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Today In Books

New Yorkers Returned Almost 100,000 Old Library Books: Today in Books

New Yorkers Returned Almost 100,000 Old Library Books After Late Fees Were Eliminated

In October 2021, New York City’s three major library systems, Queens, Brooklyn, and New York Public Libraries, announced that late fees on borrowed materials would be canceled as part of a joint initiative. Since then, almost 100,000 books have made their return back to libraries across the city.

2022 Hugo Award Finalists Announced

The finalists for the 2022 Hugo Awards, the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book have been announced! The full list of finalists can be found on the 2022 Hugo Awards page.

Author Sues New York Prisons For Banning Book About the Attica Uprising

Heather Ann Thompson, the author of Blood in the Water: The 1971 Uprising at Attica Prison and Its Legacy, is suing the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervisions (DOCCS) for banning her book from the Attica prison and others in the state. Blood in the Water details the uprising of over 1,200 incarcerated people at the Attica Correctional Facility in 1971 due to dismal living standards. Thompson seeks to share Blood in the Water with the incarcerated New Yorkers who stand to benefit most from that insight.

Williamson County (TN) Schools Lock Students Out of Digital Resources

This week, in response to a couple of complaints from parents about books available in the digital library app Epic!, the Williamson County (TN) district removed access to the app for review.

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Epic Update: April 4, 2022

Happy April, Epic Insiders! Here’s what we’ve got for you this week:

— Vanessa is up for What Are You Reading?, celebrating some more space to read for pleasure by making a list of backlist reads.

— We’re starting a new quarter, so we’ve got a new vendor of bookish gifts for you to check out!

Finally, today through April 6th, Book Riot is matching donations to UNICEF’s relief efforts in Ukraine up to $5,000 USD.

Stay bookish,
Caitlin

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Today In Books

Amazon Labor Union is the first Amazon union in US History: Today in Books

Amazon workers on Staten Island vote for company’s first unionized warehouse in U.S.

For the first time at one of Amazon’s U.S. facilities, employees at an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island (known as JFK8) voted to join a union on Friday. This vote could challenge Amazon’s labor model, which is the backbone of its Prime two-day shipping promise. The tally was 2,654 votes in favor of joining the union and 2,131 opposed.

Follett has decided not to proceed with new features for their Destiny software

Earlier this week, Follett Learning — the creators of Destiny, a popular library management system used in school libraries — posted a letter on LinkedIn saying that they are developing technology to allow parents to more easily monitor and restrict their children’s choice of library books. Now, in response to the library community outcry, the company released a statement late on Friday that Follett will not proceed with any plans to develop a potential parental control module for Destiny Library Manager.

Julian Zelizer of Princeton has assembled a cast of historians to consider every aspect of four years that shook America

We’ve already had countless articles and books about Donald Trump’s tumultuous presidency, but Julian Zelizer of Princeton hopes to break new ground with contributions from 18 American scholars covering everything from Militant Whiteness to the legacy of Trump’s Middle East policies, under the title Arms, Autocrats and Annexations. The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment will be released by Princeton University Press on April 12, 2022.

The Authors for Ukraine Auction Is Raising Money for Ukraine Crisis Fund

Mystery author Amy Patricia Meade has organized an auction for CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund of signed and dedicated books from more than 170 different authors.

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Epic Update: March 28, 2022

Happy Monday, Epic Insiders! We’re somehow already at the end of March, so here are this week’s epic updates to close out the month:

— We’ve got an Update on the Epic Group Read, so please be sure to check it out!

— I’m up on What Are You Reading?, enjoying some of my favorite genre: “good for her.”

For any of you who are fans of mnemonic devices, these suggestions for learning Morse Code are absolutely delightful.

