Attack of the Best Lists 2024: Audio Books Edition

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2024" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here. 

Today I have Audio specific 2024 best lists from Audible and AudioFile Magazine.

Both are separated into useful categories/genres and include extra appeal information in their reviews, most importantly, comments about the narrators. The Audible list includes Podcasts as well.

The appeal info is useful all year long, especially via AudioFile Magazine because they have reviews all year long, with monthly "earphone" winners-- think of that as equivalent to a star for a print book. And the reviews are written to help you match the audio with its best reader. I use AudioFile to help readers (including myself) all the time. It helps me help readers to figure out if they would prefer a specific title on audio versus print. I have had great success using it and honestly, have yet to find a better resource for Audio RA.

A few more notes about RA for Audio readers. For some readers, the format doesn't matter, they want the book they want as fast as possible. But for others, myself included, I prefer audio in specific genres (for me it is nonfiction and mystery). Still others use audio for commuting, exercising, shores, etc.... How and when people listen can matter for audio. These are considerations that need to come up in the RA conversation for audio readers.

A few more  things about these lists from you RA Service standpoint:

• You can use these lists to make displays online with links to eAudio-- use QR codes online AND in the stacks to provide easier access directly to your services where patrons can access them. Make lists on Libby to make it even easier for people to find the titles.
• You can use these lists to help fill out your in library displays even if ou have to put the print book on display. No one is double checking if you got the format correct and there is no library jail to send you to if they figure it out. With best lists, the more titles, the better.
• Some of the Audible best titles may not be available anywhere but Audible, but a quick glance  reveals that the big ones are going to be available on your library's eAudio streaming sites.
• Neither is great with obvious backlist access, so I have it here for you. The best audio books from the past few years will be on the shelf and are still a great listen. Remember, if a book is a few years old but the patron has not read it yet, it is still "new" to them:
• Audible Best of 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 (I love how Audible's presentation of these lists has changed so much over the 5 years listed. That alone illustrates how much the popularity of eAudio has exploded in the last few years)
• Audiofile's Best of 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
• Back to the first bullet point: if you make a list in Libby for this year's best audio, please go back and use the links I have provided to also make lists for the past few year's best audio. And link to this lists in other lists. See yesterday's Best of the Best post from Chicago Public Library for a great example of how to make sure past best lists are accounted for with a single click.

Attack of the Best Lists 2024: Make a Local List-- Featuring Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2024" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here.

Library generated best lists are one of your best end of year tools, especially when you use the largest library near your physical location as a guide. Why? Here are a few reasons:

1. Library generated best lists reflect the opinions of actual staff and readers. What did staff most enjoy and what was popular? It is not just critical acclaim or sales data. Remember bestselling mainstays like Daniel Silva, Louise Penny, and Colson Whitehead were extremely popular in libraries well before they became household names. Library workers and patrons often know what is popular and good long before the rest of the world catches up.
2. Library generated best lists take into consideration all ages of readers and all formats because they serve everyone.
3. Library generated best lists always have genre choices because library workers know patrons love genre-- especially Romance and Crime Fiction.
4. Library generated best lists ALWAYS consider local or regional authors which is why I advocate for you to prioritize using the best list from the library in the largest city closest to you [in the same state if possible]. 
5. Library generated best lists are not commercial in anyway. There are no publishers submitting books to their sites. No one is buying ads to be include. There are no links to encourage those using the list to buy the titles. 
6. Library generated best lists know that the BACKLIST is not only important to provide access to but also, it is a tool in and of itself. We are all about "new to you" the reader. They always have easy access to past best lists.

I think you get the point. So today, I have my nearest big city public library as an example, The Chicago Public Library with a branch 6 miles from my house. But you can use any big city or metro area library near you to help you have a regional interest best books option. Or go with the NYPL, from the largest city in our country. They have their lists in multiple languages and with graphics you can use to promote.

