RA for All Greatest Hits: Attack of the Best Lists

I am currently working on two major best lists and one award....and it is early October. Soon, we will be inundated with "best" lists created by experts telling us what we should have read this year, but didn't.

So in honor of what I like to call, "Attack of the Best Lists," today's Greatest Hits post is a flashback to back in 2015 when I wrote about using the glut of best lists this time of year to your advantage. That post, "Attack of the "Best" Lists-- Becky's Advice to Stay Ready and Look Smart," is below, but you can also use this link to read more posts in that "Attack of the Best Lists" series.

For more of RA for All's Greatest Hits click here.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Attack of the "Best" Lists-- Becky's Advice to Stay Ready and Look Smart

This time of year is exciting with the holidays approaching and “Best of the Year” lists coming fast and furious.  Best lists are both one of the best things about our job and one of the most frustrating; however, if you listen to me, I will help you to turn all of the frustration into a success story-- one that will make you and your library look like book super stars.

Let me start with how Best Lists help us, library workers who help leisure readers.

1. We love books and get excited about what is deemed the best.  As cool as we try to play it, we are like kids in a candy store when best lists come out. We are all comparing our reading lists to see which we have already read, which are on our to-read lists, which books we feel didn’t deserve to be deemed best, and most importantly, which books we feel were snubbed. This is pure fun for us since our job involves leisure reading.
2. Best lists get our patrons psyched up too.  They start coming back into the library to look for these great books that they may have missed. We are relevant to them [for the moment], which makes us feel good.
3. Since best lists get patrons more excited about books and reading, they are also more willing to engage us in a conversation about what they are reading. This is the best time of year to practice our book talking and RA conversation skills.

Now the frustrations.

1. There are so many lists and they start coming at us before Halloween. It is a lot to handle.
2. All of those patrons coming in are only interested in the “best” books and of course, many of those are checked out.
3. We often feel like we have lost the opportunity to shine because of their disappointment. The best list barrage can make us feel like failures. :(

These are real frustrations, but I have helpful answers.

First, take advantage of the huge number of best lists and don’t see them as overwhelming, rather use them to your advantage.  There are SO many of them, you should be able to find a book that someone deemed best this year.  Often, patrons aren’t looking for a specific “best book” even though they come in asking for a specific title. They actually are just looking for a book that someone said was good enough for them to spend their time reading.

So take a step back and think about that last statement.  The patrons are all clamoring for Fates and Furies or Between the World and Me and you know it will be 2016 before a copy is available, but what they actually want is something good to read. They figure a “best” book is a safe bet.

Do not think of this as a lost opportunity or failure because the specific title has a long holds queue.  Instead, engage the patron in conversation about finding them a “best” book that is both ready right now AND is tailor fit to their reading tastes.  9 times out of 10, the patron in front of you has NO IDEA that you will provide this level of customized service for them. They will be so happy for your help.

But how do you do it> Remember frustration #1, so many lists to keep track of.  Well that’s where I come in, to give you 1 easy link to all of the best lists.

Since 2008, the website Largehearted Boy has kept the best and most comprehensive list of all of the best books lists.  All can be easily access here. The 2015 one is already well underway. 

So you start with this year’s lists, but as I said above, that often is limiting because they are checked out. But, as I have said before on this blog, the fact that the library has the BACKLIST is what makes us look like superheroes. We still have most of the past 10 year’s “best” books in our stacks [at least that far back].

One click to Largehearted Boy’s archive and you have many years of best lists at your finger tips.  I have had tons of luck moving patrons coming in for the top books for the current year to the previous year’s best lists.  Just a few simple reminders-- that these were last year’s best and often, they are still on the paperback best seller list, and offering to put this year’s best on hold while they are reading a book from last year’s list that I can place in their hand right this second-- can go a long way toward creating happy, satisfied patrons.

Again, you need to remember that they just want a “best” book. Most of them do not care when it was “best.” Trust me. I have done this switcharoo dozens of times over the last 15 years.  People love it. They often feel like they got a “secret” best book when it is one I found from a previous year’s list. Even the grumpy lady who insists she will only read Fates and Furies or Between the World and Me, will love being in on a secret best list [as long as her hold is also placed for this year’s titles].

Try this advice and you will have an awesome end to the year at your library. You will have helped your adult leisure readers brilliantly.  They will tell their friends how nice and smart you were. And you will have handled the attack of the best lists with grace and skill.

