My Updated Horror RA Program is Happening Today

This afternoon I am presenting my updated program on how to help Horror readers for PCI. Many libraries across the country have access to PCI's webinars either live or on demand. Please look into you system or state's niche academy or similar access points for continuing education.

I work very hard to update this program every single year so that it has everything you need to help Horror readers from the most hard core to new fans and even the Horror curious who always come out each Spooky Season. 

Please note, whether you have access to my live presentation or not, I have made the slides so that they are an excellent resource even without me talking. There is a baseline of expertly crafted information here for anyone to use. 

Please see the excerpts from my post from 7/31/26 entitled, Updated Horror RA Program for 2026 and my 2026 Appearance Schedule Page is Now Live, for more information below. See some of you later today or sometime in the future when you catch the replay.

Believe it or not, but I am in full Spooky Season prep mode even though it is still July. Besides the Horror Genre Preview that went live earlier this month, I also have my annual update to my program-- Horror Readers Advisory: How to Help Your Scariest Patrons.

The first time I am giving this talk is for PCI for a national audience-- some live, some on demand. You can access the slides for yourself here or at the end of this post.

This presentation is updated every year around this time. It is THE standard for everything you need to know about Horror from appeal to themes, how to handle the Horror RA conversation, what titles you need to know about. And all of this is presented so that you can use the information to serve your patrons whether you are a hard core horror fan, a complete fraidy cat, or anything in between.

This means everyone reading this should be looking at these slides now, before you are slammed with more Horror readers. Remember, horror is hot right now and people always want to give it a try in October, even those who have never read it. These slides can help you help them and every level of Horror reader. 

FYI, you can always find my upcoming and immediately past programs and RA training appearances on this page, always in the right gutter BELOW the RA for All logo. That page lists my fees, my most popular programs and their descriptions, links to slides, and a direct link to my book specific appearance page.  

NYT Ranks the 50 Best Thrillers of the Century so Far (and I was honored to be one of the experts they asked)

You might have seen that the New York Times Books Section released a list of the 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century So Far. I have a gift link available for you here. 

Back in May I opened an email from the NYT inviting me to participate. It came with my own personalized survey link. It was a great honor and a lot of fun, but I am not surprised that Gone Girl came in at #1. It was my top pick too. 

Before we talk about this list more, I need to take everyone back to 2012 when Gone Girl came out. I was one of the first people to read this book. I had met Gillian through an event my library hosted with Karin Slaughter. She got me an early copy of Gone Girl and I said to her-- I loved this book, but I am not sure American readers are ready to hate everyone in a book. Thankfully I was wrong. 

Before it was released, we set up a one on one interview with her and me at the Berwyn Public Library (where I worked). You can still watch baby Gillian and baby Becky do this interview here on the Berwyn Public Library's YouTube channel. This interview is so old, it was back when YouTube limited free accounts to 15 mins per video max. Such fun memories. My kids were 10 and 7 back then! It was so long ago.

That interview ended up being on the exact day Gone Girl hit the bestseller list and changed Gillian's life and well, everything about the psychological suspense genre forever- and in ways we haven't seen since Hitchcock. 

Anyone who was working in publishing or working with readers in any way in 2012 understood what happened. The Psychological thriller changes from being driven by men and serial killer characters like Hannibal Lecter to the female driven, domestic suspense, fueled by the unreliable narrator that we have now. 

So, when I got the email and my private survey link to be a part of this NYT list, I knew immediately that Gone Girl was on my list. I also included Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, My Sister, the Serial Killer, SA Cosby ( I can't remember which title I submitted), 11/22/62, and In the Woods among others. I say among others because I really don't remember my full list. It was due around StokerCon and I figured it out on paper and then entered it before I left and threw the paper out.

When you go to the list (gift link), you will see this header:

As voted on by 291 crime novelists, editors, booksellers, librarians and other book lovers. See how their ballots stack up.

I may not have my list of books highlighted here like my pals Stephen Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Daniel Kraus, but I want everyone to know they did care about us librarians. They are not just saying they asked us, I know they did. I am thankful for that.

I also want to note that every title has some readalike options. 

Get this list ready for your patrons, make lists online in in your buildings. Everyone will be talking about this for at least the next few weeks. Oh and go add some more copies of Gone Girl right now. 

And thanks to the NYT for including me in the creation of this fun list.

Updated Horror RA Program for 2026 and my 2026 Appearance Schedule Page is Now Live

Believe it or not, but I am in full Spooky Season prep mode even though it is still July. Besides the Horror Genre Preview that went live earlier this month, I also have my annual update to my program-- Horror Readers Advisory: How to Help Your Scariest Patrons.

The first time I am giving this talk is for PCI for a national audience-- some live, some on demand. You can access the slides for yourself here or at the end of this post.

