Booklist Reader

Published by Booklist, an imprint of the American Library Association. Booklist Reader features diverse book and audiobook recommendations, for readers and listeners of all ages. Filled with high-interest, themed lists that showcase books for your family or book discussion group.

From the Editor & Publisher

Booklist Reader

Top 10 Historical Fiction • From a barrier-leaping African American woman in the Gilded Age to a military coup in Guatemala and the woman bookseller who first published James Joyce’s Ulysses a century ago, these radiant historical novels illuminate many lives and times.

Read-alikes Black Lives and Art under Jim Crow and Beyond • In Chasing Me to My Grave (2021), a unique and powerful memoir in words and paintings and a Booklist Top of the List winner, Winfred Rembert tells the galvanizing story of his surviving racial tyranny and violence in Georgia to become an artist. In his foreword, prominent social-justice lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson praises Rembert as a “gifted” and “brutally honest” storyteller and “one of the finest and most original vernacular artists in America.” The books below address various aspects of Rembert’s experiences and showcase the work of other seminal African American artists.

Read-alikes Russian Lies and Nuclear Roulette • The Half Life of Valery K rekindles awareness of the appalling consequences of Russian tyranny and lies and the implicit yet all-too-often hidden risks of nuclear power. These imaginative and incisive historical novels explore various aspects of these themes in different settings and from different perspectives.

Top 10 Historical Fiction Debuts • The first-time historical novelists called out here as the best in a year of many excellent debut works bring fluency in history, emotional intelligence, and vivid imagination to tales of individuals navigating tyranny, war, exile, racism, and love around the world.

Top 10 Romance Fiction • Clever contemporary romances exploring sensitive issues with wit, charm, and imagination, along with smart historical rom-coms, make for a vibrant best list.

Trend Alert Love On and Off the Set • Whether it’s the romantic tension that develops into an unscripted romance between two contestants on a reality television show or a sexy on-screen kiss that leads to more off-screen passion, there is something about being in front of a camera or behind the scenes of a movie or television production that creates the perfect setting for romance.

Read-alikes New Royals in Romance • Perhaps it’s the allure of a life of unstinting luxury. Possibly it’s the idea of having your every wish be someone else’s command. Or maybe it’s just the thought of wearing a tiara at breakfast. Whatever the reason, there’s no denying the enduring appeal of falling in love with a royal as so enchantingly demonstrated in Toni Shiloh’s To Win a Prince and these other royal romances.

Top 10 Romance Fiction Debuts • The most outstanding debut romance novels feature endearing protagonists, obstacles to happiness involving questions of identity and autonomy, and lots of humor and love.

Reserve These Reads Adult • Get your hands on these hotly anticipated books, all out this month.

FEBRUARY 2023 • The LibraryReads Hall of Fame designation honors authors who have had multiple titles appear on the monthly LibraryReads list since 2013.

Must Listen Historical Fiction on Audio • These recent audiobooks bring history to life through richly developed and vibrantly voiced characters.

Listen-alikes Teen Romance in Two Voices • On paper, a romance told with an alternating narration like You Say It First, by Katie Cotugno, helps build suspense around the potential couple and allows for a view into both sides of the story. On audio,...