Now I want to take this post one step further. Yes it is important to see what the "best" books are at the closer bog city library to you, but why not take this information as inspiration for you to make your own staff "Best of the Best" list. Chicago Public Library makes their list as a team. You can do this too. Why not send out an email to all staff and ask them for their favorite reads of 2024. You can decide if you want to limit it to 2024 published titles or not, but just ask. See what answers you get. Then make your own lists and displays. Promote your staff's expertise and let your community know that best lists aren't just for the big cities or major media-- they are for all of you as well. 

Back to Best of the Best from Chicago public library. I love this list even if it wasn't from the city closest from me. Explore with the link below or head to the CPL Best of the Best landing page:

Every year, Chicago Public Library staff work hard to evaluate the year’s new books, and today we are proud to present our latest annual recommendations for book lovers in Chicago and beyond. Happy reading!

Adults

• Top 10
• Our Favorite Books of 2024
• Our Guide to the Must-Read Books of 2024:
  • Fiction
  • Fantasy, Horror and Sci-fi
  • Mystery and Thriller
  • Romance
  • Nonfiction
  • Biography and Memoir

Teens

For teens in high school. Watch our teen librarians share some of their favorite Best of the Best books!

• Teen Fiction
• Teen Nonfiction
• Teen Graphic Novels and Manga

Kids

• Board and Picture Books: For kids from birth to third grade
• Fiction for Younger Readers: For kids in kindergarten through third grade
• Informational Books for Younger Readers: For kids in kindergarten through third grade
• Libros en español: Para niños desde el nacimiento hasta el tercer grado
• Fiction for Older Readers: For kids in third through eighth grade
• Informational Books for Older Readers: For kids in third through eighth grade

Past Selections

• Adults Best of the Best
• Teens Best of the Best
• Kids Best of the Best

Readers Weight in on the Most Iconic Speculative Fiction Books of the 21st Century via Reactor and How to Use the Results to Help Your Readers

It is time for a palate cleanser from all of the "Best of the Year" talk. I have post I have been saving since before Thanksgiving and it is a great example of interactive service to leisure readers.

Reactor (formerly Tor.com) had the results of their polling of readers asking them to pick their most iconic Speculative Fiction books of the 21st Century. 

From the intro to their results:

A few weeks ago, we asked dozens of authors about the speculative books they considered The Most Iconic SFF Books of the 21st Century. We loved their responses, from modern classics to translated works to graphic novels to hidden gems. 

But of course, readers had opinions! What about this book? How could that author not be in the top 10? It’s part of what we love about this community: a group of people who share a love for science fiction, fantasy, and horror from thousands of different angles, and who feel passionate enough about declaring their love for those books to come together to debate them from across the globe. We anticipated that people might want an outlet for these thoughts outside of social media, so we opened a poll asking for your input. And readers, you delivered!

We received well over 500 responses in the short time the poll was open. While the selections below are just a slice of that enthusiasm, we hope they show the diversity and fervor of SFF fans. Maybe you spot some favorites here. Maybe you get a new stack of recommendations for your shelves. Maybe you just take a minute to think about what the word “iconic” means to you. Either way… we hope you enjoy.

Please click through to see all the categories and titles. Also at the end they have some fun facts. Their lists include all speculative genres which is also nice.

Now while posting this list is fun for all of you, I am doing it to help you use it to help readers in a few different ways.