This presentation is updated every year around this time. It is THE standard for everything you need to know about Horror from appeal to themes, how to handle the Horror RA conversation, what titles you need to know about. And all of this is presented so that you can use the information to serve your patrons whether you are a hard core horror fan, a complete fraidy cat, or anything in between.

This means everyone reading this should be looking at these slides now, before you are slammed with more Horror readers. Remember, horror is hot right now and people always want to give it a try in October, even those who have never read it. These slides can help you help them and every level of Horror reader.

FYI, you can always find my upcoming and immediately past programs and RA training appearances on this page, always in the right gutter BELOW the RA for All logo. That page lists my fees, my most popular programs and their descriptions, links to slides, and a direct link to my book specific appearance page.

I have also set up the 2026 Fall WHY I LOVE HORROR appearance page, beginning with my visit to Gibson's Books in 2 days. Click here for that page. You can also find it in the right gutter ABOVE the RA for All Logo. There is already a lot there and I am confirming more every day.

And don't forget, I do a #HorrorForLibrraies giveaway every Thursday. And today, it is a big one-- up coming titles from Eric LaRocca and Alma Katsu; two titles for 1 winner! Click here for details on the titles and how to enter. Even if you aren't a huge horror fan, someone at your library is. These are ARCs so you cannot add them to your collections after staff read them, but you can use them for Horror themed giveaways of your own.

As August approaches (in 2 more days), I am here to help you be ready for Spooky Season. Those slides are filled with lists, links, and more. Get ready NOW. 

Soccer Novels for World Cup Fever

The World Cup is about to begin and there are more excellent novels about soccer than you would think. In fact,  the World Cup is the perfect time to take advantage of one of my RA Basics: Promote the Books Patrons Would Not Find Without Your Help, because when we help readers find books they would never find without us, that is how we make ourselves indispensable in their lives.

The World Cup is the perfect event to prove this rule. Why? Well, first off, people who never watch soccer any other time of the year will get wrapped up in the World Cup. Putting out novels that feature the sport-- in a variety of genres-- will pique their interest. Also, with the event in North America and many cities without games still hosting watch satires in their MLS stadiums, we need to jump open the bandwagon somehow.

LitHub published a great piece today entitled, "Is This the Strangest Soccer Novel Ever Written?: TOBIAS CARROLL ON CARLOS LABBÉ'S THE MURMURATION."

From the introduction:

This piece was published in collaboration with Golden Goal, a literary magazine about the intersection of politics, culture and sport at the 2026 World Cup. To read more, visit their website: goldengoal.world. 

Over the years, writers from around the world have tried their hands at using soccer as a backdrop for memorable fiction. Tonally speaking, they cover a vast terrain, including J.L. Carr’s comic How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup and Leonard Gribble’s whodunit The Arsenal Stadium Mystery. Some will cut more deeply for soccer fans of a literary bent; others can be savored no matter what your feelings about the beautiful game might be. David Peace’s modernist Red or Dead, about the life of the legendary Liverpool coach Bill Shankly, left me frequently breathless despite having little emotional investment in the ups and downs of Liverpool.

If that novel—a work of precisely composed prose in which Peace uses repetition and the sheer bulk of its more than 800 pages to take the reader into Shankly’s inner life and the meticulous rhythms of his squad’s play—represents one pole of how to make a great soccer novel, standing opposite it is Carlos Labbé’s 2015 The Murmuration, translated into English by Will Vanderhyden. I feel comfortable declaring that The Murmuration is the strangest novel ever written about the game of soccer. The bulk of the novel uses a real event as its setting: the 1962 World Cup semi-final between Chile and Brazil. That part of it, at least, will be familiar to longtime soccer enthusiasts. Where things get a little weirder comes when Labbé introduces psychic powers into the mix.

Click here to read more about this awesome book. 

I see in my system, this book is on Hoopla only, so you might have to add a physical copy to your collections, but as I have said many times, you need to make your display in the building and online. This is a greta opportunity to build lists for people to access books via Hoopla and Libby as well as int he building. Please add QR codes to those digital lists to your physical displays.

Now here are trusted humans created lists of more soccer books for your World Cup displays:

• Goodreads lists tagged soccer (all genres and nonfiction included)
• Well-written books about soccer-- Reddit
• Fiction books about footballers (soccer)-- Reddit
• Books about football/soccer-- Reddit
• For the Love of the Game: Soccer Books--Chicago Public Library Staff Created List
• use your closest big city library's catalog to find more like this. 
• 23 Books All Soccer Fans Should Read -- BuzzFeed

There is overlap here, but also plenty of titles to fill out a small World Cup themed display. Also bonus points if you can get your library to allow you to make a display that uses the whole collection, media, and even allows books for all ages in one place near the front of your library. Here is a post where I help you have resources to argue for "Inter-Generational" displays.

Another Great Summer Reading Program Idea That You Need to Save and Use Anytime of Year via LitHub

This year I have been posting about non library summer reading programs for adults for a variety of reasons. 

