Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).
“Check Your Shelf” is sponsored by Flatiron Books.
At the Wolf’s Table is the internationally bestselling novel based on the untold true story of the women conscripted to be Hitler’s food tasters, from Rosella Postorino. Germany, 1943: Twenty-six-year-old Rosa’s parents are gone, and her husband’s fighting in WWII. Impoverished and alone, she decides to leave war-torn Berlin for the countryside. But one morning, the SS come and say she’s been conscripted to be one of Hitler’s tasters: each day, she and nine other women go to his headquarters to eat his meals before he does. And as secrets and resentments grow, this unlikely sisterhood reaches a dramatic climax.
To any readers who live in the Midwest, I hope you survived the horrible polar vortex. I have spent the last several days hunkered down with a blanket, a stack of books, and my cats, and I’m looking forward to positive digit temperatures in the near future.
Libraries & Librarians
- Self-proclaimed Latter Day Saint antiquities dealer pleaded guilty to stealing historic books from Brigham Young University library.
- How the LA Public Library stepped up during the teacher’s strike.
- Ocean City (NJ) Public Library gives away free winter coats to children.
- Furloughed workers during the government shutdown frequently turned to books, ebooks, and libraries.
- A retired Italian school teacher converted his 3-wheeled van into a mobile library to deliver books to remote villages.
ALA Midwinter Recap
- All #alamw19 posts from American Libraries.
- A summary of Robin DiAngelo’s ALA talk about white fragility.
- ALA announces award winners for the Youth Media Awards, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Stonewall Book Awards, Over the Rainbow List, RUSA Reading List, RUSA Listen List, and the Notable Books List.
Book Adaptations in the News
- Netflix scoops up Ron Howard’s adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy.
- Casting news for HBO’s adaptation of The Outsider by Stephen King,
- We’re getting a multicultural retelling of Anna Karenina (Anna K by Jenny Lee), and the TV rights have already been acquired.
- A trailer for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
- Chiwetel Ejiofor is adapting & directing The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.
Books & Authors in the News
- If you haven’t heard already, we’re getting a new book from E.L. James this spring, and it has nothing to do with Fifty Shades.
- Bill Clinton is writing a memoir about his post-presidential life.
- There’s a never-before-seen Robert Jordan novel coming out.
- Book Rioter Eric Smith has a new novel coming out in 2020!
- Kat Howard is writing a sequel to An Unkindness of Magicians.
- Gregg Hurwitz signs a deal for the next 3 books in the Orphan X series.
- Jim Acosta is writing a book about the Trump White House.
- Representative Ilhan Omar is publishing a memoir about her journey from Somalian refugee to Congresswoman.
- 9-year-old Halle Amor Moore publishes a book of feminist poetry!
By the Numbers
- A look at the takeaways & trends in the publishing world from 2018.
- The most expensive book sales of 2018.
Award News
- The Man Group is no longer sponsoring the Booker Prize.
- How to vote for the 2019 Hugo Awards, and why you should!
- 2019 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative released the Translated YA Book Prize Shortlist.
- 2019 Pen America Literary Awards Finalists.
- Finalists for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award.
All Things Comics
- Marvel’s giving us a first-look at the upcoming Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge theme parks in Disney World & Disneyland with a 5-issue comics series.
- She-Ra’s been renewed for Season 2.
- A tribute to Stan Lee.
- Where to start with DC Rebirth.
- A beginner’s guide to manga.
Audiophilia
- Washington Post: audiobooks to stave off the winter blues.
- How to use Spanish audiobooks to practice Spanish.
- Audiobooks written and narrated by women.
Upcoming Books in 2019
- Library Journal editors pick the titles they’re most excited for this spring.
- Paste: 10 of the best upcoming YA novels in January.
- Good Housekeeping: Most anticipated books of 2019.
- Washington Post: 10 books to read in February.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
- Penguin Random House gives 50 LGBTQ Titles for Pride Month.
- 5 historical novels with famous authors as characters.
- Read Harder suggestions for #ownvoices books set in Oceania, and a book with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads.
- YA books about second-generation immigrants.
- 50 must-read books for beginning readers.
- Where to start with the Star Wars books.
- Foreign thrillers, winter thrillers, and delightful murder mystery series for your most dedicated mystery-reading patrons.
- 17 of the best parenting books, according to parents.
- 15 short classics you can read in a weekend.
- Picture books about anxiety for children who worry.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- Antiques Roadshow appraised two first-edition signed copies of Harry Potter at nearly $4000.
- And check out these awesome 20th anniversary edition covers of Prisoner of Azkaban.
- Wattpad is launching a publishing division, but instead of editors selecting stories to publish, they’ll be using technology to scan & analyze stories to determine commercial value. This is…interesting.
- Like the idea of book vending machines? How about a poetry…pharmacy?
- Bookish podcasts to help you pick your next read.
- Penguin Random House partners with lululemon to create a pop-up library.
- Is “up-lit” the next publishing trend? (And can we please come up with better terms for these trends?)
- How young women are changing the art of poetry.
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
Thanks for hanging out and I’ll see you again next week!
–Katie McLain, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire.