Announcing the 2025 Summer Scares Spokesperson and Program Timeline

Happy Halloween everyone. And welcome to the annual day when we announce the next year's Summer Scares Spokesperson and schedule. Enjoy all the spooky excitement.

HWA ANNOUNCES SUMMER SCARES READING PROGRAM 2025 SPOKESPERSON AND TIMELINE

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with Booklist, Book Riot, iREAD, and NoveList®, a division of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), is proud to announce the sixth annual Summer Scares, a reading program that provides libraries and schools with an annual list of recommended horror titles for adult, young adult (teen), and middle grade readers. It introduces readers and librarians to new authors and helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list, promoting reading for years to come.

Summer Scares is proud to announce the 2025 spokesperson, #1 New York Times Bestselling author Kendare Blake:

"As a proud member of the club of people who read Stephen King too young, I am both honored and absolutely psyched to be this years' Summer Scares Spokesperson. Long ago, in elementary school, I had a beloved librarian with hair as black as night and teeth like Nosferatu. On dreary, wintry afternoons she would gather the children near and read to us from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, her eyes brightening with our every small whimper. She was, in short, THE BEST. I hope to meet many more librarians this year with her same, spooky spirit. So come along, folks of all ages, and let's read the scary stuff all summer long! It's not just for October anymore." 

Blake, along with a committee of six library workers, will select three recommended fiction titles in each reading level, totaling nine Summer Scares selections. The program aims to encourage a conversation at libraries worldwide about the horror genre across all age levels and ultimately attract more adults, teens, and children interested in reading. Official Summer Scares designated authors will also make themselves available to public and school libraries.

The committee’s final selections will be announced on February 14, 2025, Library Lover’s Day. Blake, along with some of the selected authors, will kick off Summer Scares at the 9th Annual HWA Librarians’ Day, Friday, June 13th, during StokerCon® 2025 at the Hilton Stamford Hotel in Stamford, CT. Tickets for this in-person event are available now: https://www.stokercon2025.com/librarian-s-day.

Additional content, including podcast appearances, free webinars with Booklist, and lists of suggested titles for further reading, will be made available by the committee and its partners beginning in March of 2025 and continuing through the Spring and Summer.

Of special note is the annual Summer Scares Programming Guide, courtesy of HWA Library Committee Co-Chair Konrad Stump and the Springfield-Greene County Library, which provides creative ideas to engage horror readers. Centered around the official Summer Scares titles, the guide offers tips and examples for readers’ advisory, book discussion guides, and sample programs, enabling librarians, even those who don’t read or especially enjoy the horror genre themselves, to connect their communities with Summer Scares.

To see past year’s Summer Scares titles, spokespeople, and programming guides, please visit the program archive: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares-archive.html.

This year, Summer Scares is excited to announce a brand new sponsor– iREAD, an all ages Summer Reading Program developed by librarians for libraries. iREAD is used by libraries across the United States and around the world through their partnership with the US Department of Defense, bringing Summer Scares to our military families stationed across the globe.

iREAD Content and Development Manager Becca Boland shared her excitement:

“As a new sponsor of Summer Scares, iREAD is thrilled (and chilled) to support the Summer Scares program guide that will help libraries ‘unearth’ a love for reading. As part of this partnership, every summer you'll find one spine-tingling book for each age range and category that aligns with the iREAD theme. iREAD will also help to provide programming assistance for the guide ensuring everyone has a ‘fang-tastic’ time! Let’s conjure up some excitement and make this summer a real ‘scream’ with Summer Scares and iREAD."

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates coming soon from Booklist, Book Riot, iREAD and NoveList®, as well as at the HWA’s website: www.horror.org and RA for All Horror: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html.

Questions? Reach out to HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump via email: libraries@horror.org. 

Summer Scares 2025 Committee Members: 

Kendare Blake is the author of several novels and short stories, most of which you can find information about via the links above. Her work is sort of dark, always violent, and features passages describing food from when she writes while hungry. She was born in July (for those of you doing book reports) in Seoul, South Korea, but doesn’t speak a lick of Korean, as she was packed off at a very early age to her adoptive parents in the United States. That might be just an excuse, though, as she is pretty bad at learning foreign languages. She enjoys the work of Milan Kundera, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bret Easton Ellis, and Richard Linklater. She lives and writes in Gig Harbor, Washington, with her husband, their cat son Tyrion Cattister, red Doberman dog son Obi-Dog Kenobi, rottie mix dog daughter Agent Scully, and naked Sphynx cat son Armpit McGee.