First, I know your summer reading programs are already in full swing, but while something is happening it is actually the best time to gather information and learn from others doing the same thing.

Second, many of you still do not have adult reading programs even though you should. I wrote about this at length a few weeks ago here. Please go back and read that. The important parts are bolded. The fact that non-library places are doing them, spending money to create them, giving prizes....all of this should make you both realize it is something you should be doing and also, it should make you mad that they are filling a hole you could have filled much more easily. We are losing readers to places like the NYT and LitHub

Third, these non-library summer reading programs are the right kind of gate opening programs. Why does that matter? Well our summer reading programs, in fact most of what we do for adults, has way too many rules and barriers. Why does a grown ass person have to follow themes and/or number of minutes reading in order to participate in the joy of summer reading? Why do we gate keep reading for adults? Their lives are busy enough and just the fact that they want to use a summer reading program as a reason to read more should be enough. 

I need to say this to all of you-- just because your library uses a theme for summer reading and just because the kid's program has a bunch of rules does not mean you have to do the exact same thing. Too many rules and too many restrictions will drive your patrons away. And, mostly importantly, YOU WILL NOT GO TO LIBRARY JAIL IF YOU ALLOW ADULTS TO READS WHAT THEY WANT. 

In fact, just the opposite, if you increase circulation, participation, and door count of adults during the summer, you will be celebrated and praised for it. 

Now, if your library requires you use the theme, that's fine. Mine did back in the day. So you know what I did? I used the branded material and then told my adults, here is the theme; here is a list of titles you can read it you want to fit the theme; but also, just log the books your read whatever they were. They all count. 

The adult summer reading programs I am reposting here, from these non library spaces, understand all of this better than most of you. Again, I wrote about the NYT summer reading program here. Today I want to point you to an even better program, one that you can insert into your current summer reading programs seamlessly, right now. It is from LitHub. Here is their summer reading program with challenges we can use anytime.

Talk about gate opening. These are lists of 10 books that come out every 2 weeks, and they suggest you pick just one to read in that time frame. The themes they have created are very flexible and fun:

• Great Classic Novels Under 200 Pages
• The Best Contemporary Novels Under 200 pages
• The 60 Best Campus Novels from the Last 100 Years
• The Greatest Coming of Age Novels
• The Greatest Summer Novels of All Time
• The 50 Best Contemporary Novels Over 500 pages

They even created this FREE graphic for people to fill out as they completed the challenges.

This is such a great idea for libraries to use all year long. It reminds me of my conversation starter to display concept; in fact I am adding this post to the handout for that. You could use this idea to create monthly mini displays ALL YEAR LONG. 

How would you doing this? Easy. Use the categories from this LitHub Summer Reading Program and/or the ones from the NYT Summer Reading Challenge and/or any conversation starter to display questions I have posted before.

Pick 12 themes. One for each month of the year. Make a sign with the title of the conversation starter. For example, "Best Books Under 200 Pages." And then do a small display of titles near it. Have your staff help seed the display at first, but then go here to learn how I suggest you poll all patrons to help build the list to keep it going. The questions here is "What are your favorite books under 200 pages?" These displays and the chance to allow patrons to add to the lists of titles needs to be in the building and online.

The great thing about these mini-displays with conversation starter questions is that they are evergreen. You can use them all year long or tie them to the season or indentity month. The titles you gather this year, can be entered into a document, and used the next time you do that display to get it all started. 

Start at any time. Ask staff from across the entire library, or if your library is small, from across your system to help build the lists. 

Now, I know many of you will still be making excuses are to why you cannot do this.

No space? Well it can be as small as a sign on your desk with a vertical stack of 3-5 books. As they go, you add more books.

No time? I have given you a link to enough questions to use all year long.

Don't want to do the polling patrons part for (insert reason here), just do the mini displays themselves each month. Having a rotating small themed display is a great reason for people to come back and try another book. You are giving them the prompt and they can choose a book you have picked or think up their won answer to the question to find something to read they would not have thought about without your help.

To help keep this idea going, I am going to commit to being a resource to help all of you. Every month, on the 1st of the month, (or the week day closest to it),I will post a theme you can use as well as a list of ten titles to make your display. I will also post resources for more crowdsourced titles. This way you have no excuse NOT to do at least the mini display. I will remind you to change it and give you plenty of titles to get it started.

As you get more comfortable doing these mini displays on a monthly basis, I will challenge you to grow the program, get your staff and patrons involved, and more. Let's get better at serving our adult readers together. I know it is hard to get a new habit started. We are all very busy, but I am committed to being there to help you give it a try.

The NYT Gamifies Summer Reading (Gift Link)

I know many of us have worked to gamify our summer reading for many years now. As we have learned, adults love checking off boxes or completing BINGO cards for prizes as much (maybe more) than kids do.

