Defining a Mission Statement essays

Characterizing a Mission Statement expositions Characterizing a Mission Statement and Mission Objectives The main stage in the database configuration process is to characterize a statement of purpose and mission goals for the database. The statement of purpose builds up the motivation behind the database and gives a concentration to the database engineer. Each database is made for a particular reason, regardless of whether it's to take care of a particular business issue, to deal with the day by day exchanges of a business or association, or to be utilized as a feature of a data framework. By recognizing the reason for the database and characterizing it in a statement of purpose, you will guarantee that the proper structure is made and the fitting information is gathered to help the expected motivation behind the database. Alongside the statement of purpose, crucial are characterized in this stage. Crucial are articulations speaking to the general undertakings to be performed against the information gathered in the database. These targets are utilized to help the characterized statement of purpose and help in deciding different parts of the structure of the database. There are two separate gatherings of individuals who will be engaged with characterizing the statement of purpose and the mission goals. The main gathering, which incorporates the database engineer, the proprietor or leader of the association, and the executives work force, is answerable for characterizing the statement of purpose. The second gathering which incorporates the database designer, the board work force, and end clients, will be answerable for the meaning of the mission targets. In the past part, we noticed that the statement of purpose proclaims the particular motivation behind the database all in all terms and that it is characterized toward the start of the database configuration process. In more detail, it furnishes you with a concentration for your plan endeavors and shields you from getting occupied and making the database structure superfluously enormous or complex. A decent statement of purpose is brief and direct. Verbose s... <!

Study skill Essay

Study aptitude is characterized as the various capacities that can be created so as to improve a learner’s ability to learn (MONDOFACTO, 2009). Based from the free word reference (n. d. ), the term study ability is utilized for general ways to deal with learning, as opposed to aptitudes for explicit courses of study. There are numerous hypothetical deals with the subject, and countless mainstream books and sites. During the 1950s and 1960s, school teachers in Zthe fields of brain science and the investigation of training utilized research, hypothesis, and involvement in their own understudies recorded as a hard copy manuals. Marvin Cohn based the guidance for guardians in his 1979 book Helping Your Teen-Age Student on his experience as a scientist and leader of a college perusing center that mentored adolescents and youthful grown-ups. As indicated by the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1984), numerous understudies are fruitless in school since they need viable examination aptitudes (Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). Understudies face different wellsprings of scholarly pressure, remembering exhibit of a capacity to connect with for testing materials under time restriction (AfsanehHassanbeigi, JafarAskari, Mina Nakhjavani, ShimaShirkhoda, KazemBarzegar, Mohammad R. Mozayyan&HossienFallahzadeh, 2011) particularly assessment (Helen, 2013). To counter this, the commission prescribes that review aptitudes be acquainted with understudies right off the bat in the tutoring procedure and proceed all through a student’s instructive vocation (Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). In a now exemplary investigation of study abilities, Entwistle (1960) announced that understudies who willfully took an examination aptitudes course were more fruitful scholastically than comparative understudies who didn't intentionally take the course(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). Haynes (1993) detailed that improving investigation abilities procedures can upgrade scholastic accomplishment for understudies with poor examination aptitudes propensities (Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). One such activity was propelled by the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). This activity, â€Å"The Dynamics of Effective Study,† was planned to assist understudies with prevailing in secondary school by furnishing them with basic investigation skills(cited in Louisiana Department of Education, 1987)(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). As per archives created by BESE, the â€Å"Dynamics of Effective Study† course was intended to help understudies â€Å"learn how to learn† with the goal that they can get compelling, efficient, and self-coordinated students (refered to in Louisiana Department of Education, 1987)(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010).

