Содержание выпуска: February 2022 — Booklist Reader

From the Editor & Publisher February is a special month for us at the American Library Association and Booklist. It’s Black History Month, and, as we do for all ages in all issues of Booklist and Booklist Reader, we highlight Black authors and diverse reads in print and audio in various genres and for all communities. February is also a month to celebrate love. With all this in mind, our focus here is on Historical Fiction and Romance. This issue is also special because it’s the first printed issue of Booklist Reader. Booklist Reader is primarily a digital publication, but we will print select issues. In this case, Booklist Reader is included with the January/February issue of Public Libraries magazine. We are thrilled to share our newest publication with members…

Booklist Reader Adult Books Top 10 Romance Debuts These exceptional romance fiction debuts choreograph love over obstacles in a TV studio, a university, at a rodeo, and in a 1920s Irish village. The Charm Offensive. By Alison Cochrun. 2021. Atria. As a producer for the popular reality TV dating show, Ever After, Dev Deshpande believes in the power of romance, but can he dispel the skepticism of contestant Charlie Winshaw, a millionaire tech geek? A Dance in Donegal. By Jennifer Deibel. 2021. Revell. Moira honors her late mother’s wish and travels to 1920s Ireland to teach, meeting handsome thatcher Sean McFadden and discovering a problematic family secret. Happy Endings. By Thien-Kim Lam. 2021. Avon. In Lam’s bold and refreshingly sex-positive debut, Trixie Nguyen is determined to convince her traditional Vietnamese family…

Booklist Reader Adult Books Top 10 Historical Fiction The most compelling, creative, and insightful historical novels, most of which are womencentric, bring us back to first-century Britain and Jazz Age Detroit, and portray a Dakota woman reclaiming her heritage, a Korean “mermaid,” and such real-life figures as Annie Oakley and Belle da Costa Greene. Annie and the Wolves. By Andromeda Romano-Lax. 2021. Soho. Romano-Lax entwines the lives of Ruth McClintock, a small-town Minnesota historian; and her obsession, sharpshooter Annie Oakley, in this highly original, compassionate, dramatic, and time-warping biographical tale. Black Bottom Saints. By Alice Randall. 2020. Amistad. Randall’s narrator, Ziggy Johnson, a renowned dance teacher, club emcee, and entertainment columnist now in his last days, recounts the glory days of Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood, where African American arts and culture…

Booklist Reader Video Top 10 Documentaries In these memorable documentaries, filmmakers take on important issues in thought-provoking commentary and moving visuals. 44 Pages: Creating the World’s Most Popular Children’s Magazine. 2018. 1.5hr. Passion River, DVD. Follow the Highlights staff from idea concept to final production as they put together the June 2016 issue to celebrate the magazine’s seventieth anniversary. 9/11’s Unsettled Dust. 2021. 1.5hr. Bullfrog, DVD. A rallying cry following 9/11 was “never forget,” but this program delves into the ways first responders and others at Ground Zero were forgotten by politicians. Albert Einstein: Still a Revolutionary. 2020. 1.5hr. First Run Features, DVD. This profile of Einstein, the “Intellectual Popstar” of his age, is packed with archival photos, news and home footage, and historical commentary. American Tragedy. 2020. 1.5hr. Video Project,…

Booklist Reader Audiobooks Top 10 Historical Fiction on Audio for Youth by Sonja Cole These standout audiobooks immerse young listeners in different time periods and settings, from fifteenth-century England to 1990s New Orleans. The 5 O’Clock Band. By Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. Read by Dion Graham. 2019. 1hr. Live Oak. Gr. 1–4. This companion to the award-winning Trombone Shorty (2015) offers another captivating look at the 1990s New Orleans childhood of the contemporary jazz musician. Sound effects and zesty music fill the air while Graham brings energy to the story’s narration. Allies. By Alan Gratz. Read by a full cast. 2019. 6.5hr. Scholastic. Gr. 4–8. The story of the Allied invasion of France during WWII is told from the perspectives of a diverse cast. Each character is effectively voiced by a…

Booklist Reader Books for Youth A Conversation Let's Talk about Love A Teen Romance Roundtable by Maggie Reagan Readers of adult genre romance know what to expect from their books: heroes and heroines they can identify with, emotional and sexual tension, and, perhaps most importantly, a happy ending. But for teens, whose lives are transitional by nature, romance books can look a little different. Here, we talk to four authors writing love stories for and about teens—A. R. Capetta (The Heartbreak Bakery, 2021), Sandhya Menon (10 Things I Hate about Pinky, 2020), L. C. Rosen (Camp, 2020), and Nicola Yoon (Instructions for Dancing, 2021)—about the key components of a romance, the ways in which the genre has developed, and the things they love about it the most. Reagan: Teens characters (and…

