Lists From the Latest Issue of Booklist

Click here to read the
online magazine

The May 15th issue of Booklist is one of the few each year that does not have a review by me in it. This has to do with my June-July, back-to-back, deadlines for LJ. But it does have some excellent resources for you to use.

The spotlight is on Historical Fiction, which we all know is SUPER popular. As I say every time I feature a Booklist Spotlight issue, each of the Top 10 lists represents the previous 12 months, meaning, some of these titles are not brand new and will probably be on the shelf. Also, these Spotlight issues are an important time to check your collections. Do you have the top 10 titles? If not, add them now. I relied on these lists for some of my harder collections, like Westerns.

You can also use spotlight issues for display ideas. Every issue has a spotlight and you can use it to guide your displays, lists, and featured titles for the month as well. No need to come up with an idea; Booklist has got your back.

And one last tip, these Top 10 lists are a great way to identify emerging trends, especially, if you look at the last 2-3 years as well. In fact, backlist is very easy for these Booklist lists because with each list online, you can pull up past year's lists with a single click, with your subscription enabled. Remember, if you subscribe to Booklist at your library (which most of you do), you have online access. Click here to set it up. 

Here are the Top 10 lists for 2023 for adults readers:

• Top 10 Historical Fiction Debuts: 2023
• Top 10 Historical Fiction: 2023
• To 10 Historical Fiction on Audio: 2023
• Access to all Historical Fiction lists for this year and past years in reverse chronological order, including Youth.

This issue also has a new Booklist The Essentials list. This one is "Jewish American Historical Fiction." Click here for more The Essentials lists. These are lists that are more specific than the spotlight but still tangential to them. They are a great way to go a little deeper than simply the larger genre or format category. Again, making a great lists or display idea. And these list are always backlist, but not too far backlist, meaning you can highlight some of those great tittles that are languishing on the shelf waiting to be discovered by a new to them reader.

And one final note. This issue is also a spotlight on Reference and there is NO bigger piece of evidence as to Horror's growth than seeing this on the Top 10 Reference of the 2023:

The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters. By J. W. Ocker. 2022. Quirk, $19.99 (9781683693222); 

This breezy reference explores Bigfoot, jackalopes, swamp creatures, and 67 more creatures whose existence is scientifically unproven, though stories of sightings abound, with entries featuring short facts and simple, black-and-white drawings.