The Reading List 2016

RUSA Reading List Council

RUSA Reading List Council members are Ann Chambers Theis, co-chair, Henrico County Library; Valerie Morgan Taylor, co-chair, Chester County Library; Phillip Ballo, National University; Jessica D. Barrientos, Westminster Public Library; Sharon R. Castleberry, De Soto Public Library; Amy Gornikiewicz, Eagle Public Library; Rebecca M. Greer, Poinciana Library; Neil Hollands, Williamsburg Regional Library; Lauren Kage, NoveList; Tammy Ryan, Phoenix Public Library; Janet Schneider, Oceanside Library.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its selections for the 2016 Reading List as well as the short lists and read-alikes. Established in 2007 by the CODES section of RUSA, The Reading List seeks to highlight outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them.

Adrenaline

Slaughter, Karin. Pretty Girls. William Morrow (ISBN: 978-0-06-242905-6).

Three sisters are driven apart in the aftermath of one’s disappearance. When a violent crime occurs new fears arise and relationships shift again. Long-term effects of family grief are exploited by the compulsions of a psychopath. Brutal and disturbing, this is ultimately a story of love and empowerment.

Read-alikes

• Hayder, Mo. Jack Caffery series. Atlantic Monthly.
• Rich, A. J. The Hand That Feeds You. Scribner.
• Flynn, Gillian. Dark Places. Crown/Shaye Arehart.

Short List

• Black, Saul. The Killing Lessons. St. Martin’s (ISBN: 978-1-250-05734-1).
• Johnston, Tim. Descent: A Novel. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (ISBN: 978-1-61620-304-7).
• Matthews, Jason. Palace of Treason: a Novel. Scribner (ISBN: 978-1-4767-9374-0).
• Winslow, Don. The Cartel. Knopf (ISBN: 978-1-101-87499-8).

Fantasy

Novik, Naomi. Uprooted. Del Rey (ISBN: 978-0-8041-7903-4).

In this enchanted old-world fable, villagers threatened by a blighted magical wood allow the resident wizard to take one daughter into servitude for ten years. When he chooses klutzy Agnieszka, she faces an unexpected future and confronts the dangers of a wider political world and the roots of magical corruption.

Read-alikes

• Forsyth, Kate. Wild Girl. St. Martins/Thomas Dunne.
• Johansen, Erika. Tearling Trilogy. Harper.
• Wecker, Helene. The Golem and the Jinni. Harper.

Short List

• Butcher, Jim. The Aeronaut’s Windlass: The Cinder Spires. Roc (ISBN: 978-0-451-46680-8).
• Cho, Zen. Sorcerer to the Crown. Ace (ISBN: 978-0-425-28337-0).
• Jemisin, N. K. The Fifth Season: The Broken Earth: Book One. Orbit (ISBN: 978-0-316-22929-6).
• Schwab, V. E. A Darker Shade of Magic. Tor (ISBN: 978-0-7653-7645-9).

Historical Fiction

Evans, Lissa. Crooked Heart: A Novel. Harper (ISBN: 978-0-06-236483-8).

Raised by his eccentric ex-suffragette godmother to be a free-thinker, young Noel is thrown into chaos when the London Blitz forces him into the home of a scam artist loyal only to her layabout son. Thrust together, the two oddballs are forced to find a way through the wartime landscape.

Read-alikes

• Waters, Sarah. Night Watch. Riverhead.
• Willis, Connie. All Clear (#1) and Blackout (#2). Spectra.
• Paper Moon. Paramount, 1973.

Short List

• Barrows, Annie. The Truth According to Us: a Novel. Dial (ISBN: 978-0-385-34294-0).
• Bennett, LaShonda Katrice. Jam on the Vine: a Novel. Grove (ISBN: 978-0-8021-2334-3).
• Hannah, Kristin. The Nightingale. St. Martin’s (ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3).
• Lansdale, Joe R. Parasdise Sky. Mulholland (ISBN: 978-0-316-32937-8).
• Stewart, Amy. Girl Waits with Gun. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (ISBN: 978-0-544-40991-0).

Horror

Tripp, Ben. The Fifth House of the Heart: A Novel. Gallery (ISBN: 978-1-4767-8263-8).

Flamboyant antiques dealer Asmodeus “Sax” Saxon-Tang made his fortune by accidentally killing a vampire who had a horde of treasure. To protect the only person he loves, his niece, he’s forced to return to old Europe to assemble an eccentric team of vampire hunters in this gory, witty caper.

Read-alikes

• Carriger, Gail. Parasol Protectorate. Orbit.
• Prouty, Royce. Stoker’s Manuscript. Putnam.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (TV, Mutant Enemy Productions, 1997–2003).

