewater (2023)

The Last Cuentista (2022)

The Last Cuentista (2022)

When You Trap a Tiger (2021)

When You Trap a Tiger (2021)

New Kid (2020)

New Kid (2020)

Merci Suárez Changes Gears (2019)

Merci Suárez Changes Gears (2019)

Hello Universe (2018)

Hello Universe (2018)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon (2017)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon (2017)

Last Stop on Market Street (2016)

Last Stop on Market Street (2016)

Crossover (2015)

Crossover (2015)

Flora & Ulysses (2014)

Flora & Ulysses (2014)

The One and Only Ivan (2013)

The One and Only Ivan (2013)

South Carolina Book Awards
Abdul’s Story
Be A Bridge
Beneath
Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme
Don't Eat Bees
Donut: The Unicorn Who Wants to Fly
Every Dog in the Neighborhood
How to Hug a Pufferfish
I'm Hungry! Tengo Hambre!
John's Turn
Like
Little Good Wolf
Lou
Mary Had a Little Plan
Out of a Jar
Pigeon & Cat
Tiny Dino
When the Sky Glows
The World Belonged to Us
Yoshi and the Ocean
Controlled Burn
The Curse on Spectacle Key
Duet
Finally Seen
Freddie vs. the Family Curse
The Girl in White
Haven: A Small Cat’s Big Adventure
Honestly Elliott
Hummingbird
Just Harriet
Manatee Summer
Nellie vs. Elizabeth
Out of Range
A Perfect Mistake
A Rover’s Story
Trex
We Own the Sky
Wildoak
Witchlings
Your Pal Fred
Attack of the Black Rectangles
Black Bird, Blue Road
The Bluest Sky
Camp Famous
Dream, Annie, Dream
A Duet for Home
Ellen Outside the Lines
Hummingbird
The Last Mapmaker
Meet Me Halfway
Playing Through the Turnaround
Rain Rising
A Song Called Home
Sweet and Sour
The Whispering Fog
Those Kids from Fawn Creek
We Were the Fire
What Happened to Rachel Riley
Where the Sky Lives
Yonder
Abuela, Don’t Forget Me
Ain’t Burned All the Bright
All My Rage
Belladonna
Daughters of a Dead Empire
Dead Flip
The Do-Over
The Drowned Woods
The Getaway
I Must Betray You
The Ivory Key
Lawless Spaces
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
Overground Railroad
Rust in the Root
Spells for Lost Things
Star Child
Victory, Stand!
Wrecked
Acorn was a Little Wild
Bathe the Cat
Chez Bob
Dancing with Daddy
Don’t Hug Doug
Gibberish
Hamsters Make Terrible Roommates
Hurricane
Invasion of the Unicorns
Knight Owl
Mel Fell
Negative Cat
Nigel and the Moon
Regina is not a Little Dinosaur
Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket
Someone Builds the Dream
Something’s Wrong
This Very Tree: a story of 9/11, resilience, and regrowth
A Walk in the Words
Be Strong
The Accidental
Allergic
Bartali's Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy's Secret Hero
Ben Yokohama and the Cookie of Doom
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
Dog Squad
Elephant in the Room
Falling Short
Fast Pitch
The Islanders
Last Gate of the Emperor
The Many Meanings of Meilan
The Marvellers
Maya and the Robot
Ophie’s Ghosts
Shine on, Luz Veliz!
Simon B. Rhymin’
Sofia Acosta Makes a Scene
Stella
Stuck
365 Days to Alaska
Across the Desert
Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year
An Occasionally Happy Family
Cuba in my Pocket
Eddie Whatever
Fallout : Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown
Fast Pitch
Flight of the Puffin
Lines of Courage
Linked
The Lion of Mars
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance
Now You Say Yes
Playing the Cards You're Dealt
Rivals
Stowaway
What Lives in the Woods
Wild River
Worst-Case Collin
African Town
All of Us Villains
Beasts of Prey
Bluebird
The City Beautiful
The Cost of Knowing
Enduring Freedom
Every Single Lie
The Girls I’ve Been
Huda F Are You?
In the Wild Light
A Lesson in Vengeance
Lies Like Wildfire
Luck of the Titanic
Project Hail Mary
The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost Kiss
She Drives Me Crazy
This Poison Heart
Vinyl Moon
You’d Be Home Now
the bear in my family
bedtime bonnet
black is a rainbow color
the camping trip
the chicken who couldn't
eyes that kiss in the corners
facts vs. opinions vs. robots
Harlem grown: how one big idea transformed a neighborhood
home for a while
if you come to earth
lift
memoirs of a tortoise
Milo imagines the world
the oboe goes boom boom boom
old rock (is not boring)
Ronan the librarian
stompin' at the Savoy: how chick webb becomes the king of drums
swish!: the slam-dunking, alley-ooping, high-flying Harlem Globetrotters
this way, Charlie
unstoppable
Amari and the night brothers
becoming Muhammad Ali: a novel
blue skies
clean getaway
connect the dots
distress signal
echo mountain
Finn and the intergalactic lunchbox
the hide and seeker
in the red
Isaiah Dunn is my hero
Katie the catsitter
prairie lotus
Railway Jack: the story of an amazing baboon
red, white, and whole
scritch scratch
the total eclipse of Nestor Lopez
unspeakable: the Tulsa Race Massacre
war stories
Winterborne home for vengeance and valor
all he knew
alone
Amari and the night brothers
the brave
the canyon's edge
city spies
