Innholdsfortegnelse for Booklist, Vol. 120, No. 22, 8/1/24 i Booklist

News about AI is omnipresent. I read articles on AI and I review books on the subject. Every day, it seems, I’m peppered with promotions for the latest AI tools that help with everything from taking notes to setting agendas, creating presentations, improving personal decision-making, creating immersive experiences, discovering efficiencies, and expanding entertainment. There are myriad AI dangers, as well, involving privacy, bias, data ethics, and deliberately misleading disinformation. Frighteningly, image recognition and weaponry powered by AI are now used in warfare and global conquest. I read an article in The Guardian noting that July 21, 2024, was the “hottest ever recorded day.” Immediately thereafter, I read an article from March 2024 in Vox titled, “AI already uses as much energy as a small country. It’s only the beginning.” Thinking…

The year’s best sf/fantasy and horror, reviewed in Booklist from August 2023 to July 2024, showcase the most outstanding titles in speculative fiction, from Afrocentric sf shorts to haunted slasher film stories to dragon tales to two Arthurian retellings. The Bright Sword. By Lev Grossman. 2024. Viking, $35 (9780735224049). An aspiring Knight of the Round Table arrives in Camelot too late—Arthur is dead; Excalibur is gone; and he and the remaining knights must fight for the soul of Britain against Morgan Le Fay in this fastpaced epic. Convergence Problems. By Wole Talabi. 2024. DAW, $27 (9780756418830). The short works here present a unique Afrocentric sf world, focusing on common themes of family connections in a future world touched by climate change and alien contact, from a doomed Mars mission to…

The best sf/fantasy and horror debuts, all reviewed in Booklist from August 2023 through July 2024, showcase exciting new voices in the genres, and use technological innovations, magic, and humor to tell unique stories. After World. By Debbie Urbanski. 2023. Simon & Schuster, $27.99 (9781668023457). An artificial intelligence recounts the last days of Earth’s last human, sifting through references to scholarly and other works in the human’s journal, written as the human witnesses a rewilding world. Assistant to the Villain. By Hannah Nicole Maehrer. 2023. Entangled/Red Tower, $19.99 (9781649375803). This delightfully weird mash-up of office comedy, fractured fairytale, and unrequited love story follows an optimistic local villager who finds herself working for the kingdom’s most infamous, powerful magician. The Book of Doors. By Gareth Brown. 2024. Morrow, $30 (9780063323988). A…

Unfortunately, the subject of war continues to be relevant, and broaching the subject with small children can be tricky. While many titles tackling this topic for young readers focus on hope and resilience, Elbayya takes her debut as an opportunity to highlight the power of community, not shying away from the harsh impact of war while showing the resilience and power of depending on those around you. Readers witness a young child’s first interaction with war and learn how dependence on her community fuels hope and resilience in a time of uncertainty. Salam (the Arabic word for peace) is a young girl with a head covering, a peak of curly hair, and a friendly bird that flits by her side. She’s enamored by the work of her grandfather Sido, who…

Ghosts, monsters, vampires, and murderous forests are just a few of the spine-tingling elements you’ll find in this list of excellent horror for kids and teens, reviewed in Booklist from August 2023 through July 2024. The Blonde Dies First. By Joelle Wellington. 2024. Simon & Schuster, $19.99 (9781665922456). Gr. 9–12. A tight-knit Brooklyn friend group is put to the test post–Ouija board experience and uses horror-movie rules to survive in this fresh, subversive homage to beloved horror tropes. The Dark We Know. By Wen-yi Lee. 2024. Zando/Gillian Flynn, $19.99 (9781638930587). Gr. 9–12. In this eerie, atmospheric debut, Isa teams up with her last living childhood friend to save their hometown from a supernatural threat inducing suicide in the youth. Don’t Want to Be Your Monster. By Deke Moulton. 2023. Tundra,…

This year’s top 10 sf and fantasy titles for youth, reviewed in Booklist from August 2023 through July 2024, showcase a fascinating array of magic systems and technologies–and in one case, both–that will thrill genre fans with the expansive possibilities of imagination. The Girl, the Ring, & the Baseball Bat. By Camille Gomera-Tavarez. 2024. Levine Querido, $19.99 (9781646142651). Gr. 10-12. Caro, Rosie, and Zeke each possesses a magical item, but the items end up being more than the trio bargained for in this thrilling, voice-driven novel about self-discovery, family secrets, and magic. Infinity Alchemist. By Kacen Callender. 2024. Tor Teen, $19.99 (9781250890252). Gr. 10-12. Prohibitions restrict alchemy outside of expensive education at a single institution, but Ash teaches himself and joins forces with graduate student Ramsay for a dangerous mission.…

Philosophy & Psychology Habits of a Peacemaker: 10 Habits to Change Our Potentially Toxic Conversations into Healthy Dialogues. By Steven T. Collis. Sept. 2024. 256p. Shadow Mountain, $26.99 (9781639932979). 158.1. As a law professor who specializes in the First Amendment, Collis has had his share of uncomfortable conversations. In this logically argued book, his aim is to give readers strategies for defusing toxic conversations and coming up with usable solutions to today’s problems. His advice sounds basic: assume the best about people, be open to change, and spend time with people with differing viewpoints. What gives his advice weight are the examples he gives from his own conversations and life experiences. It’s not easy to keep an open mind when others are shouting at you or flinging daggers on social…