What I'm Reading: Andrew Carnegie Medal Edition

One of the best things about being on the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction selection committee is that we have complete autonomy to nominate any title for consideration. We do not accept unsolicited works.

The result of this autonomy means that some of the titles we end up placing on the long list had not been reviewed in Booklist previously. This year there were only a handful, but one of them was Vagina Obscura by Rachel E. Gross. As a contracted reviewer for Booklist, and one of the biggest supporters of this title in our deliberations, I was nominated to write the review so that it could be ready and posted before the long list announcement. 

Below is that review-- a star of course-- with further appeal info.

Please check out the entire 2023 ACM long list here. This link has review access for every title.

STAR REVIEW

Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage
by Rachel E. Gross

2022. 336p. Norton, $30 (9781324006312). 618.1. 
First published October 10, 2022 (Booklist Online).

After being prescribed rat poison for a persistent yeast infection, award-winning science journalist Gross began researching the history of what medicine refers to as “the female reproductive system.” Quickly realizing that this terminology was insufficient, she set out to define more accurately what it means to be a woman. Across eight topical chapters (“Desire,” “Protection,” “Power,” “Beauty”), each focusing on a specific part of the female sexual anatomy, this volume expertly balances authoritative sources, history, and scientific data with frank, colloquial, and honest discussions of vaginas by medical professionals, scientists, and women from all walks of life, including trans women. Gross presents discussions of the clitoris, vaginal microbiome, and neovagina as stories, first introducing a medical professional and a character for the reader to follow on that chapter’s journey, then crafting a compelling narrative about the anatomy in question, all grounded in medical history, those who studied it, and what has been left out of scientific knowledge. Without its provocative title, this long-overdue book would probably get lost, sent to the margins like so many other books about women’s bodies, like women themselves have been marginalized throughout human history. The crucial importance of this book is further underscored in the aftermath of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, with women’s right to have autonomy over their bodies in question. A stellar example of why effective scientific communication not only makes for an enjoyable read, but why it can also be vitally important to society as a whole.

Further Appeal: This book came out back in March. It was among the first nonfiction books our committee read, and a majority of us loved it. It stayed with us month to month, near the top of our consideration list for the Andrew Carlene Medal [ACM] long list, and then the Dobbs ruling came, and then, trans rights were being actively legislated away, and then....well, this book became even more important.

It is worthy of praise and consideration for a major literary prize because it both explains why women and their "parts" have been marginalized while simultaneously filling in the gaps in knowledge with fact.

Look, I know the title seems gimmicky, but I assure you, the book is not. The title is exactly perfect because it encapsulates what Gross is trying to do. Now that this book has made the ACM long list, I know I will not have to urge you to order it. In fact, two days after our announcement, I know many of you have it in a cart right now. I know this because when I ordered for an adult leisure collection, I added every ACM long list title we did not have to a cart the day of the announcement as well. 

But don't just order this book, highlight it, promote it [look at that gorgeous cover], and make sure it gets into the hands of readers. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: authoritative but colloquial, inclusive, science communication

What I'm Reading: October 2022 Library Journal #HorrorForLibraries Review Column

My October Horror Review Column is live on the Library Journal site. Only the stars are subscription free, but if you use the links below, you can read my draft reviews with extra info via Goodreads now.

This post is also a teaser for all of you who only read the general blog. I will be posting this column on the Horror blog on Friday, but when it goes up there it will also include a giveaway of 3 of the titles from this column.

That will be a bonus #HorrorForLibraries giveaway. For those who are unfamiliar, I have been hosting giveaways of Horror ARCs since April 2020 on the Horror blog. Anyone who works at an American library is eligible. And when you enter once, you are entered going forward, until you win. Click here to see last week's giveaway which includes all of the rules to enter. 

But first, below is my October column with links to my Goodreads reviews for draft access to all.

[Interesting side note, one I just noticed, all three of my stars came from small presses.]

First the STARS:

• Janz, Jonathan. The Dismembered
• LaRocca, Eric. They Were Here Before Us: a Novella in Pieces
• Khaw, Cass. Breakable Things

And the other 5 excellent titles:

• Hartmann, Sadie and Saywers, Ashley eds.: Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology [Interview with the editors is also here]
• Kaplan, Jo. When the Night Bells Ring
• Rumfitt, Alison. Tell Me I'm Worthless
• Shammas, 

  Nadia and Enger,

   
  Marie. Where Black Stars Rise [GN]
• Wendig, Chuck. Wayward

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence Long List 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.   

