The winners of the Agatha Awards were announced Saturday, May 4th, during the Malice Domestic 31 fan convention in Bethesda, Maryland. Named for Agatha Christie, the grande dame of Golden Age mystery, the awards honor the best books published in the previous calendar year exemplifying the “traditional mystery” genre (e.g. no explicit sex, gore, or […]
As those of you who heard the sneak preview already knew, Booklist has a brand-new podcast! Hosted by Susan Maguire, senior editor for collection management and library outreach, Booklist’s Shelf Care will bring all things readers’ advisory, collection development, and reference right to your earbuds. Each episode will introduce you to rock-star librarians, hot topics in publishing, […]
Last week, the longlist was announced for the annual Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize. The award, named for the Welsh writer and poet, is given to writers under the age of 39 for literary works written in English, in a wide variety of forms: poetry, prose, short story collections, novels, novellas, and screenplays. The shortlist […]
I was very saddened to hear the news that Sam Savage died last week, just days after the publication of his most recent book, An Orphanage of Dreams. The wit, intellect, artistry, and humanity of his books was truly inspiring—as was the fact that his career as a published author began at age 65. The […]
As an Englishman once said, “And now for something completely different.” The Fortieth Annual Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year has been announced with great revelry and Joy of Waterboiling, by Christina Scheffenacker, has taken the prize! The title itself has even offered up the new meme-like acronym JOW. The winner simmered in shortlist controversy as the […]
Former Booklisters just can’t stop making news! On Monday, we received an announcement that former Books for Youth Editor Daniel Kraus (coauthor of The Shape of Water and solo author of many more) will have a new book out next Halloween with Hard Case Crime—and it sounds like a doozy! We can’t wait to read […]
In book-world news, Booklist alumnus and all-around good guy John Green has started a book club (in conjunction with his friend and colleague Rosianna Halse Rojas), called Life’s Library. The difference between it and other celebrity book clubs? All the proceeds from this one go to a charity called Partners in Health, a Boston-based nonprofit […]
The Louis Shores Award Committee is currently inviting nominations for its 2019 recipient. Established in 1990, the Louis Shores Award recognizes an individual reviewer, group, editor, review medium, or organization for excellence in reviewing. The award recipient is selected for significant achievement related to a reviewing process that helps librarians make selection and collection development decisions. […]
The 76th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) wrapped up in San Jose, and on Sunday night the conference held its annual Hugo Awards ceremony. There was a lot of wonderful work to be celebrated by a diverse array of creators, but we’d be remiss not to point out that, in particular, this was another great […]