Sponsored by Remina, the newest manga from Horror Legend Junji Ito
An unknown planet emerges from inside a wormhole, and its discoverer, Dr. Oguro, christens the body “Remina” after his own daughter. His finding is met with great fanfare, and Remina herself rises to fame. However, the object picks up speed as it moves along in its curious course, eliminating planets and stars one after another, until finally Earth itself faces extinction… Is the girl Remina the true cause of the catastrophe? A masterwork of horror from Junji Ito, unfolding on a universal scale.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Last week during a down moment in a Zoom meeting, I looked to the side and said something to one of my cats, who was in the chair next to me. When I looked back at the screen, a coworker was looking at me strangely, and I realized that she couldn’t see the cat, and was slightly puzzled as to why I had just called her “Doodlebug.” So…that was my week last week. Let’s hope for a better one.
Also, here’s a video of said Doodlebug exploring the wonders of the Christmas tree for the first time.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
The Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver was recently announced as the largest Black-owned bookstore in the country, but that messaging has met with a lot of criticism from Black booksellers.
Will the latest publishing mega-merger kill off small presses and literary diversity?
Just how white is the publishing industry?
New & Upcoming Titles
Bob Woodward is publishing another book about the Trump presidency.
Rachel Howzell Hall has a new book coming out!
Helene Wecker announces a sequel to The Golem and the Jinni, called The Hidden Palace, which comes out in June.
Zoraida Cordova’s debut adult novel, The Inheritance of Orquidea Divinia, will be released next year.
Seanan McGuire will have four more books coming from Tordotcom.
Kellyanne Conway has reportedly received a multi-million dollar deal for an upcoming memoir.
Melania Trump’s White House memoir may be a coffee table book.
5 recent books about the climate crisis.
Weekly book picks from Booklist Reader, BuzzFeed, Crime Reads, New York Times, Shelf Awareness, and USA Today.
December picks from Amazon (mystery/thriller, biography/memoir), BookPage (mystery/thriller, romance), and Tor.com (fantasy, science fiction, YA SFF).
Most-anticipated books for 2021 from AARP, O: Oprah Magazine (general picks, romance), and Tor.com (SFF).
Best Books of 2020
Best books of the year from Electric Lit, Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, LitHub, People, Slate, Vanity Fair, Vulture, and Wall Street Journal.
Best books of 2020, as selected by a panel of guest authors for The Guardian.
Best overlooked books of 2020.
Best crime novel picks (Crime Reads, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal)
Best historical fiction from the New York Times.
Best science fiction, fantasy, and horror (LitHub, Wall Street Journal)
Best short story collections (Bookmarks, Chicago Review of Books, Electric Lit)
Best LGBTQ books (New York Public Library, Shondaland)
Best nonfiction picks from Bookmarks (biographies/memoirs, poetry collections), Electric Lit, Kirkus (general nonfiction, biographies, memoirs, music), LitHub (essay collections), Smithsonian Magazine (history, travel, food), Wall Street Journal (political), and Wired (science).
Best children’s books from Read Brightly, Smithsonian Magazine, and Wall Street Journal.
Best YA fiction, and best speculative YA fiction (BuzzFeed, Tor.com)
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
The Purpose of Power: How To Come Together When We Fall Apart – Alicia Garza (Washington Post)
Crosshairs – Catherine Hernandez (USA Today)
Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House – Rachel Maddow & Michael Yarvitz (New York Times)
The Blade Between – Sam J. Miller (NPR)
On the Riot
The best books you’ve never heard of: Winter 2020.
6 strategies for recommending books to friends so they’ll actually read them.
Reading pathways for Holly Black.
All Things Comics
Ava DuVernay is adapting DC’s Naomi for the CW.
Best new comics for December 2020.
Why are so many comics creators going to Kickstarter instead of publishers?
On the Riot
15 graphic novels for the middle grade reader on your shopping list.
Audiophilia
Audible’s 10 best audiobooks of 2020.
AudioFile has more best-of lists for 2020: fiction; romance; mystery & suspense; scifi, fantasy, & horror; kids & family; and young adult.
12 reasons to gift audiobooks.
On the Riot
6 summer audiobooks for readers in the southern hemisphere.
18 of the best horror audiobooks to extend the haunting season.
Balancing audiobooks and podcasts during quarantine.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
Best Jewish children’s books of 2020.
Adults
Bill Gates picks 5 books for a lousy year.
10 books that will connect you in a socially distant year.
23 discussion-ready books for your next book club meeting.
6 mysteries that prove you really can’t go home again.
9 books about Krampus and other holiday horrors.
18 books to read at home over holiday break.
16 books about Princess Diana that pull back the curtain.
5 books about the horror of winter.
On the Riot
10 inclusive children’s holiday books for the most wonderful storytimes of the year.
13 fantastic books about East Asian American kids.
10 middle grade books teens want you to read right now.
10 excellent short stories for high school students.
5 YA books about teens who travel (when you can’t).
Read Harder suggestions: a LGBTQ+ history book, a non-European novel in translation, a book about anti-racism, a book you’ve been intimidated to read.
15 books about Appalachia to read instead of Hillbilly Elegy.
10 books like The House in the Cerulean Sea.
25 must-read books about Buddhism.
Women writing about women: must-read memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies.
11 of the best books about artificial intelligence.
7 books to get you through unemployment.
5 food novels by Southeast Asian women writers.
5 books for an introduction to disability history in the US.
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in Library Reads, 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.
Let’s keep stumbling towards the new year, everyone. Stay hydrated and moisturized!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.