Booklist Magazine

George Kendall Donna Seaman, Editor, Adult Books Susan Maguire, Senior Editor, Collection Management and Library Outreach Annie Bostrom, Senior Editor, Adult Books Sarah Hunter, Editor, Books for Youth Maggie Reagan, Senior Editor, Books for Youth Ju

For the second year in a row, our January double-issue is focused on readers’ advisory with a look forward to what’s to come in the new year, following the December issue that looks back at 2023 starred reviews and Editors’ Choice selections. 2024 ma

By Calvin Trillin. Feb. 2024. 336p. Random, $31 (9780593596449); e-book (9780593596456). 070. Contrary to the opinion of paranoid politicians, the press is not the enemy of the people. In Trillin’s worldview, the press is the people—people such as ve

Heavy-hitting nonfiction dominates this list of upcoming high-demand titles, but there’s splashy fiction, too, and even a couple of beloved returning heroines. The Black Box: Writing the Race. By Henry Louis Gates Jr. Penguin Press, $30 (978059329978

By Sara Martínez The essential collection outlined here is a bit Mexico-centric, but if I were starting a new collection for Spanish readers in my community, these are the books I would purchase. ¡Salud! • Una historia contemporánea de Palestina—Isra

Bastard Out of Carolina. By Dorothy Allison. 1992. Beloved. By Toni Morrison. 1987. A Child of the Indian Race: A Story of Return. By Sandy White Hawk. 2022. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family. By Robert Kolker. 2020. Random Fa

Las indignas. By Agustina Bazterrica. 2023. 192p. Alfaguara, paper, $19.95 (9798890980137). Las Indignas (The Unworthy) is a dystopian novel that could very well exist in the same universe as Bazterrica’s Tender Is the Flesh (2020), where humans are

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. By Eduardo Galeano. 1971. Hard Times. By Charles Dickens. 1854. Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. By William Cronon. 1991. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Fl

What excites me about these books is that each of them explores identity, race, the nature of exploitation, and the nature of humanity, while giving hope for a better future. And they do it with sf, which broadens the scope tremendously, showing wher

By Maura Cheeks. Feb. 2024. 320p. Ballantine, $28 (9780593598290); e-book (9780593598306). Complex family relationship dynamics and hidden histories are elegantly examined in Cheeks’ debut family saga. Willie is working as a journalist in New York Ci

Like Rachel Khong’s Real Americans, a novel in three parts voiced by members of three generations in one Chinese American family, these novels and story collections grapple with immigration, estrangement, love, and misunderstanding from multiple pers

More than 200 years after the publication of Jane Austen’s first novel, Sense and Sensibility, readers still find themselves falling in love with her deliciously dry wit and endearing characters. Writers in search of inspiration will often turn to Au

Five Little Indians. By Michelle Good. 2020. The Circle. By Katherena Vermette. 2023. Whereas. By Layli Long Soldier. 2017. A Grandmother Begins the Story. By Michelle Porter. 2023. Ceremony. By Leslie Marmon Silko. 1977. LaRose. By Louise Erdrich. 2

As I Lay Dying. By William Faulkner. 1930. Boondock Kollage: Stories from the Hip Hop South. By Regina N. Bradley. 2017. Florida. By Lauren Groff. 2018. Heavy. By Kiese Laymon. 2018. South to America: A Journey below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the

Kristin Hannah takes a look at the integral but often forgotten role women played in the Vietnam War in The Women. These historical novels also explore the important, heroic, and often overlooked roles women have played in wars throughout history. Ba

By Walela Nehanda. Feb. 2024. 400p. Penguin/Kokila, $19.99 (9780593529492). Gr. 10–12. 616.99. Nehanda is a Black, queer, nonbinary writer and activist who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017, at 23 years old. This is their survival story, told in p

By Kristin Dwyer. Jan. 2024. 336p. HarperTeen, $19.99 (9780063088580). Gr. 9–12. Atlas has not dealt well with her father’s illness and death from cancer. Since then, she has made a string of poor choices, and as a result, she enters a community serv

Kindling. By Traci Chee. Harper, $19.99 (9780063269354). Gr. 9–12. Mar. Seven warriors from a bygone era join forces to protect a village under siege in this teen fantasy inspired by the classic Seven Samurai. The Night War. By Kimberly Brubaker Brad

If you’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of series releases each month, here’s a brief list of recent or forthcoming series installments for a wide range of readers. All This Twisted Glory. By Tahereh Mafi. Harper. Gr. 9–12. Feb. Book 3 in the This

Thanks to streaming services, it seems everywhere you look these days, there’s a new TV show. Many of them are taking their inspiration, directly or indirectly, from books, and for kids, that means more shows are available in more genres across age r

Dynamic duos are a staple of books for early readers, and Kate DiCamillo enters the arena with her new early chapter-book series Orris and Timble, which sees an unlikely friendship form between a rat and an owl. If you find yourself having to wait in

By Stephanie Land. Read by the author. 2023. 8.5hr. Simon & Schuster Audio, DD (9781797164205). Land’s first memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive (2019), was a commercial success as a book and subsequent Netflix series th

By Barbra Streisand. Read by the author. 2023. 48hr. Books on Tape, DD (9780593788448). “Hello, Gorgeous!” Not only is this a famous line from Funny Girl, and Streisand’s opening remarks at the 1969 Academy Awards, but it’s also a reflection of the u

By Mandy Matney and Carolyn Murnick. Read by Mandy Matney. 2023. 10.5hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780063269248). True crime fans will no doubt be familiar with the saga of the Murdaugh family and their stranglehold on the rather convoluted justice system in

When librarians and library workers ask listeners what they’re looking for in an audio-book, it’s helpful to understand what kind of narrative experience they’re seeking. There are audiobook narrations that serve as simple, transparent translators fo

Some of the most exciting and creative audiobook production around is happening with youth titles. Claire Swinarski’s middle-grade social mystery, What Happened to Rachel Riley?, engages with its multiformat approach. Readers of the print version see

The strong connection kids feel to their favorite authors is heartwarming. Offering an author-read audiobook to young fans, like Alex Gino’s Green, reviewed in this issue, is an excellent way to help kids feel even closer to their idols and gain a de