1. Obviously, this is a great list to use to double check your collections. Do you have all of these titles? They were popular enough to rise to the top ten on this poll from one of the most trusted spaces to talk about speculative fiction on the internet. Don't only check to see if you own them, though, because you own most. Rather, use this list as a chance to check those popular titles to see if you need to order some replacements. They get beat up over time and books like The Fifth Season probably need a refreshed copy or two
2. Post this list on your websites and social media yes, but also, why not put up a QR code in the stacks near your SF/F books. In fact, I love this idea in general and will be talking about it more next year, but here specifically, if you have a SF/F or even Horror section, you can post a QR code in the stacks near the books that says, "Scan Me for a list of the most iconic Speculative Fiction of the 2000s." Nothing says that you want to help your readers find their next great read better than by meeting them where they are....literally as they stand in front of the books trying to make a choice. This is also an example of bridging the physical virtual divide. [I will have a lot more on this very soon.]
3. Use this as a conversation starter but not just this topic-- any topic. You could do it for all of the genres at your library. Make it a 2025 year long conversation. Ask people to pick their favorite books in each genre-- from the 2000s. You can do it in all age levels and even for movies. Then crowdsource the answers to not only make interesting displays [in building and online]-- ones that your patrons will want to come in to see if their books made the displays-- but also to make sure your collections reflect their tastes. When you see what titles have resonated enough for your readers to mention them to you when asked, you get a much better sense of what types of books you should have more of. It is way more accurate than circulation statistics. You can click here to read my Conversation Starter to Display post for more details on how to do this.
4. At the very least you can make a display of all of these titles after the New Year. It is an evergreen topic and nice to have in your back pocket. 

Maybe this list will inspire you to do something else as well. Or maybe you did one of these things and want to share your success with others. If so, please contact me. I would love to feature how you are using my ideas in your library here on the blog in 2025.  It doesn't have to be from this specific post either. Anything you have learned from me that you used to help your readers....I want to showcase you. Please put "RA for All Success" in the subject heading in case it goes to junk.

Announcing A Brand New Version of Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers And Robin Offers a (Virtual) Preview Today at ARRTCon

All day today I am at ARRTCon in Naperville IL, an all day CE event for library workers who serve leisure readers. I am hosting a horror panel featuring Nick Medina, Ananda Lima (who book made the LJ Best Horror of 2024), John Everson, S.A. Barnes, and Gus Moreno-- all authors whose books Naperville Public Library already owns.

But I am also excited to share that Robin Bradford is doing the opening Keynote and it is a refresh of her portion of our popular Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers program. We are also using today's presentation to officially announce our new partnership with ALA eLearning as we will be offering this class on their platform in February 2025.

Here are the details from their page with registration links:

Actively Anti-Racist Readers’ Advisory Services

A two-part webinar series taking place on Tuesday, February 18 and Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 2:30pm Eastern/1:30pm Central/12:30pm Mountain/11:30am Pacific.

Increasing the collection and circulation of titles written by underrepresented authors is not just a trend. Providing robust readers’ advisory service that values equity, diversity, and inclusion principles is essential to all library services.

Moving from being a neutral, well-meaning library where systemic racism is acknowledged to an actively anti-racist organization involves in-depth work, some of which can be challenging. In this program you will begin that work and learn tangible skills to help build enthusiasm for reading and strategies for diversifying your materials. You’ll learn how you can strengthen your RA service through thoughtful discussion of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging principles in all interactions with leisure readers and how to be a steward of the anti-racist mindset for your organization.

In this two-part series, collection development and readers’ advisory experts Robin Bradford and Becky Spratford will move your team from talk to action. You’ll learn how to help your entire organization craft an actionable plan to seamlessly incorporate the values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging into your regular RA practices. 

Through your participation in this program, you will learn:

• The distinction between not racist and anti-racist. 
• How to identify more diverse titles to add to your collections.
• How to use anti-racist principles in your displays, book talks, and organization of titles.
• Promotion strategies for diverse titles and authors.
• Basic strategies to address politically motivated requests to remove books from your collection.

Robin Bradford has earned a BA and MA in English, an MS in Library Science, and a JD, but has found a home in building reader-focused, popular collections in public libraries. She was recognized as RWA’s 2016 Librarian of the Year and Emerald City Library Conference's Librarian of the Year in 2022. She is addicted to books and dedicated to helping others discover a love of reading. She has worked with authors to help get their titles into these collections and wrote the Readers’ Advisory Guide to Romance Fiction to further help libraries with their romance collection. She also worked with libraries to push for equal treatment of genre fiction and worked with readers so that they can find their favorite authors on their library's shelves.

