Categories
Check Your Shelf

Libraries Get BILLIONS in Funding!

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. An unfortunate reality of living in America is that we’re probably going to see more mass shootings as more places around the country reopen, and Tuesday night in Atlanta was sad proof of this. If you’re looking for a way to support Asian communities, here is a list of AAPI organizations looking for donations and resources.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

Congress allocated billions (yes, billions!) of dollars to libraries in their COVID relief package.

Librarians are debating how to handle the Dr. Seuss controversy, but a lot of them say that the books will stay on the shelves for now.

The Chicago Public Library, however, is electing to remove the six Dr. Seuss titles from circulation.

But don’t worry about “cancel culture,” people. The discontinued Dr. Seuss books topped the bestseller lists last week.

Maryland state legislature passed a bill that ensures “ libraries can license e-books and other digital “literary’ content that is available to consumers.”

Cool Library Updates

Libraries and butterfly gardens.

Librarians turn to a Japanese form of storytelling during the pandemic.

Nap pods in the academic library.

Worth Reading

Tweens revolutionize online activism.

Meet the badass librarians of the NYPL.

Book Adaptations in the News

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is in talks to be adapted as a limited series.

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin has been optioned for series development.

Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o are starring in the upcoming Lady in the Lake series.

Toni Collette is making her directorial debut with Writers and Lovers by Lily King.

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor is being turned into a series.

City of Ghosts by V.E. Schwab is getting a series adaptation.

Not exactly a book adaptation, but we’re going to get a series based on Agatha Christie’s teenage years.

Taffy Brodesser-Akner will write the limited series adaptation of her novel Fleishman is in Trouble for FX.

Lady Chatterly’s Lover is getting a new movie adaptation.

Harlan Coben’s thriller The Innocent will be hitting Netflix next month.

The new Game of Thrones spinoff show will not feature “egregious” violence towards women.

Casting updates for The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Essex Serpent, and Killers of the Flower Moon.

If you ever wanted a comprehensive look at all of the Hugo-winning and shortlisted works that have been adapted, here’s a handy dandy chart for you.

And here are all of the current Oscar-nominated films based on books.

Books & Authors in the News

Octavia Butler will be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, along with NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has added thirty three new members to its roster, including Joy Harjo, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Sigrid Nunez.

Numbers & Trends

Racial diversity in children’s books grows, but slowly.

Princess Diana’s biography returns to bestseller lists after the groundbreaking Oprah interview with Harry and Meghan.

7 New York Times fiction and nonfiction best-sellers from ten years ago.

Award News

Deesha Philyaw has won the 2020 Story Prize for her story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, making this the first book published by a small or university press to win the award, and making Deesha Philyaw only the fourth debut author to win.

Finalists for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards and the 2021 Nebula Awards.

Indigiqueer author Joshua Whitehead’s Jonny Appleseed wins the CBC’s Canada Reads contest.

Shortlist for the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

Pop Cultured

CBS has renewed The Equalizer with Queen Latifah for a second season.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

The Harlem community rallies behind a beloved book and toy store, raising $46,000 to help the store during the pandemic.

On the Riot

5 unique school library programs.

Let me ruin your childhood: the inequality of school book fairs.

By the numbers: Fabio romance novel covers.

Gamify your reading with a readathon board game!

What’s your favorite book? And other dreaded questions.

A brief history of the word of the year.

An A-to-Z guide to literary devices.


Have a good weekend everyone, and stay safe.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

An Endangered Species Conspiracy Novel, Royal Intrigue, and Origami

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. As I write this newsletter, the Chicago area is preparing to see how much snow we’re supposed to get on Monday. Right now, predictions are pretty small, but of course, it’s not really winter until we get at least one late-season snowfall. (Please save me, I’m so terribly sick of snow.)

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

Amazon announced that it will not sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.

A second translator has been removed from working on Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb.

New & Upcoming Titles

E.L. James’ final Fifty Shades of Grey book, as told by Christian Grey, is coming out in June.

First look at Jeff Vandermeer’s new endangered species conspiracy novel, and honestly I’m mainly including this link so I could share the phrase “endangered species conspiracy novel.”

Recent books that reflect diverse Jewish experiences.

50 best fiction books to read this year.

Best books of 2021 so far.

Weekly book picks from Bustle, Buzzfeed, Crime Reads, LitHub, The Millions, New York Times, Shelf Awareness, and USA Today.

March picks from Bitch Media, Bookmarks (SFF), Book Page (mysteries), Crime Reads, (psychological thrillers), Nightfire (horror), Tor.com (sci-fi, fantasy, horror/genre-bending novels, YA SFF)

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race – Walter Isaacson (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)

Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York – Elon Green (New York Times, NPR)

Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America – Alec MacGillis (LA Times, New York Times)

How Beautiful We Were – Imbolo Mbue (NPR, USA Today)

Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey’s Head, the Pope’s Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul – Brandy Shillace (New York Times, Washington Post)

The Girls Are All So Nice Here – Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (USA Today)

RA/Genre Resources

Murder, but gentler: cozy mysteries are a pandemic-era balm.

Hard science fiction is still overwhelmingly white, but it’s getting better.

