Booklist Vol. 118, No. 14, 3/15/22

Letter from the Editor / George Kendall It’s been more than two years since Booklist attended an in-person conference, but that changes with the PLA meeting in Portland, Oregon, and I can’t express how excited we are. The March 15 Booklist, along with the March issue of Book Links, are our PLA conference magazines. We do hope, if you are attending, that you will stop by our booth at PLA and talk with us. We want to hear about you and your libraries, and how you’re doing in a time that is at once hopeful, with the pandemic, perhaps, easing, but also frustrating and distressing given the onslaught of book challenges and outright bans. I strongly recommend reading Michael Cart’s powerful column, “Liberty and Vigilance” (p.64). “Readers, my blood is…

ALA’s 2022 Best Lists Art from A World on the Wing. Notable Books, 2022 The Notable Books Council, ALA Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), presents its annual best-of list of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles published in the U.S., 25 books selected for their significant contribution to the expansion of knowledge or for the pleasure they provide. This list has been compiled for use by general readers and for librarians who work with adults. All titles were published in 2021. Fiction Afterparties. By Anthony Veasna So. Ecco, $27.99 (9780063049901). A rich collection of unique, vivid, and expertly written short stories featuring characters from the Cambodian diaspora in America. Cloud Cuckoo Land. By Anthony Doerr. Scribner, $30 (9781982168438). A celebration of the power of the written word echoing through time,…

The Reading List: Best Adult Genre Fiction, 2022 Established in 2007 by the CODES section of RUSA, the Reading List Council consists of librarians who are experts in readers’ advisory and collection development. The Reading List is their annual best-of selection comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers, with a shortlist of honor titles in each category. Adrenaline Razorblade Tears. By S. A. Cosby. Flatiron, $26.99 (9781250252708). Husbands Derek and Isaiah were estranged from their fathers, but after the couple is gunned down, ex-cons Ike and Buddy Lee seek personal redemption and bloody justice for their sons in this gritty, vengeance-fueled thriller. • Shortlist: Bullet Train, by Kōtarō Isaka, tr. by Sam Malissa (Overlook); Never Saw Me Com ing, by Vera Kurian (Park Row); The Push, by Ashley Audrain…

The CODES List: Cookbooks, 2022 The CODES List, a committee of the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), has announced the 2022 selection of essential cookbooks for public libraries, highlighting titles for both avid home chefs and those just learning the rewards of making a meal. The list further supports those who appreciate the many joys of reading cookbooks, even if they rarely venture into the kitchen. As judged by librarians who cooked from, enjoyed, and discussed them, these are the cookbooks that will stand the test of time, become reliable favorites, and nourish readers. Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple. By Dorie Greenspan. Harvest, $35 (9780358223580). Beloved cookbook author Greenspan “plays around” with variations of her many sweet, salty, and…

Over the Rainbow, 2022 This year, the Over the Rainbow committee of ALA’s Rainbow Roundtable gave careful consideration to 332 books across all genres, including memoir, history, true crime, mystery, romance, fiction, poetry, and more. The final ten selections showcase a wide range of queer stories and experiences, working to dispel, one book at a time, the myth of the single narrative for queer lives. Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness. By Da’Shaun L. Harrison. North Atlantic, $14.95 (9781623175979). This title is in conversation with Sonya Renee Taylor’s The Body Is Not an Apology and looks through a wider lens to explain how anti-fatness is also anti-Blackness. Black Boy out of Time. By Hari Ziyad. Amazon/Little A, $24.95 (9781542091329). Ziyad, raised in Cleveland with 18 siblings by…

Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2022 The Best Fiction for Young Adults list is compiled annually by a committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and comprises fiction appropriate for ages 12 to 18. All titles were published in 2021 unless otherwise noted. The committee’s top 10 choices are identified with an asterisk (*). Ace of Spades. By Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. Feiwel and Friends, $18.99 (9781250800817). Ambitious queen bee Chiamaka and loner scholarship kid Devon are the only Black students at school. That’s all they have in common until an online bully going by the name “Aces” starts spilling all their secrets. Chiamaka and Devon will have to join forces to bring Aces down—or lose everything. A 2022 Morris Award finalist and a 2022 Top 10 Rainbow List selection…