Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I was a #SaturdayLibrarian this last weekend, but I was able to take Monday off, and now I have absolutely no idea what day it is or what I’m supposed to be doing, but the lingering sense of anxiety tells me I’m probably forgetting to do a bunch of stuff.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
Amazon employees protest the sale of books they say are anti-trans.
How Amazon surrendered in its war on bookstores.
How the publishing world is muscling in on Hollywood deals.
In Turkey, book publishers face agonizing choices to survive.
New & Upcoming Titles
Greta Thunberg reveals the cover of her upcoming title, The Climate Book.
R.L. Stine is releasing new horror stories for kids and teens this summer!
Mindy Kaling selects the first book for her new publishing studio.
Quentin Tarantino has a nonfiction book, Cinema Speculation, coming out in October.
New body-positive romance novels.
New LGBTQ+ fiction and nonfiction for Pride 2022.
Weekly book picks from Bustle, Crime Reads, The Millions, New York Times, and USA Today.
May’s best international crime fiction.
June picks from CBC, Crime Reads, Epic Reads, LA Times, Lambda Literary, LitHub, The Millions, Shondaland, and Washington Post.
Summer reading picks from Buzzfeed, Kirkus, OprahDaily (romance), People, and USA Today.
The best books of 2022, so far.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty – Akwaeke Emezi (Bustle, Vogue)
The Foundling – Ann Leary (New York Times, Washington Post)
Happy-Go-Lucky – David Sedaris (LA Times, New York Times)
Yerba Buena – Nina LaCour (New York Times)
Two Nights in Lisbon – Chris Pavone (New York Times)
Tracy Flick Can’t Win – Tom Perrotta (New York Times)
City of Orange – David Yoon (NPR)
On the Riot
June picks for general new releases, children’s books, mystery/thriller/true crime, romance, and SFF.
New Spanish literature in translation.
Reading pathway for Marie Lu.
Romance novels with fat representation on the cover.
Should romance novels reflect reality or indulge fantasies?
How recent cozy mysteries by authors of color applaud female power.
All Things Comics
Celebrate Spider-Man’s 60th birthday with a look back at the comics.
On the Riot
The best new middle grade graphic novels.
10 of the best fantasy webtoon comics you can read for free.
15 memorable manga for middle schoolers.
Audiophilia
Libro.fm is giving away free audiobooks each Friday this summer! Follow them on social media and be on the lookout for their special promotional posts.
The 2022 Golden Voices Audiobook Lifetime Achievement Awards have been announced.
The June 2022 Earphones Awards winners have also been announced.
Barnes & Noble’s Top 10 favorite audiobooks this year (so far).
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
On the Riot
The best audiobooks of 2022, so far.
Excellent nonfiction books to tune in to.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
19 must-read LGBTQIA+ YA novels to read this month.
Adults
10 suspenseful books that are perfect for your next book club meeting.
Strongly atmospheric crime novels.
Pride Month picks from Autostraddle, Barnes & Noble, and The Root.
7 books to help you resist productivity culture.
7 suspenseful novels where paradise is not as it seems.
7 cozy mystery series from the southeastern coast.
Books that engage with and question true crime tropes.
5 books that try to explain the unexplainable: the US gun violence epidemic.
15 books to read for Caribbean American Heritage Month.
On the Riot
Going global with translated board books.
10 of the best YA tearjerkers.
15 must-read historical fiction books for teens.
Your curated queer TBR for Pride and beyond.
A Pride reading starter pack: 10 books about queer history.
28 must-read queer literary fiction books.
LGBTQIA+ magical realism and fabulism books.
8 books about women in space.
Delicious cookbooks for chefs.
10 alchemy books for the mystically curious.
9 of the best books to learn about investing.
15 of the best mysteries and thrillers to keep you hooked to the page.
8 novels about family secrets.
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 has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word has created a database of upcoming diverse titles to nominate, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
This newsletter’s cat photo is a throwback to about three years ago, when Gilbert decided he was going to help me read a book on my iPad. As you can see, he was extremely helpful.
That’s all I’ve got for today. I’ll check in again on Friday (provided I can remember what day it is).
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.