Table of contents for February 2024 in Booklist Reader

The Hacienda. By Isabel Canas. 2022. Berkley. After marrying mysterious widower Don Rodolfo Solorzano, Beatriz moves into Hacienda San Isidro, where monsters both real and spectral do their best to drive her away. Supernatural suspense meets historical romance in this spectacular debut. Her Dark Lies. By J. T. Ellison. 2021. MIRA. Ellison successfully marries the retro gothic flavor of Rebecca with the on-trend luxe lifestyle of White Lotus in her romantic-suspense tale about soon-to-be married Claire Hunter, who receives a warning that her husband is not the man she believes him to be. Mexican Gothic. By Silvia Moreno-Garcia. 202. Del Rey. Is Noemi Taboada’s newly married cousin merely mad or is her husband really trying to poison her? Moreno-Garcia provides a refreshingly different 1950s Mexico setting for this stylish gothic…

The LibraryReads Hall of Fame designation honors authors who have had multiple titles appear on the monthly list since 2013. Find out more at ww.LibraryReads.org/HOF The Warm Hands of Ghosts: A Novel Katherine Arden (Del Rey) NoveList read-alike: The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner The Women: A Novel Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press) NoveList read-alike: The Lotus Eaters by Emily Clements The Guest B.A. Paris (St. Martin’s Press) NoveList read-alike: The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan Fangirl Down Tessa Bailey (Avon) NoveList read-alike: The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy Bride Ali Hazelwood (Berkley) NoveList read-alike: Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross Simply the Best: A Chicago Stars Novel Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Avon) NoveList read-alike: The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson At First Spite: A Harlot’s Bay Novel Olivia…

After many years working to amplify books and authors via the PBS Book initiative, we are thrilled to announce the launch of a national PBS Books Readers Club in partnership with PBS. The PBS Books Readers Club will highlight authors and significant books that pair perfectly with the programming themes our viewers love to watch on PBS. In 2024, PBS Books selects book club picks that will be revealed and discussed in a monthly digital-first series featuring conversations with authors and PBS personalities. Episodes will be released on Facebook and YouTube the last Wednesday of every month. Visit pbsbooks.org/subscribe to sign up for our newsletter and access special Readers Club features. The first episode was released on January 31 and highlighted a MASTERPIECE favorite show, ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL.…

Anna and the French Kiss + Only on the Weekends In Perkins’ debut, a runaway hit, Anna is chagrined to be sent away to boarding school in Paris for her senior year, leaving behind a promising budding relationship. When she starts to fall for not just Paris but a boy at school—who might also be taken—the waters muddy. Stonewall winner Atta’s novel in verse introduces Dean, the son of a filmmaker, who faces a similar dilemma when his father uproots him for a three-month film shoot in Glasgow just as he’s begun a tentative relationship with his dream guy. When he meets movie star and trans activist Finlay on the shoot, his fragile situation grows even more complex. Anna and the French Kiss. By Stephanie Perkins. 2010. Dutton. Gr. 9–12.…

Because Claudette. By Tracey Baptiste. Illus. by Tonya Engel. 2022. Dial. Gr. 1–3. Baptiste situates Claudette Colvin’s 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person as part of a long chain of interconnected events and other acts of civil disobedience. Curve and Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams. By Andrea J. Loney. Illus. by Keith Mallett. 2022. Knopf. K–Gr. 3. Pioneering Black architect Paul R. Williams comes to vivid life in this beautifully illustrated account of his life and the many accolades he earned, including sitting on President Eisenhower’s National Housing Commission. Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis. By Lesa Cline-Ransome. Illus. by James E. Ransome. 2024. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman. Gr. 2–6. Densely detailed and…

Enchanted to Meet You. By Meg Cabot. 2023. Avon. Despite what World Council of Witches’ Derrick Winters says, Jessica Gold can’t believe that she is West Harbor’s Chosen One—especially given her past disastrous relationship with magic. Cabot, the author of several popular romantic series including The Princess Diaries, once again proves her gift for creating literary magic. The Ex Hex. By Erin Sterling. 2021. Avon. Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones thought she was just putting a silly spell on Rhys Penhallow after he broke up with her, but it turns out Vivienne’s “ex hex” now has some very real consequences for Rhys and everyone else in Graves Glen. Writing as Rachel Hawkins, Sterling is also the author of the YA paranormal romance series Hex Hall. Go Hex Yourself. By Jessica…

Fiction Fourteen Days. Edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston. Harper. Thirty-six exceptional writers, including Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, and R. L. Stine, collaborated on this novel about an apartment building in New York’s Lower East Side, whose tenants gather on the roof to tell stories during the COVID-19 lockdown. The Fox Wife. By Yangsze Choo. Holt. In Manchuria in 1908, a detective investigates the death of a courtesan while the family that owns a famous medicine shop thinks the cure for their curse is the arrival of a new servant, a woman with secrets of her own. Choo’s latest epic is a novel of folktales, love, and second chances. The Guest. By B. A. Paris. St. Martin’s. In Paris’ latest domestic suspense tale (after The Prisoner, 2022), a couple…