Reading challenges are around all year long, but many people are intimidated by joining the ones that start in January. A year of reading seems like a big commitment to people who haven't read more than a book or two for fun in years. However, when you take the same idea of a challenge and market it as "Summer Reading," many people jump at the chance to give it a try.

Summer is three months. Summer gives people time to be outside and relax-- even if just on a few weekends. Summer holds fun memories of childhood summer reading.

Last week, the New York Times Book Review launched their "Summer Reading Bucket List" (gift link here). They have ten items that are very general and easy to complete. And there is even a box to check for reading a book from the library (with bonus points if you talked to the library worker to get the suggestion).

What I love about this summer reading game is that it easy to complete. They are only challenging you to get to 5 of the 10 options before Fall. It gives some direction, but not too much. Five books seems like a doable number for those who are not regular readers. Pretty much any book is an option. Literally. And they have a way for you to turn in your sheet and be eligible for a prize.

The New York Times has prioritized gathering data from actual readers for a while now. All of those checklists for their "best books" to have people mark if they read a book or want to read a book, etc... This is a grab for user data that I can get behind because they are using it to actively craft their book coverage, to make sure they are covering the books that people actually want to read, not just what the snotty literati think we should read.

This is a huge shift in the NYT Book Review over the last few years and I am here for it. We are in a landscape where most papers have dropped their books coverage, but the NYT is trying to fill that gap. Yes they provide reviews and commentary about the most important literary titles, but as I have been covering here as well, they are also making an effort to cover genre and even backlist titles. They want to help you-- all of you, any kind of reader-- find a book that you will love and get you back into reading. 

And bonus because they always support libraries. Yes they added us to their list, but it is more than that. See this post I had last week (with a gift link) for another example.

But here is another important point I want to make today, many libraries still do not offer a summer reading challenge or program for adults. I don't understand it myself. I made sure my library always had summer reading for adults to match the ones we had for children (going back to 2000). They are important both because when parents read with kids, kids do better with their own reading.

But also, Adults need the chance to have fun reading a book, to complete their checklist, and earn a prize. Life is short, things are awful, why are we not offering adults books with a side of joy.

Don't we want our adults coming back to the library again? Don't we want the people who pay the taxes to fund us and come to the polls or board meetings for us when we need their support to feel like we care about them too? Why do we ignore the recreational needs of our adults? 

So I am sharing this to help all of you who do NOT have a summer reading program already. Go here and use the NYT Summer Reading Bucket List to make your own to hand out for adults. Summer reading starts this weekend at most libraries. They have all been working on it for months, but you...the library that isn't offering an adult program....you can still do something right now.

And for those of you who already have a summer reading program, this is a great resource to enhance what you are already offering. Maybe you don't have a BINGO card yet? Maybe you have a full program with your themes and lists all set up, but you know that it will be too restrictive for some readers. Here you go. 

[Side note, I hate putting restrictions on reading for adults and making them follow our themes. Themes are great to guide those who want to follow, but it should not restrict if people can participate-- adults or kids. We want them to read. We don't want to create more obstacles to stop that. We need to stop being Gate Keepers and start being Gate Openers. Click on this link for more about that.)

And for those of you who are all set and have the perfect, flexible summer reading program set to start for adults in a few days, great, but you can still save this link and use it for Fall Reading or Winter Reading or even next year's planning. It is NOT tied to a specific year or trend or even season. Just change the one that is season specific to whatever season you use this in.

I have posted the graphic from the article below in case you want to just print it out and hand it off to people. If you do this and you have NYT access for your patrons, this bucket list can serve to also advertise your NYT access. I talk to people all the time who have no idea that most of the major newspapers are available at the library, from home even with your card. Make the list available in print and online with a note to remind people of their access available with their library card.

This post is here to get you to think about all the ways you can use this ready made summer reading resource to help your readers have a fun summer-- whether you have it all planned and ready to roll out this weekend or not. 

How will you use this list with your readers? If you have summer reading plans you want me to share with my readers, contact me and we can see about a guest post here on the blog.

Brooklyn Public Library's 250 for 250 List

In honor of our country's 250th Anniversary, the Brooklyn Public Library is celebrating the best way they know how, with a thoughtful, surprising, irresistible booklist. Organized by genre and category of interest, this all-ages list is a deep dive on the stories, voices and moments that shaped America. Selected by their expert librarians—with help from a few notable New Yorkers!—they have presented their list of the 250 most influential books in United States history.

To create this list, a committee of nearly two dozen librarians performed what Chief Librarian Edwin Maxwell calls "collective alchemy." They whittled down over 600 contenders to find the titles that truly define the American experiment—vibrant, sometimes messy, groundbreaking. This is a curated list of books, published between 1776 and 2025, that reflect the spectrum of American thought, argument, imagination and contradiction.

And because everything is better with a little star power, BPL enlisted a few notable NYC bookworms to pen short essays on their favorites. Ethan Hawke discusses The Outsiders, Constance Wu muses on Gilead and "Recess Therapy" host Julian Shapiro-Barnum weighs in on the graphic novel American Born Chinese.