Surviving childhood by reading science fiction.

On the Riot

The best books you’ve never heard of (Winter 2021).

6 stunning LGBTQ+ books by debut authors to read in 2021.

6 great 2021 YA books about teens who write.

6 brand new and upcoming Jane Austen retellings.

3 current and upcoming YA releases inspired by dance.

13 gothic romance titles to introduce you to the genre.

COVID turned realistic fiction into fantasy.

A defense of guilty pleasure reading across time.

A brief history of dime novels.

All Things Comics

Zoraida Cordova is making her Marvel comics debut.

Here’s a preview of the upcoming Sandman/Locke & Key comic crossover.

The best comics coming out in March.

On the Riot

The best comics to read after Wandavision.

4 little but fierce characters in manga.

Audiophilia

Breaking Bad alums Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter reunite to voice characters in a new James Patterson audio drama.

Daveed Diggs and Lena Waithe lend their voices to Scribd’s audiobook version of Black Imagination. Want more? Here’s a look at the other 40 titles being launched with Scribd Audio.

Audiobook narrator Abby Craden talks about her experience recording almost 400 audiobooks.

The best audiobooks to listen to right now.

Audiobooks that recount American history as written and voiced by Black women.

27 nonfiction audiobooks to listen to on long walks.

On the Riot

7 of the best audiobooks written by Australian women writers.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Stories of girls and women who made history.

17 great LGBTQ middle grade novels.

25 best YA murder mysteries of all time.

YA books featuring powerful BIPOC female characters.

12 mythology-inspired YA novels.

Adults

What to read for Women’s History Month.

A reading list from the Asian American Writer’s Workshop for abolitionist imagination and practice.

Books about the Internet as we know it.

9 books about royal intrigue after Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview.

Read these writers to understand Native American comedy.

7 full-bodied reads from the literary vineyard. (AKA books about wine)

10 historical romances that feature sports.

5 underrated costume dramas for romance lovers.

8 dark novels about love and obsession set in the Mediterranean.

7 novels about women who reject expectations.

5 SFF books with middle-aged and elderly heroes who still kick ass.

On the Riot

8 fascinating kids books like Terrible Things That Can Happen to You.

5 YA books to pick up after Moxie.

20 must-read queer essay collections.

5 translated works of fiction about life and culture.

8 great feminist microhistories.

10 great novellas by authors of color.

5 unusually-structured speculative fiction novels.

8 romantic sci-fi and fantasy reads.

A beginner’s guide to occult books.

Crime novels about family.

9 nature novels to get lost in.

12 of the best romance novels about writers.

11 stories featuring origami.

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 created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Be nice to yourselves, and I’ll see you on Friday.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

Weed the Racist Books, Librarians

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. This is a sad evening for me – my parents had to say goodbye to one of their kitties very suddenly this afternoon, and it was a tremendous shock to everyone. Lovebug and her two kittens came to live with my grandpa in 2009, and my parents took the three cats in after my grandpa passed away in 2012. Lovebug more than lived up to her name – she adored everyone she met, and had one of the sweetest kitty faces I’ve ever seen. We’re going to miss this fluffy lady.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

Local public libraries in Portsmouth, Virginia have begun removal of the six Dr. Seuss books that were pulled from publication last week.

The New York Public Library has elected to keep the six Dr. Seuss books in its collections.

Cool Library Updates

Health librarians quell pandemic panic with webinars.

The road to normal: bookmobiles and outreach during COVID.

Worth Reading

A history of racism in American public libraries.

The Dr. Seuss controversy: what educators need to know.

The New York Times provided a summary of the Dr. Seuss news and surrounding controversy, if you need a catch-up or a refresher on what’s happened.

Cancel culture and “classics:” EDI and readers advisory implications. Or in other words, weed the racist books, librarians.

Want to borrow that ebook from the library? Sorry, Amazon won’t let you.

How a year without the library changed this writer.

Book Adaptations in the News

Kindred is being turned into a TV series.

Sarah Gailey’s latest book The Echo Wife is getting a film adaptation already.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters is being turned into a TV series.

David Simon and George Pelecanos from The Wire are turning We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption by Justin Fenton into a limited series.

Amazon Studios is developing a series adaptation of The Wives by Tarryn Fisher.

Peacock is developing a series based on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Disney’s 20th Television grabbed the rights to Chris Whitaker’s new novel We Begin at the End.

Armando Lucas Correa’s The German Girl is being turned into an international TV series.

Stephen King’s 2018 novella Elevation will be getting a film adaptation. Also, the creators of Stranger Things are adapting The Talisman.

The Queen’s Gambit is becoming a stage musical.

There’s a Bosch spin-off series set at IMDB TV.

Update on the new Goosebumps TV series.

Trailers for Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse and Made for Love by Alissa Nutting.

Books & Authors in the News

Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth, has died at 91.

The kid lit community rallies against anti-Asian racism.

Carmen Maria Machado defends her memoir In the Dream House, which was one of several books pulled from Texas high school shelves for review following parent complaints.

Amanda Gorman reported being tailed by a security guard on her way home, who questioned whether or not she actually lived in her building. As Amanda said, “This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat.”

