Welcome to Check Your Shelf, where I am back in Illinois after an amazing and allergy-filled vacation in Colorado. I sadly did not see any large mammals, even though I woke up at 6 AM to drive around in the dark on our last day, but my husband and I have already decided that our next big vacation will be to Alaska next year, and if I can’t find any noteworthy animals there, then I just don’t know.
Readers: Autumn is here, which means it’s time to curl up with a great read and get cozy. Whether it’s romance, creepy reads, modern classics, or escapist reads you crave, TBR can help you find the perfect books for your fall reading, with options curated to your specific reading tastes.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
The U.S. sues Amazon in a monopoly case that could be existential for the retail giant.
Could KKR’s ownership of OverDrive raise questions about the Simon & Schuster purchase?
AI detection startups say that Amazon could flag AI books, but it doesn’t.
The state of the printing industry.
A look at the literary agent landscape.
New & Upcoming Titles
Isabel Allende makes her picture book debut.
Martha Stewart is working on her 100th cookbook, coming out in 2024.
The 15 must-read small press books for fall.
80 historical fiction titles coming out this year.
Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times.
October picks from New York Times.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
People Collide – Isle McElroy (LA Times, NPR, Washington Post)
Thicker Than Water – Kerry Washington (New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post)
Land of Milk and Honey – C Pam Zhang (LA Times, Vanity Fair, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
11 books that will change how you think about space opera.
On the Riot
Your ultimate guide to Fall 2023 YA book releases.
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
Your primer for the dreadpunk subgenre.
Why Latin American horror hits close to home.
Fiction recommendations based on your favorite Great British Bake Off contestants.
What haunts us: the haunted house as a metaphor.
9 headline-inspired book recommendations, from fantasy to true crime.
All Things Comics
On the Riot
10 fascinating comics like Fourth Wing.
How to open a comic book store.
Book Riot has podcasts to keep your ears listening for days! Check them out and subscribe.
Audiophilia
Not directly related to audiobooks, but definitely adjacent: Spotify will use AI to replicate podcasters’ voices and translate them to other languages.
The best audiobooks of September from Vulture and LitHub.
Press play on this mixtape of music audiobooks.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
17 paranormal YA romances with the power to make you swoon.
Adults
The NYPL shared their reading list for Banned Books Week.
5 fantasy books featuring Jewish mythology.
The top 10 grudge holders in fiction.
20 paranormal romances that are spooky and sexy.
8 novels that use television as a plot device.
Four novels about war that bear rereading.
6 creepy novels that feature murder houses.
On the Riot
8 chilling YA Halloween books.
10 great books about oceans and ocean life.
8 “howdunnit” mystery novels.
20 must-read no-sleep stories.
Romance novels that deal with grief.
10 books similar to Yellowstone.
5 book pairs that should be read at the same time.
Get lost in these M/M historical fantasies.
10 of the most polarizing books to ponder.
10 of the best trifling main characters in literature.
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.
Our cats have always greeted us excitedly after vacation, and this one was no exception. Dini decided that I needed a break from newsletter writing and plopped his 13-pound butt on my laptop, and Gilbert had both of his paws stretched out on my leg.
All right, friends. I’ll be back on Friday!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.