Innholdsfortegnelse for Booklist, Vol. 119, No. 22, 8/1/23 i Booklist

Nearly every day there’s a news story about UFOs and other unexplained aerial phenomena. To me, these stories frame Earth as a permanent, fixed point in space, visited by others. I’m mostly relieved, though sometimes disappointed, to learn there is no tangible evidence supporting visitations, except for grainy videos of objects flitting around the night sky. I am a bit skeptical. Yet, like the books reviewed in this issue focused on sf, fantasy & horror, these news stories help spark our imagination. What if Earth is visited by beings from other galaxies? What if the universe is so infinitely large that there are copies of us out there? What if AI takes over, becoming the dominant form of intelligence on Earth? Considering these mind-boggling possibilities, I realize I’ve been sitting,…

The year’s best sf/fantasy & horror, reviewed in Booklist from August 2022 to July 2023, take place in an alternate London, a fantasy coffee shop, and the belly of a whale, showcasing depths of imagination. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. By Shannon Chakraborty. 2023. Harper Voyager, $32 (9780062963505). This series starter follows the high-seas adventures of an unusually tall, middle-aged, Muslim pirate captain with a bad knee and a gold tooth who gets the crew back together for a rescue operation. Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction. Ed. by Sheree Renée Thomas and others. 2022. Tor.com, $27.99 (9781250833006). Thirty-two original speculative stories from Africa and the African diaspora span genres and forms, from complicated webs of narrative to tales of generational magic, androids, time travel, and terrifying librarians.…

Older Readers Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe. By Steve Sheinkin. Aug. 2023. 256p. Roaring Brook, $19.99 (9781250265722). Gr. 7–12. 940.5318. This account of two Jewish teens from Slovakia and their efforts to survive the Holocaust brings fresh relevance to the unimaginable horrors of WWII. Rudi thought himself an invincible 17-year-old when he fled Slovakia, only to be almost immediately arrested and shipped to Auschwitz. His blond-haired, blue-eyed classmate Gerta secretly harbored a crush on Rudi, although he dismissed her as a silly girl who wore knit hats with pompoms. Alternating chapters tell of Gerta’s displacements and harrowing fears of betrayal, first as a refugee and then as a member of the Slovakian underground; Rudi’s increasingly desperate circumstances as he faces the monstrosities of…

Antelope Woman. By Louise Erdrich. Read by the author. 2023. 9hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780063031227). Literary history is certainly contained here. Erdrich published her sixth novel, The Antelope Wife, in 1998. “I understood an entirely different book lay within The Antelope Wife,” she writes in the author’s note to this updated version. “The new book obsessed me, but also came to frustrate me because it was partly made out of the old book.” She never writes “The End” at the end of a manuscript, she explains: “publishing is a way of forcing [her]self to leave off . . . But with this one, I was surprised.” In 2016, her “antelope woman [who] was never a wife” returned in a new edition; Erdrich’s daughter Aza (to whom she dedicates this version) created…

Journalism & Publishing The Object at Hand: Intriguing and Inspiring Stories from the Smithsonian Collections. By Beth Py-Lieberman. Sept. 2023. 272p. illus. Smithsonian, $29.95 (9781588347497). 069.09753. Museums can be overwhelming, and the Smithsonian, a massive collection encompassing 21 separate facilities and over 150 million objects, especially so. Py-Lieberman, a senior editor at Smithsonian magazine, comes to the rescue with this carefully curated guide to 86 notable holdings, thematically arranged by attributes such as “haunting,” “fierce,” and “playful.” Each section opens with defining criteria and thoughtful commentary, and then considers individual pieces in multipage essays. Py-Lieberman’s engaging narrative weaves stories around the significance and provenance of different objects. (Black-and-white photos illustrate many, but not all, of the entries.) Selections include some time-honored crowd-pleasers (the Hope Diamond), but the majority represent…

General Fiction America Fantastica. By Tim O’Brien. Oct. 2023. 464p. Mariner, $32 (9780063318502); e-book (9780063318526). Once a promising journalist with Pulitzer potential, Boyd Halverson finds himself in reduced circumstances and even lower expectations. As store manager at Penney’s, Boyd attends Kiwanis meetings and drinks too much, a shadow of his former life when he was married to the beautiful Evelyn, daughter of billionaire shipbuilder Dooney. Years earlier, Boyd’s planned exposé of Dooney’s shipbuilding malfeasance was dead in the water when Dooney preemptively destroyed Boyd’s career by revealing Boyd’s fictional academic and military record. Boyd is set on retribution when he holds up a small-town bank and takes diminutive spitfire bank teller Angie Bing along for the ride. So begins O’Brien’s farcical satire that blends fierce social commentary and a searing…

The best sf/fantasy and horror debuts, all reviewed in Booklist from August 2022 through July 2023, showcase exciting newvoices in the genres. Bad Cree. By Jessica Johns. 2023. Doubleday, $28 (9780385548694). A young Cree woman finds herself unable to outrun her sister’s tragic death and the nightmares that follow in this haunting debut that laces cryptid terror into a community’s sense of loss. Forged by Blood. By Ehigbor Okosun. 2023. Harper Voyager, $32 (9780063112629). Spot-on world building based on Nigerian mythology shines in this first in a fantasy duology in which a nation threatens its magic users and a dethroned daughter schemes to win back the crown. Ink Blood Sister Scribe. By Emma Törzs. 2023. Morrow, $27.99 (9780063253469). Long-kept family secrets and tested loyalties complicate the lives of estranged sisters…

