Trending: Weird Girl Fiction with an Assist from Passively Recommending Books

Earlier this week I was in a meeting and we were sharing our love of Chlorine by Jade Song. Someone mentioned she had a collection of stories coming early next year, so after the meeting I immediately headed on over to Edelweiss excited to learn more. There I found this description for Ox Ghost Snake Demon: Stories--

From Jade Song, the master of weird girl lit, comes a provocative and surreal collection of twelve short stories, each inspired by a Chinese zodiac animal.

In this stunning collection, Jade Song masterfully blends realism with the surreal, crafting tales that explore identity, belonging, and the complexities of relationships. From a tattoo artist who reveals a hidden world of dragons (Dragon) to a suburban wife who transforms her neighborhood into a woodland sanctuary (Horse); from a girl who devours those who hurt her (Pig) to two young men whose love transcends time (Rabbit), these stories are as imaginative as they are unforgettable.

With their signature sharp and evocative voice, Song delves into themes of cultural expectations, queer identity, and the burden of history, offering a bold and unflinching perspective on contemporary life. Each story is a journey—sometimes darkly humorous, often melancholic, and always thought-provoking.

The highlight is mine. Weird Girl Lit is a new thing, newer than Song's first or second books, and yet, she is being market as a master of it. Now some of that sentence is facetious. I understand that trends pop up and then authors who write that way and or are singled out by the online book people who create these trends, get grouped together under the trend.

But, it is when the traditional publishing world begins to embrace a trend that we really need to pay attention to it. Also a trend like this is one of my favorites because it is not bound by genre in any way. 

After last week's post about larger trends of all of the Fall titles, I was going to write a longer post about the smaller but definitely catching fire Weird Girl Lit trend, but my colleague Lila Denning already did on her blog Passively Recommending Books. You can find that post and its links and resources below. 

You should be able to get together a nice display, online lists, social media engagement, and Libby reading lists all from her post. You could do all of this in less than a day. The result, you look like you are on the cusp of the biggest trend. And this is trend that spans age ranges from teens to adults to seniors. 

Give it a try. And remember, this is an example of how to use resources to not only stay on top of trends, but get access to easy ways to highlight them for your patrons quickly and easily.

Unshelve Your Weird Girl Fiction 

According to BookRiot, there is a new book trend which has developed on TikTok - Weird Girl Fiction. They describe it as: 

In fact, there’s a new one that has recently emerged on TikTok, no less: weird girl fiction, or weird girl lit. Weird girl fiction is commonly defined as books that elicit “unhinged female rage” and “transgress social norms.” 

 

While the terms can be problematic, these novels exhibit an unconventional, unhinged, or dark tone. In My Year of Rest and Relaxation, isolation and self-destruction are the central themes. 

 There are some books listed in their article but I will include some more below. Because it crosses and blends genres, it also is part of the greater trend of genre blending. 

Reddit has a entire subreddit about it - https://www.reddit.com/r/weirdgirlliterature/ The image at the top of the subreddit can give you inspiration for your signage. 

Here are some other lists to help get you started: 

Daniel Boone Regional Library: Weird Girl Fiction

The Spinoff: What is ‘weird girl lit’ – and why is it trending right now?

Instagram: The Definitive Weird Girl Lit Reading Guide

Henrico County Public Library: Weird Girl Fiction 

Crime Reads: Weird Girl Lit Galore: 10 Novels

Denver Public Library : Weird Girl Fiction

Goodreads: Weird Woman Fiction

LJ and Goodreads Fall Book Previews 2026

This month Library Journal has their preview of the busiest season for new books-- Fall. Written by Jessica Trotter, this is a preview of all adult books-- fiction and nonfiction-- broken out by larger trends and covering the entire season. 

Whether you order books, help patrons, do one or both, you want to get a snap shot of what is hot and what titles are filling that trend, get in on this now.

It also comes with a spreadsheet of every title, to make ordering easier as well.

And if this huge preview is too much for you to digest right now, click here to read the Editor's Picks for Fall Finds. 

Before I send you to LJ's preview, I also think we need to balance this professional opinion with the readers' most anticipated books lists. We can get that via Goodreads and their MANY access point:

• Readers’ 60 Most Anticipated Fall Books
• New Horror Coming this Fall
• Your Guide to Fall's Top Adult Fiction
• New Romantasy and Paranormal Romance for Fall
• Fall Fantasy and SciFi Preview
• Upcoming Mystery and Thriller 

I am always advocating for looking at professional resources and reader driven resources to make sure we have the 360 degree picture of that is going on in the book world from conversations to anticipated titles to trends. No Fall Preview is Complete without looking at Goodreads or other reader focused resources.

Now back to the LJ article, click here to read it or see the overviews for Fiction and Nonfiction in general, reposted below, to get started. But then you have to click through for all of the details.

