Welcome to Check Your Shelf. So last week, I was trying to come up with Two Truths and a Lie for a staff icebreaker activity, and thanks to some crowdsourcing from my family, I came up with my three statements: 1) I have seen Paul McCartney in concert more times than any other artist, 2) I knew my ABCs forwards and backwards by the time I was 2, and 3) I’ve met the mother of an Olympic gold medalist. (Answer is at the end of the newsletter!)
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
Entangled Publishing had some “frustrating misprint” issues with the first print run of Rebecca Yarros’ highly anticipated Iron Flame, the sequel to Fourth Wing.
Not surprisingly, AI companies are warning that paying for copyrighted data will hurt their bottom line. Meanwhile, writers and publishers weigh in on how to cope with the rise of AI.
New & Upcoming Titles
John le Carré’s son is writing a new George Smiley novel.
The best books of 2023 from Amazon, Harper’s Bazaar, Kirkus (fiction), Time, Vulture, Washington Post (Top 10, fiction, nonfiction, mystery, romance, SFF, poetry)
The 10 best feel-good books of 2023.
Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times.
November picks for Tor.com (YA SFF/horror).
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
Day – Michael Cunningham (LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post)
Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art – Lauren Elkin (Vogue, Washington Post)
UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government’s Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There – Garrett M. Graff (LA Times, Vanity Fair)
Eyeliner: A Cultural History – Zahra Hankir (New York Times, NPR)
The Money Kings: The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America – Daniel Schulman (New York Times, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
Why privilege has always been at the heart of the whodunnit.
The African artists driving a cultural renaissance.
Genre juggernaut: measuring romance.
On the Riot
It’s Book Riot’s Best Books of 2023! And the best BIPOC books of 2023!
10 of the best disability books of 2023.
10 of the best Appalachian books of 2023.
20 of the best picture books of the year.
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
Please stop with the sexist “reverse” tropes in romance.
Triggers, trauma, and true crime.
Our fascination with Greek mythology.
All Things Comics
Amazon is merging Comixology with the Kindle app.
The Washington Post selects the 10 best graphic novels of 2023.
Five Norse-inspired graphic novels and comics.
On the Riot
Stories so nice, they told them twice: 8 comics based on classic books.
8 quietly reflective graphic novels.
Why comic books are like soap operas, or how this Rioter learned to love continuity.
Audiophilia
Audible has a bunch of curated Best of 2023 lists for all of your audio-listening needs.
On the Riot
The best-selling audiobooks of 2023.
We’re here to enrich your reading life! Get to know the world of books and publishing better with a subscription to The Deep Dive, Book Riot’s staff-written publication delivered directly to your inbox. Find a guide to reading logs and trackers, hear about why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and more from our familiar in-house experts. Get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox, or upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features connecting you to like-minded readers.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
17 YA books with vibes similar to A24 movies.
YA books about being one of the only BIPOC students in a mostly white school.
Adults
Books for fans of The Crown.
40 books to understand Palestine.
Thrillers featuring natural disasters.
7 therapists recommend books that will make your relationship stronger.
7 novels about characters driven by cravings.
On the Riot
Picture books that tell the truth about the first Thanksgiving.
19 books by Native writers for kids of all ages.
YA books about cooking and baking.
Lighthearted murder mysteries for the faint of heart.
10 insta-love romance books that prove love at first sight is real.
The threat is in these book titles.
8 books about psychological safety.
Scary stories in small towns and big cities.
10 poetry books about mental health.
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.
Why does Dini look like he’s hanging onto a piece of Titanic wreckage for dear life?
Okay, friends, you made it to the end. And the lie from the beginning of the newsletter was…1. I’ve seen Paul McCartney 3x in concert, but the top award goes to Mumford & Sons (6 times!), and I’m very much hoping to make it 7 next year if they’ll just announce a tour already! But yes, I knew my ABC’s forwards AND backwards by the time I was 2 (still do!), and I met the mother of Evan Lysacek, the 2010 US Olympic gold medalist in men’s figure skating, at a wedding. (My MIL introduced us.) Sadly, Evan Lysacek was not at the wedding, but his mother was very nice and she said she was going to tell him she met one of his fans!
Peace out, everyone, and if you celebrate, I hope you have a peaceful Thanksgiving.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.