Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change – and maybe even redemption.
Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change – and maybe even redemption.
Sponsored by OverDrive
Digipalooza ‘21 has something for everyone! Join a global community of public, academic and corporate librarians, educators, publishers and technologists as they press forward success for ebooks, audiobooks and other digital media. Learn from the experts how data-driven decisions are helping shape the next chapter of digital content for readers everywhere.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Last night, I defied my introverted nature and hung out a friend’s backyard party, where I only knew a few people. However, there was another librarian sitting at my table, and we quickly bonded by sharing our worst tales from the trenches, gossiping about local library drama, and comparing collection budget lines. You know, typical 4th of July conversation. Still, it was fun to meet someone new and see friends I hadn’t seen in person in at least a year. And now my introverted self is taking a bit of a breather…
So, anyway, buckle up because this newsletter is LONG. Like, full-to-bursting with new books and book list resources. Like, you don’t even know.
People of Color in Publishing and Latinx in Publishing collaborated on an online survey in 2018 to study reports of racism experienced in the publishing industry. The results have just now been released, and (spoiler alert): there’s a LOT of work to do.
Simon & Schuster launches a Black celebrity imprint, 13A, which is a reference to the Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.
Scribner purchases Jennifer Egan’s new book, The Candy House, which is billed as a sister novel to A Visit From the Good Squad.
Harper Voyager picks up Janelle Monáe’s debut Afrofuturistic short story collection.
Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton are co-authoring a new YA fantasy duology!
Morgan Jerkins announces her next novel.
Saeed Jones announces an upcoming poetry collection.
Linda Holmes (author of Evie Drake Starts Over) teases a new book on Twitter.
USA Today’s Susan Page is writing a biography of Barbara Walters.
Indie speculative fiction picks for June.
10 new LGBTQ books to celebrate Pride.
27 LGBTQ+ YA books to preorder.
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, and USA Today.
July picks from AV Club, Barnes & Noble, Brightly (children’s/YA), Bustle, Crime Reads, Entertainment Weekly, Gizmodo (SFF), Good Morning America, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, Oprah Daily, Popsugar (general, mystery/thriller, romance), and Washington Post.
Summer book picks from BookBub (romance), CBC, and USA Today.
The best books of 2021 (so far) from Chicago Tribune and Entertainment Weekly.
Falling – T.J. Newman (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, Popsugar)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino (The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post)
Objects of Desire – Claire Sestanovich (Electric Lit, NPR)
Blackout – Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon (NPR)
Survive the Night – Riley Sager (USA Today)
The first wave of post-Trump books fight to make sense of the chaos.
Readalikes for Survive the Night by Riley Sager.
5 more 2021 LGBTQ+ horror books for Pride.
The best books out this week for your TBR.
15 must-read July children’s book releases, 10 July YA releases, and 5 July 2021 horror novels.
5 new books to transport you to the beach.
The best books you’ve never heard of (Summer 2021 edition).
15 adult fiction books from BookFest that go straight to the TBR pile.
Must-read YA romances releasing July – December 2021.
5 captivating new books that reimagine classic stories.
How to keep track of new releases.
Short story collections as portals to literary magazines and other writings.
In defense of a messy queer book: because “good representation” is exhausting.
2020 North American comic sales grow to $1.28 billion.
The century of Captain America: a brief history of a beloved comic.
Celebrate the fourth by watching Batman punch Nazis.
Manhwa vs. manga: what’s the difference?
15 LGBTQ graphic novels for middle graders.
Publishers Weekly lists its Fall 2021 audio announcements.
The best LGBTQIA+ listens by queer authors.
Mystery audiobooks narrated by the 2021 Golden Voices narrators.
June’s bookseller-recommended audiobooks.
AudioFile’s best audiobooks of June.
3 ways to become a better reader with audiobooks.
Self-published audiobooks are the next great entrepreneurial side hustle.
Where to find free audiobooks.
6 of the best Appalachian audiobooks.
10 books that preschoolers love to read over and over again.
Books to show kids how to be a friend.
18 LGBTQ+ YA novels by BIPOC authors.
10 notable LGBTQ novels to educate and entertain.
An essential Pride reading list.
40 LGBTQ+ books to read now and always.
13 books with bisexual leads.