Becky Spratford is a library consultant and the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, third edition which was released in September of 2021. She reviews horror for Booklist Magazine, is the horror columnist for Library Journal and runs the Readers’ Advisory blog, RA for All: Horror.

Konrad Stump is a Local History Associate for the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library, where he co-coordinates Springfield-Greene's popular “Oh, the Horror!” series, which attracts hundreds of patrons during October. He created the Donuts & Death horror book discussion group, featured in “Book Club Reboot: 71 Creative Twists” (ALA), and co-created the Summer Scares Programming Guide. Library workers who are interested in cultivating horror programming can contact him at konrads@thelibrary.org for free assistance.

Carolyn Ciesla is an academic library director in the Chicago suburbs. She has worked as a teen librarian and reference librarian, and has reviewed horror titles for Booklist Magazine. She’s currently teaching horror to first-year college students. You can find her all over the internet as @papersquared.

Kelly Jensen is an editor at Book Riot, the largest independent book website in North America. She covers all things young adult literature and has written about censorship for nearly ten years. She is the author of three critically-acclaimed and award-winning anthologies for young adults on the topics of feminism, mental health, and the body. She was named a person of the year in 2022 by Publishers Weekly and a Chicagoan of the year in 2022 by the Chicago Tribune for her anti-censorship work. She has also earned commendation from the American Association of School Librarians for her censorship coverage. Prior to her work at Book Riot, she was a public librarian for children, teens, and adults in several libraries in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. She is currently enrolled in a clinical mental health counseling master's program to bolster her work with mental health.

Julia Smith joined the Books for Youth team at Booklist in 2015, where she is now a senior editor. Her love of middle-grade literature and all things unsettling and strange draws her to creepy children's stories. You can follow her at @JuliaKate32 on Twitter.

Yaika Sabat (MLS) comes from a background in public libraries of various sizes. She now works at NoveList as the Manager of Reader Services, where she trains library staff nationwide on readers’ advisory, creates genre-focused content, and works on reader-focused products and services. As a Horror Writers Association’s Library Advisory Council member, she works to help librarians understand and embrace the horror genre. Her other passions include writing, graphic novels, film (the scarier, the better), and folklore.

Rebecca Yarros Talking About Romantasy via NPR Book of the Day

We all know that Rebecca Yarros is one of our most popular authors at the library. During the National Book Festival she sat down with Emily Kwong from NPR for an interview. 

19 minutes of this longer conversation was posted as part of the NPR's Book of the Day Podcast. You can listen to it here. 

This specific audio is a MUST listen. To hear Yarros talk about the appeal of her books and the genre blend that she helped make its own genre juggernaut is fascinating and necessary.

But I also wanted to use this opportunity to let you know how much I encourage people to subscribe to NPR's Book of the Day podcast. From the landing page:

NPR's Book of the Day

In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them – we've got an author who will speak to you, all genres, mood and writing styles included. Catch today's great books in 15 minutes or less.

 Notice I said subscribe. Not listen. I subscribe to NPR's Book of the Day podcast mostly to see what books they are highlighting. I see it in my feed and I know it is a book important enough to make sure I know about it. This podcast takes book conversations from across all of their shows and plops them in the feed. So you can catch discussions and books you might have missed otherwise.

At least where I live, the NPR audience and the public library users have a huge overlap. Back when I started at the turn of the Century, people would come in all the time to ask for a book they heard about. They couldn't remember much, but we quickly learned that there was a VERY good chance they heard about it on NPR. So we started asking directly, did they hear about in on the radio? What time were you in the car? And then we'd try to track down which show it was on and figure it out from there.

This was early 2000s. Some of the bigger shows (like Fresh Air) had webpages with their guests listed, but some of the local shows did not. We often called WBEZ to ask what books were mentioned on a show at a certain time. They would help. They got used to us calling and I like to think we helped them get that info on a webpage sooner.

Back to the subscribing. I do listen to many of the episodes, but you don't need to. Seeing the book and the description is often enough to use it as a resource. 