Fall Book Preview 2026 | The Seasonal Forecast About Books and Trends To Know

by Jessica Trotter 

Aug 12, 2026 | Filed in Reviews+

FICTION

The fiction forecast sees horror remaining a key trending genre and also growing more varied. Somewhat adjacent, witches are moving even more mainstream and appearing in many genres this season. Romantasy continues to dominate broadly, but there is a notable uptick in dark academia titles nipping at its heels. In romance, second-chance-at-love stories and paranormals are leading the season. Cozy and epic fantasy, representing two ends of the fantasy genre, are both holding strong, while space operas and aliens are key in the smaller science-fiction field. Novels about bookish subjects remain a popular choice and are plentiful across multiple genres. Download a spreadsheet of these titles plus nonfiction here.

NONFICTION

A year focused on commemorating the Declaration of Independence brings a wide breadth of history works and social sciences surveys examining the events that created the modern United States. Politics is heavily represented as well, with political books, partisan histories, and social justice–themed titles. Culinary tomes help make the fall delicious; among them is a new cookbook from Kwame Onwuachi (interviewed on p. 30). Nature writing is still very popular, as are biographies and memoirs, with a large list to pick from, whether readers enjoy music, movie stars, writers, or tales of more ordinary lives. Other subjects sustain interest as well, from Hollywood stories to poetry to self-help.

Click here or on the image below to read the entire article.

Reader Preferences And How "I Before She" is Changing the Romance Genre

We have known for years that as readers' tastes change, the books that authors write and that publishers solicit (and publish) reflect that change. Romantasy is but one recent example. But we have seen many others over the years. Take for example the increase in everything cozy in the years since 2020. We now see cozy options in just about every genre. Or the switch from Psychological Suspense being driven by serial killer stories to moving into be dominated by the unreliable, female narrator in the years since Gone Girl. 

While those examples are larger genre evolutions, we have also seen changes in the way books are written, regardless of genre, based on the success of a shift in narrative choices as they resonate with readers. One of the most obvious examples is the dual time frame denoted by devices like the use of "then" and "now." This has been a great tool to keep the pacing moving fast enough while delivering the details needs for intrigue to be built out fully, delivering necessary background details without slowing the story down.This device used to be found only in crime genres, but its success with readers and their overwhelming embracing of it has led to it being used everywhere. 

Right now we are in the middle of another huge genre narrative evolution, and this time it point of view driven and we are watching the change happen in real time in one of our most popular genres--- Romance.

Slate has a very good article about how romance readers want first person and romance authors are abandoning third person in droves to satisfy them. I have a link that will allow you to read "I Before She" here.

One of the people quoted for this story is my colleague Jennifer Prokop, co-host of Fated Mates. She alerted my to this article because she was very impressed by the questions the reporter was asking and the serious research they clearly put into it-- something we both know as experts in emotion driven genres (Romance her, Horror, me) does not always happen. Here thoughts are in the last third of the article.

Since most you reading this post work at a public library in America, I am going to tell you that you NEED to read this article because Romance readers are among your most loyal and frequent patrons. 

I will also be incorporating this article into my 2026 update of my Demystifying Genre program (slide access coming soon). 

American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute Recaps via PW and Self Awareness

I am back after a long weekend to watch my second kid's Junior recital at college with the whole family in attendance. I will be catching up on emails and such today but first, for all of you, I have something for you to catch up on as well.

Last week the American Bookseller Association had their Winter Institute 2026 (WI2026) in Pittsburgh. This event is comparable to their ALA Annual. Bookseller and authors converge from all over the country. There are panels, an exhibit hall, and tons of ARCs. 

I have said this before, but I know many of you still don't take it as seriously as I do, but understanding what independent booksellers are focusing on, how they are promoting books, and how they are attracting readers-- all of it-- is comparable to what we are doing. We need to be not only paying attention to them, but also, working with them more.

I am doing the working with them more part right now and there will be more on that soon. (Do stay tuned for more on this, I am working on a larger initiative and some smaller collaborations.  

In the meantime, you need to do your part and follow the news from last week's WI2026. I have made it easy for you. 

Click here to pull up all of PW's coverage.

Click here to pull up all of Shelf Awareness' coverage.

There is a lot of information here that you can use. This is the first major gathering of booksellers and authors for 2026. See what they are talking about, what authors were there, what the panels were about, what people said. It is all there. 

I did here from my colleague Lauren, one of the owners of the Twisted Spine, a horror only bookstore in Brooklyn, that there was a general consensus at WI2026 that horror author events are among the most popular at bookstore and this is true all year long. 

Finally, one of the reports that comes out during the Winter Institute is the Lee and Low Baseline Diversity Survey for Publishing. However, this year, Jason Low had to suspend the survey because of the state of book bans. And this suspension is indefinite. He instead released a call to action for everyone to work harder to fight books bans, especially those of children's books. Click here to read his call to action as published in PW.