7 must-read books written by Latin-American immigrants.
9 novels about women fighting for a more just society.
9 larger-than-life books that will remind you of musicals.
12 LGBTQ+ characters in crime fiction.
7 mystery novels where the crimes are motivated by books.
8 books about dark desires that will crush you.
9 books about being unemployed or underemployed.
Light reads for any time of the year.
5 dark SFF novels that will make you laugh out loud.
6 stories that find drama in utopian settings.
8 SFF books that reimagine literary classics.
8 books for kids with big goals.
Crime & mystery books by Latinx authors.
4 great LGBTQ+ nonfiction books for Pride.
18 of the best trans fantasy and sci-fi books.
6 SFF books with genderfluid characters.
9 contemporary romances starring visual artists.
10 of the best revenge novels.
4 mystery & thriller books that blend genres.
4 adult fiction books that are perfect for rereading.
20 of the best books about video games.
6 books about different kinds of relationships and their impact.
6 books about nuclear energy.
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.
Whew. Did you make it through? Well, if so, I’ll catch you all on Friday. If not…well, hopefully you’ll make it through before the next newsletter comes out! Stay literally and figuratively cool, everyone!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently listening to The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge.
Sponsored by Amazon Publishing
Evil lives in a traveling carnival roaming the Depression-era South. But the carnival’s newest act, a peculiar young woman with latent magical powers, may hold the key to defeating it. Her time has come. From debut author Veronica G. Henry comes a mesmerizing fantasy novel of dangerous magic. Welcome to the traveling Bacchanal Carnival. The price for a ticket: your soul. Read Bacchanal.
Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex with your new releases for the first Tuesday of July. My Fourth of July was absolutely bonkers; since most of the cities around cancelled their fireworks (with good reason!), we ended up with neighborhoods basically filled with noise and gunpowder smoke as people shot off their own worryingly huge rockets. Not great, when you live in a place that gets bad wildfires. On the other hand, I got to have s’mores with friends! Hope everyone had a good and safe weekend. See you on Friday, space pirates!
Thing I loved this week: this thread of pictures of ship’s cats in tiny hammocks
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ and anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co
The Deucalion, a survey ship crewed by human specialists and androids, is sent to the ice planet Eos to assess its potential as a colony world. Dr. Grace Park, a misanthropic psychologist, has been assigned to monitor the crew, but finds herself befriending the androids instead. After arriving at Eos, the crew is trapped aboard the ship by a radiation storm. The androids start behaving strangely, the humans start having waking nightmares, and as the paranoia ratchets ever upward, Grace begins to realize that nothing around her is as it seems.
Gemma only appears to be a pampered, vacuous princess; under the carefully crafted persona, she’s a spy and a powerful mind magier. Her current mission: figure out who is stealing tearstone from one of the royal mines. There she encounters Prince Leonidas, her mortal enemy… and of course she promptly gets herself into a bind where she has to join forces with him if she wants to finish her mission and survive all the plots she’s uncovering.
Iph has always protected her younger brother, Orr. Unfortunately, their father doesn’t agree; he takes Iph to a gala in downtown Portland as a distraction while Orr is taken away to a wilderness survival bootcamp to be toughened up. Iph storms out of the gala and meets up with George, a bicycle-riding queer Robin Hood, who offers her a place to hide while she tracks down Orr. And Orr, in the meantime, has escaped camp and hooked up with an all-girl punk band. Separately, they must navigate their new environs and find each other again.
The Annurian Empire is falling to ruin, its magical gates becoming defunct and its other advantages falling to pieces. Even the Kettral have been decimated from within, but one of the survivors has a chance to save it all. They must travel beyond the known world to find where the war hawks nest. But the empire’s time is almost up, with an ancient race of god-like beings beginning to stir.
Shiori’anma is a princess, and one with forbidden magic. Her determination to keep it a secret ends on the morning of her wedding day when she loses control of her magic. She’s not sorry to miss out on the wedding, but her stepmother Raikama, also secretly a sorceress, banishes her and turns her brothers into cranes with a special curse. If Shiori ever speaks of it, with each word, one of her brothers will die. Destitute and voiceless, Shiori must save both her brothers and her kingdom before it’s too late.