Bruce Dawe Apology for Impatience Essay Example For Students

Bruce Dawe Apology for Impatience Essay Statement of regret for Impatiencefor Gloria. On first perusing, this sonnet appears to be very vast. Outside of any relevant connection to the subject at hand, the sonnet gives off an impression of being about adoration and connections. Expression of remorse for Impatience was written in 1963 (spouse dead?) and it was composed for Gloria, his significant other. Dawe once in a while utilizes a first individual persona and it is through his utilization of the main individual persona and the way that it was composed for his significant other, that persuades that Dawe was saying something on affection, yet on his adoration for Gloria. Dawe, when asked What great, at long last, does distributing, opening up to the world, do? answered If we are desolate then it will assist us with perceiving that we are not the only one in our forlornness. On the off chance that we are cheerful, or furious, or cherishing, or dismal, at that point it will assist us with seeing these as general encounters that declare us human It is through the setting of the relationship Dawe had with Gloria, and this statement that changed my comprehension of his sonnet Apology for Impatience. Changing from that of a sonnet about a relationship, to a sonnet expected as a goodbye (or forestalling a goodbye) and a declaration of the inconceivable lost love. The sonnet is free stanza. Dawe utilizes the progression of the verses to mirror the repetitive picture of development; this picture is fortified by the representations of plants and nature utilized in the sonnet. The refrains appear to head no place, yet they are continually pushing ahead. This mirrors the development of the personas character and the development of the affection all through the sonnet. Beans, beans are climbing, climbing is a similitude for his affection and for the improvement of his character. Inadequate, not having arrived at their maximum capacity yet ever developing. Lying slouched in murkiness speaks to the absence of bearing and loss of expectation, it is a basic point in the relationship, he is frightful of a cut off to the association. It shows how desolate he is in this season of vulnerability. Dawe might be thinking about his past, or he may picture the future as depressing should the relationship get ugly. Natures blooming and growing strengthens love all through the sonnet. The magnificence of nature is a reflection on his union with Gloria and the excellence she has held all through her lifetime. In any event, waking recommends the endless idea of her excellence and his affection for her. A rainbow is emblematic of a guarantee; Dawe is making a scriptural mention where God gave man the rainbow as a guarantee that he could never flood the world again. The rainbow in the sonnet shows up where the persona (Dawe) is away from her (Gloria), at the workplace or in the nursery. This rainbow is an image of a guarantee that the occasions Lying sl ouched in murkiness are finished. It could likewise speak to the guarantee of marriage. Life, life cries my blood here Dawe is communicating how he would not have existence without her. He is aching for her. The sound of my thirty-three years to hear his years, shows the peruser that the occasions portrayed are before and that the sonnet is a reflection. Drumming joins back to the restlessness portrayed in the title, his feeling resemble a storm flooding, the peruser questions whether his rainstorm of feeling has come past the point of no return for Gloria. There are numerous pictures in the sonnet of Blossoming, growing, climbing and developing however there are none that speak to happiness, development or a feeling of absolution, the sonnet itself finishes before it is finished. The last two lines of the sonnet come the nearest to communicating his affection for her, however whatever has happened to her has caused the development of: the sonnet, his character and his adoration to end before they had arrived at development. .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 , .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .postImageUrl , .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .focused content zone { min-stature: 80px; position: relative; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 , .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:hover , .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:visited , .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:active { border:0!important; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .clearfix:after { content: ; show: table; clear: both; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 { show: square; progress: foundation shading 250ms; webkit-change: foundation shading 250ms; width: 100%; murkiness: 1; progress: obscurity 250ms; webkit-change: mistiness 250ms; foundation shading: #95A5A6; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:active , .