Sponsored by Best Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham with First Second Books
Bestselling creators of Real Friends Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham are back with a true story about popularity, first crushes, and finding your own path. Sixth grade is supposed to be perfect. Shannon’s got a sure spot in the in-crowd and her best friend is their leader, the most popular girl in school. But the rules are always changing, and Shannon has to scramble to keep up. Follow your heart.
Find your people.
Two announcements before we dive in! First: I am going to be on vacation for the next week and a half in Seattle, so Liberty Hardy will be filling in as honorary librarian/newsletter author for the next 2 issues!
Second: Starting September 17th, you’ll be getting TWO doses of Check Your Shelf in your inboxes each week on Tuesdays and Fridays! Tuesdays will focus on collection development and book lists, while Fridays will be more about news-y items. Thank you to all you readers who have made this newsletter such a success!!
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
- New Kansas corrections secretary eliminates the banned book list for Kansas prisons and implements a new policy.
- Ocala (FL) school board votes down a recent high school book ban request.
Cool Library Updates
- Waukegan (IL) Public Library (aka hometown of Ray Bradbury, aka my former library) unveils a gorgeous statue of Bradbury on what would have been his 99th birthday!
- The Indianapolis Public Library book bike offers free books – no library card required!
- These Key West hotels created a lending library of waterproof books that you can literally read in the pool.
Worth Reading
- Wellness for library workers. A good starting list, but I want to see less emphasis placed on individual self care and more on managerial & administrative support. I know too many people who burned out because they weren’t supported or cared for by their organization. This blog post points the conversation in that direction.
- A look at low morale among academic librarians.
- That time when people worried about library books spreading deadly diseases.
- Banned Book Week ideas for teen librarians.
Book Adaptations in the News
- William Jackson Harper, aka Chidi Anagonye on The Good Place, will have a recurring role in the upcoming series adaptation of The Underground Railroad.
- Lifetime has an upcoming original movie based on the memoir Captive, which details Catherine Oxenberg’s struggle to free her daughter from the NXIVM sex cult.
- The Woman in the Window adaptation has been pushed back until next year.
- We have to be getting close to the end of Stephen King books that haven’t been adapted yet – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is getting the film treatment.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar will likely star in a TV adaptation of Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman.
- You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz is getting a series called The Undoing, and will star Nicole Kidman.
- Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty by Daniel Schulman is set for TV.
Collection Development Corner
New & Upcoming Titles
- Who wants an illustrated edition of The Ocean at the End of the Lane??
- Elle: 16 best books of 2019 so far.
- Oprah Magazine: 29 of the best 2019 romance novels.
- 21 anticipated YA novels for September.
- Best international crime fiction of August.
- Fall 2019 book preview from Shondaland.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession – Rachel Monroe (NPR, Slate, Washington Post)
- A Particular Kind of Black Man – Tope Folarin (New York Times, NPR)
- The Warehouse – Rob Hart (NPR, USA Today)
RA/Genre Resources
Books & Authors in the News
- N.K. Jemisin, Jasmine Guillory, and Lauren Wilkinson talk about the white male hierarchy of publishing.
- Nicholas Sparks wins his defamation case.
- If you needed proof of Toni Morrison’s ongoing legacy, the demand for Toni Morrison books is so high that Knopf has had to print more books in both hardcover and paperback.
Award News
- An African history of the Booker Prize for Fiction.
- Splatterpunk Award winners, for your patrons who like their fiction extreme.
Pop Cultured
- The first trailer for The Mandalorian, plus a special look at The Rise of Skywalker.
All Things Comics
- A Black Panther sequel is set for Summer 2022!
- Disney announces shows based on Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and more.
- Kevin Smith is creating an anime He-Man series for Netflix.
- A history of comics censorship.
- 7 books to read to learn about comics.
- Graphic nonfiction about anxiety.
- Comics that turn mythology on its head.
Audiophilia
- Publishers sue Audible for their planned speech-to-text feature, claiming copyright violation.
- Taron Egerton, star of Rocketman, will be narrating the audiobook for Elton John’s upcoming memoir.
- More proof that reading and listening to a book aren’t really all that different.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- New picture books to help kids ease into a new school year.
- The best chapter books for kids.
- 32 books recommended by your favorite YA authors.
Adults
- 50 greatest coming-of-age novels.
- 10 books for fans of Girl, Wash Your Face.
- 7 books for fans of Mindhunter. (Spoilers ahead!)
- 50+ must-read gothic novels.
- 15 novels set on school campuses.
- Idyllic vacations gone horribly wrong.
- All 80 of Oprah’s book recommendations so far.
- The United States of Wrongdoing: 50 great books about true crimes.
- Obama’s summer reading recommendations.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- Gwyneth Paltrow’s “celebrity bibliophile.”
- How to review a novel.
- The challenges of encouraging a reading culture in developing countries.
- A definitive ranking of the Baby-Sitter’s Club parents.
- Marriage proposal ideas for couples who love to read.
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 when I come back! Seattle, ahoy!
–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.