I hope you consider subscribing to stay in the know as to what books NPR wants its listners to know about. It will help you anticipate demand and allow you to prepare readalikes and displays as well. 

But right now, go listen to Rebecca Yarros specifically. Everyone who works at a public library in America has something to learn from this conversation.

Attack of the Best Lists 2024: Publishers Weekly

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.

Once the Publishers Weekly best books portal goes live it is on! They are going to come fast and furious from here on at. But not only is PW's of the first best lists of the year, but it is arguable the most useful of the bunch. 

Look at those screen shots [above]. From the Best Books of 2024 page on PW you can access by all ages and genres as well as single click access going back to 2010! And it includes their Summer Reads picks and overall BEST titles all in one place. 

This inclusion of Summer Reads access is key because often, those books are better general reads options but they don't always make the year end lists. This allows the PW Best Book portal to be a one stop shop for great reads.

Nowhere will you find a resource that puts this many "sure bet" options in front of you so easily. There are literally hundreds of titles here, at your fingertips, both old and new, that you can confidently suggest to readers immediately. And for so many readers. Readers who read across all age levels [down to infants] and in just about every genre. 

And, since every title is annotated, you also have a book talk [or annotation] for each title right there. You don't have to have read the book to suggest it. [Reminder: Use the Words of Others.]

I could keep gushing about how much I love this resource but I would rather you played around with it yourself.

Click through, check out the 2024 titles, but also look back at older titles, read the annotations, check genres you love and those you don't normally read, especially those you don't normally read because you will learn much about the current state of that genre [trends, popular authors] this year and going back a few years. You can both get access to some great sure bet suggestions AND brush up on your genre knowledge all in one place.

Spend some time really getting to know this resource. And then use it-- all of it including past years and both summer and year end lists-- to make your own lists for your readers. Make displays [digital displays too], make suggested reading lists by genre, by year, by whatever you want. Just embrace the wealth of information available to you with one click and help readers in ways they would not think to help themselves.

Go check out this database of "sure bet" reads for any season, and keep it bookmarked for use anytime you need a solid suggestion [especially for those hard to satisfy readers].

And keep an eye out here on the blog for more "Attack of the Best Lists" posts coming as they are announced. And they will be announced at a fast clip from today onward until the end of the year.

Registration is Open Now for StokerCon Librarians' Day: Friday, June 13, 2025 in Stamford, CT

This is a cross post with RA for All: Horror as part of 31 Days of Horror.

As we approach the end of our 31 days of Horror together I wanted to remind you that Horror Season is all year long. And just because it is no longer October, that does not mean we stop talking about your Horror readers. 

On Thursday, I will be hosting the official start of Summer Scares 2025 with our press release of the spokesperson and details on the timeline for the program.

But today, I am going to get you excited for something else. This year's Librarians' Day, on Friday, June 13, 2025 in Stamford, CT. It is a full day of continuing education and learning for all library workers for only $60.

Below and at this link you can see the schedule and sign up right now. We are expecting a big crowd as the location is close enough for hundreds of libraries to attend.

If you know you will have 5 or more people to register, email me at libraries@horror.org so we can get you a group discount as well.

Real talk time-- in a few days you are going to miss this daily dose of Horror talk. You can help you, help yourself and limit your own withdrawal by registering today for Librarians' Day. Then you will have something to look forward to.

Click here for the full schedule on the StokerCon website or see below.

Librarians’ Day Schedule for StokerCon 2025, Stamford, CT
 
Librarians’ Day
Friday June 13, 2025
8am-4pm
Librarians’ Day only ticket - $60

BUY TICKETS HERE

Please note: Librarians’ Day is open to all StokerCon ticket holders. If you already have a regular ticket, we invite you to attend any of our programming at no extra cost.  

ABOUT: On the Friday of StokerCon, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) offers "Librarians' Day" -- a full day of horror-focused continuing education programming for all library workers. Topics include readers' advisory, programming featuring the conference's guest authors on timely topics, information on how you can work with the HWA, and more. Below you'll find this year's special program for the on-site conference. Librarians' Day ticket holders will have access to the dealer's room and other areas of the full conference throughout the day. ​

SCHEDULE

8 -8:25 a.m.: Welcome to Librarians’ Day!: Meet the Librarians’ Day team and fellow librarians from across the country while enjoying coffee and bites courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

8:30-9:20 am: Brains! Brains! Brainstorming Ways to Engage Your Community, Moderated by Jocelyn Codner and Meghan Bouffard: Join HWA Library Advisory Council members in small group discussions to meet some of your fellow librarians, share experiences, and gather ideas for how to engage your community with the horror community.

