The RUSA Book & Media Awards Ceremony on January 20 announced the year’s best in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, audiobook narration, and reference materials and the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.

ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDALS FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION AND NONFICTION. The winners are two non-genre works.

2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (Catapult)

2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction

• We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death and Child Removal in America” by Roxanna Asgarian (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

2024 NOTABLE BOOKS LIST. The Reference & User Services Book & Media Awards Ceremony announced the 2024 Notable Books List: Year’s Best in Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry. The complete list of twenty-six titles is at the link. The fiction of genre interest among the 2024 selections are:

Fiction

• Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

An artist’s widow reckons with grief by seeking the truth about her late wife against the backdrop of a richly detailed alternate history.

• Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Pantheon Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC)

Incisive allegory and brutal violence combine in a thought-provoking dystopia about the dehumanization of incarcerated people and the power of love.

• North Woods by Daniel Mason (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC)

A New England forest endures the animal and human lives that first inhabit and later haunt it.

• Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC)

An audacious, experimental novel about the history of Korea, real and imagined.

• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.)

An imprisoned twelve-year old boy is haunted during the Jim Crow era while his older sister grapples with racist bureaucracy to secure his release.

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2024 READING LIST. The 2024 Reading List: Year’s best in genre fiction for adult Readers is comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers. The eight genres currently included in the Council’s considerations are adrenaline, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, relationship fiction, and science fiction. A shortlist of honor titles, up to 4 per genre was also announced. The complete list is at the link. The 2024 selections of sff/h genre interest are:

Fantasy

Winner

• Gods of the Wyrdwood: The Forsaken Trilogy, Book One by R J Barker (Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)

Cahal once walked the path to becoming the Cowl-Rai—the Chosen One of Crua. However, another Cowl-Rai rose to power, forcing Cahal to spend the next twenty years living in secrecy. When a desperate situation forces Cahal to reveal himself, the consequences of his choice reach further than he could have anticipated.

Short List

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi: A Novel” by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)
• Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (A Tor Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates / Tor Publishing Group)
• Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (A Tor Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates / Tor Publishing Group)
• Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee (A Tordotcom Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates / Tor Publishing Group)

Horror

Winner

• The September House by Carissa Orlando (Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)

Margaret has long grown used to the difficulties that come with living in a haunted house, but after four years her husband has had enough and leaves. When he stops returning calls, their daughter Katherine comes to town to search for him even as the hauntings grow ever more intense.

Short List

• Black River Orchard: A Novel by Chuck Wendig (Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC)
• How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)
• Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC)
• The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due (Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.)

Science fiction

Winner

• House of Gold by C. T. Rwizi (47North, an imprint of Amazon Publishing)

In this Afrofuturistic dystopia, two pairs of genetically enhanced warriors trained to rule become disillusioned with a status quo that keeps the rich aristocracy in power indefinitely. Now free from the lies that shaped their childhood, they plot to shape a better future.

Short List

• Infinity Gate: Book One of the Pandominion by M. R. Carey (Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
• The Meister of Decimen City by Brenna Raney (CamCat Books, an imprint of CamCat Publishing, LLC)
• The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown (A Nightfire Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates)
• Where Peace is Lost: A Novel by Valerie Valdes (Harper Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

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2024 LISTEN LIST. The Listen List Council of the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced the 2024 selections of the Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration. The complete list is at the link: 2024 RUSA Listen List Revealed.

This award highlights extraordinary narrators and listening experiences that merit special attention by a general adult audience and the librarians who advise them.

Committee members matched the 12 titles on the list with three listen-alikes each which match the tone, theme, or style of the title on the list. None of these titles have appeared on any previous Listen Lists.

The 2024 selections of genre interest are:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. Narrated by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal. HarperAudio.

The most feared pirate in the Indian Ocean, Amina al-Sirafi just wanted a quiet retirement with her daughter, but one final job pulls her back into the magical fray. Chakraborty’s picaresque novel should be experienced in audio as Amina, narrated by Lameece Issaq, relates her adventures to a scribe in a tavern, voiced by Amin El Gamal. Superb comic timing will make listeners feel like they are overhearing this epic tale from the next table.

Listen-Alikes:

• A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall. Narrated by Angèle Masters. Hachette Audio.
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Narrated by Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio.
• Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. Narrated by Michael Page. Books on Tape.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Narrated by Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and Lee Osorio. Books on Tape.

The violence is visceral in this cleverly structured novel set in the near future United States. Welcome to a world where convicts are tapped to participate in the newest craze, fights to the death televised for the public’s viewing pleasure. This multicast production brings each character to life, giving listeners a front-row seat, cheering for the winners and mourning the losers.

Listen-Alikes:

• The Running Man by Stephen King. Narrated by Kevin Kenerly. Simon & Schuster Audio.
• This Life by Quntos KunQuest and Zachary Lazar. Narrated by Sean Crisden. HighBridge.
• Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road To Repair by Danielle Sered. Narrated by Emily Durante. Tantor Media.

Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini. Narrated by Jennifer Hale. Macmillan Audio.

The crew of the spaceship Adamura are on a mission of exploration when they encounter a mysterious anomaly on Talos VII. As they undertake an arduous journey to reach the source through a harsh, desolate landscape, the crew faces internal struggles every bit as challenging as the physical trials they are enduring. Jennifer Hale expertly voices a diverse cast of characters while sound effects ominously punctuate the text, ratcheting up the tension.

Listen-Alikes:

• Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. Narrated by Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway. Dreamscape Media.
• Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, translated by Barbara Lem and Tomasz Lem. Narrated by Alessandro Juliani. Brilliance Audio.
• The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud. Narrated by Sophie Amoss. Simon & Schuster Audio.

Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey. Narrated by Dami Olukoya. Hachette Audio.

When Lagos-based physicist Hadiz Tambuwal succeeds in stepping onto a pristine parallel Earth, she sees relief from resource deprivation for all. Infinite worlds hold infinite human variation, and an alliance of Earths already alert against trespassers. From Hadiz’s Lagosian lilt to the accents of alternate Nigerias and modulated tones of AI, Dami Olukoya creates irresistible character voices. As the Pandominion mobilizes for war, her narration masterfully personalizes their atrocities across the multiverse.

Listen-Alikes:

• Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh.Narrated by Nneka Okoye. Simon & Schuster Audio.
• Translation State by Ann Leckie. Narrated by Adjoa Andoh. Hachette Audio.
• Version Control by Dexter Palmer. Narrated by January LaVoy. Books on Tape.

[Based on a press release.]