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:hover { haziness: 1; change: darkness 250ms; webkit-change: haziness 250ms; foundation shading: #2C3E50; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .focused content zone { width: 100%; position: relative; } .u acd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .ctaText { outskirt base: 0 strong #fff; shading: #2980B9; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: intense; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; content design: underline; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .postTitle { shading: #FFFFFF; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: 600; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; width: 100%; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754 .ctaButton { foundation shading: #7F8C8D!important; shading: #2980B9; fringe: none; fringe sweep: 3px; box-shadow: none; text dimension: 14px; textual style weight: striking; line-tallness: 26px; moz-fringe span: 3px; content adjust: focus; content improvement: none; content shadow: none; width: 80px; min-stature: 80px; foundation: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/modules/intelly-related-posts/resources/pictures/straightforward arrow.png)no-rehash; position: total; right: 0; top: 0; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:hover .ctaButton { foundation shading: #34495E!important; } .uacd930ee84e4d577 c8c88278d3e9e754 .focused content { show: table; stature: 80px; cushioning left: 18px; top: 0; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754-content { show: table-cell; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; cushioning right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-adjust: center; width: 100%; } .uacd930ee84e4d577c8c88278d3e9e754:after { content: ; show: square; clear: both; } READ: Thirty Years War EssayIt is through the encounters of the persona, and the setting of Dawes life. That changes my conviction from, the sonnet is just about affection, to, the sonnet is about lost love, depression, ran expectations and living every day so that there will be nothing to apologize for tomorrow. Book index:

The Dos and Don’ts of How to Quit Your Job

The Dos and Don’ts of How to Quit Your Job The occasion is not too far off when he/she needs to leave a place of employment. Perhaps it’s for individual reasons, possibly the best occupation ever has quite recently opened up, or perhaps the workplace is poisonous and out of line and you simply HAVE TO GO. Regardless of what the explanation, it’s in every case best to leave with nobility and trustworthiness. So set that center finger aside, clutch your f-bombs, and ensure you read this rundown on the most proficient method to leave your place of employment first.DON’T ever do this while stopping your job. Do it in publicEven in an open arrangement office, it’s critical to plan a one-on-one with your boss some place sufficiently private to have a conversation without a crowd of people or without placing your supervisor in an awkward position. Keep it confidential.Be afraidNobody will be â€Å"mad at you.† And on the off chance that they are, at that point that’s increasingly a reflect ion on the organization or the way of life and, well, no love lost. You need to pay special mind to your own proficient development. Leaving one employment for another doesn’t must be an insult.NegotiateUnless this was your technique from the start and you go in arranged to remain. In the event that you’ve effectively acknowledged another offer, or you are genuinely hopeless where you are, don’t even funniness the counter offer. Regardless of whether the cash is unrealistic. It most likely is. Recollect why you were leaving in the first place.Be vulgarNo swearwords. No condemnations. No center fingers. No entryway pummeling. No work area slapping. You get the thought. Remain quiet and class it up.GhostJust never appearing at work again isn't the best approach. You’ll resemble an insane person, or more terrible. Make a point to really have the discussion and follow the fitting protocol.BackstabNot about your malicious chief or your most outstanding adversa ry, or the partner who tormented you. Presently isn't the time. Spare it for a fuming meeting over party time with your unemployed friends.Treat it like Senior SpringSo you’ve given your notification. Amazing. Don’t quit working. You’ll clearly have somewhat less to do as your tasks tighten in your change, yet don’t simply stay there painting your nails or playing on Facebook until your last day. Remain deferential; be respected.DO Give noticeThis is by a long shot the most significant. Give adequate notification so you won’t leave anybody hanging or any partners under undue pressure. Regardless of whether you detest them!Bring treatsWhy not bring something as a splitting blessing to your colleagues on your last day? Think a plate of treats or brownies or request a pizza for the lounge, just to show your gratefulness for the individuals you have worked with and gained from in your time there. It’s presumably a decent signal regardless of w hether you don’t regard a solitary one of them.Give back your stuffGive back your organization PC and telephone and security passes. Indeed, even your organization iPad. On the off chance that you’ve truly drawn near with your stapler†¦ well, we’ll look the other way.Be honestWith your chief and in your post employment survey. Who knows, something productive could come out of it, for either of you.Consider the counter offerBut, as above, just on the off chance that you are set up to remain and wouldn’t be absolutely hopeless. You’re permitted to take a day to think it over.Do it in personNot via telephone. Not over email. NOT OVER TEXT. You owe your chief, even a dreadful one, this courtesy.If you adhere to these parameters, you can exit your position without embarrassing yourself or any other person, and with safeguarding your honesty and regard value. No one can tell when you’ll run into these individuals once more. Keep ‘em swe et on out the entryway!