9:30-10:20 am: How to Feature Horror at Your Library, Moderated by Corey Farrenkopf: Hear librarians from across the country share their experiences featuring horror at their libraries, from book discussions to writing groups to author events and more.

10:30-11:20 am: Buzzing About Horror Books, Moderated by Emily Vinci: Join librarians and book reviewers as they share the buzz about a slew of exciting new and upcoming horror titles. Come for the booktalks; stay for the free books and swag!

11:30 am-1 pm: Lunch Break: Explore Stamford and enjoy a nearby restaurant.

1-1:50 pm: What Horror Means to Me, Moderated by Lila Denning: Join StokerCon 2025’s Guests of Honor for a lively discussion about why readers of all ages enjoy a good scare, from fictional frights to all-too-true terrors. Featuring Scott Edelman, Paula Guran, Adam Nevill, Joyce Carol Oates, Gaby Triana, and Tim Waggoner.

2-2:50 pm: This Book is Haunted: cursed objects and texts in film and literature, Moderated by Ben Rubin. An old tome with archaic writing, an unmarked VHS, a doll with an unsettling gaze, a camera through which the viewfinder shows a reality that seems just a bit off…Cursed objects provide not only an intriguing plot device but their uncanny realism can also make the reader or viewer feel complicit in the haunting. Join us as we explore the popularity of cursed objects and media and why these stories are essential for library shelves. Featuring Clay McLeod Chapman, Adam Nevill, and Emily Vinci with more panelists to be announced soon!

3-3:50 pm: Summer Scares: A Thrilling Summer Reading Program, Moderated by Yaika Sabat: Join Summer Scares current and past selected authors, spokespeople, and partners to learn more about the HWA’s popular summer reading program, how to get involved, and how to use Summer Scares resources to better serve your patrons. Stay tuned for our full list of panelists! ​ ​

I hope to see you there on Friday the 13th, this coming June.

BUY TICKETS HERE

Current Issue of Booklist is Spotlight on the Arts and Congratulations Donna Seaman

The current issue of Booklist has a lot of great resources for you to use to help all types of readers. 

Click here to access the Table of Contents or see below for some bonus information.

Please note the most important book in the issue is on the cover:

On the Cover
River Styx 2, by Donna Seaman, from River of Books: A Life in Reading, by Donna Seaman, published by Ode Books, and featured in Books by Booklist Authors.

It is a book about books and reading by the great Donna Seaman, now promoted to Booklist's Editor in Chief with this issue as well. Susan Maguire has a review here and at that link above, but spoiler alert, this is a great book that your readers will love. It also makes an excellent holiday gift for the readers in your lives. 

Besides the review of her book, you can also read The Letter from the Publisher (George Kendall) in the print magazine talking all about Seaman's promotion.  

Spotlight on the Arts

Top 10 Art Books: 2024

• Click here for the 2023 list

Essentials: Band Together, Rock ‘n’ Roll (requires login)

Read-alikes: Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem (books for all ages about dancers of color)

Ears on the Arts (Ears on the Arts is the first in a series of new audio features pairing reviews of new audio titles with listen-alike audiobooks suggestions that highlight the appeal of the titles and the connections among them. It is for all ages of readers)

Features

Books by Booklist Authors: Donna Seaman’s River of Books

High-Demand Read-alikes: Fathers in Crime

Manga Essentials: Art Manga

Resource Alert: Great Group Reads Released By the Women's National Book Association

The 2024 "Great Group Reads" list was just released by the Women's National Book Association. What is this list and group? From their site:

What is Great Group Reads?

Great Group Reads (GGR) is part of the National Reading Group Month initiative of the Women’s National Book Association. Since its creation in 2009, Great Group Reads has become a highly regarded and anticipated resource for reading groups, individual facilitators, educators, bookstores, and libraries to recommend books.

They have lists going back to 2009 right on the same page. Very easy access. 

Again, the most current 2024 list is right here.