From the Time Out New York article about the list itself:

The list kicks off with the fiery rhetoric of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and takes readers all the way to the present, weaving through centuries of stories that reflect who Americans have been, who they are and who they’re still arguing about becoming. It captures the full range of American experiences, especially voices that haven’t always been front and center.

"Books remain one of our most powerful tools for defending democracy. They help us understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Together, the books on this list tell a story of our nation, our commitment to the ideals of freedom and justice for all, and that ongoing search for common ground,” said Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO, Brooklyn Public Library. “From Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, we learn the dreams of our founding fathers. In Betty Smith’s novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, we feel the joys and hardships of growing up in our beloved borough at the turn of the century. Poet Mary Oliver’s Devotions reminds us to remember what it means to be alive and that our most important responsibility is to care for one another. As we continue to pursue a perfect union, this extraordinary list considers the full range of the American—and human—experience.”

Now from our perspective, library workers from across the country trying to help readers, a list of 250 books from across the breadth of America's existence, including titles for all ages of readers, fiction and nonfiction, all genres, is helpful on its own, even if a little daunting. 

But BPL has added sortable, clickable tags for appeal and topic/genre as well, so readers can create their own mini-list within the list. Try it for yourself, here.

At your library you can offer your readers online access so they can peruse the list on their won or use it to make your own displays and lists as well.

As we creep closer to July 4th, the 250th birthday of America is going to become more and more popular. Now is a great time to use the BPL list as a spring board to creating your own conversation starter to display moment. 

Use my post about how to use a conversation starter questions to poll staff and patrons and create a local crowd sourced display. In this case, your community question is "To celebrate the 250th Birthday of Our Country We Want to Know Your Favorite Books Written By Americans." Make sure to encourage any books-- fiction, nonfiction,. graphic novels, kids to adult. Anything. Add a QR code to the BPL list to make sure people think broadly.

You can ask this question in your online spaces by linking to the BPL list as well. Offer it up as the example you are trying to replicate but for YOUR community. 

Speaking of your community, I really love how out of the 250, they have 8 that are endorsed by "Notable New Yorkers," and that category has a tag where you can click to pull them all up at once.

While you are asking everyone to share their books for our 250th Birthday, identify a few local people, mayor, business owners, anyone notable and influential in your community and ask them to pick a book that you will highlight. It is a great way to do some targeted outreach to important members of your community and allow them a chance to connect with the community in a new way.

Thanks to BPL for putting out this list so the rest of us can use it as a springboard board to our own bookish celebrations.

The Goodreads Guide to Summer Reading 2026

Goodreads published their 2026 Summer Reading Guide this week. They offer a variety of entry points for readers as well. From setting, to expert recs, to reader driven lists, genre, and more. And not everything is NEW right now.

Use the linked list titles below to explore one by one or simply use this link to bring it all up on one page. And after this year's entries, read on to find my backlist access to past year's lists as well.

Summer reading is here! Discover readers' most anticipated books for the season, plus our intel on the biggest books coming later this year. Find your reading match with our staff recommendations, scope out our great genre guides, and more!

• The Big Books of Summer (and the Rest of the Year): Take a peek at the season ahead with readers' most anticipated summer reads, plus our bonus preview of buzzy fall titles!
• 112 (Very Literal) Escapist Reads to Sweep You Away: Need to get away from it all? We're here to help! Take a mental break with our cheeky take on escapist reading.
• The Goodreads Staff Share Top Reading Recommendations: Don't know what to read next? Let our bookish colleagues guide you to your next favorite title with their most tried-and-true suggestions.
• A Month-by-Month Guide to Summer's Biggest Mysteries & Thrillers
• Spice Up Summer with 69 Hot New Romances & Romantasies
• Highly Anticipated Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Horror Hitting Shelves This Summer
• Have a Blockbuster Summer with Adaptation Reading

You can access the Goodreads Guide to Summer Reading for past years by clicking on the year in the following list:

• 2025
• 2024
• 2023
• 2022

Don't underestimate the treasures you will find on past year's lists.

Want even more Summer Reading suggestions? Use this link to pull up all of my posts tagged summer reading in reverse chronological order. 

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Edition

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.

Each year one of my favorite lists is the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 list. It's not that I think you have to be young to be a great writer, but I love how writers who have won National Book Awards and even some who have have this honor get to pick the new class each year. 

More about the honor and its mission here. From that page:

In 2006, the National Book Foundation established the 5 Under 35 prize to recognize outstanding debut fiction writers under the age of 35. 5 Under 35 has identified some of the most celebrated young writers working today. Previous honorees include Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Brit Bennett, Akwaeke Emezi, Angela Flournoy, Phil Klay, Valeria Luiselli, C.E. Morgan, Téa Obreht, ZZ Packer, Karen Russell, Justin Torres, Bryan Washington, Claire Vaye Watkins, Tiphanie Yanique, and Charles Yu. 