Our Favorite Under-the-Radar Books Published in 2016

Our Favorite Under-the-Radar Books Published in 2016 Theres been a lot of talk around Book Riot and the bookish world in general about 2016 not being a great year for books. Although there were, for sure, some excellent books this year (see the Best Books of 2016 list), most people felt that the year was kinda meh. I am not one of those people. Personally, I read a ton of really great books that just did not get the attention/publicity/bookstore table  space they deserved. Surely, I couldnt be the only one feeling like there were great but under-appreciated books this year? I asked the Book Riot contributors what books they loved but that didnt quite hit it big in 2016. The list we came up with is varied work in translation, novels, essay collections, poetry, and more.  Itll be a good shopping list if youre picking out a last-minute gift for an avid reader. Theres a good chance they havent read one of these yet. Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik (September 13) In a year defined by violence, politics, and feminism, Im shocked that Maksicks book didnt get more attention. In the first sentence, the narrator tells the reader that, In the summer of 1991 my mother beat a man to death with a twenty-two ounce Estwing framing hammer and I fell in love with Tess Wolff. What follows is a moving, complex novel about mothers and lovers that grapples with mental illness, how culture shapes our responses to violence, family ties, and gender. Ill admit that I was skeptical heading into this book. Could Maksik, a man, write womens anger in a believable way? Yes. The book also does an excellent job chronicling the ways that men respond (or fail to respond) to womens rage. I finished this book in early October and I am desperate for more people to read it so we can  talk about it! Ashley Bowen-Murphy   Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky (July 26) Women in Science is a slim volume of short biographies of fifty female innovators in the STEM fields. Each biography is illustrated in the signature style of Rachel Ignotofsky (who has an Etsy shop, by the way, so you can have Women in Science pillows). The illustrations are what make this book so amazing, but the biographies are great too. They are written in an accessible style, perfect for children and adults. Kate Scott   Even This Page is White by Vivek Shraya (September 13) This debut book of poetry was published by a small Canadian press (Arsenal Pulp Press), so it’s not surprising it’s not getting a ton of press, but this is really too bad because it’s such an accessible, moving collection of poems. It’s powerful and beautiful, both in its craft playing with poetic structure and different poem types and in its gut-punching content about racism. Even This Page is White is a book to read again and again. Casey Stepaniuk Describing the Past by Ghassan Zaqtan, translated by Samuel Wilder (July 15) In 2013, Zaqtan won Canada’s prestigious Griffin poetry prize, along with translator Fady Joudah. Zaqtan was also a finalist for the Neustadt in 2014 and 2016, and has been mentioned in betting for the Nobel. But when his short prose work Describing the Past, a gorgeous mapping of memory-logic, came out this summer from Seagull Books, it didn’t seem to get a whisper. Samuel Wilder’s translation matches Zaqtan move for move, and there is not a sentence that doesn’t sit right on the tongue. I was thrilled to see some excellent, under-appreciated Arabic literature get a mention in this year’s PEN Translates longlist (Hilal Chouman’s Limbo Beirut, trans. Anna Ziajka Stanton and Rabee Jaber’s Confessions, trans. Kareem James Abu-Zeid, whoop!), but the PEN judges missed Wilder’s feat of translation. Fortunately, you needn’t. M. Lynx Qualey   This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell  (July 19) Daniel Sullivan is happily married to an eccentric former movie star and current recluse, but he starts to have doubts about his life when he learns that a woman he loved decades ago is dead. When and how did she die? And is it Daniel’s fault? Through flashbacks and stories of those who know Daniel, O’Farrell slowly reveals the secrets of Daniel’s past and raises questions about his future. This novel’s complex structure gives the many characters room to breathe and feel like fully fledged individuals with lives of their own. And the book ends with a tentative hopefulness that I appreciated. Teresa Preston   Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (June 14, 2016) When I finished reading this novel, I experienced that euphoric, giddy pulse of feeling that comes of reading something so fresh, so brilliant, and so delicately well done, that it had my head spinning. Yoon Ha Lee is well known for his mind-bending, emotionally charged science fiction, and Ninefox Gambit is no exception. The tale of a young soldier, unmatched in her mathematical precision and tactics, lieutenant Kel Cheris is ordered to retake the Fortress of Scattered Needles for the Hexarchate, the six-faceted hierarchy of empire in the known galaxy. But in order to oust the rebels and their blasphemous calendar, Kel Cheris must download the literal mind of the Hexarchates greatest hero, and greatest villain: Shuos Jedao, brilliant, cutting, and insane after ordering the massacre of an entire space station so he might not lose. What follows is a tense, compassionate, but terrifying look into the balance between these two soldiers, and how they begin to change one another over the course of their ordeals. But the secrets Jedao is harboring may do more than drive Kel Cheris insane: they may bring down the Hexarchate entirely. Smart as hell, emotionally dense and nuanced, and jam-packed with enough blow-your-mind