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Salem Press, 75 years old this year, offers multivolume resources that meet the needs of many readers. LJ talked to Leslie Mackenzie, Salem’s president and publisher, about Salem’s vision for reference and its approach to making its materials accessible to all.

Coherent Digital provides students, educators, policymakers, and librarians with wide-ranging resources for research, learning, and discussion. LJ talked with Eileen Lawrence, Coherent’s cofounder and senior adviser, to discuss Coherent’s materials, selection process, and commitment to finding, preserving, and making endangered content accessible.

Support research and scholarship with these 80+ new and forthcoming databases and online products, spanning specialized topics and general reference. 

Bibliodiversity, state-of-the-art content, and hand-picked works supporting curricula make academic ebook platforms key parts of the collection development ecosystem.

Searching to update collections and fill information gaps? Consider these 580+ new and forthcoming print titles. Also included are updated lists of reference fun reads. 

From the research services of a presidential center to a large public library system and an academic music archive, explore three libraries around the country and the resources they rely upon.

When the journey is the point, the mode of travel is as important as the destination. Moving from here to there—whether via quiet footfalls or the whisper of wings or sailing with a neatly trimmed spinnaker—fascinates readers and makes them wonder if there are ways to do it more efficiently, more economically, or with more zest and flair. The books on this list answer with a resounding “yes.”

Scheduled to be updated in late 2024/through 2025, consider these 140+ databases and online products. Arranged by category, these resources range from titles on the arts to those addressing technology.

Top titles across 12 subjects serving reference work and research.

What we think of as “reference” has steadily evolved with technology. Now “reference” is more likely than not to be synonymous with “database.” Most of the publishers in this month’s Reference section offer digital databases alongside—or in lieu of—traditional printed reference materials like books and periodicals. 

Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy wins the Melbourne Prize for Literature. The winners of Canada Council for the Arts Governor General's Literary Awards are revealed. Edenville by Sam Rebelein and All I Want Is To Take Shrooms and Listen to the Color of Nazi Screams by John Baltisberger win Wonderland Book Awards for Excellence in Bizarro Fiction. The shortlist is announced for the Eccles Institute and Hay Festival Global Writer’s Award. CrimeReads releases its list of the best gothic novels of 2024. Trinidad-born novelist Elizabeth Nunez has died at age 80. Plus, Page to Screen

In a mostly flat market, mystery and thriller sales are up in 2024 and holding their position as one of the top selling genres, according to data from Circana BookScan. That could be because the already-broad genre continues to expand and reinvent itself. 

Amazon and Kirkus reveal their lists of the best books of 2024. Libro.fm shares its bestselling audiobooks of 2024. The shortlist for ALA’s Carnegie Medal and the longlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize are announced. EveryLibrary has a chart tracking how library-related ballot measures fared in last week’s elections. Plus, interviews with Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey and the National Book Award nominees, and new title bestsellers.

Cookbooks that combine stories and recipes offer double delights. 

Samantha Harvey’s Orbital wins the Booker Prize. Arthur Sze will receive the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, and the Ignyte Awards winners are announced. Time Releases “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024.” LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for To Die For by David Baldacci. Lena Dunham will adapt Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis. Plus, Vox argues “why libraries need librarians.”

Best Books is coming! To celebrate we are counting down to our big reveal by highlighting some of our 2023 picks, titles we still treasure, reread, and suggest widely. This week we offer a wonderfully atmospheric, wryly funny, and deeply cozy delight.

Part two of Gale's Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement archive excels as a resource supporting research in history, political science, sociology, diaspora studies, and migration and refugee studies. 

BBC Monitoring provides exceptional primary documents about political, social, military, cultural events, and intelligence gathering from the start of World War II to the early 21st century. 

Philip Fracassi offers a technothriller with a different take on time travel, while Andrew Ludington debuts with a time-travel caper wrapped around a slice of historical fiction.

Ron Chernow writes an epic biography about Mark Twain, Tourmaline offers a biography of activist Marsha P. Johnson, and Michelle Young reveals French Resistance hero Rose Valland's life as a spy.

American women pilots who flew during World War II, the Battle of Midway, the Underground Railroad’s maritime origins, and the lead up to Abraham Lincoln’s decision to go to war are explored in this month's titles.

This month's historical novels include a Jane Austen–inspired tale from Natalie Jenner, a World War II story set on Martha's Vineyard by Martha Hall Kelly, and a matriarch's tale of land and legacy in the Lowcountry of South Carolina from Mary Alice Monroe.

To Die For by David Baldacci is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

Blue Bloods showrunner Wade showcases his talents on the page with this compelling police procedural.