Cleo Porter and the body electric
closer to nowhere
dress coded
fighting words
ground zero
the in-between
measuring up
Santiago's road home
the shape of thunder
starfish
the stitchers
tune it out
turtle boy
twins
all your twisted secrets
be dazzled
the bridge
cemetery boys
charming as a verb
clap when you land
displacement
firekeeper's daughter
the gilded ones
grown
the inheritance games
legendborn
lycanthropy and other chronic illnesses: a novel
more than maybe
prepped
the ravens
this is my America
this is not the Jess show
unscripted
watch over me
There are no bears in this bakery
Because
Madeline Finn and the shelter dog
Carl and the meaning of life
The happy book
Nobody hugs a cactus
The very impatient caterpillar
When a kid like me fights cancer
SumoKitty
A voice named Aretha
The proudest blue: a story of hijab and family
If I built a school
The Paper Kingdom
Equality's call: the story of voting rights in America
Just like me
Snail crossing
The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng
A Crazy-Much Love
Packs: Strength in Numbers
This Book Is Gray
Song for a whale
Pay attention Carter Jones
The bridge home
Lety out loud
A wolf called Wander
Finding Orion
On thin ice
Stay
Guest : a changeling tale
More to the story
Some places more than others
Strange birds : a field guide to ruffling feathers
The ghost in apartment 2R
When stars are scattered
Once upon an Eid: stories of hope and joy by 15 Muslim voices
Mananaland
Hello from Renn Lake
Woke : a young poet's call to justice
All the Impossible Things
Scouts
Nightbooks
Searching for Lottie
Summer of a thousand pies
Other words for home
Wildfire : a novel
Running wild
Free lunch
Tristan Strong punches a hole in the sky
The Mystwick School of Musicraft
From the desk of Zoe Washington
96 miles
Black brother black brother
The blackbird girls
The light in hidden places : a novel based on the true story of Stefania PodgoÌ
Stamped : racism antiracism and you
Things you can't say
The only black girls in town
Efren divided : a novel
When stars are scattered
Revenge of the Red Club
Parkland : birth of a movement
Heroine
When I was Summer
Don't date Rosa Santos
Five midnights
Accused! : the trials of the Scottsboro boys : lies prejudice and the fourteenth amendment
The library of lost things
Winterwood
I know you remember
All-American Muslim girl
Jane Anonymous
Break the fall
The grace year
Stamped : racism antiracism and you
Kent State
Dancing at the pity party : a dead mom graphic memoir
The shadows between us
All eyes on us
Girls Like Us
The Gravity of Us
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
Born to Ride: A Story About Bicycle Face by Larissa Theule
Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins by Michelle Meadows
Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
Friends Stick Together by Hannah E. Harrison
Giraffe Problems by Jory John
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Love, Z by Jessie Sima
The Magician’s Hat by Malcolm Mitchell
Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman
Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung
Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs by Melissa Stewart
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre
Remarkably You by Pat Zietlow Miller
The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros
Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes
Shaking Things Up by Susan Hood
Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy by Drew Daywalt
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
Amal unbound
Arlo Finch in the valley of fire
Betty before X
Blended
Caterpillar Summer
Daring Dozen
Echo's sister
Finding Langston
Hardscrabble
Holes in the sky
Just like Jackie
Let 'er buck! : George Fletcher, the people's champion
Lizzy and the good luck girl
Max & the Midknights
Saving Winslow
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster
The Doughnut Fix
The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA
They call me Güero: a border kid's poems
Willa of the Wood
The Benefits of Being an Octopus
Deep Water
Endling: The Last
Every Shiny Thing
Everything Else in the Universe
Front Desk
Genesis Begins Again
A Good Kind of Trouble
Harbor Me
I Am Still Alive
The Jigsaw Jungle
Lifeboat 12
Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
The Night Diary
Not if I Save You First
Shouting at the Rain
Small Spaces
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
The Unteachables
After the Shot Drops
Unbeatable: Oscar Robertson and the basketball team that awakened a city
Contagion
A curse so dark and lonely
The Hazel Wood
Here to stay
Heretics Anonymous
Hey, kiddo
I have the right to : a high school survivor's story of sexual assault, justice, and hope
The silence between us
Sky in the Deep
Skyward
Stay sweet
Stronger, faster, and more beautiful
Time bomb
Truly Devious
A Very Large Expanse of Sea
The Waning Age
We'll fly away
What you hide