At the end of a war that the goblins won against the fae, they built the Iron City as both prison and industrial blight. But life still struggles to break free there, where a multitude of stories tangle together around one bag of Dust, the only drug that can still give the fae magic. And that collision of lives will change the Iron City for all time.
Congratulations to the nominees for the 2020 Shirley Jackson awards!
Sad news: Lovecraft County was not renewed for season 2
First teaser trailer for 大怪獣のあとしまつ, a movie about the aftermath of a kaiju attack when the people of the city have to figure out what to do about the giant corpse.
The History of Papercutting and the Magic of The Chosen and the Beautiful
Janelle Monáe has a collection of cyberpunk short ficton coming!
The History of Politics and Wuxia
On Wednesdays, we read Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings fandom in 2021
This month you can enter to win a $250 Barnes & Noble gift card, a Kindle Paperwhite, and a Kindle Oasis.
See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.
Sponsored by Holiday House.
An alien makes an unexpected friend in this irresistible picture book about finding your place in the universe. Marty is a tiny green Martian who lives here on Earth. You’ve never noticed him before, because he is undercover . . . Marty wears disguises in order to fit in. He is always watching, learning, and laughing. When his cover gets blown, Marty needs somewhere safe to go. Who will see beyond his strange looks to show him kindness? This adorable story of an outsider with a good heart reminds readers that everyone needs a place to call home–and a friend for company.
Hey readers! I’m back with another week of new releases!
During a still, black-and-white summer, the only burst of color is Lala, whose effusive energy exhausts and perplexes her mom. When Lala’s not able to go out and tend to her garden on the hottest day of the summer, she instead talks to the plants in whispers.
This fun and engaging biography of Tejano singer Selena is a nice addition for fans or kids being introduced to her for the first time.
In this fun picture book, illustrated to look a bit like a ’70s cartoon, a child learns how to build robots and how to make friends and how to handle the ups and downs that come with them.
In this fun middle grade, Javier goes big with his school project that asks what guests, living or dead, he would have over for dinner. When Javi uses his family’s magical dinner table to summon the guests from the past, things go sideways as Blackbeard escapes and sets off to reunite with his crew an take over the world, using Javi’s dining table. With the help of his braniac friend Wiki and his sister, Brady, Javi sets out to stop Blackbeard, while unraveling the secrets of his mysterious school, Finestre.
Georgiana is spending the summer in Louisiana visiting relatives, like Aunt Vie, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. With her overprotective mother trying to keep Georgie close to home, Georgie organizes a talent contest to raise money for an Alzheimer’s foundation with her friends.
In this fun and adventurous middle grade, Josephine’s incredibly close to her dad and hates seeing him date. Though Josephine’s been able to scare off most of the women he likes, she can’t seem to do the same with Mariss, who may be more than she seems.
Until next week! – Chelsea
Sponsored by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Today in Books is sponsored today by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
In a lengthy retro/perspective on the incredible influence Twitter has had on YA publishing and readers, Nicole Brinkley takes stock of the bargain: increased access across the board. Of readers to authors, of publishing professionals to reader reactions, of readers access to each other: a mind-boggling collapse of distance in all areas. It’s worth a read if you are interested in think about how social media has changed publishing–in the area where it has probably had the greatest impact.
Ryan Holiday, owner of The Painted Porch bookstore in Bastrop County, Texas, shared a letter from a disgruntled patron who had been turned away for not wearing a mask. Holiday, who has two children too young to receive a vaccine, has decided to keep his store’s mask requirement in place, while the broader mask mandate for the county has been lifted.
Jennifer Egan has sold a “sister” novel to her smash A Visit from The Goon Squad. The Candy House will be published by Scribner on April 5, 2022.
We’re giving away three audiobook downloads of Willie Nelson’s Letters to America by Willie Nelson to three lucky Riot readers!
Enter here for a chance, or click the cover image below!
Here’s what it’s all about:
Join Page Chaser’s Book Club and listen and discuss Willie Nelson’s Letters to America! Following his best-selling memoir, It’s a Long Story, Willie Nelson now delivers his most intimate thoughts and stories in a series of letters straight from the heart. From his opening letter “Dear America” to his “Dear Willie” epilogue, Willie digs deep into his emotions and soul – and his music catalog – to lift us up and remind us of the endless promise and continuous responsibilities of Americans – to each other, ourselves, and the nation.