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. By Sally Thorne. Read by Moira Quirk. 2022. 11.5hr. HarperAudio. Rom-com meets classic horror in this clever spin on matchmaking. Quirk brings life to all the characters and renders Angelika with genuine growth. A delightful, madcap adventure. Book Lovers. By Emily Henry. Read by Julia Whelan. 2022. 11.5hr. Books on Tape. The dialogue in this beach town rom-com is laugh-out-loud funny, and reader Whelan gives it just the right sass and spark as two confirmed city people out of their element fall in love. Fake It till You Bake It. By Jamie Wesley. Read by Kassiopia DeVora. 2022. 10hr. Orange Sky Audio. Cupcakes, football, and reality TV make a tricky recipe for love. Through DeVora’s third-person narration, listeners can easily understand Jada’s feelings about her…

Boys Don’t Fry. By Kimberly Lee. Illus. by Charlene Chua. 2023. Farrar. K–Gr. 2. Jin wants to help prepare food for his family’s Malaysian Lunar New Year celebration, but his aunties insist boys don’t belong in the kitchen. His mother prevails, however, and Jin gets to help make a recipe. Celebrating Chinese New Year/ 過新年. By Lacey Benard and Lulu Cheng. Illus. by Lacey Benard. 2023. Bitty Bao. PreS–Gr. 1. This bilingual Mandarin-English board book follows one family’s celebration of Chinese New Year in simple language that appears in English, pinyin, and zhù yīn. A QR code included links to a free audio recording of the book. Chloe’s Lunar New Year. By Lily LaMotte. Illus. by Michelle Lee. 2023. Harper. PreS–Gr. 2. In her Taiwanese American household, Chloe’s family is…

Young Adult Banned Book Club. By Hyun Sook Kim and Ryan Estrada. Art by Ko Hyung-Ju. 2020. Iron Circus. Gr. 9–12. Depicting a chilling period of recent Korean history, Kim and Estrada tell a story inspired by Kim’s experience as a student activist in 1983. Hyun Sook is eager to start college, but a student protest on her first day calling for the dismissal of the totalitarian president sets the tone for her experiences, ultimately leading her to join a group of students that reads and discusses banned books—an activity that has dire consequences. Berliners. By Vesper Stamper. Illus. by the author. 2022. Knopf. Gr. 8–12. It’s 1961, and 16-year-old twins Peter, who dreams of leaving the GDR, and Rudi, a party loyalist, finally defect to West Berlin, though Rudi…

All Other Nights. By Dara Horn. 2009. Norton. Jacob Rappaport, a Jewish soldier in the Union army, is recruited as a spy in Horn’s involving, richly human historical novel illuminating a fascinating aspect of American history: the role of Jewish Americans in the Civil War. Antiquities. By Cynthia Ozick. 2021. Knopf. Lloyd Wilkinson Petrie is writing what is meant to be a brief memoir in 1949, but it becomes a deep inquiry into myth, history, identity, and prejudice as he recalls his father’s archaeological adventures in Egypt, and an enigmatic classmate at their New York boarding school, Ben-Zion Elfantin. Everything Is Illuminated. By Jonathan Safran Foer. 2002. Mariner. Foer’s funny and affecting two-track novel tells the story of a young American who travels to Ukraine, hoping to find the woman…

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America. By Michael Harriot. Read by the author. 2023. 16hr. HarperAudio. Combine Neil deGrasse Tyson’s professorial encouragement with Kevin Hart’s stinging snark and you’ve got a good idea of Harriot’s approach. He threads an illuminating (occasionally jaw-dropping) Q&A format throughout to educate and prevent “Racist Baby” from becoming a “Racist Man.” A bold and energized look at history that is often swept under the rug. Black Birds in the Sky. By Brandy Colbert. Read by Brandy Colbert and Kristyl Dawn Tift. 2021. 5.5hr. HarperAudio. Gr. 8–12. Though written for a YA audience, this audiobook is a must-listen for all history buffs, especially those hoping to understand the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, a pivotal event that has long been overlooked. Tift narrates in a…

All aboard the Schooltrain: A Little Story from the Great Migration. By Glenda Armand. Illus. by Keisha Morris. 2023. Scholastic. PreS–Gr. 3. During the Great Migration, Thelma begins to understand what Jim Crow means when her father loses his job and her family decides to leave Louisiana. Imaginative illustrations depict Thelma’s loving family and close-knit Black community. The Davenports. By Krystal Marquis. 2023. Dial. Gr. 7–10. Inspired by a true, little-known history, this compulsively readable story of the Davenports—a wealthy Black family in 1910 Chicago—follows three siblings navigating society and its expectations as they forge their own futures. Destination Unknown. By Bill Konigsberg. 2022. Scholastic. Gr. 9–12. Konigsberg realistically evokes gay life and culture in 1987 New York City, where two teen boys fall in love yet must contend with…

Older All This Twisted Glory. By Tahereh Mafi. Harper. Gr. 9–12. The third installment in Mafi’s swirling fantasy series inspired by Persian folklore finds Alizeh trapped in a neighboring kingdom, while Kamran embarks on a journey, with the aid of a magical guide, to find her. The Bad Ones. By Melissa Albert. Flatiron. Gr. 9–12. When Nora’s best friend, Becca, disappears, she’s determined to find out what happened, and in the process finds a connection to not only a goddess but to her own childhood in this horror fantasy from acclaimed Albert. Fate Breaker. By Victoria Aveyard. HarperTeen. Gr. 9–12. Aveyard’s best-selling, high-fantasy Realm Breaker series ends here, with Corayne on her own with a powerful sword and her enemies not far behind. Infinity Alchemist. By Kacen Callender. Tor Teen.…