Becky Spratford (MLIS) is a Readers' Advisor in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. Becky is a 24-year locally elected Library Trustee (still serving), a former Board member for the Reaching Across Illinois Library System, and currently on the Executive Board of the Illinois Library Association. Known for her work with horror readers, Becky is the author of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Third Edition (ALA Editions, 2021) and the forthcoming Why I Love Horror and You Should Too (Saga Press, Sept 2025). She is on the Shirley Jackson Award Advisory Board and is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association, where she currently serves as the Association’s Secretary and Co-Chair of their Library Committee. You can follow Becky on Bluesky @raforall.bsky.social

This event will be hosted in Zoom. Automatic captions will be enabled for this event. This event will be recorded, and registrants will receive access to the recording within a day after the event ends.

If you have questions or requests regarding accessibility, contact us at ce@ala.org or at 312-280-5100.

Robin and I are very excited to offer this class through ALA eLearning. Not only do we have our books with ALA Editions (which comes into play with some new information below) but we also have their support to do whatever we want, however we want. They trust us to decide how people best learn and are giving us the space to do our thing. Also, the price is WAY more affordable than hiring us on your own-- $116 members, $129 non-members. It is 3 hours of class with 2 chances to ask both of us questions for that price. And as you will see below, this new version comes with BONUS material.

Speaking of here are a few details to share and clarify.

1. You can do this live or as a recording. For each talk, both of us will be there to answer questions live, but if you can't make the live, register anyway because you will have access to the recordings and....

2. This class will be the first time Robin and I are offering worksheets for participants to use after the class to not only keep their learning going, but to give you tangible exercises to bring back to your places of work. Anyone who signs up gets access to this 6 page workbook. The goal here is to beta test this content with all of you and then work toward a longer workbook to offer through ALA Editions in the future. 

3. We will probably offer this class again in the Fall, so if you would rather do live and this timing isn't perfect, you could wait. But honestly, I would get in now. We are both refreshing our material and you get a first look at the worksheets. We will have contact info available if you have questions after the events which we will answer for free.

4. In the face of recent real world events, Robin and I are committed to making this training even stronger. We are not backing off on our strong language; in fact, is anything we are getting more vocal and will challenge you all to work harder. We met recently and let me tell you, we are ready to take everyone on. You don't want to miss this.

Now back to ARRTCon. Robin is first and then I am the last presentation before lunch. Full schedule is here.

[Breaking news: I will also be doing the LibraryReads presentation in the afternoon.]

Attack of the Best Lists 2024: Goodreads Readers' Choice

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2024" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here.

The final results of the Goodreads' 2024 Reader's Choice Awards were announced today. You can go here to see the finalists and winners.

This is a reader focused best list. We haven't had that yet here on the blog, and this designation is IMPORTANT. It is important to make sure we look at professional reviewers, those trying to sell books, AND real life readers. If we lose sight of them in this process, we lose sight of our mission in the process-- to match books with the best reader for that book.

And what better way than to start our work matching  readers with their next great read, than by turning to other readers who have already let us know what books they have most enjoyed? And we not only have the winners here, but the finalists as well.

There are A LOT of favorites from real readers, crowdsourced in  numbers we, at libraries, could never garner. So many great suggestions from the reader perspective. We can dig into books that readers flocked to in the greatest numbers. That data dump onto this easy to navigate page, in and of itself, is extremely useful to us.

Here is that link to the Goodreads Choice Award page. Scroll down and notice that they have super easy access to the award going back to 2011. Use the last 2-5 years in particular to find suggestions that you know were deemed "Best" (or were in the running for that title) over the past few years. They still make a great read AND you probably have all of them on the shelf to take home immediately. 

