Booklist Reader

Published by Booklist, an imprint of the American Library Association. Booklist Reader features diverse book and audiobook recommendations, for readers and listeners of all ages. Filled with high-interest, themed lists that showcase books for your family or book discussion group.

From the Publisher

Booklist Reader

SF/Fantasy & Horror • The year’s best sf/fantasy and horror address deep themes like grief, found family, and the horrors of war while showcasing imaginative narrative techniques.

SF/Fantasy & Horror Debuts • The best sf/fantasy and horror debuts showcase exciting new voices in the genres who explore dystopian worlds, sinister magic, and the perils of technology.

Weird Austen • For our Year of Jane—in honor of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in December—we’ve explored Regency history, modern adaptations of her work, and Austen-esque mysteries. But there is a plethora of Austenalia that goes where few adaptations dare to go: into the realms of sf and fantasy. These titles are inspired by Austen in various ways, from retellings of her work in bold new settings to stories that fantastically draw from her life and Regency-era speculative tales sure to delight any adventurous Austen reader.

Fantasy Anti-Heroes • Reading about upright characters full of moral fortitude and clear ethical boundaries can be exhausting. Who wants all that good-guy stuff, when learning about the less-than-good-guy is so much more interesting? At least that’s the case with these fantasy novels that feature heroes (regardless of gender) who are slightly less than heroic. Instead, they’re morally complex (or “morally gray” in the parlance of romance and romantasy), conflicted, often infuriating—and oh-so-fun to read.

October 2025 • The Top Ten Adult Fiction and Nonfiction Chosen Monthly by America’s Library Staff

HALL OF FAME TITLES • The LibraryReads Hall of Fame designation honors authors who have had multiple titles appear on the monthly list since 2013.

Adult • Get your hands on these hotly anticipated books, all out this month.

Recent Books about Science & Technology • Dynamic writing, enthusiasm, sometimes humor, and a sense of mission propel these engrossing inquiries into the lives of birds, beavers, and seals; the invention and many uses of rope through the centuries; space travel and deep-sea exploration; AI’s potentials, beneficial and harmful; and a possible human exodus from our ravaged home, Planet Earth. These books affirm the vast reach, fascination, variety, value, and resonance of scientific and technological pursuits.

Ryan Pote

Becky Siegel Spratford • “I have learned so much by asking why—about readers, writers, and myself,” writes Becky Siegel Spratford in her introduction to the fabulous essay collection, Why I Love Horror (2025). Spratford, the library world’s foremost expert on the genre, invited 18 of today’s biggest horror writers to ask themselves “why,” and the results are enlightening, moving, funny, and a little scary. You can hear our full interview in Shelf Care: The Podcast, Episode 42.

SF/Fantasy & Horror Novels on Audio • High fantasy through an Indigenous lens, a revisit of Black American history as horror, a multicultural haunted house, time travel, and an orc-led cozy are among the subjects explored in the best and most-wanted sf/fantasy and horror on audio from the last two years.

Sure Bets in Spanish Language Nonfiction Audio: Audiolibros de no ficción recomendados • The Spanish-language audiobook industry (particularly nonfiction) has recently been inundated with AI-generated narrations. At times, the virtual voices are even marketed with human names! Everybody deserves high-quality audio, and Spanish-language listeners will find much to love in these nuanced performances by verified professional (human!)...