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Welcome to Check Your Shelf. This is going to be the last issue of Check Your Shelf until after the New Year, so I’m just going to say GOOD RIDDANCE 2020, YOU WILL NOT BE MISSED. And since this hasn’t been my greatest year in terms of reading and books, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on the little (non-bookish) things that got me through this year. So here’s a shoutout to all of the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax that I watched over and over, the True Facts guy on YouTube who kept me entertained while I struggled through basic household chores, and the Chicken Lemon Orzo soup at Corner Bakery when I needed to eat but couldn’t fathom making anything for myself. Also, here’s possibly the cutest photo we’ve taken of Houdini to date.
So now, let’s talk books!
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
Publisher’s Weekly names “The Book Business Worker” as its 2020 Person of the Year.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation launches a new publishing imprint with Random House.
A look at some of the biggest publishing news stories in 2020.
New & Upcoming Titles
Colson Whitehead’s next book, Harlem Shuffle, will be a heist novel!
Elizabeth Warren’s new book, Persist, will be out in April of next year.
Titan Books is publishing an anthology of stories inspired by Shirley Jackson, which will include submissions from horror authors like Paul Tremblay and Josh Malerman.
New books about artificial intelligence.
9 new poetry collections that highlight the diversity of Latinx identity.
Some of the best recent sci-fi and fantasy novels in translation.
Weekly book picks from Booklist Reader, Bustle, Crime Reads, New York Times, and Shelf Awareness.
Best books of December from Bitch Media (feminist picks), and Tor.com (horror/genre bending novels).
Most anticipated books of 2021 from Amazon, BuzzFeed (historical fiction), Epic Reads, The Rumpus, and USA Today.
Best Books of 2021
The ULTIMATE Best Books List of 2020.
Best books of 2020 from the Asian American Writer’s Workshop, AV Club, Book Marks, (fiction and nonfiction), BookPage, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Jezebel, Lit Hub, Town & Country, USA Today, Vox, Vulture, and Wired.
Best mystery & crime books from Book Marks and Crime Reads (noir fiction, debuts, gothic fiction, psychological thrillers, true crime, and espionage fiction).
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
A Certain Hunger – Chelsea G. Summers (LA Times, Washington Post)
Red Hands – Christopher Golden (Washington Post)
Worked Over: How Round-the-Clock Work is Killing the American Dream – Jamie K. McCallum (Washington Post)
Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream – Mychal Denzel Smith (Washington Post)
Expedition Deep Ocean: The First Descent to the Bottom of All Five Oceans – Josh Young (Washington Post)
On the Riot
13 great Fall 2020 books in translation.
Best positive thinking books of 2020.
Dark mood reading that’s working for this reader.
All Things Comics
Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf is named the best graphic novel of the year by Publishers Weekly critics.
Best-reviewed graphic literature of 2020 from Book Marks.
Audiophilia
Best audiobooks of 2020 from Slate and Washington Post.
5 family mystery audiobooks to share.
Great holiday audiobooks for young readers.
8 audiobooks you’ll love as much as their adaptations.
Audiobooks with animal narrators.
On the Riot
8 of the best audiobooks narrated by Emily Woo Zeller.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
8 interactive books to entertain your restless young reader.
14 YA releases to catch up on before their sequels drop in 2021.
The ultimate cozy YA books for cold winter days.
Adults
22 authors on the books that gave them hope in 2020.
USA Today contributors list the books that got them through this year.
23 modern SFF twists on classic stories.
5 books about the world after the end of the world.
On the Riot
15 great English/Spanish books for kids.
Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2020.
Read Harder: A SFF anthology written by a person of color, a middle grade mystery, a fat-positive romance, a work of fanfiction, a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author.
8 gritty thrillers to keep you turning the pages.
11 of the best holiday horror novels.
15 books like Taylor Swift’s Evermore for your winter reading list.
15 of the best historical fiction series.
10 space books to read so the Galactic Federation will talk to us.
8 intergenerational family sagas to dig into this winter.
5 memoirs in verse by amazing women writers.
8 books about magical and mysterious libraries.
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.
I have to believe that 2021 will be better than this year. Stay safe and healthy this holiday, and I will see you all in January!