Stay bookish,
Caitlin

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Epic Update: March 21, 2022

Happy Monday, Epic Insiders! Spring is in the air and with it comes the urge to spring clean. The Book Riot contributor slack is buzzing with talk of cleaning out their bookshelves, selling and donating books, and slowly culling those unruly TBRs. Raise your hand if you’re feeling the urge too! Here are this weeks epic updates:

— I’m feeling the spring fever, but feeling resistant to reading about fevers in What Are You Reading?

— Did you catch last week’s Behind the Scenes with our new Sales Manager, John-Paul Vieira?

Finally, the season 3 trailer of Derry Girls came out, and I’m so ready!

Stay fresh,
Caitlin

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Epic Update: March 14, 2022

Happy Monday, Epic Insiders! If you’re like me, you’re grumbling about Daylight Saving (more coffee, please). But if you’re also like me, you’re planning to figure out a pie situation in honor of Pi(e) Day to make up for it. The Book Riot staff is certainly feeling festive — Jenn made a berry crumble, Rebecca is making Bailey’s pecan butter tartlets, Vanessa is planning on picking up a pie from her favorite local pie shop, and the rest of us are inspired (and drooling). Here are this week’s epic updates:

We’ve got the replay/recap posted of our Catherine House group read, so check it out and feel free to leave a comment to continue the conversation if you couldn’t make it live!

— I’m up for What Are You Reading? hoping to balance my reading time a little bit better across this week.

Finally, is anyone here a Eurovision fan? I got very into it last year and am enjoying checking out all the songs for this year’s contest (happening in May). It’s always a chaotic mixed bag of gorgeous, missing the mark, and just…bananas.

Stay constant π,
Caitlin

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Epic Update: March 7, 2022

Happy Monday, Insiders! One week in and I only JUST flipped my giant wall calendar to March this morning. We’re doing great! Here are this week’s epic updates:

— Reminder: this Thursday, March 10th is our group read live chat! You can find all the details here.

— I’m up this month for What Are You Reading? attempting to branch out from my book monogamy.

Finally, as much as I want to be the person who drops links to witty articles from prestigious publications, I have to admit, my entertainment comes from TikTok. I can’t get enough of @stacebookspace’s series of turning her husband into a fictional man.

Stay bookish,
Caitlin

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Epic Update: February 28, 2022

Happy Monday and Happy last day of February, epic people! Here are your epic updates to close out the month:

— Kelly’s got a final, spoilery check-in of Catherine House as well as details for the live chat on Thursday, March 10th.

— Danika’s dealing with some overwhelm by choice with a stack of books in “What are you reading?”

Finally, I know the hard news just keeps hitting, so I wanted to share this tweet, which was exactly the kind of comfort I’ve needed.

Keeping pulling the threads,
Caitlin

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Epic Update: February 21, 2022

Happy Monday, Epic folks! The sun is shining, false spring is in the air, and we’ve got some epic updates for you:

— Danika is asking “What are you reading?” but also sharing how they regularly go through periods where they read a lot less (this is one of them).

— Kelly’s got a spoiler-y progress check-in of Catherine House as we near the end of this group read.

Finally, today is Presidents’ Day here in the U.S. and my partner and I have started a bit that it’s our favorite holiday. He found this list for dinner inspiration that might be helpful for you too. We’re leaning toward cottage cheese and ketchup.

Stay silly,
Caitlin

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Epic Update: February 14, 2022

Happy Monday and Happy Valentine’s Day, Insiders! I’m not a huge fan of the holiday myself, but it is giving me a nice excuse to eat chocolates for breakfast, so cheers to that! Here’s what we’ve got going on this week:

— It’s time for a progress check-in of Catherine House (featuring spoilers!) with Kelly who’s asking: who really is Ines?

— Danika is up for “What Are You Reading?” with a book that kept them up late reading, a picture book, and attempts to get out of an audiobook rut.

And listen, I may not be into Valentine’s Day, but I am into astrology (you can roll your eyes all you want). These how to love each zodiac sign lovescopes hit deep, so check your own, check your sweetie’s, check your bestie’s and send them some love.

Stay sweet,
Caitlin