Loan Stars is now in the Terrific Twos!

To celebrate, we have some stats and facts from our second year. Of course, we also have prizes for you. Presents! All the books!

Loan Stars is a readers’ advisory service that allows library staff across Canada to collaboratively select their favourite forthcoming adult titles. If you work in a Canadian library and are new to Loan Stars, keep reading to find out how to get started. Loan Stars pros can pass GO and skip ahead.

Hey, newbies! Now is an excellent time to get started. You can go to the Loan Stars website for all the details, but, in a nutshell, you're voting on the forthcoming books you want to recommend to readers. Each month, all the votes are tallied to see which books are the top 10 favourites of library staff across Canada! These top 10 lists are published and circulated widely as the monthly Loan Stars picks. (Check out our archive here.)

Ready? These are your next steps:

Sign up for accounts on BNC CataList and NetGalley.
Log in to CataList and browse the Loan Stars catalogues to find forthcoming titles.
Use the 'READ ME' buttons to request advance reading copies through NetGalley (digital copies only) and/or directly from publishers (digital and hard copies).
Get your read on.
Log in to CataList and cast your votes for all the books you loved.

What happened this past year?

It was a great second year for Loan Stars. Library staff chose their 10 favourite books each month, and just like last year, voters largely favoured fiction titles over non-fiction. In fact, non-fiction votes were down 2.5% from 2016. In 2017, the number of votes for fiction titles totalled 92%.

Curious which genres were most popular in 2017? Us, too. Literary fiction took the top spot, accounting for over one-third of all Loan Stars picks. Thrillers slid into second place with 15% of votes.

Nine percent of the books were Mystery & Detective and books for, by, and about Contemporary Women made up 8% of the picks. Historical Fiction books follow at 7%. Both Fantasy and (Auto)Biographies were at 5%, with Sci-fi at 3%. Those are just the top eight genres loved by library staff across Canada.

Got a favourite genre of your own? You can win a few books in that category with one of our SIX prize packs! It might be our birthday, but, like hobbitses, we'll be the ones giving out presents this year.

Up for grabs are two prize packs for reviewing forthcoming titles, two prize packs for requesting titles, AND two prize packs for voting on your favourite titles. We're doubling everything in honour of our second birthday: Your first 20 votes, reviews, and/or requests count, which is double the usual maximum of 10 for our monthly contests, so get in there! The contest closes April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Note: We're not doubling winners; each participant can only win one prize pack.

Check out our amazing prize packs, but first, remember that this year Loan Stars isn't accepting presents — please vote instead!

Whimsical Fiction Prizes

The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone
I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live In It by Jess Kimball Leslie
I'll Eat When I'm Dead by Barbara Bourland
We'll Always Have Paris by Sue Watson
This Love Story Will Self-Destruct by Leslie Cohen
Penguin Random House canvas bag
Buckrider Books (Wolsak & Wynn imprint) T-Shirt
Drawn & Quarterly canvas bag
Loan Stars pencil case
Loan Stars bookmarks

Non-fiction Prizes

I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live In It by Jess Kimball Leslie
Gone by Min Kym
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman
Turning by Jessica J. Lee
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Buckrider Books (Wolsak & Wynn imprint) T-Shirt
Dundurn canvas bag
Penguin Random House canvas bag
Loan Stars pencil case
Loan Stars bookmarks

Historical Fiction Prizes

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
White Houses by Amy Bloom
Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Revolution of Marina M. by Janet Fitch
Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession by Alison Weir
House of Anansi canvas bag
Dundurn canvas bag
Loan Stars pencil case
Loan Stars bookmarks

Canadian Prizes

Deer Life by Ron Sexsmith
Be Ready for the Lightning by Grace O'Connell
The Shoe on the Roof by Will Ferguson
First Snow, First Light by Wayne Johnston
Let Darkness Bury the Dead by Maureen Jennings
Penguin Random House canvas bag
Buckrider Books (Wolsak & Wynn imprint) T-Shirt
Drawn & Quarterly canvas bag
Loan Stars pencil case
Loan Stars bookmarks

Mystery Prizes

The Child by Fiona Barton
The Imam of Tawi-Tawi by Ian Hamilton
Death in a Darkening Mist by Iona Whishaw
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Drawn & Quarterly canvas bag
Penguin Random House canvas bag
Loan Stars pencil case
Loan Stars bookmarks

Literary Fiction Prizes

Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
This Accident of Being Lost by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
The Last Wave by Gillian Best
The Little French Bistro by Nina George
House of Anansi canvas bag
Penguin Random House canvas bag
Loan Stars pencil case
Loan Stars bookmarks

Good luck, everyone. Happy reading, and happy birthday!

Happy 2nd birthday, Loan Stars!