5 Under 35 honorees are selected by authors who have been recognized by either the National Book Awards or 5 Under 35 itself. To be eligible for the prize, writers must have published their first and only book of fiction—either a story collection or a novel—within the last five years. Honorees are chosen at the discretion of the selectors; as such, publishers cannot nominate an honoree or submit a book for consideration.

This year’s honorees are Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, author of Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare (Bloomsbury); Anika Jade Levy, author of Flat Earth (Catapult); Carrie R. Moore, author of Make Your Way Home (Tin House); Maggie Su, author of Blob: A Love Story (Harper); and Stephanie Wambugu, author of Lonely Crowds (Little, Brown).

Links for the titles line up with the links provided on the landing page. 

I love this list for its RA Service implications and for what you can learn and use from the backlist. Below I explain why you should like and use this list all year long too.

First, this list is awesome. It is not just the young authors who are being highlighted, the established authors who selected each of them are also a great resource. You get 10 suggested authors from this 5 person list. 

Which leads to second, the established authors are your conversation starter and readalike stepping stone. So when you see: 

2026 5 Under 25 nominee Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su nominated by Charles Yu, the author of four books, including Interior Chinatown, winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. In 2007, he was selected to be a 5 Under 35 Honoree by Richard Powers. 

You are literally seeing how this award works. Yu was selected by Richard Powers, he went on to sin the National Book Award, and now he is in turn picking a new author to keep the cycle going. Proven authors suggesting new authors.

Now you can confidently suggest Maggie Su's Blob to fans of Charles Yu and Richard Powers. This fits in with one of my "5 Resources You Cannot Live Without" from my 10 Rules of Basic RA page-- Author Recs of Other Authors. Click here for a longer post where I explain why authors recommending other authors is a near perfect readalike option. 

Third, the backlist is amazing. Seriously. Even more amazing than backlists usually are, and many of you know how excited I get about the backlist in general. As you can see from just the point above this one, I got 2 backlist authors from one current nominee. But wait, there's more.

From the landing page for this year's winners, you can easy go backward, year by year, with a drop down menu. I scanned many of the lists and WOW, did they identify some amazing authors who are household names now.  Yes, there are a few who haven't broke through, but it is amazing how many have. You can easily use the backlist list of winners to help readers identify good under the radar reads, especially for your literary fiction and book club selection readers. You can also make a display of current and past winners.

I know some people will say, Becky these authors are emerging and at my library I can barely afford to get the established authors. But it would be a mistake to ignore these "emerging voices" for many reasons-- 3 of which I gave you here. 

Don't sleep on new voices. They will have wide appeal on their own AND you can use establish  authors to match them with readers through displays, verbal suggestions, or even by pairing them as the website does. 

Today's new voices are our future best sellers. And some of these authors, like Su with her novel, Blob: A Love Story, are already well on their way. 

The 2026 Morning News Tournament of Books Begins Today: Bookish Fun and One of My Favorite Resources

I am on record (many times) writing and talking about how The Morning News Tournament of Books is the best best list for readers, plus it is a super fun way to present it. Also they look back at the year we just finished, so this "best" of 2025 list is not decided until March of 2026. I love that the dust has settled on the year before these books are paired off in judged brackets.

And it all begins TODAY!

But wait, I think I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Let's back up a bit.

What is the Tournament of Books? From the About page:

But it’s not really a contest. We’re not even sure it’s a “tournament.” What the ToB has been and will be, as long as we’re putting it on, is a month-long conversation about novels and reading and writing and art that takes place on weekdays in March.

Here’s how it works. Throughout the year, we gather, read, and assess the works of fiction we think would make worthy Tournament competitors. In December we present our findings in the form of a "long list." We then cull it to a final shortlist of 16 or so books. (Some years we expand the list beyond the core 16 to include an extra set of two or more books that compete in a pre-Tournament play-in match.)

When the Tournament of Books begins in March, each weekday two works of fiction go head to head, with one of our judges deciding which book moves forward in the brackets, according to whatever criteria matters to them. Along the way, the judges reveal their biases and interests, any connections they have to the participating authors, and, most importantly, an elaborate explanation of how they decided between the two books.

Following that day’s decision, we have color commentary in the form of a dialogue between two experts. From the beginning, our ToB Chairmen, authors Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner, have cracked wise, but we’ve also invited into the booth our favorite literary podcasters, independent booksellers from across the country, and novelists like Elliott Holt and Laura van den Berg. Think of it as a bigger-picture view of the proceedings from people who not only have read a ton of fiction, but who are also familiar with the way that the publishing industry makes the sausage, to bastardize a phrase. Then we leave it up to you, the readers, to add your own passionate thoughts and rebukes to the mix in the comments.

