Month: March 2020

ALA Cancels Its Annual Conference

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date March 25, 2020

Sponsored by Cinder Block Publishing and Terribilita by Ben Wyckoff Shore

The rebel caprices of Enzo Ferrando have dire consequences. His father, the Risorgimento war hero, is gunned down on his veranda. His son Lucca is forced into hiding as a deckhand on a merchant ship. Enzo himself is conscripted into the Italian army and forced to wage war on the African Horn, yet he yearns to take vengeance on his father’s killers and to reunite with his son. “Mastery of storytelling makes Terribilita a powerful and emotive read that all literary, historical and family drama fans will devour.” (Readers’ Favorite, 5/5 Stars)

This is Check Your Shelf, and once again, the majority of this newsletter is COVID-19 updates.

Before we jump into the links, here’s something to make you giggle!

And here’s Book Riot’s updated story stream with COVID-19-related articles.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

ALA’s annual conference has been canceled for 2020.
All branches of the Chicago Public Library are now (finally) closed through Tuesday, April 7th.
Temporary free access to Booklist, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Horn Book. Also a reminder that if you’re looking to do some continuing education while you’re at home, all of Booklist’s archived webinars are free.
Penguin Random House is discounting eBook and digital audiobook sales to public libraries for the next 90 days.
ALA petitions the FCC to let libraries turn their bookmobiles into mobile WiFi hotspots.
The downtown Spokane library may become a temporary homeless shelter.
Library services during the pandemic highlight the digital divide as well as worker safety issues. (CLOSE THE LIBRARIES.) Also, I’m in disbelief at the West Virginia college library cited in the article that requires students to have their temperatures taken before being allowed to enter the building.
Related, here are some suggestions to advocate for closing the library, if yours is still open.

Cool Library Updates

Families who stop by Springfield (MA) Public Schools to pick up breakfast and lunch for students can also pick up an individually wrapped book to take home, thanks to the work of Link to Libraries.
Columbia University librarians provide the guides and design for 3D-printable face shields.
The Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh launches an online reading program called “Stay In and Read.”
The Fraser Valley Regional Library (British Columbia) is hosting a virtual dance party.
Little Free Libraries are transforming into makeshift food banks.
19 immersive museum exhibits you can visit from your couch.
Here are a couple articles on doing virtual story time (without violating copyright law!).
You can now read 1.4 million books for free from the National Emergency Library.

Worth Reading

Fighting fake news in the pandemic.
Self care for librarians during COVID-19.
Serving homeless patrons when your library is closed.
Professional development opportunities to take advantage of from home.
Advice for doing digital book clubs.
When libraries close, it feels like the end of the world.
Advice for those at home, working or otherwise.
How to help librarians and archivists from your living room.
And finally, some non-COVID news: this Brazilian teenager started a community library in Rio.

Book Adaptations in the News

Some of the SFF adaptations that have halted production due to COVID-19.

Books & Authors in the News

A federal court ruled in favor of PEN America, who filed a lawsuit against Trump, saying that he has used government power to retaliate against media coverage and reporters he dislikes in violation of the First Amendment.
Stephen King, Amy Tan, and Mitch Albom are among several authors to participate in the virtual book festival Wordplay.
Linda Fairstein sues Netflix for defamation in When They See Us.
Netflix is planning a new show with Marie Kondo.
Don Winslow cancels his book tour.

Numbers & Trends

Physical book sales have dropped 10% from last week due to COVID-19.

Award News

Valeria Luiselli is the first woman to win the Folio Prize.
Rick Atkinson wins the American History Book Prize for The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777.
Shortlists were announced for the Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals, as well as the British Book Awards.
Here are the winners of the Bancroft Prize.
The Lambda Literary Awards will not be held in person in June, but the winners will be announced on schedule.
The Nebula conference is going digital, with the winners being announced May 30th via live stream.

Pop Cultured

Kenny Rogers dies at age 81.
Rosario Dawson has been cast in season two of The Mandalorian.
Birds of Prey is available for on-demand viewing this week.
Acorn TV extends its free trial, if you’re in the mood for some British crime dramas.
Wonder Woman 1984’s theatrical release will be postponed from June 5th to August 14th.
Here’s a list of all the movies (so far) that have been postponed due to COVID-19.