And follow Kelly Jensen's censorship coverage on Book Riot for the most up to date information and even more action steps. 

Trending: Libraries Are Refocusing on Physical Media

I am going to take a little detour from writing about the best books of the year to begin looking at a very big trend of 2025-- the return of physical media.

With the increasing cost and consolidation of streaming services many people are figuring out what we libraries already knew-- when you stream things you not only do you not own them, but also you can lose access to them either when you stop subscribing or if they just decide to remove your access.

There have also been many reports that Gen Z really love physical media more than streaming-- here is one study for example. As the parent of two Gen Zers, I also know that this is true. They are buying records and CDs and well as print books. 

Those of us who work in public libraries also know that while we may have been buying less physical media (CDs, DVDs), they are still being checked out. And there are still people who think we are able to get DVDs of films that are only streamed. When Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was up for the Oscar, we had multiple angry patrons complain that we didn't have the DVD. One person accused us of being racist. And we had to explain that Netflix made the movie and did not produce a DVD.

When we received this complaint in 2020, I started to realize that what seemed like a march to no more DVDs was not absolutely not inevitable. 

Well, here we are in 2025 and 404 Media had this piece researched with help from the MuckRock Foundation about how libraries are quietly amassing large physical media collection amid the IP dispute threatening elect availability. They interview numerous AV collection librarians and the article has gotten a lot of traction in the media, even in non library spaces.

LitHub-- a mostly book space-- wrote a piece based on the 404 Media article here as well.

While this appears to be a new trend, the article from 404 Media and the observations I made above, should don't surprise any of us. I know smaller libraries have had to cut their physical media buying and even weed much of their collections due to budget and space concerns, but please stay aware of this trend. It has been creeping up on us for 5 years now-- after 5 years before that of us thinking psychical media was dead. Trends take time, but we need to stay aware of the signs coming at us from all directions.

This is one of the trends of 2025 I will be talking about in my 2025 Readers' Advisory Year in Review program for PCI Webinars on February 11th. 

If you want to share some trends you have noticed recently, leave a comment or contact me. 

Becky's Annual Horror Genre Preview in Library Journal Featuring My Interview with Chuck Tingle

It's alive!

My 2025 Horror Genre Preview is in the July 2025 print magazine and is up on the Library Journal site here.

 It is paywalled, but they give you a few free articles a month. However, in the interest of helping all of you serve your horror readers,  I have made the (longer) unedited draft of this article avaialable here. 

Also anyone can accces a full list of titles, sorted by BISAC code and including trend notes in a handy spreadsheet to make ordering easier for your library.

Shout out to Emily Hughes’ archive of 2025’s New Horror Books on her site Jump Scares which was instrumental in helping me craft this article as well as Edelweiss's database.

You can also enter the article via LJ's site by clicking on the title and intro at the bottom of this post.

But wait....there's more. I was able to conduct an interview with Chuck Tingle as part of this issue as well.

LJ Talks with Horror Writer Chuck Tingle,
Author of ‘Lucky Day’
 

Click here to read our conversation, here for the LJ starred review of Lucky Day and here for access to my starred review of the same novel in Booklist. Thanks again to Tingle for fitting this interview into his schedule.

So much upcoming horror goodness here. Get on it. Now is the time to prepare for Spooky Season.

Horror Renaissance | Genre Preview

Becky Spratford  Jul 09, 2025

Across the range of new horror titles this season, four key trends emerge: lengthy reading experiences are returning to the genre; retellings, which are influencing many genres, are at play in horror too, particularly in the gothic novel; authors are reworking standard tropes; and authors are mining the current state of the world to inspire their stories.

The State of the Mystery via CrimeReads

Each year just before the biggest awards in Mystery-- the Edgar Awards-- are announced, Molly Odintz, the Managing Editor of CrimeReads conducts a series of conversations with Edgar Award nominees to talk about the state of the genre at that moment.

First, let me remind you of my post about this year's Edgar Awards when the nominees were announced here. From that post you can look into all previous winners and more.

Second, here is the announcement of the award winners via PW.

Okay, now back to Odintz and her pieces on CrimeReads.

The State the Mystery, Part 1: Craft Lessons and Favorite Reads. From the introduction:

For the past 7 years, I’ve had the privilege of putting together a roundtable discussion between the nominees for the Edgar and other MWA awards, with predictably spectacular (and somewhat long-winded) results, necessitating the result of publishing the collated responses in two parts. This year had the most contributors yet, and may be my favorite conversation thus far (I know, I say that every year). 

In part one of the roundtable discussion, I asked authors to discuss craft, reading habits, old favorites, and the evolution of genre. In part two, running tomorrow, you’ll find a discussion more focused on  issues: social, political, financial, and as of the recent rise of AI, technological. 29 nominees and special award winners contributed to the following discussion, for an interview that reads as a snapshot of an entire community at an inflection point in history. 