A reader can't get their hands on one of the best Mystery titles of 2024. That's okay. You can place a hold and then show them the list of 2023's Mystery options. It's one extra click for you and they will love the options and your great customer service. Trust me. I have done it myself. 

That marks the end of this week of Best List catch-up. I will have more to share next week, but tomorrow we switch hears as I have HUGE news about the latest version of Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers coming to a computer screen near you in February 2025.

Attack of the Best Lists 2024: Book Riot Staff Best Picks

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2024" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here. 

Still working on best books week here on the blog as I catch up on the lists that came out around Thanksgiving. 

Today it is Book Riot's Best Books of 2024. 

I try to feature lists that have something interesting about them and Book Riot is the epitome of that. Why? Because as I have said here on the blog many times, Book Riot is the best resource to see what hard core readers are interested in.

 Book Riot is the largest independent website focused on readers. All of their content is crafted to reach readers directly. They want to get the most clicks as well, which means their content is purposefully up to date, interesting, and written in a conversational tone. It is exactly what we need to stay on top of the hottest trends because it is their mission to provide the most "clickable" content to readers This means they have the time and resources to do the work for us: identifying trends and staying on top of what readers want right this second. Everything there is reader focused which dovetails perfectly with RA Service.

Their best books of the year site is made by having each writer, editor, contributor, etc... give one title as their book of the year. Because each person who works for them has a slightly different specialty, the list covers all ages and genres by default. Also they have a commitment to providing diverse voices as part of their policy.

The editors then take all of the titles and allow you, the user of this resource to browse all or to click on tags in a sidebar to help narrow your choices down. While the tags are not as compressive and stackable as the NPR Books We Love portal (yesterday's list), they are still extremely helpful 

Click here to get started using it for yourself, to build displays, or to help a specific patron.

The only downside to this reader focused resource is that they do not have easy access to past lists on the current year's page. And when I try to search, I was unable to find them

However, when I went to Largehearted Boy's Ultimate List of Lists for past years (more on this resource soon), I was able to get into the past Book Riot best lists with ease. I have posted them here for you, so you can have 1 click access from my blog:

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019

More best lists tomorrow.

Remember to use my link at the top of these Attack of the Best Lists 2024 posts to access all of my coverage. I do not post every best list, but I do post ones that are interesting and useful. 

Attack of the Best Lists 2024: NPR's Books We Love

 This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2024" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here.

As I mentioned yesterday, it is best list catch-up week here on RA for All. Today we have one of my personal favorites...NPR's Books We Love. Why do I love it. More on that I after I explain what it is  From their about page:

What is this thing?

Books We Love is NPR’s interactive reading guide. Mix and match tags such as Book Club Ideas, Biography & Memoir or Eye-Opening Reads to filter results and find the book that’s perfect for you or someone you love.

How are the books selected?

We reached out to our staffers and trusted critics and asked them to nominate their favorite books published in 2024. They responded with hundreds of titles. Then, the editors and producers at NPR Books sat down with a huge spreadsheet of responses; we resolved duplications, noted omissions, considered the overall mix and balance of books recommended and then made assignments.

Why isn’t this just a list?

Back in 2013, the NPR Books staff was suffering from an acute case of list fatigue. So we teamed up with our friends at NPR News Apps and started to think about a site that would be more Venn diagram-y than list-y – a site that could help you seek out the best biographies that were also love stories, or the best mysteries that were also set in the past. We wholeheartedly believe that human beings are capable of absorbing new information in formats that are 1) not sequentially ordered and 2) wait … dammit! and 3) never mind.

But no, really, I just want to see a list of books

We got you. To view these books as a list of titles rather than as an array of covers, you are welcome to select the “List” option in the upper right-hand corner of the site.

So what’s the deal with these tags?