On the Riot

This Pennsylvania library created a digital Harry Potter escape room using Google Forms!
How to get the most out of story time, from a children’s librarian.
Children may…misunderstand how libraries work.
Get your child hooked on reading with 1000 books before kindergarten.
20 of the best books on Hoopla right now.
Harry Potter Alliance is hosting a virtual conference through April 4th!
How to read to a child.

Sending virtual hugs to anyone who wants them. Stay safe and healthy, friends.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Only Child by Mi-Ae Seo.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks – 3/26/20

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date March 25, 2020

Sponsored by William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

A lifetime together. Six months of silence. One last chance.

“The premise alone had me, but The Silent Treatment itself is just heartrendingly lovely. It’s beautiful, so moving and clever.” — Josie Silver, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December

The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves Available April 7th

Hola Audiophiles! Greetings from my isolation station (my apartment) where I’m running low on hair products (‘sup, frizz?) and cooking feels like a daily episode of Chopped. Print reading is still a struggle, so audiobooks are once again coming in clutch. Allow me to share some new releases and my latest listens.

I hope you are well, friends! Take a deep breath, bring those shoulders down from your ears, do some stretching, and give yourself space to be a little bit of a mess.

Ready? Let’s audio.

New Releases – March 24 (publisher descriptions in quotes)

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, narrated by Robin Miles (fantasy) – “Every great city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She’s got six. But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs in the halls of power, threatening to destroy the city and her six newborn avatars unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.”

Narrator Note: Robin Miles! Robin Miles! I just got a physical copy in the mail but bruuuuuuh it’s Robin Miles!

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, narrated by Dylan Moore (fiction) – Vincent used to be a bartender at a five star hotel. Now she’s been posing as the trophy wife for that hotel’s owner, a fraud who’s swindled a whole bunch of people out of millions in an international Ponzi Scheme. When it all comes crashing down, Vincent walks away quietly like Cersei in that penultimate episode of GOT. Years and years later, a victim of that Ponzi scheme is hired to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a woman from the deck of a container ship between ports of call. These two events are inextricably linked.

Narrator Note: Dylan Moore narrated Riley Sager’s Lock Every Door and You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. She has a voice that’s warm, a bit higher in pitch, but commanding enough to keep tension high.

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane, narrated by Sara Novak (romance) – Laurie is humiliated when news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend gets out, the ex that just broke up with her after a decade of dating. Then she meets Jamie in a broken-down elevator, the office playboy who doesn’t believe in love but does need a suitable girlfriend to impress their bosses. Since Laurie is in the market for a hottie that will give the ol’ rumor mill something new to talk about, it’s a match made in fauxmance heaven. But there’s a fine line between pretending to catch feels and catching them for real…

Narrator Note: I’m not quite cool enough to name the specific region of Sara Novak’s accent but I loooove it. Check that sample – it’s just so fun to listen to!

Had I Known by Barbara Ehrenreich, narrated by Suzanne Toren (nonfiction, essays) – Barbara Ehrenreich is a self-proclaimed “myth buster by trade,” a journalist and political activist who’s covered an extensive range of topics in her career. I’ve had her book Natural Causes on my TBR for awhile, which examines how we’re killing ourselves to live longer, not better. Had I Known is a collection of the articles and excerpts from a long-ranging career that perhaps best showcase her unique flavor of social consciousness and wit.

Narrator Note: Is it just me, or does Suzanne Toren sound like the voice that narrated Desperate Housewives once upon a time? I saw maybe two episodes of that show but I swear, that is what the narration sounded like! I dig it.

Tigers Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry, narrated by Luis Moreno (YA) – The Torres sisters dream of escape from their tyrannical widowed father and the San Antonio neighborhood where everybody knows all ya business. Then in the summer after her senior year of high school, the oldest Torres sister dies tragically. A year later, the three remaining sisters are still consumed by their grief when strange things start happening around the house: mysterious laughter, weird shadows, creepy writing on the walls. Is their dead sister trying to send them a message? What is she trying to tell them?