The State the Mystery, Part 2: Issues Concerns and the Long Road Ahead. From the introduction:

Welcome to part two of our roundtable discussion featuring nominees for the Edgar Awards (as well as other special categories awarded during the same ceremony). 29 writers weighed in on the most pressing issues facing the genre today, and the place of crime writing in our current political landscape (perfectly timed for May Day!).

Check out part one of the discussion, published yesterday, for thoughts on craft, tropes, and favorite reads. And good luck to everyone at the ceremony tonight, as well as a big thank you to Mystery Writers of America for collaborating with us here at CrimeReads for the seventh year in a row.

Begin with the 2025 posts because there is no place better for you to understand the state of Mystery-- one of our most popular genres at the library-- than at this moment. This is a conversation with the authors who were nominated for its highest award.

Then click here to bring up past year's conversations as well. The best thing about current trends is not identifying what they are at the moment (although that is extremely useful for us as we help readers), rather, it is in watching today's trends as they have evolved from past trends. I love doing this as you learn a lot about readers while watching the trends change over time.

But I want to broaden this discussion today and end with general advice about staying up to date on all genres, and this is advice I have been sharing for years: the best time of year to get yourself up to date on the most important authors, trends, and issues of any genre, is when said genre's awards are being handed out. 

But this is not for the obvious reason of the awards themselves.

Rather, because it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day activities of our work, we often forget to schedule time to step back and assess the bigger picture. Use the timing of awards announcements as your reminder that it is time for you to take a day to poke around in the genre in question and make sure you are aware of the most popular and critically acclaimed authors while also looking through its best resources. Just take a spin around the genre during its moment in the spotlight. 

Since the awards are given out once a year, this guarantees that you will take a moment to look at the big picture of each genre at least once a year. And there you have it! You are up to date without feeling overburdened. 

Trend Alert: Non-Human Love Interests

Rule 5 of my 10 Rules of RA Service is:

5.   Read ABOUT books widely, so you can suggest widely

• Reading ABOUT books is MORE important than reading a book.
• Becky’s newsletters of choice: LJ, PW, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot
• Make sure you are reading with an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens as well as a diversity of genres

When I tell you to read about books it is so that you are aware of the conversations happening around books out in the larger world.

It is also one of the best ways to identify trends. Trends appear organically if you reading about books in a variety of locations and you see things overlap. In fact, when you start seeing something everywhere and in non book places, it is time to start promoting it to your readers.

It is also VERY important to put out small, rapid response trending displays whenever you can, to show your patrons you know what they are looking for before they even have to ask. I cannot underestimate how important it is for us to have these trending lists and displays up and highly visible both in the library and online. Even if a patron is not interested in the trending topic, when they see the things they are hearing and reading about outside of the library, they feel like we get it. We are showing them that the library has what people are looking for. That we understand what people want. That goes a very long way toward them knowing that the library is there for everyone. 

Again, even if someone comes in and does NOT want what you have on display, if it is something they have heard about other places, this shows them that we know what people are talking about. Again, do not underestimate how important that is. 

Today's case in point is Non-Human Love Interests in Fiction.

Now, I know this is NOT a new trend. In fact, the 2013 Netflix documentary "Animism: People Who Love Objects" made a wider audience aware of this concept.

In libraries we have had books that fester people falling in love with non-human objects and creatures for a while, but it was always a fringe topic. With the mainstream popularity of Romantasy and titles like The Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su, more people want to know about this trend.

So you know what that means--- let's start promoting all of those titles we already have that fit this now trending theme. Pull those books out of the stacks where they have been patiently waiting for their moment in the spotlight. It is here. No longer languishing, it is time to make them shine. We have these titles in our collections right now. We are ready for the readers who are interested. But without us pulling them out of the stacks to showcase them-- no one will ever know.

Today I have gathered resources for you to make those lists and displays.

• Alien Pleasures via Defector
• Genre Alert: Women Who Are Sexually Attracted to Airplanes...And Other Non-Sentient Objects via Lit Hub
• And as will come as no surprise, Reddit has MANY threads on this topic in various forums. Click here to see them all in a Google search.

This is a display you can have a lot of fun with. Embrace the trend and pull out those books. Show your patrons you know what they are looking for before they even have to ask.

GoodReads Cross-Genre Trends As a Resource to Help Your Readers

One of my favorite resources to use as I help readers is Goodreads. Look, I know the site has issues, but it is the best resource we have to access data and trends about readers in real time. I can go there and get a snapshot of what people are reading and how they feel about it. Yes, I know some people use it to be racist, sexist, homophobic etc.... but the vast majority of information is from passionate readers sharing their opinions in a public space.

