Previews, Reviews, and Collection Development
This week, Library Journal and School Library Journal staffers are getting cozy with tales of murder and with children’s literature. SLJ‘s Shelley Diaz and Chelsey Philpot are both reading Bennett Madison’s September Girls (HarperCollins) and I’m listening to an audiobook full of crunchy, creaky words: armiger, chiliarch, cacogen, exultant, optimate, destrier, undine. If you see me murmuring to myself on the [...]
What better way to enjoy a summer day than by diving into the pleasures of genre fiction? Here to help you find your next genre read are members of the American Library Association’s Reading List Council, who annually present their picks for the best in genre fiction. They found a crop of dark and chilling tales to contrast with the sunny weather outside as well as some fun beach reads. The eight genres the council currently considers include adrenaline titles (suspense, thrillers, and action adventure), fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, sf, and women’s fiction. The list below pairs each 2013 release with an older read-alike. Whether you choose one of the new books or one of the backlist read-alikes, you’re sure to find a perfect summer title.
Faulks, Sebastian. Jeeves and the Wedding Bells. St. Martin’s. Nov. 2013. NAp. ISBN 9781250047595. $24.99. POP FICTION What a combination! Faulks, author of absorbingly well-rendered best sellers like Charlotte Gray, as well as the James Bond sequel Devil May Care, here takes on one of his favorite authors with the permission of the estate. Yes, [...]
Bruen, Ken. Purgatory. Mysterious Pr: Grove/Atlantic. Nov. 2013. 272p. ISBN 9780802126078. $24. CD: Highbridge Audio. MYSTERY Nine previous titles, a Shamus Award, multiple award nominations, two feature films, and now this: even as he struggles to maintain his hard-won stability, former cop Jack Taylor must face a vigilante killer wiping out the bad guys of [...]
Reviews of Terry Brooks’s The Annotated Sword of Shannara, Peter Høeg’s The Elephant Keepers’ Children, and Tim O’Brien’s If I Die in a Combat Zone, plus a full list of audio reviews in the Apr. 1 issue.
It’s National Library Week, and here’s what some of the Library Journal and School Library Journal staffers are reading. A lot of books come across our desks, of course, but we also find time to visit libraries and bookstores, too.
Dalglish, David. A Dance of Cloaks. Orbit: Hachette. Oct. 2013. 480p. ISBN 9780316242394. pap. $16. FANTASY The self-published Dalglish, who’s made a mint as author of four series set in the world of Dezrel, leaps to big-time traditional publishing with this dark and moody work, part of the “Shadowdance” trilogy. Son and heir apparent of [...]
Reviews of Tom Holt’s Doughnut, Mary Robinette Kowal’s Without a Summer, and Neal Asher’s The Departure, plus a full list of SF/F titles in the Mar. 15 issue.
SF/F mass market paperbacks from the Feb. 15 issue.
The latest news from the SF/F world.
LJ Reviews Social Club