This one is special because I was a part of it. 

For those who want to cut to the chase-- here the official 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Fiction and Nonfiction Long List. 

I was so very proud to be asked to be on the committee that selects the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellent in Fiction and Nonfiction for 2023 [books published in 2022]. 

Unfamiliar with this award? From the website:

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

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

I had no idea what to expect being a part of a major literary award, but I am happy to report, so far it has been one of the best and most rewarding experiences of my professional career. And a happy outcome from our monthly meetings all year, I have gotten to spend time with old friends and make new ones as well.

Part one of our assignment was to select a long list of no more than 50 titles. Well, today, we are happy to announce that long list of adult fiction and nonfiction that is of exceptional literary merit and accessible to a general adult reading audience.

Here is that official announcement.  And here is the announcement from Booklist with review access for every title.

But now the hard part begins, we must whittle down these 20+ titles in fiction and nonfiction to 6 titles-- 3 fiction and 3 nonfiction. 

Today, we celebrate part one, and get to share our excitement and joy with the world, but tomorrow it is back to work on that short list. It is exciting but daunting. I know we can do it. I am very rpoud of our committee and the list we have created together. 

The other good news, I can now finally add these books to my Goodreads account, including one I just reviewed for Booklist. [More on that title in a few days]. 

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

Now back to today and the official 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Long List.

From the announcement: 

Forty-three books (22 fiction, 21 nonfiction) have been selected for the longlist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction. The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be chosen from longlist titles and announced on November 15, 2022. The two medal winners will be announced by 2023 selection committee chair Stephen Sposato at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards live streaming event, during LibLearnX on Sunday, January 29th at 4:30 p.m. CT. The celebratory event, including presentations by the winners and a featured speaker, will take place at the 2023 ALA Annual Conference in June 2023 in Chicago.

Carnegie Medal winners will each receive $5,000.

Share your favorite Andrew Carnegie Medal shortlist titles on social media using the #ALA_Carnegie hashtag!

And from Booklist with review access.

RA for All Off for Indigenous Peoples Day

Well, sort of. 

I am presenting for a library in Ohio today (beginning at 8am my time). Click here for my full presentation schedule.

But with 31 Days of Horror running every day, I will not always have posts here as well. Today is one of those days.

Speaking of the October Horror blog-a-thon, however, I am spotlighting Lethe Press this week, intentionally shining a light a LGBTQ owned and focused Press.

Click here for the first post in that series from the Horror blog yesterday.

Back tomorrow, with what I hope is some big news. Well, I know the news is big, and I know what it is, I am just not 100% certain I can post its tomorrow. We will see.

Spine-Chilling Books Moderated by Me and It's Virtual, Free, and You Can Screen It For Your Patrons

A few weeks ago, I was asked to help organize a virtual panel discussion with Horror authors for a literary society in Michigan. But there was a catch. They only had one author booked, could I fill the panel out for them as well.  Not only was I able to fill the panel, I am quite proud of the group I have assembled. The authors I have chosen for this FREE event, not only all appeal to a wide audience, but also, they all write a different type of horror. From poetry to cosmic, best-selling epics to speculative Noir, from dark fantasy to the world's Halloween expert, there is literally something here for every type of reader.  I am posting this 10 days in advance to give you time to sign up for yourself and promote to your patrons.  But the main reason I wanted to post this here on the general blog is to encourage you to show this panel discussion at your library as a program. Offer it for people to come in person AND through your virtual programming channels.  Tis the season when even the most timid readers want to dip their toe in Horror's scary waters, and I can promise you that this will be an event for ALL readers. You can offer it on a screen for them to participate and pull the titles by these authors and/or use my book to gather up a bunch of titles for them to browse after. We will talk for an hour and you can extend the program by having a discussion about what you heard us talk about and the Horror genre in general. Please consider joining us for free on Monday, October 17th, at pm Eastern, live from a computer of your choice. Here is the official info from the Book and Author Society And here is the direct Zoom registration link: We're thrilled to invite you to another fantastic panel discussion event featuring horror authors, moderated by Becky Spratford. This event is free and open to the public, so please pass this post on and share it with your friends.