As I mentioned above, The 2026 ToB begins today. It is the 22nd year of this bookish fun! Click here  to see the full list of titles that are competing this year. OR Click here for a spread sheet of the full list with summaries of the books.

And please keep scrolling because there is a play in round and this amazing downloadable bracket which you can fill out for yourself. Don't let the college basketball fans be the only ones to have the bracketology fun.

Or make a display of this year's titles but add in titles from past years which are available with one click here-- again scroll down they are all there.

If you want to take an even deeper dive, you can read "A Brief History of the Tournament of Books." 

Everything ToB is organized and easy to find, use for yourself, or to get your readers interacting with books during this "March Madness" season. You go to the About page for the archive, where clicking on that year's winner brings you to the entire ToB for that same year. See 2026's event page here.

And there is always a landing page for the current year. It is an amazing resource of "best titles," but also you have PLENTY of books to make a display that can last you the entire month of March. Remember, there are 22 years of titles that have competed and they are all available with one click (and a scroll down).

When you go to the 2026 landing page, use the drop down menu in the top left by clicking on 2026 to choose how you interact with the ToB as it progresses. There are page options for:

• Today's Match
• The Books
• The Bracket-- filled in as it goes on 
• And info on the Judges

This year, I have a clear book I want to win, and it will come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog or who has ever met me, it is The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. And its inclusion in this tourney is another reason I love the ToB as a resource.

The ToB is not your average book award or best list and not only because it is a battle between the books as judged by other writers using a bracket system. With ToB we also get the most diverse list of “best books” you will see anywhere, both diverse in authorship and genre. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter's inclusion as a #2 seed, meaning it is a favorite to win it all, is but one example of this.

And because it happens in March each year, but the books are from the year before, the 2026 ToB uses 2025 books meaning that many of  the titles are already off holds. This is a list of the current reigning "best books" but because of the timing, they are actually available to be read without a wait.

With ToB you not only learn about great books and why they are wonderful, but you also learn about the judges themselves, also a very diverse group of people throughout the publishing industry. You can learn about the judges whose information is after the books themselves on this page. Just the list of judges alone makes for its own resource to suggest books to readers.

Once the tourney begins each “battle” has a full write up which gets to the heart of the two books’ appeal and structure. These essays give us valuable information on who would like the book and why. Readalikes are also often mentioned. This is the easiest link to use to pull up each day's match-up and enjoy it for fun while also learning something new and unique about these popular books. Once it gets going you can follow the matches through the link to the in-progress bracket.

Oh and the comments. The readers who follow along religiously and have entire discussions about each pairing of books for pages and pages are THE BEST. Following just the comments is like reading a novel itself. Plus those are the comments of regular readers. There is even a running commentary on the battle itself by the tournament organizers.

ToB has also become my go-to resource for "literary fiction." Why? Because the ToB takes the idea of "literary" titles, titles worthy of being deemed as worth your time [which I hate, but it is a thing], and gives it a wide berth. I especially love using the backlist titles for book discussions. 

Speaking of the backlist AGAIN, I love the "Wall of Champions," which you can click here and scroll down to see. That page alone is an awesome "sure bet" resource.

I hope you find a way use the ToB as a resource to get your patrons excited about reading. You can use all of the past years to create a diverse (in every way) display to attract a wide swath of readers.

Gothic Fiction Starter Pack from Emily Hughes Via the NYT (Gift Link)

I know what some of you are thinking as you Strat reading today's post-- "Becky, Halloween is over, why are you still on this Horror kick?"

Well the answer is-- I am not-- and for a couple of reasons.

First of all the new Frankenstein movie directed by Guillermo del Toro is out and people are talking about it. Frankenstein, the novel, by Mary Shelley is considered the beginning of Gothic Fiction and this movie clearly subscribes to that belief.

Second, Frankenstein retellings are popular. I am currently reading, The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui, which reports to be the story behind the "Arabian" character of Safie in the original novel. Set to come out in February, this novel is one in a LONG line of Frankenstein retellings.

Which leads to my final point, people still read Gothic Fiction, and they read it all year long. They do not see it as acceptable only for season reading like some other casual readers seem teat other works of Horror. In fact, many readers see it as distinct from "Horror." 

That is why I am reposting Emily Hughes' piece from the October 30th New York Times here today, a few days into November. Because you absolutely still need to read it. 

Emily Hughes gets it. She begins her 13 book (wink, wink) list with Frankenstein-- the foundational text. And then moves on to include more books by living authors than dead ones. A perfect list for us as we make displays in libraries and introduce people to "new to them" titles that they would love if only they knew the books existed. And by authors who are still writing in case they want more.

But wait, there is more. Hughes also gives readers 3 "if you like" suggestions for each book. hat is 52 books! Again, more of which are by living, breathing (not reanimated), still creating authors

This Gothic Fiction Starer Pack is exactly what you need to promote chilling titles that your patrons are craving. Make sure you have all of the books and the readalikes. Put them out on display. I would call the display "Halloween Hangover" if you are allowed. If not, either use the title of the article or make it a "What to Read After Watching del Toro's Frankenstein.