The people behind the database know this as well and they use the data they are gathering on every single user in so many ways, some probably nefarious, but also, some that help us serve readers better. 

At our individual libraries., we are never going to be able to get a wide enough picture of what people are most interested in reading in real time. We might find out about trends after they crest, when really we need to be ahead of the wave so that we can not only have the books but also have them displayed in a way that shows people we know what they are looking for without them having to ask.

Here is a great example of how Goodreads uses their data in a way that helps us. At the beginning of the month they had this article listing the Five Cross-Genre Trends that they are noticing. I have posted the introduction below, but please click through and see what they have gathered and then look at the comments as well. Of course normally the comments are a place to avoid, but in this case, it is simply a continuation of the conversation but readers adding their own thoughts. 

This is a treasure trove of information about readers-- from all over-- and their preferences right now. Also, since cross-genre books are one of the biggest trends in all of fiction AND it is a trend that has been driven by readers, following this conversation is essential to staying relevant in the eyes of your patrons.

First and foremost, an article like this one is a resource for you. Make sure you are aware of these cross-genres and the titles that readers are excited about. Order them if you don't have them. Suggest them or readalikes for them as you place holds.

Second, turn these 5 categories into mini-displays or lists. You can use Goodreads or NoveList or simply a Google search to find more titles that you already own to add to these ready made display titles. Get those displays up in your buildings, on your websites, and out on social media. Use a link to the Goodreads article to draw even more interest.

Do not underestimate how much more alluring your displays look to your patrons when they see that the wider book world is talking about the same thing as their library. Too often we think that references make us look less competent when it comes to helping leisure readers, but that is completely wrong. When we show our readers that we are engaged with and part of the larger "book atmosphere" (credit Robin Bradford on that phrase), they trust us even more. 

Third, this article is a great example of a conversation starter like the ones I suggest in this "Conversation Starter to Display" handout. Why not show your patrons that you want to know what they are enjoying. Put up a display simply entitled, "Cross-Genre Trends." Don't specify the specifics of which genres are crossing. Trust me, they won't care. The "cross-genre" alone will be a huge draw. Then use the information in my "Conversation Starter to Display" post to gather information from you patrons about their favorite genre blends, both specific titles and any names they are giving to those blends. 

There is so much we can do with the data Goodreads is already collecting. This post is simply a starting point. They are not going to stop and readers are there in numbers we cannot replicate, so why not use it all for good.

From Time Travel to Tech Startups: Five Cross-Genre Book Trends We're Noticing 

As life’s rich pageant of books passes through Goodreads World Headquarters, we often take note of certain thematic and topical trends that suddenly feel like they're everywhere. These aren’t genre trends, exactly. In fact, what makes them interesting is that they often manifest across multiple genres.
 
We like to catalog these strange little pulses while they’re still in circulation, so we've gathered below a selection of new (published since 2022) and upcoming books sorted into five cross-genre trends we're currently spotting. Some are familiar and tend to come in waves over time—vampires are back, for instance—while others feel like distinctly 21st-century concerns. What's with all the books that are set in 2040, anyhow?
 
We’ve added some quick introductions and synopses. Click on the book cover images for more information about each book. Have fun, and if you want to add books or compare notes on other cross-genre trends you're noticing in books these days, feel free to continue the discussion in the comments section!

Click here to read the whole article. which includes annotated book lists, and use it to start conversations with your readers.

Crime Fiction Genre Preview in LJ

I love the Genre Preview articles in Library Journal, and in fact, this love is why I continue to write the Horror one each and every July.

Today, I not only want to alert you that the Crime Fiction Genre Preview for 2024 is now available here, but also mention that they have made editorial changes to how they are written. What you will see now, as demonstrated in this Crime Fiction Genre Preview, is an article about the genre's overall trends with example titles to illustrate said trends. There is not longer this need for the authors of the Genre Preview to dump every title (with an annotation) into the piece. Instead, we authors have been encouraged to focus on those larger trends and then gather all the titles we want into a spreadsheet with pub dates, ISBN, publisher, etc.... to make an easy, vetted shopping list for you to get your pre-orders in.

We will still include quotes from authors and editors to provide context and expert opinions as well.

I for one am excited to write this new and more helpful article for all of you. But first, it is my colleague John Charles' turn to let you know all about the state of Crime Fiction and the titles you need to be on the look out for.

Below I have posted the introduction to the Crime Fiction Genre Preview, including direct access to the downloadable list for those who want to cut to the ordering chase. Although I will say for those who order and those who do not, as long as you are assisting readers in any way-- so in other words, you work at the public library-- the trends themselves are an invaluable resource. Click here or below to see it in full.