At NPR Books, we’re all about discovery: helping you find your next great read – the mystery you can’t put down, the memoir you recommend to all your friends. In 2013, we hashed out a basic taxonomy that was both functional (e.g., Biography & Memoir or Kids’ Books) and fun (e.g., It’s All Geek To Me and Let’s Talk About Sex). Over the years, we’ve refined our filters and added new tags, like The States We’re In and No Biz Like Show Biz.

The names are cute, but what do they mean?

The States We’re In is for stories of the American experience both true and fictional. It’s All Geek To Me is for deep dives on particular topics – trees, personality tests, tiny houses, you name it. In The Dark Side, you’ll find dystopias, serial killers, true crime and people behaving badly in general. Eye-Opening Reads will give you a new perspective on the topic at hand, whether it’s the state of philanthropy or a new pair of shoes.

How do the books get tagged?

Our critics and staffers make suggestions, but to ensure we are applying tags consistently, the producers and editors at NPR Books consider and discuss every tag on every book.

That must take a very long time

YUP.

Can I look under the hood?

If you want to know more about how Books We Love was designed and coded, you can read about the process here. And if you’re curious to see the code and adapt it for your own project, you can check it out here.

If I click on the links and purchase one of the books, does that purchase help NPR?

Yes. And you can read more about how that works here.

How can I stay up to date on reviews and recommendations from NPR Books?

Sign up for our newsletter! Every week we will send interviews, stories and reviews right to your inbox.

Subscribe to our podcast! NPR’s Book of the Day brings you today’s great reads in 15 minutes or less.

Have fun exploring Books We Love! We hope you find something wonderful to read today.

The 2024 Books We Love team: Andrew Limbong, Beth Novey, Dhanika Pineda and Meghan Collins Sullivan 

Back to me, Becky, talking about this resource.

I love this list for a few reasons. The first is the tags discussed above. I love that they are natural language based. While there are recognizable categories such as "Biography & Memoir," "Mysteries & Thrillers," or "Young Adult," there are also more intuitive, reader focused categories like "Eye-Opening Reads," It's All Geek To Me," and "The Dark Side," and even choices based on length, this is an excellent portal to "best" books that allows any reader [or library worker] to created highly specific and expertly tailored suggestions. 

Second, it is fun to use. The mixing a matching potential is endless because of the breadth of choices. A lot of that breadth is because of the nature of how they add titles to the list. They ask all of their NPR Books contributors to suggest titles. As a result, a huge swath of reading interests are represented in the list. Their intentional inclusion of all voices, even those who only write a few reviews a year, makes this list one of the best. You can click on as many or as few of the tags as you want to create a general or highly specific list.

Third,  every former incarnation of this list is easily accessible with a single click from the top of this year's list meaning you have nearly 4,000 customizable suggestions for literally any reader, no matter how picky, at your fingertips. 

Fourth, Books We Love is a great go-to resource all year long because of the breadth and variety of titles included and the ease of backlist access. Users get to steer the ship to find their own suggestion amongst a universe of pre-approved titles. Then they can be as picky as they want, choosing their own filters to narrow it down. And since these lists are VERY broad in terms of the types of books that are included each year, the results are very useful. And they stand up over the test of time. 

And finally, this resource works very well as a conversation starter itself. You can use it in conjunction with my Conversation Starter to Display advice any time of year. Ask people for their favorite "Eye-Opening Reads." You can fill the display with the titles from Books We Love over the years to get things started and then ask staff and patrons to help give you more. Again, the details on how to use a conversation starter question to build a display are here. You can go back to Books We Love at anytime of year for display ideas. 

Go visit the NPR Book Books We Love portal now (if you haven't already) and have fun using it for yourself or your patrons, but don't forget about it all year long. It is a wonderful  resource and, after years in existence, the compound interest of titles makes it even more useful. 

And now if you will excuse me, I am going to do my annual exercise of using Books We Love to find myself a book to read over the holidays. 

I am pretty sure it is going to be Pony Confidential but we will see.