Book Awards for Adult Books

Hugo
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (2022)

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (2022)

The Promise (2021)

The Promise (2021)

Shuggie Bain (2020)

Shuggie Bain (2020)

The Testament (2019)

The Testament (2019)

Girl, Woman, Other (2019)

Girl, Woman, Other (2019)

Milkman (2018)

Milkman (2018)

Lincoln in the Bardo (2017)

Lincoln in the Bardo (2017)

The Sellout (2016)

The Sellout (2016)

A Brief History of Seven Killings (2015)

A Brief History of Seven Killings (2015)

The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2014)

The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2014)

The Luminaries (2013)

The Luminaries (2013)

Pultizer Prize
Demon Copperhead (2023)

Demon Copperhead (2023)

Trust (2023)

Trust (2023)

The Netanyahus (2022)

The Netanyahus (2022)

The Night Watchman (2021)

The Night Watchman (2021)

The Nickel Boys (2020)

The Nickel Boys (2020)

The Overstory (2019)

The Overstory (2019)

Less (2018)

Less (2018)

The Underground Railroad (2017)

The Underground Railroad (2017)

The Sympathizer (2016)

The Sympathizer (2016)

All the Light We Cannot See (2015)

All the Light We Cannot See (2015)

The Goldfinch (2014)

The Goldfinch (2014)

The Orphan Master's Son (2013)

The Orphan Master’s Son (2013)

