Election Reading Lists, Climate Fiction, and More Literary Library News, September 17, 2024

Up your reader advisory skills with these book lists, keep your collection fresh with new releases, and more links for library workers.

Katie McLain Horner Sep 17, 2024

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Katie McLain Horner

Contributing Editor

Katie's parents never told her "no" when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she's not at work, she's at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves. Twitter: @kt_librarylady

View All posts by Katie McLain Horner

Here’s your weekly roundup of literary news for librarians, including election year reading lists, books about female friendships, and the best historical fiction of the 21st century.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

11 predictions on what AI does next.

New & Upcoming Titles

HarperCollins has acquired the rights to the “bombshell” memoir from Jay Stratton, the former director of the US government’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. (This is the kind of book I secretly love…)

Scarlett St. Clair has announced a new Biblical sex-positive, “feminist rage fantasy” called Terror at the Gates.

A new wave of children’s books about bodies, puberty, and sexual education.

Max Allan Collins will be continuing the story of Sam Spade in The Return of the Maltese Falcon, out in January 2026.

Annabel Monaghan’s next novel, It’s a Love Story, will come out next summer.

Here’s the cover reveal for Tessa Bailey’s Dream Girl Drama.

Emily Henry’s next book will be titled Great Big Beautiful Life.

Here’s the cover reveal for Samira Ahmed’s latest novel, The Singular Life of Aria Patel.

Here’s a first look at Jennifer Haigh’s new novel, Rabbit Moon.

And here’s a first look at Eve’s upcoming memoir, Who’s That Girl?

The best cookbooks of 2024 so far.

Fall picks from Eater (cookbooks), LitHub.

Weekly picks from Crime Reads, Lithub, Locus, New York Times.

September picks from People, Reactor (fantasy, science fiction, horror/SFF cross-over)

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

Here One Moment – Liane Moriarty (New York Times, Washington Post)

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI – Yuval Noah Harari (Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post)

The Women Behind the Door – Roddy Doyle (New York Times, Washington Post)

Tell Me Everything – Elizabeth Strout (Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

How historical fiction redefined the literary canon.

Going beyond Fargo with Minnesota crime fiction.

Coming to terms with climate fiction.

On the Riot

New books to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

8 of the best recent LGBTQ+ picture books.

New magical realism books.

The 10 buzziest queer books out this fall.

The best new weekly releases to TBR.

Here are all of the big book club picks for September 2024.

The best new mysteries for your book club this fall.

The power of climate fiction in today’s world.

Audiophilia

Amazon is allowing Audible narrators to clone themselves with AI.

3 riveting suspense novels for audiobook listeners.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Children’s books about overcoming perfectionism.

Empowering stories of Hispanic women for kids in Spanish.

Magical chapter books to introduce 6-8-year-olds to fantasy.

A YA dark academia reading list.

The 12 best YA cozy horror novels.

Adults

Head back to Stars Hollow with these books by and about the Gilmore Girls.

Reading suggestions for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses.

8 novels that belong to more than one character.

Literary horror novels to sink your teeth into.

Books to give you hope in the midst of climate anxiety.

7 eerie crime novels.

5 horror novels built around female friendship, plus 5 non-horror novels about female friendship.

5 psychological thrillers about reunions and old secrets.

20 books to read this election season.

10 campus novels for adults.

On the Riot

Picture books for Latine History Month.

8 essential YA books for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Books about media literacy.

The best historical fiction of the 21st century (so far).

9 scary supernatural mysteries.

10 historical fiction retellings from Austen to Shakespeare.

8 back-to-school books for adults.

9 books about American elections throughout history.

8 books about the importance of community.

The best mystery novels from the last 10 years.

Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Edelweiss has a new catalog dedicated to diverse titles, which is managed by Early Word Galley Chatter Vicki Nesting. Check it out!