Of course you should use this resource to help book clubs-- whether they are your library's groups our those in your community-- but, these lists are a GREAT resource for a few reasons:

1. Sure Bet Suggestions: Books that make the cut to be on a list like this, have already been put through the wringer. They are tested as discussable and agreed upon by a larger audience. This means you should have this link on hand, always because these are perfect "sure bets." When you mind goes blank and you need a suggestion quickly, any of the lists here are good. And they have the publisher's description there for you as well. 
2. Displays: These lists offer multiple display options. You can literally use these same books and change the name of the display. Display topics can be as literal as "Great Group Reads," "Forgotten Favorites" (especially if you use the older lists), "Sure Bets," or "Books Worth Talking About," for example.
3. Backlist: I already hinted at this, but the backlist of titles is great and deep. I scanned back to the oldest lists and there are some awesome suggestions here. Most you still have as well. 
4. Interactivity Options: Just asking staff and patrons a question like "What is your best pick for a group read," or "What is a book worth talking about?" I prefer the second question because it is more vague and will get answers from people who do not participate in book discussion groups. Reminder-- my explanation on how to be more interactive and turn your conversation starter questions into display is here.

I hope you can see why you should check out the 2024 Great Group Reads and the database of past lists, even if you do not have anything to do with book discussion groups.

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Andrew Carnegie Medal Edition [See Also Attack of the Best Lists]

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

Also

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.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Carnegie Medal Selection Committee because a few years ago year, I was a part of that group.

Yesterday the long list was announced. But first, unfamiliar with this award? From the website:

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, established in 2012, recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material. They are the first single-book awards for adult books given by the American Library Association and reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers. The winners (one for fiction, one for nonfiction) are announced at an event at the ALA Midwinter Meeting; winning authors receive a $5,000 cash award. For more information on award seals, please visit the ALA store. 

A longlist comprised of no more than 50 titles is released in the fall. Six finalists, three fiction and three nonfiction, are announced in November.  The winners are announced at the RUSA Book and Media Awards Ceremony in January.  All honored titles are nominated by the members of the selection committee. The awards do not accept submissions.

Part one of the selection committee's assignment is to select a long list of no more than 50 titles. 

Here is that official long list announcement for the current year:

Forty-six books (23 fiction, 23 nonfiction) have been selected for the longlist for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.

The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be chosen from longlist titles and announced on November 12, 2024. The two medal winners will be announced by 2025 selection committee chair Allison Escoto at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards livestreaming event, held during ALA LibLearnX on Saturday, January 25. A celebratory event, including presentations by the winners and a featured speaker, will take place in June 2025 at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Philadelphia.

Share your favorite Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence titles on social media using our downloadable graphics (fiction longlist and nonfiction longlist), and be sure to use the #ALA_Carnegie hashtag!

Click here to see all of the titles.

Now the hard part begins for the committee as they must whittle down these 20+ titles in fiction and nonfiction to 6 titles-- 3 fiction and 3 nonfiction. That announcement will be on November 12th as noted above.

But all 46 books are excellent to suggest to a wide swath of readers. Why? Because the committee is tasked with choosing excellent examples of books for a general adult reading audience. When I was on the committee, there were some awesome nonfiction titles that we discounted because they were too academic, for example. 

I have read a few books on this list but I wanted to point out one in particular because it is amazing and it is 100% Horror-- Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima. I gave this book a star in LJ and then I found out Lima lives near me. We have become friends. And it is all because of a book she wrote. 

[psst...I can also guarantee that this book will be on at least one more best list.]

Finally, like all of my awards lists post, I need to remind you about the backlist. The Carnegie Medal homepage has access to the winners, short list, and long list titles going all the way back to 2012 and up to the present all with one click. All of these titles make for excellent suggestions and the 6 annual short list titles all have an annotations for you to use to suggest them to readers immediately. 

Make sure you own all 46 books from this year and then combine those that are on the shelf with some backlist gems to make a display for the Andrew Carnegie Medal or save these up for your end of the year best lists displays. 

Libraries As Agencies of Impact

Last night I drove an hour each way to stand with my colleagues in the Illinois Library community to support a Director and a Board who are standing strong against hate. 

This library is in my personal system-- Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) and representatives from RAILS and ILA leadership were there last night, as well as a half dozen others, plus representatives from the LGBTQ community.