Our panel of authors includes: Linda Addison Hailey Piper Chuck Wendig Lisa Morton Cynthia Pelayo Gabino Iglesias Books by these authors can be purchased from Bookshop.org REGISTER HERE ON ZOOM

Final Report of the ALA Working Group on Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice: Pass it On

Some of you might have seen the teaser from NoveList that Robin and I are bringing our training to their new Learn With NoveList platform beginning on 10/26. If not, click here for that teaser. 

I cannot tell you a lot yet, but I can promise you is that this will be the most affordable way to get the full Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers training from us, both on your own time and LIVE in person with multiple live options. Both Robin and I are very happy with the course. It is now in the hands of some beta testers. More on that soon including pricing and group rates once NoveList gets that marketing material to us.

But something I just added to the course at the last minute and wanted to make sure I posted here as well is the official report to the ALA Executive Board from the ALA Working Group on Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice, a report that demands that the ALA Executive Board distance itself from the language of neutrality and focus instead on the humanity of our users.

For some background on this working group, click here for my ALA Annual report from the final day of the conference. Please scroll to the bottom for the detailed notes about a program hosted by this working group-- it was at the end of the day.

That program promised that the working group would be delivering a final report to the ALA Executive Board. I confirmed with Martin Garnar, one of the co-chairs, that this happened in at their July meeting.

From my email conversation with Garnar:

The report to the executive board is available on their documents page. I presented at the July meeting and my understanding was that the board was going to discuss the recommendations and potential next steps at their fall meeting, which should be taking place next month. They did form a small group to carry the discussion forward, so we'll see what happens.

Click here to read the full report. It is strong and clearly asks ALA to take real action and stop sleeping on this important issue. While the report does a good job explaining everything the working group did, but I wanted to pull out their conclusions for those of you who will never click through:

Conclusion:
The ALA's core values are anything but neutral. The positions and policy statements in the ALA Policy Manual spell out specific ethical commitments demanding that sides be taken in
contentious situations. It is important to be explicit about our beliefs and how they inform our
work. As library workers, we should:

• advance and fully implement equity, diversity, inclusion, justice, and belonging in hiring, mentoring, supporting, and promoting library staff; and advocate for equity, diversity, inclusion, justice, and belonging in relationships with library vendors;
• promote equitable access to information, providing more assistance to those who need it;
• provide a diversity of perspectives in our collections and resources highlighting communities that have historically been underrepresented or excluded;
• listen actively to recommendations of individuals from marginalized groups; ensure and advance equity in providing access to facilities, resources, and services;
• educate ourselves and our users about the critical evaluation of information and the structures in which it is created; and
• champion social justice, taking action to combat discrimination and systemic racism.

To succeed in these goals we propose adopting an approach based on these frameworks that meets the goal of building trust with our communities rather than using neutrality as our guiding value. In doing so libraries and library workers will be prioritizing the defense and support of thehumanity of our users.

Please read the entire report. I will be including it EVERY time I present my Actively Anti-Racist Services to Leisure Readers program from now until the ALA Executive Board takes further action. I hope you spread the work about this report as well. The more it gets out there, the more pressure placed on ALA to respond.

Again, pull report can be accessed here.

RA for All is Off For Yom Kippur

But 31 Days of Horror posted on its own today. It is my first "Why I Love Horror" of 2022 and I purposed picked a brand new voice to kick things off. Enjoy that here.

Back tomorrow with the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Longlist announcement!

I am so excited that our committee can share this with the world.

Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: Shirley Jackson Awards 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.   

In yesterday's post I mentioned an author whose story appeared in a Shirley Jackson Award Nominated Anthology. So today, let's talk Shirley Jackson Awards. They are coming out a little later than normal this year, but that is because they are part of the larger Boston Book Festival this year and that is happening October 29th.

I am on record, multiple times, saying that  this is my favorite award. If I had to pick only 1 award for fiction, this would be it. And that is saying a lot because I have been on the juries for multiple awards and not this one.

But why this one? A few reasons,

First, the Shirley Jackson Awards are an excellent RA tool not only for the normal reasons I outline with the links to start this post, but also because they are an award that is NOT bound by genre. The entire point of the books that are nominated for and win this award is that they represent the legacy of Jackson, herself. Books that are darkly speculative and/or are intensely psychological; books that defy conventions but are great.  Each and every year titles are honored that are amazing reads but are almost always overlooked by genre awards, not because they aren't great [because they are], but because when push comes to shove, they do not fit as easily into the genre box as the other options.