Narrator Note: You wanna talk range? Luis Moreno has narrated for everyone from Chuck Palahniuk to Danielle Steele, performing romance, thrillers, narrative nonfiction, fantasy, and everything in between.

Latest Listens

I inhaled Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson and am now plowing through the rest of the series! The books are set at Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in Vermont established by Albert Ellingham. He was an uber-rich, early 20th century tycoon who created the academy as a place for his obsession with games to play out. Getting in is an elusive process: there’s no application, there’s no scouting. You just sort of have to make your case for why you should be allowed to attend without really knowing what the rubric is for selection.

Oh and also: shortly after the school opened, Ellingham’s wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only clue in the case was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed “Truly, Devious.” Decades later, the case remains one of the great unsolved crimes in American history.

Enter Stevie Bell, a teen true crime aficionado. She throws up a Hail Mary and writes to Ellingham Academy, asking to be let in because she believes she can solve the case. She’s accepted, arrives at the school and meets the motley crue of students also accepted into this mysterious school. Then a student turns up dead, opening up a whole new can of worms.

These books are an homage to Agatha Christie and classic murder mysteries, and candy for anyone who loves a boarding school setting. Narrator Kate Rudd manages to voice everyone from a 20th century tycoon to an apathetic teen without once making it feel gimmicky. A+!

Note: a lot of people in the reviews for the first book are BIG mad about the cliffhanger ending. It’s a series, so… keep… reading? The whole trilogy is out now so you don’t have to wait.

From the Internets, or My Email Inbox

I heard from Libro.fm that #ShopBookstoresNow has been a huge success! The $50,000 goal was surpassed and indie bookstores have seen a giant increase in both web traffic and memberships (we’re talking 800% and 200% respectively). Keep on keepin’ on, Libro!

Over at the Riot – So much great audiobook content!

10 of the Best Audiobook Series – I need to keep going with Attica Locke!
Where to Find the Best Audiobook Reviews Online – SUCH a useful resource.
Bookish Puzzles and the Audiobooks to Listen to While Doing Them – Funny story: I started Moon of the Crusted Snow (amazing, btw) without knowing what it was really about. Cool cool cool, the power is out, evil’s afoot, and everyone’s panicking and buying up all the food. Gulp.
Audiobook Adventures with Animal Crossing
7 Authors I Only Read on Audio
Audible Launches Audible Stories for Children and Teens While School is Out – for all my parents/guardians/caregivers with young ones suddenly at home.

Reminder: Book Riot has rounded up COVID-19 updates from the bookish world in one convenient place. You’ll find everything from free resources for children (story times! drawing lessons!) to news updates and a list of reliable online sources for staying informed.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Tuesday and Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Book Radar

A New Tana French Novel and More Book Radar!

Post author By Liberty Hardy
Post date March 25, 2020

Sponsored by our $50 Barnes and Noble giveaway! Enter here!

We’re giving away a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble to one lucky reader. Enter here (and don’t forget to send us pics of your book stack if you win!).

Happy Thursday, readers. How is everyone doing out there in Week 2 of self-quarantine? I found it hard to concentrate on books the first week, but this week, I am reading them faster than ever. Which makes a nice break from reality. Books have gotten me through hard times before, and they’ll save me again this time, that’s for sure.

Today I have a little bit of book news for you, and a few links to some things that might make you smile during this time. Also, here’s where you can learn more about COVID-19 Updates from the Bookish World. We’ll continue to update it regularly.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you virtual hugs. I hope you are safe, and please remember to be kind to yourself and others. Thanks for subscribing, and I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! Who was the first American author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Valeria Luiselli has won the Rathbones Folio Prize.

Cheryl Strayed will be doing a special Dear Sugar appearance on Friday.

There’s a new Tana French coming in October!

Watch as our very own Jenn Northington interviews N.K. Jemisin on Saturday.

Here’s the first trailer for Defending Jacob with Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery.