Authors Say Texas State Museum Canceled Book Event Examining Slavery’s Role In Battle Of The Alamo
The authors of the new book Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth found an event to promote their book abruptly canceled mere hours before the event was scheduled. The event was scheduled to be held at Bullock Texas State History Museum, and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confirmed that he asked the event be called off, claiming that the book, which examines racism in Texas history, is “fact-free.” One of the authors, Chris Tomlinson, responded by tweeting “Lt. Gov, Dan Patrick takes credit for oppressing free speech and policing thought in Texas. @BullockMuseum proves it is a propaganda outlet. As for his fact-free comment, well, a dozen people professional historians disagree.”
‘Bosch’ Author Michael Connelly Reveals The Book The Spin-Off Is Based On
Michael Connelly is the author of the Harry Bosch detective series, a series of books spanning more than two decades about LAPD detective Harry Bosch. The books are the basis of the Amazon Prime TV series Bosch, which wraps up its seventh and final season this year…but there is more in the works. The author revealed which book is the basis of the upcoming Amazon prime spin-off series in an exclusive interview.
Immigration Doesn’t Just Mean Coming To America. These 4 Books Are Good Reminders.
Author and poet Ocean Vuong, who wrote On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, recommended four great books about the immigration experience to NPR listeners. These books explore more than just coming to America, and get deep into various issues that immigrants face.
Actress Zosia Mamet (Girls/The Flight Attendant) has signed a two-book deal with Viking Penguin. Mamet’s first book My First Popsicle, which is set to publish in fall 2022, is an anthology exploring foods and the memories and emotions we associate with them, including contributions from Jia Tolentino, David Sedaris, Patti Smith, Rosie Perez, and Patti LuPone. Mamet’s second book is set to publish in Fall 2023 and will be a collection of personal essays reflecting on her relationships, bullying, body issues, and that one time she almost got into a fist fight with Axl Rose.
Scottish author Elle McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. The novel, which Waterstones’ booksellers praised as “eye-opening, heart-wrenching, sad, and inspiring,” follows the story of an 11-year-old autistic girl named Addie who is campaigning for a memorial to the witch trials that happened in her Scottish village. But McNicoll hasn’t always had the easiest time in the publishing world. When she first tried to get published, she was told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. After winning the Waterstone prize—a unique prize in that its voted on solely by booksellers—McNicoll said, “I will never say “I can’t’ again.”
Author, broadcaster, and diversity advocate June Sarpong is launching a new imprint with HQ that will focus on publishing and developing diverse voices. In its first year, the new imprint, named the HQ Creative Inclusion Lab, will publish four titles. From then on, the imprint will aim to publish six titles across adult fiction and nonfiction annually. The focus will remain on publishing authors with a disability, authors from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, and authors from working class backgrounds. Sarpong told The Bookseller that she wants the HQ Creative Inclusion Lab to be a “home for untold stories, that’s really what we are, the home for untold diverse stories, there are far too many of them unfortunately.”
Assigned summer reading is meant to keep students reading and learning over the long break from school. But here’s how it does more harm than good.
Sponsored by Amazon Publishing
Explore editor recommended summer reading titles and treat yourself to Kindle deals up to 80% off! Choose from bestselling reads in every genre and start building your ultimate summer reading list today at amazon.com/AmazonSummerReading.
We’re giving away five copies of Parks and Recreation: Leslie for Class President! by Robb Pearlman and Melanie Demmer to five lucky Riot readers!
Enter here for a chance, or click the cover image below!
Here’s what it’s all about:
Leslie Knope is running for class president! She campaigns all around Pawnee Elementary with her friends, Ann and Ben. In order to win over voters, though, Leslie starts to make some big promises . . . ones she’s not sure she can keep. Will Leslie be able to keep her word and become the best president Pawnee Elementary has ever seen? Filled with colorful, detailed illustrations and brimming with Easter eggs and nods to iconic moments from the show, this hilarious reimagining features a pint-sized cast.
The story will introduce Parks and Recreation to a whole new generation and will teach them the importance of staying true to yourself. And waffles.
Parks and Recreation © Universal Television LLC. All Rights Reserved.