Second, because books that win the Shirley Jackson Award already live on the fringes, the jurors and the titles they choose are more diverse than your average award.

And third, this award can be used as a "readalike" list on its own. Why? Because the main thing these nominated titles all share is a connection to Jackson and her brand of storytelling; thus, they all have an appeal connection that other awards can not promise in the same way. 

Which reminds me, the Shirley Jackson Awards not only have annual jurors who rotate every year but they also have a board of directors and an advisory board. You can access all of those people and their bios on this one page. Every single one of those authors is also readlaike option. 

And of course, the super easy backlist access of nominees and winners going back to 2007, all avaiable with 1 easy click. 

You want a display of weird, unsettling, and compelling titles, look no further than these tales, all of which are singled out for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. Those nominated for this year and all past years. There are so many options you will never run out of a suggestion for your patrons searching out this type of read.

Below I have reposted the nominees announcement and added access to my reviews, if applicable, with a link on the title.

2021 Shirley Jackson Awards Nominees

Boston, MA (September 2022) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

The Shirley Jackson Awards are voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories:  Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Fiction, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.

The nominees for the 2021 Shirley Jackson Awards are:

NOVEL

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter (Titan Books)

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer (MCD)

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press)

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull (Blackstone Publishing)

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw (Nightfire)

NOVELLA

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)

Dirty Heads: A novella of cosmic coming-of-age horror by Aaron Dries (Black T-Shirt Books)

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)

A Rose / Arose by Michael Bailey (Written Backwards)

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, translated by David Bowles (Innsmouth Free Press)

NOVELETTE

House of Crows by Lisa Unger (Amazon Original Stories)

“The Nag Bride” by A.C. Wise (The Ghost Sequences, Undertow Publications)

The Night Belongs to Us by Jess Landry (Independent Legions Publishing)

“We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It” by E. A. Petricone (Nightmare Magazine, February 2021)

The Women by Margaret Jameson (F(r)iction)

SHORT FICTION

“Dizzy in the Weeds” by L.D. Lewis (Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness)

“Forward, Victoria” by Carlie St. George (The Dark Magazine, April 2021)

“Gordon B. White is Creating Haunting Weird Horror” by Gordon B. White (Nightmare Magazine, July 2021)

“Human Reason” by Nicasio Andres Reed (Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness)

“You’ll Understand When You’re a Mom Someday” by Isabel J. Kim (khōréō magazine, August 2021)

 SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons: Stories by Keith Rosson (Meerkat Press)

People from My Neighborhood by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen (Soft Skull Press)

Sometimes We’re Cruel by J.A.W. McCarthy (Cemetery Gates Media)

We are Happy, We are Doomed by Kurt Fawver (Grimscribe Press)

Where All is Night, and Starless by John Linwood Grant (Trepidatio Publishing)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

Giving The Devil His Due: A Charity Anthology, edited by Rebecca Brewer (Running Wild Press)

Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World, edited by Eric J. Guignard (Dark Moon Books)

Stitched Lips: An Anthology of Horror from Silenced Voices, edited by Ken MacGregor (Dragon’s Roost Press)

There Is No Death, There Are No Dead, edited by Jess Landry & Aaron J. French (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness, edited by dave ring (Neon Hemlock)

SPECIAL AWARD

The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc., also is committed to promoting the legacy of Shirley Jackson and, as part of this mission, will present a Special Award to Ms. Datlow in recognition of the anthology When Things Get Dark: Stories inspired by Shirley Jackson (Titan Books, 2021).

Ms. Datlow was a nominee for the Shirley Jackson Award for Edited Anthology for the years 2011, 2013 (with Terri Windling), 2015, 2017, and 2019, and won the award in this category for the years 2007, 2009, and 2014.

Previous recipients of a Special Award from the Shirley Jackson Awards are Joyce Carol Oates as editor of the Library of America edition of Shirley Jackson:  Novels & Stories (Library of America, 2010) and Ruth Franklin in recognition of her biography Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life(Liveright/W.W. Norton, 2016).

2021 SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARDS CEREMONY

The 2021 Shirley Jackson Awards will be presented in-person on October 29, 2022, as part of the Boston Book Festival, in partnership with Readercon, Conference on Imaginative Literature. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Elizabeth Hand and Paul Tremblay.

