Maybe you know the oldies enough to remember the song “A” You’re Adorable, popularized back in the late 1940’s by Perry Como and the Fontaine Sisters. 

I don’t know if “adorable” is the right word, but it certainly is nice to discover a new author, or perhaps a previously unknown short story by a favorite author. 

One way our library helps you broaden your reading horizons is with our popular Book Box service. It’s easy to start the process: either fill out a form on our website here, or fill out a printed form in person the next time you are at either of our branches. 

The form allows you to indicate your genre preferences along with your likes and dislikes of authors, subject matter, and how often you would like to receive material. Then a selector will choose titles for you. If you like them, great! If not, we’ll tweak your preferences for the next time.

But there’s another way you may not be aware of, no forms necessary – the AAAs. That’s not the roadside assistance folks, but a special designation for anthologies. Because there are multiple authors, they are labeled with AAA and put at the beginning of the fiction genres – general fiction, Christian fiction, mystery, romance, science fiction and urban fiction.

Some anthologies are “best of” collections: best American short stories, best science fiction and fantasy, or best African-American literature. Then there are collections of stories around central themes. Examples of these include Christmas, Amish romance, crime, games, ghost stories, Buddhist fiction, and unruly women. 

Sometimes they are gathered around a location, time, or author, such as St Louis or Kansas City noir, the Harlem Renaissance, French Revolution's women, and the misadventures of Nero Wolfe.

And then there are unique anthologies that can be mashups of the familiar. The International Thriller Writers occasionally pair best-selling authors together who in turn pair their characters together in collections such as FaceOff and MatchUp.  

AAAs are not the only places to discover collections. You can dig a little deeper to find other anthologies of poetry, music, Binge Box DVDs and more in the library, or through our Libby and Hoopla electronic apps.  

If you are looking for someone new, try an anthology for a literary buffet of authors or topics. If you need assistance, our reference staff would be glad to help you as well. They can also tell you more about Book Boxes. You might find your next favorite author!