Popular Fiction

Heart of the Glen
The Indigo Heiress
So Into You
With All Her Heart
The Seaside Homecoming
Cloaked in Beauty
The British Booksellers
The Hudson Collection
One Wrong Move
A Run at Love
Dream Count
Deep Cuts
Life Hacks for a Little Alien
Theft
Loca
Twist
Wild Dark Shore
The Dollhouse Academy
The Strange Case of Jane O.
Beartooth
The Jackal's Mistress
The Sable Cloak
The English Problem
The Umbrella Maker's Son
Harlem Rhapsody
The Ghosts of Rome
The Café With No Name
Grace of the Empire State
The Riveter
Mutual Interest
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
Cold Eternity
When the Wolf Comes Home
Eat the Ones You Love
The Staircase in the Woods
Midnight Rooms
I Was a Teenage Slasher
The Haunting of Velkwood
Incidents Around the House
Bless Your Heart
The Listeners
Battle of the Bookstores
King of Ashes
The Witch Roads
The Poppy Fields
Meet Me at the Crossroads
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau
The Phoenix Pencil Company
So Far Gone
Galway's Edge
A Fashionably French Murder
The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne
The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck
The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea
The Railway Conspiracy
The Library Game
Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man)
Murder by Memory
The Girl from Greenwich Street
Never Flinch
Hidden Nature
The Knight and the Moth
Great Big Beautiful Life
Nightshade
My Friends
The Emperor of Gladness
Shield of Sparrows
Onyx Storm
The Perfect Divorce
James
Return to Sender
Broken Country
The Wedding People
Strangers in Time
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Skeleton Crew: Stories
Sword of Destiny
Mickey7
Long Bright River
Snow White and Other Grimms' Fairy Tales
The Mirror & the Light
Fan Service
Flirting Lessons
The Geographer's Map to Romance
The Big Fix
Insignificant Others
A Wager at Midnight
The Love We Found
My Big Fat Fake Marriage
Just Our Luck
The Fourth Consort
Breath of Oblivion
Lightfall
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood
A Sky of Emerald Stars
Luminous
How to Steal a Galaxy
The Lotus Empire
Upon a Starlit Tide
The Last Session
The Impossible Thing
Desperate Deadly Widows
No Precious Truth
Hard Town
The Perfect Divorce
The Fourth Girl
The Staircase in the Woods
Julie Chan is Dead

Popular Nonfiction

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Becoming Spectacular: The Rhythm of Resilience from the First African American
Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson.
Legends and Soles: The Memoir of an American Original
Punch Me Up to the Gods
Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose
Poet Warrior
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir
The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journeys Through American Slavery and
Beekeeping for Beginners
Sisters Gonna Stitch: a Feminist Embroidery Guide
Making with Meaning: More Than 20 Meditative and Creative Crochet Projects
15-Minute Gentle Yoga: Four 15-Minute Workouts for Energy, Balance, and Calm
Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style
Plant Craft : 30 Projects That Add Natural Style to Your Home
DIY chicken keeping from Fresh eggs daily : 40 projects for the coop, run, brooder, and more
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
America, América: A New History of the New World
The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the
Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea
The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate
Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future
When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart
Out of Your Mind: The Biggest Mysteries of the Human Brain
Raising Hare
Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation
How To Feed the World: The History and Future of Food
Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe
Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again
Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three
Mark Twain
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company
Who Knew
Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind
Abundance
Is a River Alive?
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
My Next Breath
Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us
Matriarch
Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity
Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life
Reading Arendt in the Waiting Room: A Philosophy Primer for an Anxious Age
I Want You to Be Happy: Finding Peace and Abundance in Everyday Life
We Will Rest! The Art of Escape
Aflame: Learning from Silence
Religion Is Not Done With You: Or, The Hidden Power of Religion on Race, Maps, Bodies
The Food and Feasts of the Apostle Paul: Inside the Early Church — With Menus and Recipes
Composting Our Karma: Turning Confusion Into Lessons for Awakening Our Innate Wisdom
Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church

Children & Teens

Rebellion 1776
Speak Up, Santiago!
Isle of Ever
Right Back at You
The Trouble with Sunshine
One Wrong Step
A Song for You & I
Speechless
The Littlest Drop
Night Light
A Book of Maps for You
City Summer, Country Summer
Don't Trust Fish
Oh, Olive!
The Concrete Garden
Nola's Scribbles Save the Day
Time to Make Art
The Artist
The Corruption of Hollis Brown
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown
His Face Is the Sun
On Again, Awkward Again
I Loved You in Another Life
The Cost of Knowing
The Darkness Outside Us
You've Reached Sam
Nothing Burns as Bright as You