Book Riot Recommends

At Book Riot, I work on the New Books! email, the All the Books! podcast about new releases, and the Book Riot Insiders New Release Index. I am very fortunate to get to read a lot of upcoming titles, and learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Excited to read:

Earthlings: A Novel by Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator) (Grove Press, November 10)

I was a big fan of Murata’s last novel, Convenience Store Woman. And it had a delightful cover. But this cover tops it – look at that cute little hedgehog! I just want to squish its face. Here’s the beginning of the description: “As a child, Natsuki doesn’t fit into her family. Her parents favor her sister, and her best friend is a plush toy hedgehog named Piyyut who has explained to her that he has come from the planet Popinpobopia on a special quest to help her save the Earth.” I’M SOLD. All your awkward, lonely childhood books are belong to me.

What I’m reading this week.

Sex and Vanity: A Novel by Kevin Kwan

Malorie: A Bird Box Novel by Josh Malerman

The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E. Schwab

The Shadows by Alex North

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

And this is funny.

My cats would murder me in my sleep if I tried this.

Song stuck in my head:

Waking Up the Giants by Grizfolk

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
Here are livestreams of animals.
And more cute animal pictures.
Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.

Trivia answer: Sinclair Lewis.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Events

Join Us for Magical Cities in Literature Day!

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date March 25, 2020

Sponsored by Orbit Books, publisher of visionary author N.K. Jemisin’s new novel, THE CITY WE BECAME.

Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City. Every great city has a soul. Some are ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York? She’s got six.

“It’s a glorious fantasy, set in that most imaginary of cities, New York. It’s inclusive in all the best ways, and manages to contain both Borges and Lovecraft in its fabric, but the unique voice and viewpoint are Jemisin’s alone.” — Neil Gaiman

Pack your bags, Rioters, and join us on a journey to the magical cities of literature! Saddle up your winged steeds and power up those flying cars, then follow us to places both familiar and brand new.

Here’s what you can expect on this jam-packed trip: discover which magical city you should live in, and find out which ones you should probably avoid! Explore magic cities in YA and middle grade series (that aren’t Harry Potter), and learn about the real world inspirations behind literature’s most magical cities. Don’t forget: not all magical cities are fun & friendly wonderlands: some of them are frightening, don’t say you weren’t warned.

So many cities, so little time. Let’s get to it then!

Kissing Books

Harlequin Ebooks Are On Sale

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date March 25, 2020

In the Club – 032520

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date March 25, 2020

Wonder Woman Will Wait: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 25, 2020

Free Bookish Services to Keep You Busy in Quarantine

Post author By Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Post date March 24, 2020

Hope this finds you safe and healthy, reader friends! We at Riot HQ (which is actually, like, 15 HQs now that we all work from home) have been busy looking for ways to support our community through the COVID-19 pandemic. While you’re stuck at home, here are 5 great free services to keep you plugged into your literary life.

All you can read! Get 30 days of free access to Scribd’s entire catalog. This offer does not require any credit card information or commitment.

If you’re itching for a project, now’s the time to catalog your bookshelves! LibraryThing has removed all membership fees. Catalog, categorize, and organize your reading life to your heart’s content.

How about a touch of magic? Escape into your imagination with the Hogwarts Digital Escape Room created by the geniuses at the Peters Township Public Library in McMurray, Pennsylvania. Long live librarians!

So you’re trying to limit screen time and find enough fun and educational experiences to keep your kids busy for….however long school is out? Meet Audible Stories, a free service that offers educational and entertaining audiobook content for kids, teens, and families.

A global pandemic is a powerful reminder of how deeply we are connected to and responsible for each other. Haymarket Books, an independent publisher that focuses on social and economic justice, is offering free ebook editions of 10 titles through April 1.

Stay safe, wash your hands, and happy reading!

Today In Books

Bookmobiles As Free WiFi Trucks: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 24, 2020

Sponsored by Medusa’s Daughters: Magic and Monstrosity from Women Writers.