Crime Fiction Genre Preview | Forthcoming Titles for 2024

by John Charles
Mar 06, 2024 | Filed in Reviews+

The key trends in crime fiction this year are the desire for immersive escape, a focus on genre blends, and new takes on traditional tropes. Lena Khidritskaya Little, director of publicity at Little, Brown, makes a clear case: “Readers want pure and immersive escape, and they’re willing to sample and mix among genres like horror, noir, [and] sci-fi, as well as fresh spins on normally traditional forms like locked-room or chase or heist narratives.” To track down the clues of 2024, LJ talked with publishers about what they are noting, scanned through catalogues, and dove into the books. Here are trends and titles to note, spanning spring through fall 2024. A downloadable list of all titles mentioned can be found here.

Keep reading this article on the LJ site here.

RA for All Roadshow: What's New in Readers' Advisory

Today and tomorrow I am presenting a brand new program for PCI Webinars (today for FL and tomorrow for the rest of the country). It is brand new on two fronts.

1. This is the first time I have created a webinar that is forward looking. The entire presentations  consists of 5 predictions paired with applications for your library. You can see the slides here or at the link below.
2. Because it is all about what is to come in the next year, everything here is new by default.

I have stopped posting every time I present here on the blog, but I thought since today's presentation was unique that it was worth putting it out there, front and center. 

I do have my full schedule with slides for all presentations (where available) on my Recent and Upcoming Programs page as well.

But today, let's look into the future and talk about what it coming just over the horizon. Maybe I will see some of you there as well.

Click here to access the slides

2023 Horror Book Highlights by Me via The LineUp

One of my favorite writing gigs is my 4x a year column for The LineUp. I love it because it is one of the only times I can write directly to readers. Just about everything I am paid to write is meant to be read and used by library workers. But 4x a year, I get to speak to voracious readers directly.

Two columns a year are my choice. In 2023 I did a preview of the first ever Middle Grade Stoker Award by highlighting the finalists and giving them adult readalikes in the Spring, and in the Fall I highlighted some of the best Horror cover artists.

My other two columns are wrap-up pieces. Every Summer I do a post about the Bram Stoker Award winners with readalikes, and that brings us to today and my piece for December. I love that this year end "wrap-up" is not another "Best" list. Instead, I pick 4 trends I saw over the year and pick titles that best present it.

Click here to read my brand new 2023 Horror Book Highlights. Or see below where I have reprinted my draft, plain text, but honestly, the version that Lisa Quigley put up on the site is much prettier and more fun to read, and it has the links to buy the books.

I am particularly proud of my final trend. Also one of the things I loved about the trends this year is that many of the books could have fit in multiple categories. One in particular makes me giggle every time I see my column because it would be a HUGE spoiler if I had put it in a different category.

For those who are interested, here is the link to all of my columns in one place. But you should be promoting The LineUp and the entire family of Open Road Media sites. Their focus is on readers and promotion of backlist titles. They also have A Love So True (Romance), The Archive (History), Murder & Mayhem (Crime Fiction), The Portalist (SF/FSY), and more. 

From the Haunted Stacks: 2023 Horror Book Highlights 

A detailed look at 2023's wide range of horror fiction, from the "library world's horror maven."

By Becky Spratford | Published Dec 21, 2023

While there are many best lists out there for you to peruse this time of year, in true librarian fashion, I thought I would give you a more nuanced look at the year that was by taking you on a walk through some of the most interesting Horror trends I have noticed accompanied by 2023 titles that illustrate them best.

Siblings Steer Some of the Best Stories of the Year: In 2023, many of the very best novels focused on sibling relationships, but not as the cause of the terror, rather as the very reason that the characters were able to triumph over the monsters, ghosts, or evil puppets.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due 

Jim Crow Florida, 1950. Gloria and Robbie Stephens Jr, 16 and 12 respectively, are left behind after their mother dies from cancer and their activist father is forced to flee North to Chicago. When Robbie kicks a local white boy in the knee to protect his older sister, he is sentenced to 6 months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory with a notorious history. Told in the alternating perspectives of Gloria and Robbie, readers follow the action, set over 2 weeks, as Goria works to set Robbie free. The timeline may be short but the history of the horror that imprisons Robbie is long and the ghosts who live on the school’s grounds are unwilling to wait any longer for justice. An engrossing and heartbreakingly beautiful story that speaks to all situations where injustice occurs and compels its readers to act.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Perennial bestseller Hendrix’s early 2023 release navigated the well worn haunted house trope, inserting fresh horrors into its pantheon (including a terrifying puppet), while also crafting an emotional and thought-provoking story about trauma and loss. Louise, a single mother, lives in California with her 5 year-old daughter Poppy, a continent away from her hometown, Charleston, SC. She has spent her life trying to keep as much distance, physically and emotionally, as possible from her family, especially her overly indulged brother, Mark. But when their parents die suddenly, Louise is forced to return home and reckon with the secrets that have been haunting their family for generations, secrets that not only may be responsible for her estrangement with Mark, but may also be actively trying to kill them.