Booklist Reader Adult Books Black Historical Fiction An Essential Facet of American Literature by Donna Seaman This collection confronts the defining injustices and traumas of America’s past in counterpoint to individuals who embody what Albert Murray describes as “affirmation in the face of adversity, and improvisation in situations of disruption and discontinuity.” These clarion works by African American writers offer profound immersions in times, places, and conflicts that continue to shape our society and our lives. American Histories. By John Edgar Wideman. 2018. Scribner. Wideman’s short stories tackle race, family, and art and include true-life figures from John Brown and Frederick Douglass to Romare Bearden and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Black Bottom Saints. By Alice Randall. 2020. Amistad. Ziggy Johnson, Randall’s narrator, recalls, at the close of his life, the vibrancy of…

Booklist Reader Adult Books Trend Alert Historical Romance Heroines Who Dare to Be Different by John Charles To the casual observer, it might seem as though historical-romance novels are populated solely with heroines who spend their days shopping on Bond Street and their nights dancing at balls, but this facet of the romance genre has always featured female protagonists with callings that reach far beyond providing fodder for gossip columns. From paleontologist Jessica Stanbridge in Jill Marie Landis’ Past Promises (1993) to Jenny Jones, the female mule skinner in Maggie Osborne’s The Promise of Jenny Jones (1997), historical romances tally a long list of heroines marching to the beat of their own drums. Recently, a whole new group of daringly different heroines has appeared on the scene. All Scot and Bothered.…

Booklist Reader Audiobooks Must Listen Romances by Heather Booth The following selection of must-listen romance on audio has something for a wide range of teen and adult fans of love stories, from classic tropes to fresh new combinations. Cool for the Summer. By Dahlia Adler. Read by Natalie Naudus. 2021. 6.5hr. Macmillan. Gr. 9–12. A warmly narrated and charming queer romcom about first love and self-discovery that is lighthearted yet tackles serious issues. The Ex-Talk. By Rachel Lynn Solomon. Read by Emily Ellet. 2021. 11hr. Books on Tape. Coworkers pose as exes for a radio show in this enemies-to-lovers story. Ellet shines, performing a range of accents for the diverse cast and adding zing to text exchanges. How to Catch a Queen. By Alyssa Cole. Read by Karen Chilton. 2020. 11hr.…

Booklist Reader Books for Youth Top 10 Romance for Youth Love takes many forms in this list of excellent romances for teens which feature crushes, true love, and heartbreak—and, through it all, a healthy dose of meaningful self-discovery. All Kinds of Other. By James Sie. 2021. HarperCollins/Quill Tree. Gr. 9–12. This dual-voice novel tells the story of sophomores Jules and Jack, whose burgeoning relationship is tested when Jack is cruelly outed as trans. A splendid story grounded in marvelous characters and steady growth. Blackout. By Dhonielle Clayton and others. 2021. HarperCollins/Quill Tree. Gr. 8–12. In this collection of interlinked shorts, the YA-author supergroup of Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, Angie Thomas, and Nicola Yoon lights up a New York City–wide blackout with six warm summer romances featuring Black…

Booklist Reader Adult Books Top 10 Romance Fiction Featuring Victorian London and present-day L.A., entrepreneurial witches, a stress-management coach, a movie star, and a PI, these romance novels exemplify the glorious range of this lovecentric genre. A Captain for Caroline Gray. By Julie Wright. 2021. Shadow Mountain. In Wright’s thoughtful, atypical Regency romance, outspoken Caroline and Captain Thomas Scott earn each other’s respect on a dramatic voyage to India. An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler. By Vanessa Riley. 2021. Kensington/Zebra. Regency-era barrister P. Daniel Thackery loses his bride in a shipwreck but gains a toddler daughter who is assumed to be his since they’re individuals of color. The only other survivor, Jemina, hopes that Daniel can help dispel her amnesia. Incense and Sensibility. By Sonali Dev. 2021. Morrow. Dev brings…

LIBRARY READS The Paris Apartment A Novel by Lucy Foley (William Morrow) “Foley hits it out of the ballpark with this solid thriller set in a Paris apartment building. Jess goes looking for her brother, but finds only the smell of bleach and a broken St. Christopher medal lodged in the floorboards. Written in short chapters with multiple points of view and delicious secrets dropped along the way, this gripping, wild ride is impossible to put down. If you like Liane Moriarty or Ruth Ware, pick this one up.“ —Douglas Beatty, Baltimore County Public Library, Baltimore, MD NoveList read-alike: Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson February 2022 - The top ten books published this month that library staff across the country love. Black Cake A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine…

Booklist Reader Books for Youth Writer’s Backstory On Writing What You Know by Stacey Lee I received one of my first pieces of writing advice at a children’s book conference for beginning writers at least 20 years ago. A wellknown children’s author spoke to a small group of us, huddled around a fireplace, shiny-eyed with our pens poised: “Always write what you know.” That made sense to me at the time. After all, I was in the adolescence of my writing journey. I had decades of life experiences to apply to my work, a lonely but noisy childhood, a colorful family. I had cut my teeth learning to drive on the Los Angeles freeways, dissected a cadaver, gotten two degrees, argued a case before a judge, stuck my arm in…