The first rule of Book Club is: You do not talk about Book Club. However, we’ve done our work for the year, so now I CAN talk about what we did this year. Specifically, THIS particular book club, otherwise known as the American Library Association RUSA CODES Reading List Council.
Sometimes, in discussion, usually while celebrating AND bemoaning the literal mountain of books we have to get through in any single year, we call it the Overachievers’ Book Club.
Many people, not just librarians, are aware of the Newbery and Caldecott Awards for children’s books. If you have or had a child, or if you were a child, you probably remember those books with the big gold sticker on them. The Newbery and Caldecott Awards have been around since 1922 and 1938 respectively, and have garnered a tremendous amount of respect and prestige in the book world, both because they’ve been around for so long AND because there’s nothing else even close for children’s books.
Less well known, but more germane to my reading interests, ALA also has a number of awards for adult books. Admittedly there’s a LOT more competition in the adult book awards space, so attention gets divided between, well, US, and every other award out there.
I say ‘US’ because I’ve been a member of one or another of ALA’s Adult Book Awards committees every year starting in 2012. I’ve just completed my second first year on The Reading List Council. (I served on the Reading List for four years, then had to cycle off for a year – or in this case, two – before coming back on.)
Serving on any of these committees – and I’m including the Newbery and Caldecott committees because their process is similar even though their remit is different – is a LOT of (volunteer) work. We do it because we love the books we’re working with, and/or we love discussing the books with a bunch of people who are equally passionate about books – if not necessarily the same books.
In the year that just ended that resulted in the 2026 Reading List Awards, the committee looked at more than 750 books to come up with one winner and four shortlisted (honorable mention) titles in eight genres, Adrenaline (think of this as Thriller), Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Relationship Fiction (AKA Women’s Fiction), Romance and Science Fiction.
So, before I talk about the books that made the final list (it’s out now, so I can talk about it) I want to give a big, huge, grateful shoutout to the members of the committee who made it all possible through a whole lot of laughs, more than a few tears at some of the sad endings, mutual therapy sessions about how much we had to read how fast and what was real life anyway and just everything that goes into making this possible. We had a blast, even during the four-day Zoom extravaganza where we made the final decisions.
The 2026 Reading List Council consisted of Amy Dittmeier, Des Plaines Public Library, chair; Kara Krekeler, University City Public Library, vice-chair; Hilary Albert, Mahopac Public Library; Marcie Beard, Provo City Library; Craig Clark, Upper Arlington OH; Julie Kane, Washington and Lee University; Edward Kownslar, Stephen F. Austin State University; Suzanne Krohn, Richmond Free Library (VT); Robyn Lupa, Jefferson County Public Library (CO); Karin Suni, Free Library of Philadelphia; and yours truly from Chez Reading Reality, Marlene Harris.
And now for the awards – and a bit of how we got there. We start out in February, which means that the 2027 committee is just about ready to get started. All eleven of us immediately start throwing potential books on the virtual pile – which is how that pile gets so high. It’s the vice-chair’s job to contact the publishers and get copies of the books for all of us. From there, it’s a bit of a winnowing process. We don’t so much vote stuff off the island as we vote stuff up to the top of the pile. After multiple rounds of that upvoting, in mid-January – meaning just last month – we whittle the final pile of 80 or so books down to the actual awards list. Which was highlighted in Chair Amy Dittmeier’s presentation as part of the Adult Book & Media Awards posted on Facebook AND included in press releases that were posted last week.
And now, at last (drumroll, please!) the awards. Because that’s what it’s all been about all along. Celebrating the best books of the year.
Adrenaline (as I said above, basically thrillers, more or less)
Winner: Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan
Short List: (alphabetical order by title because we’re librarians)
Dead Money by Jakob Kerr
A Killing Cold by Kate Allen Marshall
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder
Fantasy
Winner: The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Short List:
Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
Red City by Marie Lu
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
Historical Fiction
Winner: These Heathens by Mia McKenzie
Short List:
Eleanore of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier
Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The Last Witch by C.J. Cooke
The Pretender by Jo Harkin
Horror
Winner: Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
Short List:
House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama
King Sorrow by Joe Hill
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
Mystery
Winner: The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan
Short List:
The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler
Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars
Relationship Fiction (This used to be called ‘Women’s Fiction’ but we all still hate that name and it’s not remotely accurate anyway)
Winner: Didn’t You Use to Be Queenie B? By Terri-Lynne DeFino
Short List:
Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
The Stand-In Dad by Alex Summers
Trust Me On This by Lauren Parvizi
Romance
Winner: I Think They Love You by Julian Winters
Short List:
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
Voidwalker by S.A. MacLean
Science Fiction
Winner: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
Short List:
The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson
Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson
When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler
Consider the above a list of very strong recommendations. If you’re looking for a terrific book to read, whether in a genre you love or to check out something you’ve been curious about but haven’t dipped into yet, these books are an EXCELLENT place to start.
Obviously, this has not been one of my usual book reviews, but I like to think it stands for about 40 of them. Also, we worked hard on the committee and the authors who provided us with books this year worked even harder. I wanted to give both them and us a shout out. (So the images will all be going up on Instagram later today as well so I can tag all the authors!)
Working with the members of the 2026 committee was an absolute ball – even if I occasionally bawled at some of the sad endings. Because I enjoy the work – and quite possibly because I’m a bit crazy according to at least one of my colleagues – I’ve signed up to do it again this coming year, as the Vice-Chair and book-getter this time around. I’m already looking forward to seeing what our list looks like this time NEXT year!