Click here to access the gift link I provided or read the introduction below and click at the bottom of this post.

Gothic Fiction: A Starter Pack

With roots in the 18th century, this haunted genre’s hallmarks can be found throughout modern horror. Here’s where to start.

First things first: I won’t attempt to provide one clear-cut definition of the Gothic, lest I incur the wrath of a horde of angry postgrads. When the genre emerged in the mid-18th century, early novels and short stories shared a set of common trademarks — good-hearted female characters under the thumb of cruel, powerful men; melodrama and high emotion; supernatural events — and were laden with the social, political and moral anxieties of a rapidly changing moment in European society. But as time has gone on, and the genre has evolved, things have gotten murkier.

Today, the Gothic label is used less to describe (or prescribe) a genre and more to evoke an aesthetic, a mode or (forgive me) a vibe. There are still some common elements and themes to look out for: a foreboding atmosphere; an isolated setting; explorations of otherness, fear and madness; the domestic sphere recast as a place of dread; tension between tradition and desire. But the key hallmark of a Gothic tale for me is the past’s insistent encroachment on the present. Bygone transgressions, old wounds, long-forgotten grudges — in a Gothic story, you can never run far enough to escape history.

Getting your arms around the Gothic, with its meandering history and myriad variations, is no easy feat. It casts a long shadow over a number of genres — romance, thrillers, dark fantasy. But horror is the Gothic’s closest living relative. Here are 13 Gothic horror picks to get you started.

Click here to peruse the full list with readalikes (gift link)

New Issue of Booklist's Corner Shelf Newsletter with Backlist Access

 

Booklist Online is full of RA info, and resources above and beyond the reviews. Yes, reviews and the spotlight best lists make up the bulk of the contents in the magazine, but they also have very useful newsletters.

The Corner Shelf, in particula, is exactly perfect for the reader of this blog. From the newsletter landing/archive page:

Where Readers' Advisory meets Collection Development. This free newsletter addresses trends, ideas, and issues in the two areas, helping librarians find the common ground between them. Original writing by respected experts, as well as in-the-trenches looks at new products and what's coming up. If you don't already receive Corner Shelf, subscribe now!

This newsletter comes out 4x a year-- February, May, August, and October.  Click here to read the current newsletter- October 2025.

And don't forget to check out the FREE archive of newsletters going back to 2014. There is a treasure trove of RA resources, suggestion ideas, and interviews with RA professionals lurking just a few clicks ff the Booklist Online homepage here.

But back to the present. Today I am including the Editor's Note from Susan Maguire that leads off this issue. Please click here or at the end of her intro to read the entire issue and check out the useful links.

Hello Shelfers,

Publisher’s Weekly shared some bad news from the leisure-reading world back in August: folks are currently reading for pleasure at the lowest rate in the past 20 years. This seems to be at odds with the BookTok-driven boom in reading, where users are consuming books at wild pace, snapping up special editions and self-published gems alongside picks from past publishing seasons. (Although there is a part of me that wonders if this is reading, or just consumption? Not because of the content—I’m a devoted romance reader, and you won’t catch me judging what anyone chooses to read for fun—but because there’s just so much. Are people just filling their bookshelves with pretty stuff? Does it even matter? Am I being too gatekeep-y?)

And then I look to my own library. I spent last weekend working at my Friends of the Library book sale (shout out to the Edgewater branch of the Chicago Public Library!), two days full of talking to folks about the treasures they found and how excited they were to dig in. I’m not saying this refutes PW’s report or my own cynicism about social media, but it was good for my readers’ advisor’s soul to see people jazzed about books.

What are you seeing at your libraries? Are your leisure-reading patrons still actively using the library? Are your holds queues still growing? Are folks browsing the shelves for things to take home? Are BookTok and Bookstagram suggestions making their way into your RA conversations and patron requests?

Hopefully your reading community is a robust one, but no matter the shape it’s in, Booklist and Corner Shelf are here to help. In this issue, I’m highlighting a Trade Secrets column that ran in the July issue from librarian Kaitlyn Griffith-Miller on the nuances of using BookTok for readers’ advisory. (Because no matter how cynical we are—*ahem* I am—about it, patrons are getting books suggestions from BookTok.) You’ll also find a list of Essentials on “Understanding Propaganda” for young readers; get that media literacy started early. We’ve also got a roundup of recent professional reading reviews, the Top 10 Art Books for 2025, a community-oriented Excerpt from the Experts, and more. Plus, it’s spooky season, so I couldn’t resist including Kelly Ferreira’s “YA Queer Horror Roundtable” and an unsettling backlist suggestion that harkens back to a classic horror master.

Happy reading!

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

Click here to access the full issue with links.