Mariah Carey’s brother sues for emotional distress caused by her recently-published memoir.

In much better news, NASA has named the Mars landing site of Perseverance “Octavia E. Butler Landing.”

Numbers & Trends

The most popular in-demand books in US libraries from October – December 2020.

Award News

The longlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been released.

C.J. Cherryh wins the 2021 Robert A. Heinlein Award.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

Some writers aim to smuggle what Iran censors.

The artists dismantling the barriers between rap and poetry.

The Book Lady of Danville, VA wants to give away 1 million books to her community – so far, she’s given away over 63,000 books since 2017.

On the Riot

The ever-growing challenges of getting books into prisons.

A media studies perspective on canceling books.

15 online book clubs to boost your reading in 2021.

Your ultimate guide on where to buy ebooks.

A case for reading multiple books at a time.

Reflections on rereading and the self.

A brief history of the exclamation mark (!)


Have a good weekend, everyone. Give your fur babies some extra treats.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently listening to Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

10 of the Most Confusing Books of All Time

Welcome to Check Your Shelf, where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. Let’s do this.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

E.L. James is launching a new imprint with Sourcebooks, and she’s taking her entire catalog with her.

Union booksellers protest at The Strand in New York City.

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, the original Dutch translator for Amanda Gorman’s poetry, has stepped down after criticism that a white author was selected for the task.

These sisters formed a publishing house to launch a novel about a Black Muslim teenager.

New & Upcoming Titles

Kal Penn is writing a memoir.

Billie Jean King’s autobiography All In: An Autobiography will be released in August.

Henry Thomas (E.T., The Haunting of Hill House) has a debut fantasy novel coming out.

Joe Exotic of Tiger King infamy is working on a tell-all memoir that’s slated for November.

5 new books that engage with the climate change crisis.

5 romance novels from February to add to your TBR.

Weekly book picks from Buzzfeed, Crime Reads, LitHub, The Millions, New York Times, People, Publishers Weekly, The Root, Shelf Awareness, and USA Today.

March picks from Amazon, A/V Club, Barnes & Noble, Bustle, Crime Reads, Entertainment Weekly, io9, Lambda Literary, The Millions (general, poetry), O: Oprah Magazine, PopSugar (general, mystery/thriller, romance, YA), Shondaland, Time, Tor.com (YA SFF), and Washington Post.

20 new novels for spring.

42 LGBTQ books coming soon.

11 YA books featuring South Asian characters to read in 2021.

A running list of the best books of 2021.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

Infinite Country – Patricia Engel (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)

Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)

The Committed – Viet Thanh Nguyen (NPR, USA Today)

The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto – Charles M. Blow (New York Times)

What’s Mine and Yours – Naima Coster (New York Times)

RA/Genre Resources

The delicate relationship between grief and fanfiction.

On the Riot

2021 LGBTQ books by Black authors.

6 of the darkest SFF reads coming in 2021.

10 riveting thriller novels to read in 2021.

10 great March 2021 YA releases.

5 great 2021 UK middle grade novels to check out.

Reading pathway for Roxane Gay.

Kids need queer books.

All Things Comics

Comic-Con International announced that WonderCon and San Diego Comic Con will be virtual events this year, but that they’re also hoping to hold a special in-person pop culture event in November.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a new Superman film for DC and Warner Brothers.

Alyssa Cole is collaborating on a Sleeping Beauty-inspired YA graphic novel.

Stephen Graham Jones has a graphic novel coming out as well.

On the Riot

7 of the best comedy manga.

Sports manga and anime to make you smile.

Audiophilia

All of the audiobooks you can listen to for free, without a subscription.

The March 2021 Earphones Award winners.

Check out this new Indigenous lit audio book club/podcast!

What to listen to in 2021, based on what you loved in 2020.

7 kids’ audiobooks celebrating African American heritage.

21 audiobooks and podcasts by Black Canadians.

On the Riot

6 great audiobooks by trans authors.

Where to find audio dramas and audiobooks with sound effects.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

13 books with resilient role models for tweens.

YA books by Asian and Pacific Islander authors you should read ASAP.

19 YA books fueled by revenge in the best way.

Books to read if you love Shadow and Bone.

35 YA books with a strong female lead to celebrate Women’s History Month (all year long).

Adults

A literary guide to combat anti-Asian racism in America.

Jacqueline Woodson’s Black History Month reading recommendations.

Nonfiction books that celebrate Women’s History Month.

4 books to read for Women’s History Month.

8 great books about Black boyhood.

7 poetry books by BIPOC women to add to your TBR.

8 books by and about Afghan women.

A reading list of obsessive female relationships.

10 most confusing books of all time.

5 books that will make you think twice about walking in the woods.

On the Riot

7 science board books in English and/or Spanish.

7 books for kids that fight COVID-19-inspired racism.

13 picture books to read instead of Dr. Seuss for Read Across America.

6 great YA authors writing romance novels.

10 books about Black women activists during the Civil Rights Movement.

6 books that give voices to forgotten women in our stories.

8 essential diasporic novels.

7 witchy reads for fans of WandaVision.

10 innovative sci-fi novels about robots and AI.