What I'm Reading: A Study in Ugliness and All These Subtle Deceits

The October 1, 2022 issue of Booklist has 2 of my reviews. Both are by newer voices and both should be on your radar for a wide audience. The first one, is a unique translation by and author who will be a part of my "Why I Love Horror" series later this month on the Horror blog, and the second is the first book in a series that will be wildly popular with library patrons and it is part of a brand new imprint by Sadie Hartmann who will also be featured here in the coming days.

A Study in Ugliness & Outras Histórias
By H. Pueyo

Oct. 2022. 250p. Lethe, paper, $18 (9781590216019). 

First published October 1, 2022 (Booklist). 

After a few appearances in critically acclaimed anthologies and magazines, Pueyo is ready for her close-up with this debut collection of 10 stories presented side-by-side in both Portuguese and English. The visual layout is both authentic and striking, adding an extra layer of unease to these already deeply unsettling stories because as readers turn the page, their eyes will automatically look at the next page, but will be unable to read it. The subsequent pause and readjustment, forces the reader to slow down and fully experience these thought-provoking, disorienting, and open-ended tales that are more about how they make you feel than what happens in them. A standout example of Pueyo’s style can be seen in “An Open Coffin.” Amélia is hired by her former army officer as caretaker for a long dead and preserved body that receives daily visitors. But what do those visitors want from the body and what does the body need from them? This captivating new voice is a great choice for those who enjoy the weird and atmospheric stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Samanta Schweblin, and Karen Russell.

Further Readalikes: These are excellent stories by someone who you all NEED to know about. I will do my part helping that to happen by featuring Pueyo later this month here on the blog. But when I said she has been featured in top anthologies already, I am not exaggerating. One of those anthologies, Professor Charlatan Bardot's Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird Wild World edited by Eric Guignard [my review] was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award and just a few days ago, it was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award as well.

I cannot emphasize enough how very cool it was to present these stories in English and Portuguese. Pueyo not only handled her own translations [and has interesting comments about that process in the book as well], but some of the stories were first written in English and others in Portuguese. 

Finally, I will be hosting a giveaway of this book as part of a Lethe Press prize pack on October 13th. You can enter anytime for that by clicking here for the entry details.

Three Words That Describe This Book: deeply unsettling, thought-provoking, disorienting

Readalikes: Pueyo's writing absolutely reminded me of the three above, excellent award winning speculative story writers who have mastered balancing a deeply unsettling, weird brand of speculative storytelling. The Guignard anthology mentioned above is also a great readalike as well as anything by Cassandra Khaw.

All These Subtle Deceits 

by C. S. Humble

Oct. 2022. Dark Hart, paper, $14.95 (9781958598047). 
First published October 1, 2022 (Booklist).

Lauren has just put 1,000 miles between her and a bad relationship, moving to Black Wells, CO, but after one of her first nights out at a local nightclub, Lauren is the victim of a supernatural attack by three female spirits. William is a defrocked priest and expert exorcist with wealthy and influential clients. When Lauren is sent to William for help, the two work together, along with an intriguing cast of secondary characters, to uncover the root of the evil that has gotten ahold of Lauren. Opening this first book in a projected series, Humble has succeeded on all fronts, creating a compelling story set in a fascinating haunted city, but it is with the book’s strong emotional core, centered around William and Lauren, whose alternating points of view not only keep the pacing up, but allow the reader to connect with them, where this book will leave its mark on readers. Suggest this one with confidence and enthusiasm to fans of supernatural noir like Butcher’s Harry Dresden Files or Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series.

Further Appeal: This is one of the first books in a new, small press horror imprint, Dark Heart. Edited by Horror influencer, Sadie Hartmann, these titles promise to present “horror with heart,” a tag line that will make it easy for library workers to handsell their titles. This book is also the first in a 5 books series.

Speaking of Hartmann, my October column in LJ includes another book from this publisher-- an anthology and an interview with Hartmann and her co-editor, Saywers. I will be posting both on the blog when they are available.

Note: this book also has a bonus short story by the author.

Three Words That Describe This Book: supernatural Noir, demonic possession, series characters 

Readalikes: This will be a perfect read for you Harry Dresden [Butcher] and Sandman Slim [Kadrey] fans-- of which libraries have many and always need suitable readlaike options. Now you get a new series to rec.