Award winners are a great resource to turn to when you are looking for a sure-bet title to please your reading palate. Aside from some obvious sources like the National Book Awards and the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Awards—there is a group of librarians (RUSA) who choose the best genre fiction of the year—fantasy, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction, suspense, and women’s fiction. Often this list intersects with other “best” lists, but what is always compelling about this group of titles is that often it is the under-appreciated writer that gets a nod. These writers often experiment with different ways of telling stories, in addition to producing books that readers will savor for a long time.

Kim Wilkins’ “The Veil of Gold,” is an enthralling fantasy tale of love and self-discovery set in Russia. Daniel and Rosa split up long ago, but the discovery of a golden bear acts as a catalyst for their reunion and the vehicle that transports Daniel into the magical parallel universe of Skazki. Daniel can’t escape or protect himself from treacherous magic; Rosa can’t rescue him until she completes the impossible tasks of all good fairy tales. Wilkins’s human characters are endearing and her mythic monsters spring into vibrant life. This Australian author blends dark urban fantasy with adventure/intrigue in a story that combines Russian myth and modern sensibilities. If the fairy tale/parallel world themes appeal to you, you may want to pick up John Connolly’s “The Book of Lost Things.” Taking refuge in fairy tales after the loss of his mother, twelve-year-old David finds himself violently propelled into an imaginary land in which the boundaries of fantasy and reality are disturbingly combined.

Rich in authentic detail, “The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II,” is Jeff Shaara’s exploration of the days before and immediately after D-Day. This historical novel, a second installment in the World War II trilogy that includes “The Rising Tide” takes readers from D-Day through the battle for Normandy, while imagining the experiences of ground soldiers as well as such figures as Bradley, Patton, and Eisenhower. Shaara portrays his characters as human and fully capable of pettiness, making mistakes and committing atrocities. Intense, compelling, and thoroughly researched, this is much more than just an excellent historical novel. If WWII is your area of historical interest, David L. Robbins’ “Liberation Road” contains similar thematic content and another perspective on the supply troubles that plagued both sides of the fight. This book chronicles the interlocking stories of three men trying to move supplies to the constantly shifting Allied front after the D-Day invasion.

Horror is a great summer read because there is a lot more daylight to protect readers as they shudder in fear. At first look Toby Barlow’s “Sharp Teeth” seems to be about L.A. gangs and turf wars; however, this is an adrenaline-packed, fast-paced, darkly comic horror/thriller about the fantastical world of the urban werewolf. Anthony, a kindhearted, down-and-out dogcatcher, is caught in the middle of savage pack rivalry because of the girl he loves, a female werewolf. The touching moments between the woman and Anthony work as powerfully as the most graphic violence in the story. Barlow’s debut depicts the lives of seemingly ordinary people who have crossed the boundaries between human and beast. Written in a free verse style like the beat of rock ‘n roll lyrics, this style perfectly complements the action as it moves from slower-paced narratives to short, jagged scenes of graphic violence and heartbreak. The dark humor and grim story line will immediately draw in fans of other neo-horror novels, such as Christopher Moore’s “You Suck: A Love Story,” but Barlow’s style is wholly his own.

In “The Garden of Evil” by David Hewson, a surplus of clues baffle detective Nic Costa (sixth in a mystery series) and the Rome police upon discovering seemingly unrelated murder victims in an artist’s studio where the murder scene mirrors a scandalous Caravaggio painting. If you like the “what if?” aspect of mysteries, pick up Jennifer Lee Carrell’s “Interred with Their Bones.” Receiving a mysterious box from her eccentric mentor, who claims it contains a newly found work by Shakespeare, theater director and scholar Kate Stanley is horrified when her theater is burned to the ground and her mentor killed. Kate’s use of her academic skills to decode letters and other historical artifacts will appeal to “Da Vinci Code” fans, the fast-paced globe-trotting action to Robert Ludlum readers, and the exploration of the Shakespeare mysteries to English majors everywhere.

C.J. Box has been around awhile with his excellent Joe Pickett mystery series, but his novel, “Blue Heaven,” is for those readers who enjoy fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat suspense. In the woods of northern Idaho, 12-year-old Annie and her little brother William find themselves on the run after witnessing a brutal murder. While hiding in a barn, they are discovered by Jess Rawlins, a man with his own problems. Rawlins and another very unlikely ally search for justice as the story line whips from one startling event to another.“Booklist” reviewer Keir Graff writes that Box “builds suspense so brilliantly that ‘Blue Heaven’ could serve as a textbook of how to do it.” If you have read this title and you are looking for another contemporary Western with an infusion of thriller; Michael McGarrity’s Kevin Kerney series is an excellent procedural series to explore.

Historical romance won accolades through Joanna Bourne’s “The Spymaster’s Lady.” To save herself, one of Napoleon’s most skillful spies must help a British spymaster escape from a French prison. Annique Villiers and Robert Grey are enemies, but neither can avoid the smoldering attraction that draws them together. While the two match wits across France and England, their chemistry raises the stakes in the deadly game they must play. In her exceptional debut romance, Bourne deftly distills danger, deception, and desire into a seamlessly constructed story that will captivate readers with its irresistible combination of superbly nuanced characters and a whirlwind plot. The second in the series, “My Lord and the Spymaster,” also entices with subtle subterfuge and heated romance. Fans of this winning combo of spies and spice may want to pick up “The Spy Wore Silk” by Andrea Pickens, the first in the Merlin’s Maidens trilogy. At Mrs. Merlin’s Academy for Select Young Ladies, young street orphans are pulled from the street, transformed into English spies for the Crown, including Siena, who is given the mission to infiltrate an elite circle of British aristocrats, including the reclusive Earl of Kirtland, to find a traitor selling state secrets.

“Hunter’s Run” by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham is the Science Fiction selection. On the planet Sao Paolo, a prospector kills a man in a barroom brawl and flees into the mountains looking for that one great score that will lift him out of poverty. Instead, he finds an alien race in hiding. The aliens force him to chase another man who has observed them. The mission, of course, is to keep the aliens’ existence a secret. This novel is a gripping, thoughtful adventure about the “other” and how it changes people and takes on new meanings. For a Science Fiction romp that also has action and secret aliens, try Matthew Reilly’s “Contest.” Unwittingly entered into a dangerous contest along with his young daughter, Stephen Swain is placed into the labyrinth of the New York Public Library from which only one of seven contestants will emerge alive.

Kate Maloy’s “Every Last Cuckoo” is an excellent example of fine women’s fiction. After a long marriage, 75-year-old Sarah finds that widowhood unexpectedly closes some doors and opens others. As she slowly relearns how to live again, her unorthodox approach to adding new members to her household reminds her of her mutigenerational home during the Great Depression and makes her determined to build new memories for the future. Maloy’s wordplay and startling nature imagery are enchanting. Readers may also enjoy Anne Rivers Siddons “Off Season” in which a widow returns to her family cottage in Maine, her late husband’s ashes and ornery cat in tow, and ponders her first experience of love and loss or Anne Tyler’s “Before We Were Grownups.” Rebecca Davitch is a fifty-three-year-old grandmother who discovers that she has turned into the wrong person. She begins an exploration to find out who she really is.

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