18 books about Mars to celebrate the Perseverance landing.

10 books if you loved Gideon the Ninth.

20 must-read queer books in translation from around the world.

8 romantic fantasy books to make your heart swoon.

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 created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Be nice to yourselves, and I’ll see you on Friday.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading They Never Learn by Layne Fargo.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

When You Think Haruki Murakami, You Think T-Shirt Design

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. As we slowly move towards increased COVID vaccinations, a group of employees at my library have organized to volunteer at a county vaccination clinic over the next several weeks in order to help the community and get staff members vaccinated. (Illinois allows vaccine clinic volunteers to get priority vaccinations.) It’s astounding what a messed up situation this whole thing is, but we’re hoping we can assist in a positive way. And people I know who are already volunteering say that the experience has been amazingly positive and joyful. I hope all of you are finding safe ways to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, but I know it’s not as quick as it needs to be.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

You’re probably well aware of this news already, but Dr. Seuss’s estate has pulled six of his titles from publication due to racist imagery. This presents a significant quandary for libraries about what to do with these titles. The Denver Public Library, for example, has said that they won’t pull any Dr. Seuss books from its collection.

“Why the decision to pull six Dr. Seuss books is an important move for diversity.”

The Indiana state Senate has withdrawn a bill that would punish schools and public libraries for distributing “harmful material” to minors.

Cool Library Updates

This Brooklyn librarian has become an unlikely star with her virtual bilingual story time.

Worth Reading

Library Journal published the results of their 2021 Library Budgets survey. Not surprisingly, budgets got majorly messed up in the last year.

A disproportionate pandemic: library patrons with disabilities have face compounded challenges in the last year.

How school librarians adjusted to remote learning.

The librarian war against QAnon.

Looking at libraries as essential services. (Sadly, this is not about a push to get library workers vaccinated early.)

This article, however, DOES push for library employees to be vaccinated immediately.

Libby is stuck between libraries and publishers in the ebook war.

A Black History Month moment from 1961 when the Tougaloo Nine tried to integrate their local library through a read-in.

How user-friendly is your website?

Book Adaptations in the News

HBO Max options Marissa Meyer’s YA novel Instant Karma for a series.

America Ferrera makes her directorial debut with I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

Phoebe Robinson will write and star in the adaptation of her book Everything’s Trash But It’s Okay.

George R.R. Martin is working on another project with HBO that isn’t Winds of Winter.

Madison Wells has picked up the rights to Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski, with plans for film, TV, and a podcast.

David Fincher will adapt the graphic novel series The Killer by Alexis Nolent as a film.

The Stephen King short story “The Jaunt” is getting an adaptation.

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fame is working with his mother, Virginia Hanlon Grohl, to adapt her book From Cradle to Stage: Stories From the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars as a six-part unscripted series.

Paddington 3 is officially in the works.

Casting updates for the HBO adaptations of The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Girl Before.

The Dry is going to be released in North America on May 21st!! Squeee!!!

First look at the upcoming adaptation of Lisey’s Story by Stephen King.

Trailer for Shadow and Bone, which premieres April 23rd on Netflix.

Teaser trailer for the latest season of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Books & Authors in the News

A best-selling and extremely controversial book about transgender people has been removed from Amazon three years after its publication.

Haruki Murakami has launched a new…t-shirt line?

Numbers & Trends

The Ripped Bodice posted the results of their 5th annual Diversity in Romance survey, and (not surprisingly) there’s still a LOT of work to do.

(TW: sexual abuse) France is seeing an increase in the number of memoirs alleging sexual abuse.

Award News

Nomadland won the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Drama.

Longlists/finalists were announced for the PEN/Faulkner Awards, Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, LA Times Book Prize, and International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

Thanks to Undocupoets, poets don’t need papers to be heard.

The Ben West Palm Hotel in Florida launches a Book Butler program for guests.

On the Riot

Libraries offering services to seniors during the pandemic.

7 services your public library (probably) offers.

A list of literacy-related places seeking donations to help with relief efforts in Texas.

Ten-year-old Joziah Jason started a podcast called “R.E.A.D. Books with Joziah” to share his love of reading with listeners.

An ode to the paperback book.

How reading eBooks changes our perception (and reviews).


I hope everyone gets to enjoy some sunshine and warmer weather this weekend! Catch you on Tuesday!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

Kill the Book Blurbs

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. A couple weeks ago, the optometrist set me up with some reading glasses for the first time since college, and now that my glasses have come in, I’m marveling at how well I can actually see! The words don’t blur together on my screen anymore! I can read food labels again! It’s a brand new world!


Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

What happens when a publisher becomes a megapublisher?

Who Can Get Your Book? grades accessibility in the age of exclusives and restrictive licensing.

Cafe Noir, an online bookstore that sells books by Black, POC and LGBTQ+ authors, is working to open a physical storefront in Memphis.

These Afro-Latina writers want to see more voices like theirs in publishing.

Is it time to kill the book blurb?

New & Upcoming Titles

Yup, Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny are indeed teaming up to write a political thriller.

Brian Stelter’s book Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth is getting a significant 20,000 word update for the paperback release, which will cover the tumultuous end of Trump’s presidency.