We filled the room with love and support. No one on the other side was there (despite their constant harassment) and the Board President told us there have never been so many people to a Board meeting ever.

This is what happens when you show up for a library-- even if it isn't yours. None of us are part of this library, but we are all part of the library community. The Board, who were already standing strong for inclusion and respect (and after training from Robin and I had followed all the rules and had everything in writing before anything happened), were so happy to see the support. Every member of the Board publicly said so. 

Now they have literally seen the love. When the negative chirping keeps reverberating from a few, they can recall us filling out their program room to show we disagree,

We all need to do this more. And back to my specific library system, RAILS. They have done more than show up at meetings, they are trying to set an example for all IL libraries and, by posting their work online for free, the entire library community, through their report Libraries as Agencies of Impact.

You can go here to read the entire report but here is the introduction:

Message from RAILS

At RAILS, our mission statement, "We Connect Libraries," reflects our belief in the transformative power of libraries. We go beyond brick-and-mortar walls, fostering collaboration and resource-sharing to empower libraries of all types and sizes.

This guide dives deep into the quantifiable impact of Illinois libraries, equipping you with data to demonstrate their value to your stakeholders. Whether you're a librarian, a board member, or a community advocate, this information will help you showcase:

• Return on Investment: Explore data revealing the tangible benefits libraries deliver in exchange for their operational costs.
• Staffing Expertise: Understand the qualifications and dedication of library professionals, highlighting their unique contribution to communities.
• Community Reach: Discover the extensive reach of libraries, showcasing how they serve diverse populations and bridge information gaps.

This information is crucial for everyone invested in the future of Let's turn the page and discover the undeniable value of Illinois libraries.

Monica Harris, Executive Director

At this link you can read the entire report in a text only version or go here to see a presentation version. These are posted online and for free so that you can share this in IL, or anywhere really in America, to show why our libraries are vital to communities, and as a result, our entire country

RAILS has also created talking point PDFs for each library type with instructions on how to engage the public in these conversations. You can see all of them here, but as an example I took a screen shot of the top half of the Public Library one.

At that page on their My Library Is... advocacy blog, they also have this encouragement:

Using Talking Points

It’s likely that there will never be a time when you can cover all of these points in one conversation, and not all may apply to you or your audience, specifically. Instead, choose items that work for you, the topics that will be of greatest interest to the person you are speaking with, and the talking points you are most comfortable addressing.

Don’t feel obligated to recite these talking points verbatim. Instead of memorizing, it may be more helpful to use your own words and add your own personal experience in order to make them your own and create a memorable story that will leave a lasting impression.

Finally, don’t forget to practice, among friends and colleagues and those in your library. This gets easier with repetition. The most important thing is to feel comfortable in what you are saying and to get the conversation started.

Back to me and last night. It was not easy, even for me, to stand up and address people (who were present) who doubled down on their anger at being told they cannot actively spew hate and still be welcome to be a part of their library's book discussion group. But I did it because the Library is an agency of impact, it is an example of what is best about America and its citizen, and it is worth fighting for.

Every single one of us, who work in or use our libraries, needs to take a look at the data driven reports RAILS has gathered. Make sure that you are not waiting for something to happen in your community, but rather, be proactive by advocating for libraries as agencies of impact. Get in front of the issue and be the first to speak out. Set the agenda; don't wait for others to define us as things we are not. 

And here are the tools to help you get started thanks to RAILS.

Attack of the Best Lists 2024: Barnes & Noble

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.

Barnes & Noble has released their Best Books 2024 portal making them the first major outlet to release their list and they are covering a lot of bases with many categories including books in Spanish.

And this also marks the beginning of my Attack of the Best Lists for 2024.

Of course B&N has more than one best list. The more the merrier in their eyes because ultimately they want to sell as many books as possible. And at the holidays (which the graphics clearly imply-- example image on the left), they want it to be as easy as possible to help you find the right books for your people.

While getting the most sales is the reason, it is nice to see the categories themselves and the books found within as more inclusive than previous years. They have categories for Best Audiobooks, Best Spanish Books for adults and kids, and have celebrity memoirs and general memoirs as separate categories. They are thinking about how people read and making sure they see a category that works for them or their friends and family.

