Welcome to Check Your Shelf. My husband and I took a trip to Half Price Books this weekend, and I ended up purchasing a stack of books that I currently have checked out from the library but probably won’t get to in the next few weeks. My logic is that I can return the books for someone else and not feel so guilty about keeping them, but my wallet is like, “UM…can we NOT do this??”
Ultimately I suppose it’s a win-win situation though, because whether I’m buying the books or checking them out, I still end up with more books!
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Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
Book publishing’s bilingual boom.
Recent automatic updates to eBook editions of works by Roald Dahl, R.L. Stine, and Agatha Christie are a reminder of who really owns your digital media.
Amazon is closing Book Depository at the end of April.
New & Upcoming Titles
Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider is writing a book about her experience.
Gail Simone is writing a new Red Sonja novel.
Cover reveal for Kerry Washington’s upcoming memoir.
The best comedy books of 2023 so far.
Most anticipated spring and summer 2023 reads from Bustle, The Millions (poetry), NYPL, Wired.
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, USA Today.
April picks from LA Times, The Millions, Shondaland, Time, Tor.com (fantasy), Vanity Fair.
Summer 2023 picks from Elle.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
A Living Remedy – Nicole Chung (Esquire, LA Times, NPR, Shondaland)
This Bird Has Flown – Susanna Hoffs (LA Times, New York Times, NPR, Shondaland)
Courting India: Seventeenth-Century England, Mughal India, and the Origins of Empire – Nandini Das (New York Times, Washington Post)
This is Not Miami – Fernanda Melchor (LA Times, New York Times)
The Lost Wife – Susanna Moore (LA Times, Washington Post)
Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld (LA Times, NPR)
The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War – Chad L. Williams (New York Times, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
The best Judy Blume books to read at any age.
On the Riot
The best books Rioters read from January – March.
New AAPI literature for May and beyond.
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
April picks for mysteries/thrillers/true crime, SFF, horror, romance, nonfiction, queer reads, YA, children’s books.
We need better terms to describe romance novels.
A guide to light academia.
What is “bully romance”?
The racial slur that everyone’s okay with, and why we shouldn’t be.
All Things Comics
Alice Oseman talks about her plans for a sixth volume of Heartstopper.
New trailer for Across the Spider-Verse.
On the Riot
11 of the best new comics and graphic novels for April.
8 manga about music and musicians.
A beginner’s guide to dōjinshi.
Audiophilia
A movement with significant ethical implications: AI is bringing back the voices of dead narrators to read new audiobooks.
The April 2023 Earphones Award winners have been announced.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Adults
10 knockout novels for Taylor Jenkins Reid fans.
7 thrilling historical crime fiction novels.
6 trans and nonbinary writers to check out for Trans Day of Visibility.
These soccer romance novels are #relationshipgoals.
Crime novels where the setting is as creepy as the story itself.
A reading list of spiritual disillusionment.
New and classic Nordic noir titles.
Fiction about radical eco-activists.
5 nonfiction books that mix history and true crime.
7 climate change books that inspire action and even hope.
46 steamy romance novels to add to your TBR immediately.
20 can’t-miss books about aliens.
7 books about the scam of wellness.
Do you need help finding your next great read? Subscribe to Tailored Book Recommendations for really great reads year-round.
On the Riot
10 essential children’s books about consent.
8 of the best books about the moon.
The best memoirs by musicians.
Nonfiction books about a single song.
Music magic in fantasy novels.
Books with music playlists.
15 romances and the earworms they inspire.
A vengeful reading & listening list.
We interrupt your scrolling to bring you 10 analog horror novels.
22 best cyberpunk novels of all time.
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 that includes information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
Gilbert doesn’t have a care in the world, and he certainly doesn’t care that he has Fancy Feast all over his face, and stuck in his whiskers! He’s too old to worry about kitty table manners.
All right friends, that’s all for today. Let’s meet again on Friday, same bat time, same bat channel.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.