Cindy McCain is publishing the memoir Stronger: Courage, Hope, and Humor in My Life With John McCain in late April.

Farrah Rochon signs a two-book deal with Disney-Hyperion.

Paul McCartney announces a 900-page, two volume lyrical autobiography, which will be published in November. (WANT. VERY MUCH WANT.)

Akwaeke Emezi is making their romance novel debut in 2022.

Alix E. Harrow is working on her next novel, which will likely come out in 2023.

Actress and singer Cynthia Erivo is publishing a picture book called Remember to Dream, Ebere, which will come out in September.

Lois Lowry is working on a new middle grade novel, which will be published in 2022.

18 gripping new WWII novels.

Best books to read in 2021.

35 must-read 2021 book releases by Black authors.

25 new books written by women of color we can’t wait to read this year.

Anticipated YA sequels for 2021.

7 new books that take you to unexpected places.

Weekly book picks from Booklist Reader, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Crime Reads, LitHub, The Millions, New York Times, Shelf Awareness, and USA Today.

True crime books and debut crime novels to read in February.

March picks from Barnes & Noble (adult and children), Epic Reads (YA), and New York Times.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

The Committed – Viet Thanh Nguyen (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post)

Flight of the Diamond Smugglers: A Tale of Pigeons, Obsession, and Greed Along Coastal South Africa – Matthew Gavin Frank (New York Times, NPR)

Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (LA Times, New York Times)

The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing – Sonia Faleiro (Washington Post)

On the Riot

Virtually together: the rise of digital book festivals.

20 must-read 2021 YA fantasy releases.

10 speculative short story collections to enjoy in 2021.

8 of the best book series ending in 2021.

Reading pathway for Mary Oliver.


All Things Comics

Victor LaValle is coming out with a new comic book series.

Blondie announce a new graphic novel about the band’s iconic rise in the New York art and fashion world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is becoming a chibi comic for young readers.

On the Riot

10 webtoons and manga like One Punch Man.


Audiophilia

“Ted Cruz, go f— yourself!” John Boehner goes…er…off-script while recording the audio for his new book: On the House: A Washington Memoir.

Sean Astin will narrate the audiobook version of Max Brooks’ Minecraft: The Mountain.

Black History Month audiobook picks.

Celebrating Black Poetry.

Soak in the sun and solve crimes with these mystery audiobooks.

On the Riot

6 audiobooks for your LGBTQ+ book club.


Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Travel the world with these picture books for kids.

16 middle grade historical fiction books by Black authors.

50 Black YA authors you need to read.

13 YA books that show friendship stories are just as powerful as relationship stories.

Adults

16 of the most essential books on Black history to read before, during, and well after Black History Month.

Black booksellers recommend 25 books to read during Black History Month and beyond.

Books for, by, and about Black British LGBTQ+ people.

15 romance novels about Black love, written by Black authors.

11 otherworldly sci-fi and fantasy books written by Black authors.

Books about anti-Asian racism in America.

12 illuminating artists’ memoirs.

50 great classic novels under 200 pages.

9 of the best campus novels (and one memoir).

7 stories about mermaids, selkies, and sea-wolves.

Explore France with these 9 magnifique reads.

5 books set in a fantastical America.

On the Riot

20 biography books for kids to help them dream big.

15 great spy books for kids who love spy stories.

4 YA books to read if you stan Britney Spears.

12 books like The Selection to read after the series.

3 great YA books about DNA tests.

YA books featuring 19-year-old main characters.

10 amazing classics and fairytale queer retellings.

For your TBR: 2021 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature winners and nominees.

6 books to help you understand your South Asian heritage.

25 of the best thought-provoking books.

15 books about miscarriage and pregnancy loss.

15 of the best romance book club recommendations.

7 books about death and dying for comfort during trying times.

7 books about Twin Peaks.

6 nerdtastic romances set at fan conventions.


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 created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Have a good week, folks. See you on Friday! And if you’re able, go get your eyes checked!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

The Library Is Closed On Account of Spiders

Welcome to Check Your Shelf, where the weather’s getting slightly warmer and the pandemic fatigue is getting stronger. Let’s library.


Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

A Tennessee librarian was fired for allegedly burning books by Trump and Ann Coulter.

The Boston University Student Government has endorsed a boycott against the use of in-person library services until library staff receive full workplace accommodations.

The University of Michigan’s Shapiro Undergraduate Library temporarily closed after the discovery of three brown recluse spiders. * shudder *

Cool Library Updates

Camden’s “hoodbrarian” brings a love of books to her community.

Worth Reading

Where are we?: The latest on library reopening strategies.

Why aren’t more public librarians eligible for the COVID vaccine?

Addressing algorithmic bias in library systems.

These Afghan citizens are working to build libraries memorializing women killed by bombers.

No, Yale University’s Beinecke Library is not designed to kill human beings in order to save its rare book collection in the event of a fire.


Book Adaptations in the News

Netflix is turning Lupita Nyong’o’s picture book, Sulwe, into an animated musical film.

Mindy Kaling’s production company is adapting Sanjena Sathian’s novel Gold Diggers for TV.

