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 The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke, new in paperback from Tyndale House Publishers.
For fans of World War II fiction comes a story about two couples whose lives are ravaged by Hitler’s war yet redeemed through the fate of one little girl. The German blitzkrieg of Warsaw in 1939 shatters the life of each citizen. Sophie, a British bride, is determined that she and the baby in her womb will stay safe. Rosa faces a terrifying reality: to save her daughter’s life, she must send her into hiding. Her only hope of finding her after the war is the medallion she cuts in half and places around her daughter’s neck.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
- The Washington Digital Library Consortium is organizing a potential 6 month boycott of Blackstone Publishing’s digital audiobooks.
- ALA releases findings on US library programming. You can read the press release here and the full report here.
- The DeKalb County (GA) Public Libraries had to make a change to their book bingo card when a patron noticed that one of the squares read “Read a Christian fiction book.” Also, I’m not thrilled with the headline – the issue isn’t that someone was offended, but rather that libraries shouldn’t be centering one religious or political belief over another.
Cool Library Updates
- Wright State University (OH) installed FitDesk exercise bikes in the library so that students could get some exercise while studying.
- In other bike news: bike sharing programs at your local library.
- These two librarians have planned 141 programs for the Horn Lake Library THIS YEAR ALONE for their local immigrant community.
- How about a community dance?
- San Diego libraries are offering limited edition Pride library cards!
Worth Reading
Book Adaptations in the News
- Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan is being adapted for Amazon TV.
- Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is going to be a (terrifying) movie.
- Katherine Heigl is starring in, and executive producing, the Netflix adaptation of Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.
- George R.R. Martin expounds on the Game of Thrones spinoff series.
- Netflix edits the graphic suicide scene from 13 Reasons Why, although my question is why they’re only just doing this now.
Collection Development Corner
New & Upcoming Titles
- Jessica Simpson has an upcoming memoir.
- Metallica is writing a children’s book called The ABC’s of Metallica.
- Michael Eric Dyson is writing a book about the cultural impact of Jay-Z.
- Book Rioter Jenn Northington and former Rioter Swapna Krishna are publishing an anthology of Arthuriana retellings!
- Best book covers of 2019 (so far).
- Books to read in July from Vulture and O magazine.
- 37 YA fantasy novels to have on your radar for the rest of 2019.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post)
- The Chain – Adrian McKinty (Entertainment Weekly, the Guardian, NPR, New York Times, USA Today)
- The Need – Helen Phillips (Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post)
RA & Genre Resources
- The state of the thriller.
- 5 tips for school librarians on organizing your summer reading.
Books & Authors in the News
- T.J. Martinson was hired to teach English at Olivet Nazarene University, but then the offer was rescinded, saying that his debut novel, The Reign of the Kingfisher, contained profanity and other elements that conflicted with the school’s religious doctrine.
- James Patterson talks with New York magazine about his 2016 book about Jeffrey Epstein, Filthy Rich.
- Wally Lamb’s anthology You Don’t Know Me: The Incarcerated Women of York Prison Voice Their Truths has been suspended amid payment disputes and charges of bullying.
- Check out this version of the Mueller Report, adapted by Mark Bowden and illustrated by Chad Hurd, the art director for Archer! Get ready to enter the… *DANGER ZONE*!
Numbers & Trends
- If you like information about reading habits, take a look at this data from the Humanities Indicators Project.
- Half of all translated books come from just nine countries.
Award News
- The International Thriller Writer Awards were announced.
Pop Cultured
- The forthcoming James Bond film will feature Lashana Lynch as 007!
- A reading list for fans of Veronica Mars.
All Things Comics
- Harper Collins plans to launch Harper Alley, a new graphic novel imprint, in fall 2020.
- John Carpenter (yes, THAT John Carpenter!) is going to write a Joker comic for DC!
- Big Hollywood names who are getting into comics.
- School Library Journal debuts a new column about manga, and the first post is an all-ages manga starter list.
- Some upcoming late summer/early fall graphic novels for 2019.
Audiophilia
- The science behind audiobooks.
- 25 free Amazon Prime audiobooks you can listen to right now.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- Book suggestions for baby showers.
- Space books for future astronauts.
- Middle grade graphic novels that are perfect for summer reading.
Adults
- The best cookbooks of the century (so far).
- The New York Public Library has summer reading book lists for adults.
- 5 memoirs & novels about pregnancy.
- Women warriors throughout history.
- Books by or about black journalists.
- 50 must-read backlist romances published in the 2010’s.
- 30 haunted house books that will give you the creeps.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- Police in Herne Bay are trying to track down an anonymous vandal who has been ripping apart books from the local library and the hospice charity shop…this person has ruined over 100 books so far, and it’s dumbfoundingly infuriating.
- The man accused of burning LGBTQ books has lost his motion to dismiss the case.
- EasyJet launches an in-flight lending library with over 60,000 books available across 300 flights!
- The Gone With the Wind mansion is up for sale.
- The differences between hardcover and paperback cover designs.
- 5 things this writer learned about leading a kid’s book group.
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, and I’ll see you next week!
–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.