This sexy, swoon-worthy romance is an unputdownable debut.

Highly recommended for readers of sci-fi thrillers, cli-fi, and bioterrorism thrillers, and Tom Clancy fans who enjoy a bit of SF in their political thrillers.

To Die For by David Baldacci leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Graham Brown, J.R. Ward, and Richard Price. People’s book of the week is The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy.The Booker Prize will be announced later today. Adam Shatz wins the American Library in Paris Book Award. Grammy nominations have been announced, including Best Audiobook. Fight Club, based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk, turns 25. And Bastard Out of Carolina author Dorothy Allison and “Magic School Bus” illustrator Bruce Degan have died.

In recognition of National Native American Heritage Month, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and also referred to as Native American Heritage Month or National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, this booklist recognizes the challenges faced by Indigenous peoples and marks their varied cultures, achievements, and contributions.

Rachel Cusk’s Parade wins the Goldsmiths Prize, Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo by Craig L. Symonds wins the Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize, and Mara Faye Lethem’s translation of Irene Solà’s Catalan novel When I Sing, Mountains Dance wins the Lewis Galantière Award. The Booker Prize shortlist is announced, and Vulture adds to their list of the best books of 2024 so far. EveryLibrary warns that U.S. election results will mean more uncertainty for libraries. Plus new title bestsellers.

LJ interviews the editors of The Oxford Dictionary of African American English. This first-of-its-kind resource of 1,000 words (planned for publication in 2025) aims to record the most comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date picture of African American English yet.

By day, Michael Nayak is Doctor/Major Nayak at DARPA (the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). He talks with LJ about his debut novel, Symbiote, his tenure at the South Pole, his writing inspiration, and the work of DARPA imagining the future.

All the April 2025 Prepub Alerts in one place, plus a downloadable spreadsheet of all titles from every post.

This year’s investigation into the realms and labs of fantasy and science fiction reveals a genre with pure magnetic attraction, while genre blends—from romantasy to SF mystery to SFF horror—redefine what’s possible and rocket toward their day in the sun.

Titles not to miss across fiction, nonfiction, audio, and reference.

With fluid writing and an unputdownable story, Jessen’s witty rom-com leans hard into the fake-dating trope with great success.

This momentous tour de force overtops existing works on robots by leaps and bounds, approaching the subject with a subtlety that allows readers to focus on the effects robots are sure to have in the future.

Appearances are deceiving in this fast-paced thriller, and the characters are introduced gradually so as not to overwhelm the outstanding series debut.

Suad Aldarra is awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. LJ kicks off its countdown to the reveal of the best books of 2024. People shares best books for Native American Heritage Month. DK acquires UK-based digital publisher Canelo. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage, the top holds title of the week. Plus, interviews arrive with Peter Ames Carlin, Jody Hobbs Hesler, and Jenna Tang.

LJ Best Booker Shokoofeh Azar has a new book, Lambda Award winner Marisa Crane returns with a coming-of-age novel, and Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Madeleine Thien offers a story that leaps across centuries; plus five debuts to note.

Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

GMA Book Club pick author Disha Bose offers a coming-of-age story about a woman who moves from Calcutta to Ireland, while Oprah’s Book Club author Wally Lamb returns with a novel about a young father in prison who finds kinship with the prison librarian.

It is one of our favorite times at LJ, the weeks before we announce the Best Books of the year. Look for our list of 2024’s not-to-miss titles in the December issue. As we count down to our big reveal, we are delighted to highlight some of our 2023 picks, titles we still treasure, reread, and suggest widely. To start the countdown, look for the witty, deeply clever, and read-it-like-you-just-robbed-some-pirates fast The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton. 

Shortlists for the inaugural PEN Heaney Prize and the Voss Literary Prize are announced. Simon & Schuster will distribute ACC Art Books. Politico writes about how Jon Grinspan’s 2021 book, The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought To Fix Their Democracy, 1865–1915, has become a cult favorite among members of Congress. Martha Stewart’s 100th cookbook arrives this week, along with a new Netflix documentary on her life; Eater looks at Stewart’s other 99 cookbooks. Plus, USA Today highlights Salma Hayek’s new series adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s novel Like Water for Chocolate.

Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Isabel Ibañez, Phillip Margolin, Bill Zehme, and Beatriz Williams. People’s book of the week is The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. The Southern Book Prize finalists, Waterstones Book of the Year shortlist, and Audiofile November Earphones Award winners are announced. Martha Stewart’s latest cookbook arrives, along with November book previews. Music legend Quincy Jones has died at the age of 91.