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Stephen King adaptation update, but there’s going to be a new feature adaptation of The Running Man.

Holly Madison’s memoir Down the Rabbit Hole is being adapted as a TV series.

Amblin Television will produce a series based on Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins mysteries.

Did you know Anthony Bourdain wrote a thriller in 1997? Well, now it’s going to be adapted as a TV series.

Mila Kunis is starring in a feature adaptation of Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll.

Roughcut TV picked up adaptation rights to Sarah Vaughan’s Little Disasters.

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton will be adapted as a TV series.

The Great Gatsby is going to be adapted as an animated feature.

Update on season 2 of Lovecraft Country.

Casting updates for Conversations With Friends, Killers of the Flower Moon, The School for Good and Evil, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, and The Marsh King’s Daughter.


Books & Authors in the News

Brit Bennett, Amanda Gorman, and Ijeoma Oluo are all included in Time’s 2021 Time100 Next List.

Poet and activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti has died at 101.

Why baseball teams are obsessed with the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.


Numbers & Trends

In a new survey from the Authors Guild, 71.4% of respondents said that their income had declined since the start of the pandemic, mainly due to canceled speaking engagements.


Award News

The Bram Stoker nominees are out.

Here are the finalists for the 2021 Audie Awards.

The British Science Fiction Association released the shortlist for the 2020 BSFA Awards.

The finalists for the Aspen Words Literary Prize have been announced.

The 2021 Carnegie Medal longlist is out.

Martina Cole wins the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger.

Sandra Cisneros will receive the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for lifetime achievement.

The Poetry Society of America named N. Scott Momaday the 2021 recipient of the Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement.

National Book Award winner Charles Yu establishes a new prize for young Taiwanese American creative writers.


Pop Cultured

Tim Burton is making a live-action Wednesday Addams series for Netflix.

Here’s the first trailer for Cruella.


On the Riot

8 libraries to visit post-pandemic.

A beginner’s guide to the most popular ebook formats.

Virtual book festivals to get excited about in the next three months.

10 of the best bookish holidays and how to celebrate them.

How poetry is helping this reader through the pandemic.

Black, Latinx, and millennial readers are the backbone of the book world.

Annotation: how to get the most out of your books. (Meanwhile, I’m over here having cold sweats and flashbacks to high school English classes where we were forced to “actively read” every assigned book, which turned reading into an absolute nightmare. This link, however, is entirely optional.)

I read slower now, and maybe that’s a good thing.


It’s the weekend – go do something nice for yourselves! I’ll see you all on Tuesday.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Missing American by Kwei Quartey

Categories
Check Your Shelf

Recommend Some Maternity Leave Noir

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. It’s snowing again. Please make it stahhhhhhp!!


Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

Baen’s Bar, the private forum run by SFF publishing company Baen’s Books, has been put on hiatus for allegedly being used to advocate for extremist political violence. (TW for political violence and racist commentary)

Literary agent Brooks Sherman leaves his agency and is dropped by a number of prominent authors, including Angie Thomas, following allegations of unprofessional conduct.

In not unsurprising news, fake Amazon reviews are apparently being sold in bulk.

Rick Riordan Presents moves into YA territory with Daniel José Older.

We Need Diverse Books partners with Penguin Random House to launch the Black Creatives Fund initiative.

Latinx in Publishing launches two new fellowships.

New & Upcoming Titles

Benjamin Alire Saenz announces a sequel to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas gets the YA novel treatment from Shea Ernshaw.

US Navy Admiral William McRaven is adapting Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…and Maybe the World into a children’s book called Make Your Bed With Skipper the Seal.

Actress Evanna Lynch is publishing a memoir on September 14th.

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey (aka Pam and Angela from The Office) are publishing a book next year called Office BFFs: Tales of The Office From Two Best Friends Who Were There.

Here’s a preview of Amor Towles’ next novel, The Lincoln Highway, which comes out in October.

Recent and forthcoming dark academia thrillers.

25 new books written by women of color coming out this year.

24 YA books coming out before spring that you’ll want to pick up ASAP.

11 anticipated YA books by trans/nonbinary authors.

Every book you’ll want to read in 2021.

Weekly book picks from Bustle, Buzzfeed, Crime Reads, LitHub, The Millions, New York Times, Shelf Awareness, and USA Today.

5 books you may have missed in January.

February book picks from BookPage (SFF) and Crime Reads (international crime fiction).

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

No One is Talking About This – Patricia Lockwood (The Atlantic, New York Times, NPR, USA Today)

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee – Abraham Riesman (LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post)

Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story – Talib Kweli (USA Today, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

I can’t believe people are still questioning if romance novels are “real books.”

Black romance authors who center Black love and joy on the page.

Crime Reads has a panel discussion with espionage authors Lara Prescott, Lauren Wilkinson, Rosalie Knecht, and Tracy O’Neill.

Where to start with Toni Morrison’s books.

Here’s a new crime subgenre for you: maternity leave noir.

On the Riot

25 must-read 2021 picture books for your child’s bookshelves.

5 recent essay collections you won’t want to miss.

20+ of the best book newsletters for readers.