Bookmobiles As Free WiFi Trucks

While many Americans are social distancing by staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic and streaming TV and surfing the internet, that is a luxury that at least 21.3 million Americans don’t have (the number is probably double) because they don’t have internet. The American Library Association wants the FCC to allow libraries to turn “16,557 public libraries into free, communal broadband Wi-Fi hotspots” allowing access to broadband to then be extended into communities that have none. ALA is needing permission because “libraries were worried that the Trump FCC—which has taken aim at the program in recent years—would penalize them for extending broadband access to users that are technically not on library property.”

“Men At Some Time Are Masters Of Their Fates”

The Globe, an Elizabethan playhouse replica where Shakespeare’s plays are performed, has had to close to the public like so many businesses during this time. However, they recorded many of their productions over the past decade and, thus, you can now rent or buy performances of their Shakespeare plays. You’re entertained and the theater gets some financial help.

It’s All Going Virtual

Wordplay is a book festival that was scheduled for Minneapolis in May but will now take place in April and May virtually. 100+ authors/participants are still on board (including some of our favorites!): “We’re going to be doing live video conversations, podcasts, visual arts, author Q&As, playlists, social media takeovers, and other creative content. So, folks will be able to access it a lot of ways.”

True Story

New Releases: UFOs, The Office, and Royalty

Post author By Alice Burton
Post date March 24, 2020

Sponsored by our $50 Barnes and Noble giveaway! Enter here!

We’re giving away a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble to one lucky reader. Enter here (and don’t forget to send us pics of your book stack if you win!).

Is everyone staying safe and warm and caring for themselves and maybe reordering their bookshelves? Ok great, let’s jump into new nonfiction releases for the week:

Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO by David J. Halperin. So. Ok, hear me out. It’s published by Stanford University Press, and looks at “what [UFOs] tell us about ourselves as individuals, as a culture, and as a species.” Which is neat! Especially because we should all currently spend some time looking at the world like it’s a slight-of-hand magician that is very obviously holding something giant in its right hand, but we are gonna force ourselves to look at the left one for a bit, because we need a break. Maybe we should all just spend some time thinking about UFOs.

Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt. So maybe you want to think about another tragedy, but one like, far removed in subject matter from this current situation. I used to study American disasters so much, my mom said if I ever got married, it would be on “some tragedy boat.” If you’d like to cathartically exorcise your emotions, check this out! It looks into how Native American “expulsion became national policy and describes the chaotic and deadly results of the operation to deport 80,000 men, women, and children.” This was in 1830 under the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Just wanted to highlight that.

The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History by Andy Greene. I am having an absolutely lovely time with this book. It goes from the idea of The Office in the UK to it being brought to America, its rocky start, and subsequent extreme success. Greene interviewed everybody for this book. Like most of America, I’m a massive Office fan, and this book couldn’t have come at a better time. If you want a total distraction, then here y’go.

Save Yourself: Essays by Cameron Esposito. Chicago comic Esposito spends this memoir telling her story up to the “big break” of moving to LA. So you learn about her childhood, becoming a comedian, coming out, and more.

Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner. I requested this galley and was denied, presumably because my parents were in trade. So I can’t attest to its goodness, but Glenconner was lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, who we all know was a real piece of work, so presumably it is at least fun. I usually hold some level of skepticism about tell-all books, but Glenconner is 87-years-old, so maybe she just feels (rightly) like people would be interested in her perspective about a very famous family.

Backlist Pairings

We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True by Gabrielle Union. Nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, which is awesome, early 2000s icon Union uses her memoir to tackle “power, color, gender, feminism, and fame.” She shares what it was like growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her black relatives in Nebraska, coping with crushes, puberty, and the divorce of her parents, and more. This somehow hasn’t been on my to-read list, but it is now.

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer. Historian Treuer wrote this as a counterpoint to Dee Brown’s well-known Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. He is emphatic about Native American history not ending with the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, and he tells that story here. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and on the Carnegie Award longlist.

Stay inside if you can, nonfictionites. Wash your hands, Clorox-wipe your phone, and read read read (while also taking a break to prevent eye strain!). If you are so inclined, check out COVID-19 Updates from the Bookish World. As always, you can find me on Twitter @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time! Enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.