science fiction concepts, Ninefox Gambit deserves every ounce of love it gets, and I certainly hope more people discover it in the years to come. Marty Cahill Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon by Bronwen Dickey (May 10) I’m obsessed with animal nonfiction, but Pit Bull tackles so much more than that and I’m surprised I didn’t see more of my animal-loving friends talk about it. Pit bull breeds once lived in the White House, starred in movies, fought with soldiers on the front lines but as time passed, they turned from Americas Dog to Americas Nightmare. Why? Browen Dickey tracks their reputation from beloved to brutal, questioning everything assumed about pit bulls in a beautiful blend of cultural observation and scientific examination. Pit Bull is eloquent and eye-opening, revealing far more about the nature of humans than the nature of dogs. Nicole Brinkley Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan (July 12) I blame this summer’s killer lineup of novels. Inevitably something incredible was going to get overlooked amidst all the hubbub. I was particularly sad to see that it was this sparkling gem of a novel. Sarong Party Girls is not fluff, even if it seems that way at first. It often reminded me of Clueless, and there’s a similar story here, though it’s not as simple as a movie. Jazzy, our protagonist, certainly seems like she belongs in a chick lit romp, she and her best girlfriends shop and drink and party and look for rich white men to marry. But Jazzy’s plans start going off the rails, things begin to fall apart, and the party girl has to start figuring out who she is and what she wants. If you like novels with a strong first-person narration, this is a can’t miss. Jazzy’s voice is a huge part of the joy here, written in Singlish (Singaporean English full of new slang words) it’s also a real find for lovers of words and language. Jessica Woodbury Christodora by Tim Murphy (August 2) The minute I finished (hell, the minute I started) this book, I expected to spend the rest of the year haunted by its spectre all over social media. So you can imagine how surprised I was when the publication date came and went with little to no fanfare. Tim Murphy’s insight into the East Village in the 80s and the revolution of AIDS/HIV patients and family members was a revelation. The narrative is absorbing and the characters are at once powerful and vulnerable. Watching the gentrification of Greenwich Village alongside the medical advances in the fight against the AIDS epidemic had me alternating between hope and despair. Murphy’s writing is gritty, raw, and beautiful and I’m still surprised more people aren’t singing its praises. Elizabeth Allen Loner by Teddy Wayne (September 13, 2016) Loner was a completely chilling read, and yet, so, so addictive. You need a strong stomach to enter the mind of sociopath David Federman, Harvard freshman and social vulture. As David takes on a mission to climb the ranks of the rich and popular and bring himself closer to the woman he is infatuated with, Veronica, he will stop at nothing to manipulate and use everyone to his advantage if it will help him get what he wants. What I loved about this novel was how skillfully Teddy Wayne immerses the reader in David’s first-person narration until ultimately your own mind is being played on as David subtly shifts into truly losing his mind. But by that point, you don’t even notice how his crack up seems almost normalâ€"until it’s too late. With the twists of a riveting thriller and the emotional depth of a twisted bildungsroman, Loner is as much a mind fuck as it is brutally raw, shocking, and, ultimately, outstanding. Sarah S. Davis   Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Leger, translated by Natasha Leher Cecile Menon (October 2016) In her incredibly haunting novella Suite For Barbara Loden, Nathalie Léger uses the 1970 cult classic film Wanda (which Barbara Loden wrote, directed and starred in) as a vehicle for the type of flowing, hyper-intellectualized meditations that French writers do so well. At the beginning she tells us she’s been paid to write a short entry on Loden for an encyclopedia. She then unpacks the film scene-by-scene (bringing to mind Perec’s obsessive cataloging), dissecting the story of a Pennsylvania coal miner’s wife who walks away from her husband and children. Wanda has no direction, ambition or even desires her defining emotion is apathy. You get the sense she would have stayed in her marriage, completely indifferent to her situation, had her husband not forced her to leave. Eventually Wanda takes up with an equally damaged and pitiable character, a man named Norman, who convinces her to help him rob a bank. Their story doesn’t end well. Léger pauses throughout to  insert bi ographical details about Loden’s life. She describes a television interview Loden once gave (the other guests were John and Yoko Ono). Léger appears to be trying to find/verbalize a feminist meaning behind the film searching for parallels between Wanda and Loden. I’m not sure she succeeds, but her struggle has produced a mesmerizing work of unexpected beauty. Tara Cheesman A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas (October 18) Sherry Thomas’ story (the first in a planned series) reenvisions Sherlock Holmes as Charlotte Holmes, a brilliant, eccentric young woman in 1880s London. In addition to being an entertaining, well-written mystery, A Study in Scarlet Women also offers a study in feminism. Being a genius with keen observational skills â€" particularly an unmarried genius with keen observational skills â€" leads Charlotte down a different path than it does Sherlock. Watching her find ways to navigate the strictures of society is as enjoyable as watching her unravel the