Short List

• Gaylord, Joshua. When We Were Animals: a Novel. St. Martin’s Griffin Mulholland (ISBN: 978-0-316-29793-6).
• Lebbon, Tim. The Silence. Titan (ISBN: 978-1-78116-881-3).
• Malfi, Ronald. Little Girls. Kensington (ISBN: 978-1-61773-606-3).
• Tremblay, Paul. A Head Full of Ghosts. William Morrow (ISBN: 978-0-06-236323-7).

Mystery

Berney, Lou. The Long and Faraway Gone. William Morrow (ISBN: 978-0-06-229243-8).

Cold cases cast a twenty-five year shadow of grief and guilt on the lives of two survivors of traumatic teenage crimes. New leads and new cases bring them back to Oklahoma City as past and present intersect in this poignant and compelling story of lives forever changed by random violence.

Read-alikes

• Atkinson, Kate. Case Histories. Little, Brown.
• French, Tana. In the Woods. Viking.
• Lehane, Dennis. Mystic River. Morrow.

Short List

• Bolton, Sharon. Little Black Lies. Minotaur (ISBN: 978-1-250-02859-4).
• Chazin, Suzanne. Land of Careful Shadows. Kensington (ISBN: 978-1-61773-633-9).
• Keller, Julia. Last Ragged Breath. Minotaur (ISBN: 978-1-250-04474-7).
• McKinty, Adrian. Gun Street Girl: a Detective Sean Duffy Novel. Seventh Street (ISBN: 978-1-63388-000-9).

Romance

Dah, Victoria. Taking the Heat. HQN (ISBN: 978-0-373-77970-3).

Sassy relationship advice columnist Veronica overcomes her commitment anxiety and gains confidence with the help of mountain-climbing librarian Gabe. Steamy romance evolves into a strong relationship as they scale a mountain of family conflicts and share secrets against a majestic Jackson Hole backdrop.

Read-alikes

• O’Keefe, Molly. Can’t Buy Me Love. Bantam.
• Phillips, Susan Elizabeth. Natural Born Charmer. Morrow.
• Rai, Alisha. Veiled Desire. Samhain.

Short List

• Dare, Tessa. When a Scot Ties the Knot: Castles Ever After. Avon (ISBN: 978-0-06-234902-6).
• Deveraux, Jude. Ever After: a Nantucket Brides Novel. Ballantine (ISBN: 978-0-345-54185-7).
• Hodges, Cheris. Rumor Has It. Dafina (ISBN: 978-1-61773-379-6).
• Kearsley, Susanna. A Desperate Fortune. Sourcebooks Landmark (ISBN: 978-1-4926-0202-6).

Science Fiction

Brown, Pierce. Golden Son. Del Rey (ISBN: 978-0-345-53981-6).

Insurgent Darrow inveigled his way into high Gold society in 2014’s Red Rising. In this dramatic, high octane follow-up, conflicting loyalties and his own ambitions lure Darrow into an untenable web of deceptions. Bolstered by new alliances, Darrow battles to overthrow corrupt lunar leadership and bring freedom to Mars.

Read-alikes

• Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. Tor.
• Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic.
• Herbert, Frank. Dune. Hodder & Stoughton.

Short List

• Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Water Knife. Knopf (ISBN: 978-0-345-53981-6).
• Reynolds, Alastair. Slow Bullets. Tachyon (ISBN: 978-0-345-53981-6).
• Stephenson, Neal. Seveneves. William Morrow (ISBN: 978-0-06-219037-6).
• Wong, David. Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits. Thomas Dunne (ISBN: 978-0-06-219037-6).

Women’s Fiction

Park, Patricia. Re Jane. Pamela Dorman (ISBN: 978-0-525-42740-7).

Anxious to escape the strict upbringing of her uncle’s Flushing grocery, Korean-American Jane accepts an au pair position in the pretentious household of two Brooklyn academics and their adopted Chinese daughter. Park has created a bright comic story of falling in love, finding strength, and living on one’s own terms.

Read-alikes

• Freudenberger, Nell. The Newlyweds. Knopf.
• McLaughlin, Emma and Nicola Kraus. The Nanny Diaries. St. Martin’s.
• Tóibín, Colm. Brooklyn. Scribner.

Short List

• Alcott, Kate. A Touch of Stardust. Doubleday (ISBN: 978-0-385-53904-3).
• Cocks, Heather and Jessica Morgan. The Royal We. Grand Central (ISBN: 978-0-385-53904-3).
• Evison, Jonathan. This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!: A Novel. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (ISBN: 978-0-385-53904-3)
• Fox, Lauren. Days of Awe: a Novel. Knopf (ISBN: 978-0-385-53904-3).