Speaking of the ease at which the average reader can access enticing titles, keep a list of those B&N categories to use as display titles and conversation starters anytime of year.

You can make a display anytime of year with these categories as well especially if you use the backlist of best lists . So while at the end of a year you can use these categories as a way to ask patrons to weigh in on their best reads of the last year, you can also use these categories and the backlist "Best" options  to make genre or reading category displays anytime of year. 

Ask you patrons to help by using  this link to see how to turn a conversation starter into a display. 

Access the backlist of Best titles through with my attack of the best lists coverage from year to year to have all the best lists, from any of the past years, all in one. But specifically, here is the B&N Best Books portal from, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020.

Look for more "Attack of the Best Lists" post coming soon.

Reading Suggestion Via "Vibes"

Look, I know I am the library world's Horror expert. And I know ALL of you are following along with 31 Days of Horror over on the other blog, but even I know not EVERYONE wants to read a spooky book during the Fall. 

Earlier this Fall, Goodreads noted that by having this list of 63 reading recs for every fall vibe.

I want to use this post to 1, remind you of these lists as a resource for readers who want a seasonal read that is not necessarily full on Horror and 2, and quite honestly more importantly, to talk to you about "vibes" as a RA Tool.

The word "vibes" is thrown around a lot these days and some of you may completely get it, but others have told me they are not sure how to use it to match books with readers. Here's the thing though, you do know, we just use different words for it.

Vibes is just another word for appeal factors. Vibes refers to the feel of the book, why someone likes it. It has nothing to do with the plot. And personally, I love this move towards readers discussing the vibes they want in their books. Why? Because for years I have been explaining that the plot does not matter and should not be what you share with someone about the book. Why they will like it is what is most important. And that why comes from how the story is relayed-- the appeal factors-- or more succinctly-- the vibes.

Why someone loves a book has nothing to do with what happens plot wise. Rather it all comes from the narrative choices the author makes in telling the story of that plot. I demonstrate this every single time I give my signature RA for All: Flip The Script and Think Like a Reader training program. I have people think of a book they love and I walk them through the categories of appeal to help them figure out how to articulate why they "love" that book.

And then, they give a book talk to their neighbor where they only talk about the appeal of the book-- inter words, it's a conversation that is all vibes.

This fact of how to best match books with readers is part of my 10 rules. That is how important I think it is. Click here to read my explanatory post -- Share Why Someone Would Enjoy a Book, Not The Plot. It is foundational to how I teach all of you to help your readers.

Back to the Goodreads "Fall Vibes" suggestions. Use their lists now, but think about leaning into the whole "vibes" conversation yourselves. Use the word to attract readers, with the understanding that this is the work you have been doing for years-- matching books with readers using appeal factors. It is the same thing, but now we not only have a new word for it, it is a word our readers have started using on their own. They are ready and willing to talk about the feel of the book, not the plot.

Our job just got a whole lot easier.

Use the Goodreads post below and here to start more vibes based conversations with your readers. And for sure use "What's Your Fall Vibes Book Suggestion" as part of your conversation starter to displays, interactive Readers' Advisory. (Details on how to do this here)

63 Reading Recommendations for Every Fall Reading Vibe

For reasons that are hard to rationally explain, autumn remains the best season for serious book reading. It’s a vibe thing. There’s just something about the fall season that makes you want to curl up with a big book.
 
In honor of this annual phenomenon, we’ve scoured the stacks to compile this list of 63 book recommendations for autumn reading vibes. It’s largely an intuitive process. Some books just feel autumnal—spooky classics like Practical Magic or The Haunting of Hill House. Some pivot off the back-to-the-school setting, like Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. And some just possess a kind of ambient October Gothic energy—think Daphne du Maurier’s immortal classic, Rebecca.
 
To further facilitate the vibe sorting, we’ve divided this collection into different reading moods: Witchy & Magic, Cozy Fantasies, Dark & Moody, Autumnal Academia, Uncanny & Strange, and Ghosts Galore. The books selected are a mix of older and newer titles, and feel free to make any additional recommendations in the comments section.
 
You can also use the Want to Read button beneath each cover image to save space on your own digital shelf. Have at it, Goodreaders.

Click here to see the categories and suggested books to begin helping your readers to match their book to their vibe.

