If you’d like to be featured on our home page in the “Book Recommendations” section or recommend a purchase for the library’s collection, please fill out the form below and a librarian will reach out to you.
All past recommendations featured will be listed below the forms.
Past Book Recommendations
Winter 2022-2023
Have you seen a book on TikTok, or heard your kids talk about a book that you haven’t been able to get your hands on? You can borrow it at RFL! Just click on the book jacket below to see all the ways you can read them.
October 2022
Spook-tacular reads suggested by library staff.
September 2022
These recommendations come from the library staff to promote some of the most banned books of 2021.
Gender Queer : A Memoir by by Maia Kobabe
Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl : A Novel by Jesse Andrews
Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
Beyond Magenta : Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Banned from being taught in Florida, Texas and other states for containing Critical Race Theory ideologies, which are barred by law in those states.
Banned and challenged because of the anti-police sentiments expressed in the pages.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
Banned and challenged because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people.
The Handmaid’s Tale: A Novel by Margaret Atwood
Banned and challenged for profanity, “vulgarity and sexual overtones” portrayed and exhibiting obscene materials to minors.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity.
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Banned and challenged in for the use of racist slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience.
August 2022
This recommendation comes from Charlotte Burnham! Her favorite book is The Hobbit.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien began my fascination with everything about Middle Earth. My older sister was in high school and The Lord of the Rings was the most popular series of books to read. I was in eighth grade, so this was about 1969. I read it quickly and visualized the wild settings from our family camping trips to Baxter State Park and Moosehead Lake in northern Maine. From the moment I read it, I knew exactly what Mirkwood looked like. Smaug, the dragon, must have descendants or cousins in the woods of Maine: the mountains could hide a number of dragons from curious people. Bilbo Baggins was a funny kind of hero but the story of his journey was heroic and the legends surrounding the dwarves were fascinating.
Later, I learned that Tolkien thought that The Hobbit was for children. But when it sold out, in the fall 1937, he wrote the first chapter of what would become the trilogy that everyone was reading, finishing it by December! And all of this led to my learning about Tolkien himself and a group of writers called the “Inklings,” which included C.S. Lewis, who wrote about a place called Narnia. It led me to the Waterville Public Library where I found a first edition of the book! I am so glad that I read this book. It made me think and wonder and dream. I still need to finish The Silmarillion.