Booklist Features

MerMay is just around the corner, and although this neologism typically refers to a month-long celebration during which artists draw new mermaids every day, there’s no reason why you can’t improvise on this trend. You can encourage readers to read books about mermaids. You can make a mermaid display at your library. You can even provide drawing materials and encourage patrons of all ages to create their own mermaids! Let’s get you started with some scaly, slippery, and fishy adult and YA books!

Brent Spiner, renowned for playing Lieutenant Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and author/narrator of the highly entertaining crime novel Fan Fiction (Macmillan Audio), spoke with me over Zoom about narrating the audiobook with his former TNG castmates and the fanatic potential in all of us.

Based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog, HBO’s The Last of Us follows a reluctant duo as they try to a survive a post-apocalyptic landscape caused by a parasitic fungus that turns people into zombie-like creatures. Morally gray smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) is tasked with escorting snarky teen Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the U.S., and even though we’re only two episodes in at the time of this publishing, we can expect that they’ll develop a familial relationship on the way. Fans of the new TV series or beloved video game will want to get their hands on these horror and survivalist tales which likewise feature people who band together to flee war, zombies, or terrifying microorganisms.

Description goesWatch out, Marvel! You may think you have the market cornered when it comes to multiverse cinema experiences, but anyone who’s seen Everything Everywhere All at Once would argue that watching Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh)—an aging Chinese American immigrant who’s struggling to hold onto her husband (Ke Huy Quan), daughter (Stephanie Hsu), father (James Hong), and laundromat business—jump along the space-time continuum is far more fascinating than any comic book hero. Somehow, a martial arts action movie that includes googly eyes and people with hot dogs for fingers also moved audiences to tears with its familial drama, proving that—when done well—genre-bending stories can enhance the best of each category.

Below is a list of similarly bizarre yet utterly exceptional novels for adults that feature parallel universes, time travel, or other multidimensional concepts. Like the critically acclaimed movie, they just might melt your heart and brain. Read more.

Wine and cheese. Dinner and a movie, sure. But have you ever thought of pairing a book with a video game? If you, like me, played far too many games while quarantining, you might have noticed some similarities between your favorite RPGs and treasured novels, be they thematically, structurally, or visually. Below you’ll find a list of books for children, teens, and adults that just might interest avid gamers, especially when the novel mirrors a video game they already know and love.

In 2014, Sonali Dev won the American Library Association’s award for best romance. Since then, she continues to craft excellent stories about love, family, and healing. In her latest novel, A Distant Heart, a rare immunodeficiency confines young Kimi to her mansion, where she befriends her window washer, Rahul. Later, the leader of a black-market organ ring targets transplant-patient Kimi, who eludes him with the help of Rahul, now a police officer.

A Chicagoland author, Dev met with me over coffee and tea to discuss her process for writing romances, as well as her forthcoming family saga. Read more.