The Insatiable Volt Sisters by Rachel Eve Moulton B.B. and Henrie, the Volt Sisters, are the last in the line of the founding family of Fowler Island in Lake Erie, macabrely famous for the mysterious disappearances of its female visitors. Opening in 2000, as B.B. contacts Henrie about the death of their father. Henrie agrees to return home with her mother, Carrie. Told in two time frames, 2000 and 1989– the year Henire and her mother escaped the island– and from the perspective of four realistically flawed women-- B.B. Henrie, Carrie, and the island’s museum curator, Sonia, readers will be immediately hooked by their voices, the place, and the dark, mysterious history that surrounds it all. Think Shirley Jackson channeling HP Lovecraft and you get an idea of what to expect. 

Centering Love: Horror is a genre that purposely provokes terror in the reader. These are stories where terrible things can and do happen, but these three books excelled at invoking palpable fear while also allowing love, and the hope that stems from it, to blossom at the heart of these emotional tales. 

Lone Women by Victor LaValle 

The year is 1915. Adelaide Henry, 31 has lived her entire life in a California, Black farming community with her parents, but as the novel opens, Adelaide places her murdered parents in bed, burns the house down, and heads to catch a train to Montana, a territory that allows unmarried, Black women, the opportunity to claim a homestead. Taking only an overnight bag and a heavy, securely locked trunk containing her family’s curse, one that she is now solely responsible for controlling, Adelaide attempts to flee her past while still literally shackled to it. Readers follow Adelaide to the edge of civilization, Big Sandy, MT, to meet its marginalized and outcast citizens, feel the wide open, unforgiving landscape, and watch the captivating drama, both real and supernatural, unfold. This Horror-Western hybrid will grab readers from the start and threaten to never let them go. It is also my personal pick for the best Horror novel of the year.

A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper

If Neil Gaiman, Mary Shelley and Shirley Jackson could birth a book baby, this stunning novel would be the outcome. Olivia, 18, lives in Chapel Hill, PA, the small town she settled in 3 years ago, after running away from home when her father caught her kissing a girl. Even though the town is not fond of outsiders, she has found her place living in best friend Sunflower’s orbit. As the novel opens, a fierce storm brings torrential rain and what sounds like human screams from the hills. Olivia is working at the Drive-In as an angry monster emerges from the ground and most of the townsfolk enter a zombie-like trance. Olivia runs for her life, looking for Sunflower, trying to save them both, but what exactly is she running away from, and where is she running to? Olivia is about to have the longest night of her life; one that will change her world forever.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle 

Rose, a senior in high school, is a member of the Kingdom of the Pines, a church with deep ties to her local community and a national reputation for running Camp Damascus, a LGBTQ conversation camp with a 100% success rate. While hanging out with friends, Rose sees a decaying woman at the edge of the wood, wearing a red polo and nametag, staring straight at her. Engaging, curious, kind, and proudly neurodiverse, Rose carries the story as Tingle meticulously introduces distrust and confusion, even going so far as to sew unease with single word choices. As Rose’s situation gets more dire, she gathers her found family, embraces love, and fights against the monsters threatening to destroy everything Rose holds dear. 

Dazzling Debuts: While an author could write many books over their career, they can only have one first novel. Some are good, some meh, and then there are those that shine so brightly, it is hard to believe this is their first go at it.

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

Henley’s Edge is that kind of small New England town where everyone knows each other, but it is also a place where evil, both human and supernatural, has taken hold. Senior women have been disappearing without a trace. The local cop, Malik, is unable to find any leads, while simultaneously facing violent, homophobic attacks in his own home. Heart Crowley is a rich, funeral plot salesman who wants to help people find everything they are looking for in this life, if only they will go into his basement first. And then there is Ghost, an unlikely hero, a young man grieving a huge loss, literally stalked by guilt. LaRocca doubles down on everything that has made his shorter works a viral success, enhancing the dread with scenes of palpable fear, deep-seated trauma, and visceral villainy, using his expertly built, messily realistic characters to move readers through every possible emotion.

Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

Maeve spends her days performing as the famous ice princess at “the happiest place on earth,” while her nights are spent brazenly murdering people and hiding her crimes in plain sight. But when Maeve meets her best friend’s gorgeous brother, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about herself. Unapologetically dripping with graphic sex and violence, Leede is actively working every angle in an attempt to disgust and disturb her readers, balancing extreme scenes with dark humor and Maeve’s engaging narration. As sympathy builds for Maeve, readers will squirm even more, realizing just how much they are enjoying this illicitly alluring tale.