Reading pathways for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.


All Things Comics

Cypress Hill are telling their story in a graphic novel.

First look at V.E. Schwab’s new superhero comic, ExtraOrdinary.

On the Riot

DC’s Infinite Frontier is still a boy’s club.

Recent and upcoming nonfiction comic releases.

10 of the best fantasy comics fit to print.


Audiophilia

AudioFile launches a new podcast called Audiobook Break, which presents an individual audiobook chapter by chapter.

Best audiobooks in February.

6 romance audiobooks with a second chance at love.

Can there be too many narrators for an audiobook?

On the Riot

AudioFile SYNC is bringing more free audiobooks to teens this summer.

How to choose audiobooks with varying versions, narrators, and content.

5 of the best audiobooks about food and cuisine.

7 audiobooks for times when being an adult is too much.

Audiobooks to make your chores more interesting.


Book Lists, Book Lists, Book List

Children/Teens

Children’s books that feature characters with disabilities.

Picture books that make great gifts for adults.

21 YA books set abroad that will let you live vicariously.

25 YA romance novels to read after watching To All the Boys: Always and Forever.

YA books to read if food is your love language.

Adults

Anti-racism reading list for children and adults.

Angie Thomas and Henry Louis Gates Jr. recommend books for Black History Month.

25 notable books by Black Canadian authors.

The best books about Billie Holiday.

18 epic fantasy books starring magical Black leads.

7 books to read for President’s Day.

8 books featuring big queer families, found and otherwise.

10 Australian women writers you should be reading.

48 romance recommendations by trope.

A belated Galentine’s Day reading list.

8 mesmerizing gothic books to read this winter.

On taking kink seriously: a reading list.

Fall in love with some of SFF’s hottest royals.

On the Riot

10 children’s books about snow.

11 books about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

21 Chinese history books by #OwnVoices authors.

5 shorter novels from around the world.

50 must-read love stories.

9 books that were made to be reread.

12 great workplace fantasy novels to maintain a magical outlook.


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 created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Waaake me up…when this winter ends…

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

How to Start a Stick Library

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. They say that the temperature is supposed to creep above freezing in Chicagoland next week. I hope the same can be said for all of you down in Texas. As rough as Chicago winters can be, we’ve mostly been able to get through them with power and running water.

Let’s jump right in.


Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

The NAACP is working to remove a mural inside the Cabarrus County Public Library, which depicts a a Confederate flag and images symbolizing slavery.

Here are the Big 5 publishers’ digital content terms for libraries in 2021.

Cool Library Updates

East Lansing Public Library is doing a diversity audit of its collections.

This diverse Little Free Libraries project has reached all 50 states.

Check out the 2021 Summer Scares horror winners!

The Over the Rainbow Book List has been posted.

This Saskatoon family created a stick library for neighborhood dogs.

Worth Reading

The health hazards of librarianship.

From librarians to barbers: “Our jobs are essential, but we are not.”

Report update on BIPOC library workers, low morale, and COVID-19.

Will COVID end the all-day academic librarian interview?

Tarnished legacies: presidential libraries grapple with the histories of their subjects.

6 ways to support your local library during Library Lovers Month.


Book Adaptations in the News

Well, let’s just start with this: how the streaming-driven proliferation of content has led to an explosion of book-to-screen deals.

The showrunners behind Game of Thrones are adapting Richard Powers’ The Overstory for Netflix.

The Three Musketeers gets a fresh film remake starring Eva Green and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, officially making this one of the best-looking casts of all time.

The Wizard of Oz is getting a reboot.

New Pictures is adapting The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale as a TV series.

Gail Mancuso will direct the feature adaptation of The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez.

Namina Forna’s new YA fantasy novel, The Gilded Ones, is already slated for adaptation and Forna will be writing the script.

Joe Hill’s novella Voluntary Committal is getting a TV adaptation.

Netflix is adapting the Redwall books into multiple animated movies and a TV series.

Minhal Baig is adapting Samanta Schweblin’s short story collection A Mouthful of Birds.

Andrew Sean Greer will help adapt The Man Who Ate Too Much – James Birdsall’s recent biography on James Beard.

Claire Danes has been cast in the lead role of The Essex Serpent.

Casting update for Bridgerton Season 2.


Books & Authors in the News

Diverse books are on hold in a Utah school district.

Best-selling science fiction author James Gunn has died at 97.

Sarah Weinman becomes the new crime fiction columnist at the New York Times.


Numbers & Trends

See how libraries are meeting ebook demand for the New York Times bestseller list with this visualization. (The original visualization is here.)


Award News

The 2021 PEN America Literary Award finalists have been announced.

Jessica Au wins the inaugural Novel Prize for her book Cold Enough for Snow, which will be published internationally in 2022.

The Southern Book Prize winners have been announced.

The second annual Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction are announced.


Pop Cultured

Gina Carano has been removed from The Mandalorian and all future Star Wars projects for her recent social media posts.


Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

Check out the We Read Too app developed by Kaya Thomas, which makes books written by Black authors more accessible for readers of all ages.

Simon & Schuster is teaming up with McBride Sisters, the largest Black-owned wine business in the country, to launch the Black Girl Magic Wine and Book Club.