General Fiction Blue Sisters. By Coco Mellors. Sept. 2024. 352p. Ballantine, $28.99 (9780593723760); e-book (9780593723777). The three remaining Blue sisters are estranged and living very different lives. Avery is the oldest and has always cared for her sisters. She appears to have gotten her life together, having recovered from her addictions, and is a successful lawyer, married to a beautiful woman. Avery enjoys being needed, but ever since her sister Nicky died of an accidental overdose, she has been sabotaging her future. Bonnie was a champion fighter, up until Nicky’s death. After losing a match, Bonnie walked away from it all. Lucky is a beautiful model who flies all around the world, but her increasing dependency on drugs and alcohol is no longer deniable. An email from their mother informs…

Older Readers The Ballerina of Auschwitz: Young Adult Edition of The Choice. By Edith Eva Eger. Oct. 2024. 192p. Atheneum, $18.99 (9781665952552). Gr. 8–12. 940.5318. Eger pares down The Choice, her National Jewish Book Award–winning and New York Times best-selling combination Holocaust memoir and self-help book, into a sensitive, thought-provoking account for teens. Opening chapters recount her early years in Hungary before WWII. Considered the runt of the family, Eger, in opposition to her musically gifted older sisters, turned to dancing and gymnastics. Entering puberty, discovering first love, and dealing with family struggles are all relatable against the backdrop of antisemitism. But just as 16-year-old Eger is becoming independent, she, her oldest sister, and her parents are taken to Auschwitz. After she and her sister are separated from their parents,…

Adult Fiction Birding with Benefits. By Sarah T. Dubb. Read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Evan Sibley. 2024. 10hr. Simon & Schuster Audio, DD (9781797179063). When boundlessly enthusiastic divorced teacher Celeste snuggles up to reserved John at his birdwatching tournament, he is shocked and she is confused. Isn’t a fake date what he had hoped for? The mix-up is quickly resolved, but the odd couple decides to keep the ruse (and birding partnership) going throughout the tournament. The more time they spend together, the more they are challenged to prove to Celeste’s coworkers and John’s ex that they are a couple, so of course they need to practice those more intimate skills, to great effect. Hutchinson-Shaw and Sibley exchange narration to provide each lover’s viewpoint. Their very different energies are well…

What’s on the horizon for fall and beyond? Just-announced memoirs, a series surprise, a revisited classic, and more! —Annie Bostrom City of Night Birds. By Juhea Kim. Ecco, $30 (9780063394759). Nov. In St. Petersburg, a ballerina wrestles with a career that may be behind her and with two opposing male dancers in the second novel from the author of the much-celebrated Beasts of a Little Land (2021). Death of the Author. By Nnedi Okorafor. Morrow, $30 (9780063391147). Jan. Sf giant Okorafor offers a metanovel in which an author of midlist literary fiction decides to write a sf epic and, shocking her most of all, the book changes everything. Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions. By John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. Doubleday, $30 (9780385550444). Oct. Legal-thriller star Grisham teams up…

Behind the Brand. Bellwether/Blastoff! Discovery. Gr. 3–8. (4 new titles) Fender. By Sara Green. 2024. 32p. illus. lib. ed., $27.95 (9798886878080). 787.87. Nike. By Sara Green. 2024. 32p. illus. lib. ed., $27.95 (9798886878097). 381.4568716. Sega. By Sara Green. 2024. 32p. illus. lib. ed., $27.95 (9798886878103). 794.8. TikTok. By Sara Green. 2024. 32p. illus. lib. ed., $27.95 (9798886878110). 302.231. The Behind the Brand series shares the history of popular brands in the U.S. through visually appealing high/low readers with short paragraphs and plenty of large, colorful photos and infographics. Each entry opens by showing young people interacting with the brand and continues with a brief overview of the brand’s products, earnings, headquarters, and founder. The bulk of the books covers the creation of the brand and its rise to fame. Fender…

It feels like, every year, one publisher or another claims to have discovered the Chosen One: the next world-shattering middle-grade fantasy in the tradition of His Dark Materials, Percy Jackson, and, of course, Harry Potter. Fortunately, that particular status can only be bestowed over the course of time by actual readers—not marketing campaigns, trade reviews, or even a slew of awards—and while it’s much too soon to compare Rundell’s new series starter to its luminous ancestors, it’s hard to deny that it does kindle some of the secret fire that connects the classics. Impossible Creatures is a quintessential portal fantasy, and readers will be transported even before the first page, as they’re greeted by Allyn’s beautifully rendered map of the Archipelago, a magically concealed consortium of islands that is home…

Live and Let Die. By Ian Fleming. Read by Adjoa Andoh. 2024. 8hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780063298590). A refresh of Fleming’s popular James Bond series. With the events of Casino Royale still on his mind, Bond gets another shot at the evil Soviet organization SMERSH, this time going toe-to-toe with the enigmatic Mr. Big. In an adventure spanning Harlem and Moscow by way of Jamaica, Agent 007 needs to engage in an underwater battle and dance with fortune-telling in order to sabotage Mr. Big’s operation. The action sequences propel the story forward with suspense, though readers will note the dated content and language (including the use of racial epithets). Well-honored narrator and actress Adjoa Andoh commands the text with an absorbing, impeccable performance well suited to the Bond style. She effortlessly…