Chlorine by Jade Song

Speaking from adulthood, Ren recounts the pivotal year, when she exchanged her life as a good Chinese daughter, working hard to get into a top college, competing as an elite swimmer, for a life without terrestrial concerns, as a mermaid. No longer human, Ren shares her memories with a direct, confessional narration, effortlessly drawing readers in from the first lines. As Ren struggles with the pressures of her sport, the obsession of her coach, her feelings for her best friend Cathy, and her experiences as an immigrant, the rawness and pain are familiar, but it is Ren’s insistence on becoming a mermaid, where this tale leaves a lasting mark. Full of contractions, magnificently balancing and remarkably sustaining wonder and dread, magical realism and harsh reality, this is a story that will hold readers in its thrall, squirming with discomfort, yet, unable to look away from the page. This first novel is also one of the most spectacular novels I have read in recent years.

WTF For the Win: Maybe it is because we have all lived through some wild times recently, but this past year, there were a handful of books that took a left turn, sending the story down a path that, in less talented and imaginative hands, could have been disastrous. Instead, in these novels, it is exactly the authors’ willingness to take those risks that made them some of the most memorable reads of the year.

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey

 Kadrey, Urban Fantasy mainstay, and Khaw, a Horror rising star, team up for a cinematic and immersive “eldritch whale” of a duology opener. Julie, 29, is starting to feel the aches and pains of her job, using her small, magic packed body to help keep NYC clear of monsters. She recovers with booze and drugs, barely making enough money to cover the rent. But when an old flame, the head of “Excision” for one of the top Wall Street firms, comes asking Julie for help, she starts a chain of events that threatens to eat up the whole world in its wake. Filled with monsters, action, and situations that are bonkers in all the right ways, this is a crowd pleasing, visceral, Cosmic tale worthy of a wide audience.

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus 

One of the most beautiful and moving novels of the year is disguised as a riveting, cinematic, survival thriller. Jay is a high school senior dealing not only with the loss of his local hero and diving legend father, Mitt, but also his unresolved anger with their complicated relationship. In an attempt to come to terms with his grief, Jay attempts a dangerous, solo dive that is cut short when he is swallowed by a sperm whale. Told from Jay’s point of view in short, alternating chapters set in the present from inside the whale’s stomach with chapter headings that note how little air is left in his tak, and the past, mostly between 2015 and 2021. The pacing is relentless, the awe, astounding, and the tension, palpably constricting, even as Kraus takes time to add the necessary scientific details. However, it is Jay’s growth throughout the story where this novel shines, allowing its beauty to emerge, and leave its mark on all who encounter it.

What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman

Madi, a palm reader in Brandywine, VA, may have just returned to town with her 16yo daughter, after fleeing as a pregnant teenager, but her roots run deep in the Chesapeake Bay region. While plying her trade at local farmer’s market, she sees her high school boyfriend, Henry, who has spent the last 5 years searching for his missing infant while mourning the suicide of his wife. When Henry, still a person of interest in these cases, gives his palm to Madi, she experiences disturbing images of the water and the boy, visions that have physical manifestations. Chapman immediately introduces suspense, hooking readers with Madi’s engaging but increasingly unstable narration, confidently and deliberately steering the tone from uneasy to weird to absolute terror with a twist so shocking, no one will see it coming. A disorienting, immersive, and thought provoking contemplation of hope, grief, and guilt, Chapman traps readers in a net of visceral Horror from which they cannot look away no matter how much detritus bursts forth. But beware, readers may never look at a crab the same way again.

Library Journal's Romance Genre Preview

Just like I have the July issue cover story in Library Journal for Horror, Romance takes the cover in October. 

This is an excellent article to get you up to speed on the trends and upcoming titles of note in this, one of our most popular genres in libraries. 

Use the subheadings to build displays (of books you already have), for collection development (to make sure you have the hottest upcoming titles on order), and to stay on top of the latest trends and emerging voices.

Adventures in Love | Romance Preview

by Heather Miller
Cover Oct 09, 2023

Romance is a leading-edge genre, driving circulation and making readers happy. This fall, LJ highlights key trends and titles, including the establishment of a new subgenre, romantasy; the invention of a new type of hero, the cinnamon roll; an increasing focus on cozy stories; and a renewed stress on action and adventure.

Offering such a wide range of reading experiences, it’s no surprise then that this already popular genre is attracting even more readers. Dimitrije Curcic at WordsRated, an international research data and analytics group, reports that “sales of romance novels more than doubled over the last two years, making romance among the fastest-growing categories in the publishing world. As for the reasons behind this growth, we have to look at the demographics of romance readers, who are getting increasingly younger. The emergence of #BookTok, along with screen adaptations of some novels, is the driving force behind the emergence of romance over the last couple of years.”

Click here to read the full piece

And see the end of the article for even more romance titles on the way

Browse these collections:

Wishing for Love

Love on Vacation

Road Trip Delights

Historical Encounters

Romantic Mysteries

HEAs So Good They Are Supernatural

Love in Play