“Good For Her!” Horror Novels

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I’ve got less than one week until I’m headed out to California for vacation! I don’t take many vacations before spring hits, so this feels extra luxurious. This is also the perfect opportunity to leave the Chicago cold behind, even though we’re only looking at temperatures in the 50s and 60s in southern California. Okay, time to get through this week.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

The HarperCollins Union officially ratifies a new contract. Plus, what the hard-won HarperCollins union contract means for the future of books.

Simon & Schuster is up for sale again.

200 New York Times writers have called out the paper’s anti-trans bias.

BookTok is good, actually: On the undersung joys of a vast and multifarious platform.

Tor Publishing Group announces Bramble, a new romance imprint.

New & Upcoming Titles

George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson sign a seven-figure two-book deal.

Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte is getting her own novel, co-written by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes.

Amanda Gorman announces her second picture book.

Amy Chua (AKA “Tiger Mom”) is writing her first novel: The Golden Gate.

Nnedi Okorafor announces three new adult fantasy novellas.

Jeff Tweedy, the frontman of Wilco, is publishing a book about the music that changed his life: World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music. It will be out in November. ​​

Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes) is publishing an illustrated fable for adults called The Mysteries, out on October 10th.

Here’s a preview of Emmett, by L.C. Rosen, a queer, genderbent spin on Jane Austen’s Emma.

Cover reveal for Shelley Parker-Chan’s He Who Drowned the World.

5 new poetry collections that combine verse and photography.

8 of the most buzzworthy books right now.

86 works of Canadian fiction to read in the first half of 2023.

25 new and forthcoming LGBTQIA+ romance books.

Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, USA Today.

February picks from LAMBDA Literary, The Millions.

March picks from Barnes & Noble (adult, YA, children’s).

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

Up With the Sun – Thomas Mallon (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)

Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages – Carmela Ciuraru (New York Times, Washington Post)

Our Share of Night – Mariana Enriquez (New York Times, Washington Post)

My Last Innocent Year – Daisy Alpert Florin (The Millions, New York Times)

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World – Malcolm Harris (LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post)

Don’t Fear the Reaper – Stephen Graham Jones (Gizmodo, Tor.com)

Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time – Sheila Liming (New York Times, Slate)

I Have Some Questions For You – Rebecca Makkai (Datebook, New York Times)

Couplets – Maggie Milner (New York Times, Washington Post)

Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy – James B. Stewart & Rachel Abrams (New York Times, Washington Post)

The Climate Book – Greta Thunberg (NPR, Time)

RA/Genre Resources

Why everyone should read Louise Penny.

The great, always bizarre Florida crime fiction tradition.

A look at the ongoing (and increasing!) demand for romance fiction.

Why do so many journalists turn to careers in crime fiction?

How Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry became a runaway bestseller.

3 trans crime writers talk about the thrills and challenges of writing in the genre.

On the Riot

The 2023 Summer Scares winners are here!

New Black poetry books for 2023.

Cover reveal news for the week.

The best new weekly releases to TBR.

All Things Comics

ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table announces their 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Adults picks.

On the Riot

A reading list for Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.

8 manga like Chainsaw Man.

Audiophilia

The February 2023 Earphones Award winners are here!

Audiobook narrators fear that their performances were used to train AI.

On the Riot

10 of Libro.fm’s most preordered audiobooks for Winter 2023.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Children’s books with main characters who wear glasses.

Children’s books about cuisine from around the world.

Kids’ books about legendary Black musicians.

10 great YA space operas.

30 of the best YA mystery books of all time.

Adults

Thrillers set in stunning locations.

Romance/Valentine’s Day picks from Buzzfeed, Esquire, LitHub, New York Times, Oprah Daily, The Root, Town & Country.

Books that are equally romantic and heartbreaking from British and Irish authors.

Butch memoirs to check out in honor of Hijab Butch Blues.

Scrumptious cozy mysteries to tempt your palate.

32 books that every woman in their 30s should read.

The 23 best cookbooks by Great British Baking Show contestants.

9 novels about finding purpose and identity through someone else.

8 novels about how work seeps into our personal lives.

Top 10 neglected books about the Spanish Civil War.

The best, creepiest houses in fiction.

8 books across genres on queer autistic experiences.

17 books that will change how you think about happiness and loss.

5 crime novels that deepen our understanding of collective trauma.

48 queer romances to read right now.

22 post-breakup books that are a balm for heartbreak.

Gripping zombie-ish reads for fans of The Last of Us.

40 books by Black Canadian authors to read.

Great Black autobiographies to add to your list.

Essential books about World War II and women.

8 action-packed novels about art heists.

20 books by Irish authors to add to your TBR.

Don’t mind your own business with these books that take you inside the characters’ brains.

On the Riot

8 cute and cuddly baby books about love.

Beyond Rosa and Harriet: Black history picture book biographies.

Celebrate Black love with these YA romances.

20 genre-defying science fiction books that broke the mold.

24 of the best history books of all time.

8 essential queer Black history books.

Books that will make you feel seen.

8 of the best slow-burn romances.

15 bookish romance novels featuring writers, editors, librarians, and more.

All the horror novels that scare the sh*t out of HorrorTok.

30 must-read SFF books by Black authors.

Cozy mysteries for Valentine’s Day.

Books about the Waco Siege on its 30th anniversary.

13 of the best “Good for her!” horror novels. (Bonus points if you read that in Lucille Bluth’s voice!)

8 more Affrilachian poetry collections for your TBR.

9 frustratingly good “friends to enemies to lovers” books.

20 must-read contemporary love stories.

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.