Older Readers Actually Super. By Adi Alsaid. Aug. 2023. 288p. Knopf, $18.99 (9780593375808). Gr. 9–12. Indoctrinated as a child by her dour grandmother to believe that there is more evil than good in the world, 18-year-old Isabel despairs until one day she comes across a website called the Actually Super forum, whose members believe there are superheroes. No, not the Marvel comics kind but ordinary people who have superhuman abilities, which they use for good while remaining resolutely anonymous (rumor has it there is one in Tokyo). Beyond intrigued, Isabel drops out of school and flies to Tokyo in search of this super, after first agreeing to meet her friends on a beach in Mexico in a year. When she fails to find the super in Tokyo, Isabel goes on…

A pocalyptically high stakes, intricate politics, and magic as a means to self-discovery are the bones of this list of top fantasy and sf books, reviewed in Booklist between August 2022 and July 2023. (For this year’s list of top horror books for kids, see p.65). Bone Weaver. By Aden Polydoros. 2022. Harlequin/Inkyard, $19.99 (9781335915825). Gr. 9–12. Toma lives in the wilderness with her adoptive family, who are upyri, or living dead. When Toma and her sister, Galina, cross paths with the deposed tsar and Galina is kidnapped by revolutionaries, Toma sets off to rescue her sister and face down the rebellion. Ellie Engle Saves Herself. By Leah Johnson. Illus. by Mirelle Ortega. 2023. Disney/Hyperion, $18.99 (9781368085557). Gr. 4–8. When an earthquake gives Ellie the power to bring back dead…

Haunted houses, eerie fantasy lands, and isolated islands provide rich landscapes for this year’s best fantastical titles on audio for adults. Each of these superb and entrancing titles was reviewed in Booklist between August 2022 and August 2023. All Hallows. By Christopher Golden. Read by Ronnie Butler and January LaVoy. 2023. 11hr. Orange Sky Audio. There’s nothing scarier than terror in your own backyard, and horror fans will love this slow-burn narrated with precision and an edge. The Babysitter Lives. By Stephen Graham Jones. Read by Isabella Star LaBlanc. 2022. 7.5hr. Simon & Schuster Audio. Charlotte won’t get much studying done at her babysitting job after the twins disappear and the house’s dark history confronts her in this audio-exclusive narrated by LaBlanc with steely resolve. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.…

You heard it here: next year is somehow only five months away, so you’ll find some exciting 2024 titles below in addition to sure-to-be-hot late-fall books. Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond. By Henry Winkler. Celadon, $30 (9781250888099). Oct. The purported “nicest guy in Hollywood” opens up about his childhood, lifelong challenges, and gratitude for 50-plus years as a working actor. I Must Be Dreaming. By Roz Chast. Bloomsbury, $27.99 (9781620403228). Oct. Cartoonist Chast, whose mega-best-selling Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant was a finalist for the National Book Award, unpacks dream theory and her own bedtime voyages in her next graphic novel. Inheritance. By Nora Roberts. St. Martin’s, $30 (9781250288325). Nov. One million copies are planned for this first book in the centuries-spanning Lost Bride…

The Blackwoods. By Brandy Colbert. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, $19.99 (9780063091597). Gr. 9–12. Oct. Critically acclaimed Colbert offers a stirring multigenerational story about a dynastic Hollywood family and the weight of celebrity on young people. The Blood Years. By Elana K. Arnold. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, $19.99 (9780062990853). Gr. 9–12. Oct. Inspired by her grandmother’s experiences, Arnold’s latest follows two Jewish sisters trying to survive as war encroaches on their Romanian home. Charming Young Man. By Eliot Schrefer. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, $19.99 (9780062982391). Gr. 9–12. Oct. The life of a talented young pianist at the turn of the twentieth century in Paris is the subject of Schrefer’s forthcoming novel, which explores prestige and the cost of pursuing it. Every Dreaming Creature. By Brendan Wenzel. Illus. by the author. Little, Brown, $18.99 (9780316512534). PreS–Gr. 2. Sept. Whimsical artwork…

Horror is back with a vengeance this year, with a record number of titles published for teens and middle-grade readers. In response, we’ve resurrected the horror Top 10 to shine our gore-spattered flashlight on the best among them, all reviewed between August 2022 and July 2023 All the Dead Lie Down. By Kyrie McCauley. 2023. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, $19.99 (9780063242982). Gr. 9–12. After the death of her mother, Marin takes a job nannying at Lovelace House, where creepy vibes, dark secrets, and macabre incidents abound. An atmospheric, gothic novel for fans of horror, fairy tales, and good storytelling. Eerie Tales from the School of Screams. By Graham Annable. Art by the author. 2023. First Second, $14.99 (9781250195036). Gr. 3–6. This just-scary-enough collection of short horror comics starts in a classroom, where…

Adult The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession. By Michael Finkel. Read by Edoardo Ballerini and the author. 2023. 5.5hr. Books on Tape, DD (9780593741696). Millions of dollars of stolen art pieces—paintings, sculpture, antique weapons and instruments—are hidden away in an attic in rural France for an audience of two. The tale of the daring thief who stole these pieces not to sell but simply to possess makes for a rollicking heist story. But Stéphane Breitwieser’s audacity and skill at eluding security, however lax at the time, is amazing in its simplicity. But there is more to the story; a person who believes himself entitled to this art is an interesting character study, but Breitwieser’s mother and girlfriend are key players in the mystery…