Library Journal's Free Day of Dialog Is Coming on October 24th

Library Journal Day of Dialog is almost here, and I am excited to announce that I will be opening the entire day in conversation with Stephen Graham Jones. Before we get to that exciting detail, here is the link to the landing page for this FREE day of library workers, books and authors: 

Join us October 24 for our Library Journal Day of Dialog virtual event! Spanning a variety of genres, this free, day-long program will offer an in-depth look at the biggest forthcoming books for summer/fall 2024. You’ll hear directly from top authors as they discuss their new titles, inspiration, process, and more. 

And don’t forget the virtual exhibit hall! Visit the booths to download free resources and chat with publishing representatives.

 

EVENT HOURS: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ET

 

This is a FREE event of over a dozens panel discussions moderated by library workers with authors groups by genres or interests. You literally cannot go to all of them live because at times there are 2 or 3 concurrently. But you have 3 months to watch it all. The recording and CE certificates will be sent out 24 hours after.

Click here to see the full program.

However one thing that has NOTHING up against it is the day's opening session:

9:30 – 10:00 AM ET | Opening Keynote Conversation

Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Alex, Reading List, and Locus Award winner Stephen Graham Jones is the author of I Was a Teenage Slasher and the LJ Best Book Don’t Fear the Reaper, along with dozens of other titles and the forthcoming The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (Saga Press: Simon & Schuster). He is the Ivena Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Moderator: Becky Spratford, LJ Horror Review Columnist

Stephen and I have worked to plan a dynamic and fun conversation. We will talk about think I 100% know you haven't heard before, including his upcoming novel The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and a never before heard excerpt of Stephen's essay from my upcoming book.

You do not want to miss this.

And why should you, it is free and you can get a recording.

Click here to learn more and register today.

New Issue of Corner Shelf: A Booklist (Free) Newsletter

Last week, Susan Maguire, my editor at Booklist sent out the final Corner Shelf newsletter of the year. Below is the Table of Contents and her Editor's Note. Click here to read the entire newsletter and to find the link to subscribe to receive future issues.

• Notes from the Field: Serving Romance Readers and RomanceCon
• Essentials: Serving the Unhoused
• Listen Up: Spanish Audio of Note
• Top 10 Food Books
• Excerpts from the Experts: Play with Purpose—Integrating Games into the Collection
• Shelf Care: The Podcast: Book-Clubbable
• From the Backlist: The Queen of the Cicadas, by V. Castro

Editor's Note

Hello Shelfers,

This issue of Corner Shelf has it all: an interview with a library worker about serving romance readers and RomanceCon, an article on Spanish-language audio, the top 10 food books of the year, a feature on why you should integrate games into your library collections, and more. More!

One feature of note is that this issue doesn’t have the usual Professional Reading Roundup. Instead, I put together an Essentials list on serving the homeless which can serve as a professional reading list for library staff, or, with a few adjustments, for patrons interested in understanding their unhoused neighbors better. This list was inspired by my reading of “They Just Need to Get a Job”: 15 Myths on Homelessness, by Mary Brosnahan, which I first heard about from LibraryReads’ Rebecca Vnuk at our Read n Rave this year.

And it’s the last issue of Corner Shelf for 2024. I know! It’s sad. But as is tradition, here are what I’m pretty sure are my fave reads of the year:

The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore. This book has a compelling mystery, an exploration of class and the roles of women, and a surprising and satisfying ending.

The Pairing, by Casey McQuiston. Does anyone really need to be sold on Casey McQuiston who isn’t already sold on them? Except to say they keep getting better and better?

The Wedding People, by Allison Espach. A very funny, very moving, keenly observed piece of relationship fiction about a woman who unwittingly infiltrates a wedding party.

And two books that tackle mental illness in very different ways:

Between Friends & Lovers, by Shirlene Obuobi. A romance about, among other things, learning to love a person with depression.

One of Us Knows, by Alyssa Cole. A thriller about a woman with dissociative identity disorder who finds herself in a castle that is identical to one that lives in her mind. Very twisty and delicious.

What have you read and loved in 2024? Feel free to reach out and let me know!

Happy reading!

—Susan Maguire
Senior Editor, Collection Development and Library Outreach, Booklist
smaguire@ala.org
@Booklist_Susan

Click here to read the entire issue