On the Riot

Archives, archivists, and dealing with the Trump presidency.

What is the Little Free Library Unbound digital event series?

5 readers advisory books for librarians.

Where are the board books featuring disabled people?

Post-publication corrections: how and why.

In praise of mediocre books.

An ode to the emergency book.


Bundle up, stay warm, and stay moisturized. (My hands are soaking up my most hardcore lotion like its going out of style, and I STILL feel like a lizard.) Catch you on Tuesday.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Categories
Check Your Shelf

Black History Month and Valentine’s Day Reading Recs

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Before we jump in, I have a correction from last Friday’s newsletter. A few readers correctly pointed out that I had mistakenly said that Walter Mosley wrote Deacon King Kong. James McBride is the correct author of Deacon King Kong, and I think my brain was in Walter Mosley mode because Nusrah and I had talked about his latest book the day before while recording Read or Dead. So I apologize for that mistake, and I give a nod of thanks to the readers who pointed it out.

So, let’s jump into today’s newsletter.


Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

Harlequin introduces a larger mass market paperback format.

How getting canceled on social media can derail a book deal (perhaps a better headline would be: How Actions Have Consequences)

Indie bookstores embrace e-commerce – and it pays off.

New & Upcoming Titles

Elizabeth Warren has a picture book called Pinkie Promises coming out this fall.

Romance author Rebekah Weatherspoon is writing her first YA novel.

Ken Follett has a new book slated for November 2021.

Danny Trejo has a memoir coming out in July called Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood.

Esteemed dancer Misty Copeland has a middle grade novel coming out in November called Black Ballerinas.

Publishers Weekly’s most anticipated children’s and YA books for Spring 2021.

10 recent teen reads for Black History Month.

10 Latine-authored books to read in 2021.

Weekly book picks from Booklist Reader, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Crime Reads, The Millions, New York Times, Shelf Awareness, and USA Today.

February book picks from AV Club, Crime Reads (psychological thrillers), Kirkus Reviews, The Millions (poetry), Tor.com (horror/genre bending fiction), and Town and Country.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

My Year Abroad – Chang Rae Lee (The Atlantic, New York Times, New Yorker)

We Run the Tides – Vendela Vida (LA Times, New York Times, NPR)

Wild Rain – Beverly Jenkins (New York Times, NPR)

No One Is Talking About This – Patricia Lockwood (LA Times, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

The creation, innovation, and evolution of early anti-racism writing.

On the Riot

Reducing the environmental toll of paper in the publishing industry

2021 trend alert: fake dating books galore!

Judging a book cover by its color.

What is documentary poetry? 5 contemporary works to get you started.


All Things Comics

Milestone Media, the African American–owned publisher that created the Black superhero comics universe, will relaunch its publishing program later this month.

Expect to see a lot of Afrofuturism comics and graphic novels this year.

The best comics to read this February.

On the Riot

Spring 2021 comics preview.

5 queer graphic novels and memoirs coming out in 2021.

Some of the best witchy characters in comics.

What Rioters miss most about comic book conventions.


Audiophilia

Roxane Gay has written and recorded a Scribd original audiobook about her experiences writing from trauma with the release of her memoir Hunger.

Audible editors talk about the audiobooks that changed their lives.

Audiobooks about love, unbidden. Plus, 9 audiobook love stories for Valentine’s Day.

Romantic suspense for Valentine’s Day.

On the Riot

5 of the best YA audiobooks.


Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Books and activities to celebrate Black History Month.

11 YA mysteries and thrillers you need to read if you loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

15 YA nonfiction books you need to be reading.

21 awesomely fluffy YA novels.

YA novels that take place over the course of 24 hours.

Adults

What to read when you want to celebrate Black History Month.

10 must-read Black History Month book recommendations.

11 nonfiction books by women authors to read for Black History Month.

Memoirs that spotlight Black lives.

Fantastic fiction by African American authors.

6 great Africanfuturist sci-fi books.

31 Black-authored cookbooks everyone should have in their kitchen.

Chinese cookbooks to help you ring in the Lunar New Year.

5 best rom-com novels for Valentine’s Day.

Romance novel suggestions for Valentine’s Day.

50 best historical fiction books of all time.

Sylvain Neuvel shares 10 of his favorite alternate histories.

SFF books that feature royals.

6 crime novels about women on the run.

On the Riot

8 OwnVoices children’s books about Black history.

Chinese New Year books for children.

20 must-read funny kids books.

25 must-read sports books for kids.

6 Caribbean children’s and YA book authors.

15 cute LGBTQ books to lift your spirits.

4 swoonworthy YA romances for Valentine’s Day.

15 nonfiction Black History books to read this month.

7 books for fans of This is Us.

25 of the best Kindle Unlimited romance novels in 2021 you can read right now.

5 dystopian novels about the economy and work culture.

9 books about life during COVID-19.

16 of the best self-love books.

5 compelling memoirs written by doctors.

4 poetry collections that break the mold.


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 created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

It’s so mind-numbingly cold outside. Hopefully I’ll unthaw by Friday.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently listening to The Lost Man by Jane Harper.