mysteries. Like many well-written mysteries, there are twists, turns, and lots of characters, so plan to read this one in one cozy sitting. -Trisha Brown   Mischling by Affinity Konar (September 6th) This book is a conundrum. I’m surprised it hasn’t swept more ‘Best of 2016’ lists. I’m still in awe of how Konar managed to pull off such a searingly beautiful story of hope and survival in the wake the greatest horrors ever committed by other human beings. The book is told from the dual perspectives of twins Stasha and Pearl, who have just arrived at Auschwitz. Seen as “special,” the twins are taken in by Josef Mengele, who notoriously performed horrible experiments on children during the Holocaust. Stasha quickly becomes one of Mengele’s pets after he injects her with what she believes to be immortality. With this new power, Stasha must protect her twin sister Pearl and her friends until the end of the war. But when Pearl disappears, Stasha is no longer interested in being one of The Zoo’s favorite patients. She wants revenge. Through the eyes of children, the daily horrors of the twins’ world becomes a cautionary fairytale. I imagine people might shy away from this book because of the subject matter, but I was surprised at how much hope I found in this story. It is thrilling, magnetic, and inspiring, and I have to say, the novel’s conclusion took me completely by surprise. Jan Rosenberg The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson (May 17th, 2016) This is one of the funniest YA books I’ve ever read, and it’s definitely the nerdiest. Anderson retells Much Ado About Nothing with a competitive high school for academically gifted teens as the setting. The central characters are Trixie and Ben, engaged in a “merry war” of the wits where the prize is class ranking. They’re competing for 3rd place, but when someone begins manipulating the rankings, all bets are off. The banter is hilarious and on-point, and the relationships between the many characters are realistically complicated and wonderfully nuanced. The numerous pop culture nerd references aren’t just decorationthey’re a filter through which these characters see and interpret their world. As a result, this novel is genuine nerdy fun with characters that feel like real teens, with strong opinions and obsessions. It’s an obvious follow-up for fans of Fangirl, but the story has its own distinct personality. Tirzah Price The Language of Secrets (Rachel Getty Esa Khattak #2) by Ausma Zehanat Khan (February 2) I’m really surprised this wasn’t a big mystery sellerâ€"it certainly made it onto my Best Of 2016 list. It sucked me in right from the beginning with a murder and held me tight throughout, as Detective Ghetty goes undercover at a Mosque, and had me gripping my book tightly in a super tense ending. If you’re a fan of mystery books this should be on your TBR listâ€"or currently in your hands for immediate reading. Jamie Canaves Violation by Sallie Tisdale (April 12) I love me a good essay collection, and Violation is now one of my favorites. Tisdale can find meaning anywhere and in anything: one of the best essays in this collection is on flies, and it is fabulous. You really do want to read an essay on flies! And also one on elephants! She has many essays on the natural world, and also on writing, on her family, on culture (Disneyland, dieting, abortion), and so much more. Her sentences are astounding, somehow elegant and earthy both. An essay is a place to spend time in somebody else’s head listening to their thoughts, and Tisdale’s mind is a fascinating place to be. Rebecca Hussey   Guapa by Saleem Haddad (March 8) Its not like no one talked about this book. But given how utterly fascinating and completely beautiful it is, I wanted to see this book in every readers hands, hear it on every critics lips. Because damn. This day-in-the-life of a gay man in crisis in an unnamed Middle Eastern country that is itself in crisis is incredibly good. So I expect to see you reading it forthwith. Forthwith, I say! -Derek Attig Father’s Day by Simon Van Booy (April 26) It would not be wrong to say that my tastes veer toward the dark and strange. So when I read a sweet, tender story and it makes my heart grow three sizes instead of roll my eyes, I sit up and listen, because that means the author has done a great job of skipping the saccharine nonsense and written a credible, moving piece of work. Such is Father’s Day. The story of an orphaned girl, her troubled uncle, and the case worker who brings them together, this is less a feel good novel and more a lovely tale of fragile, damaged people learning to love and trust one another. I absolutely adored it. Liberty Hardy   We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge (March 8, 2016) Charlotte Freemans family sticks out: because they speak in sign language; because theyve been tapped to teach a chimpanzee sign language, too. And in the rural town where the Toneybee Institute sits, because theyre black. Greenidges gorgeous novel shifts between time periods with skill, covering Charlottes contemporary struggles and the Institutes dark history, which is marked by racial exploitation and the denial of innate human equality. Charlotte learns that, despite Toneybees efforts to remake itself, too little has changed between then and now. The novel dances with the limitations and possibilities of communication in an elegant and heartbreaking way. It got great reviews, including from the New York Times, but this small press book that moved the critics hasnt received nearly enough attention from readers in general. Its a literary gift that no readers should deny themselves. -Michelle Anne Schingler What book did you love this year that hasnt gotten the attention it deserves? Shout it out in the comments.