Category: Check Your Shelf

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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Heyyo, Library Land! I know everyone’s probably preoccupied with Banned Books Week, but let’s take a pause to look at some collection development resources.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Reycraft, a new children’s imprint created by publisher Sera Reycraft, will focus on creating diverse stories for young readers.
• The Library of Congress is partnering with Poisoned Pen Press: Sourcebooks to publish a selection of crime novels originally published between the 1860’s and the 1960’s. The first books will be published in Spring 2020.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Get ready for Old Fourth Ward, the upcoming novel from Tayari Jones!
• Alyssa Cole has two books coming out in 2020, one of which is a thriller!
• Ellen Oh also announced two upcoming book deals.
• A first look at Martha Wells’ full-length Murderbot novel, Network Effect.
• Chris Rock has an essay collection coming out called My First Black Boyfriend.
• If you’ve ever wanted to read a book about a real-life 88-year-old grandmother who was also an international jewel thief, boy do I have good news for you! Make sure you’ve ordered a copy of Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne, the jewel thief herself.
• September 2019 indie press roundup.
• Best books of 2019 so far from Esquire and Town and Country.
• The Washington Post picks 18 books you need to read this fall. 
• The most anticipated crime novels of 2019, part 3.
• Fall YA books to be on the lookout for.
• Eight new books by Latinx authors that you have to read.

What your patrons are hearing about

• Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson (New York Times, New York Times Magazine, NPR, O Magazine, Paste, Time, Washington Post)
• The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation – Robin Pogrebin & Kate Kelly (New York Magazine, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Washington Post)
• Permanent Record – Edward Snowden (Guardian, NPR, Washington Post) 
• Make it Scream, Make it Burn – Leslie Jamison (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times)
• The Dutch House – Ann Patchett (Entertainment Weekly, O Magazine, Washington Post)
• The Secrets We Kept – Lara Prescott (Time, Washington Post)
• Guts – Raina Telgemeier (New York Times, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

• Something to be aware of as we talk about books with patrons: overcoming white bias in literature.
• Liberty has some ways to keep up with new romance releases.
• Are you ready for Banned Books Week?

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All Things Comics

• The Far Side announces a new online era.
• Unseen is the first audio comic designed for blind readers.
• Where to start with She-Hulk.
• The value & educational benefit of reading comics.
• This is the best comics shop in Canada. 
• 10 best criminals in comics.

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Audiophilia

• If you need a rundown of the Audible caption controversy, Locus has a summary for you.
• Looking for Alaska is getting a new audiobook adaptation narrated by Wil Wheaton.
• Mental illness can make it hard to read, but audiobooks can help.
• 4 audiobooks to help you get your sh*t together. (Or you can also watch this Rick and Morty clip.)

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 20 must-read books for first and second graders.
• 15 picture books that celebrate Hispanic heritage.
• 25 of the best YA ghost stories.
• 7 YA books about immigration, immigrant camps, and deportation.

Adults

• 12 books for fans of Downton Abbey.
• 8 novels about college life. (There are some YA titles on here too.)
• Shape-shifter romances.
• A reading pathway for Colleen Hoover.
• 8 novels with atypical amateur sleuths.
• Feminist books for dismantling the patriarchy.
• 13 books about social media influencers.
• A crowdsourced list of the 100 best books by women in translation.
• Nonfiction books about the climate crisis.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging! And don’t forget to enter our giveaway of the year’s 10 best mysteries & thrillers (so far)!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Finders Keepers by Stephen King.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• A successful Drag Queen Storytime in San Diego, where there were mermaids and bubbles and much singing.
• Amazon launches Alexa Answers, which allows Amazon customers to field questions that Alexa is unable to answer. So…a crowdsourced Reference Desk, basically. This should be interesting.
• The Jersey City Free Library renamed itself the Priscilla Gardner Main Library in honor of their director, who was the first African American director in the library’s history and is retiring after a whopping 50 years of working in the same library system! This is incredible!
• Literature Locked Up supports an end to US prison book bans for Banned Books Week.
• San Francisco and Phoenix libraries go fines free!

Cool Library Updates

• File under “B” for “Beekeeping!” Does your library keep bees?
• Hip hop hero sculptures at the Queens Public Library.
• YOU CAN CHECK OUT THERAPY DOGS AT THE VANCOUVER LIBRARY. (Wonder what the late fees are like for those?)
• How about a cursive writing workshop at the library?
• Check out the Chicago Tool Library – a nonprofit organization that rents out donated tools.

Worth Reading

• A look at how the digital divide can disproportionately affect people in poor urban households, since many digital divide efforts focus primarily on poor rural households.
• 12-year-old Yashoda D. Shenoy has been running her own library since January of this year, making her the youngest librarian in India!
• The first public library in the Americas has more than 45,000 books dating back to the 15th century.
• A handy guide to academic libraries for new students.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• We have a trailer and a US release date for Dublin Murders, based on the first two books in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series!!! All the exclamation points!!
• Fleishman is in Trouble is getting a limited series adaptation after a 10-way bidding war for the rights.
• HBO is doing a limited series adaptation of Americanah, starring Lupita Nyong’o!
• Tananarive Due’s amaaaazing horror novel The Good House is finally getting an adaptation, and I am so dang excited, I can hardly restrain myself!
• And Stephen King gets his own section in this newsletter:
  • The Institute has an adaptation deal.
  • Check out the trailer for Doctor Sleep.
  • There’s also a new trailer for Castle Rock, Season 2.
  • The Stephen King/Joe Hill novella In the Tall Grass is coming to Netflix, and you guessed it…there’s a trailer.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Cokie Roberts, the pioneering broadcaster, journalist, and best-selling author, has died at age 75.
• Author Anne Rivers Siddons has died at age 83.

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Numbers & Trends

• People who read before bed tend to sleep better, eat healthier, and make more money, according to Real Simple. As John Oliver once said, “Not my findings…the findings of science!”

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Award News

• We’re getting the longlists for the 2019 National Book Awards! Translated Literature and Poetry longlists are here, and we’ll make sure to include the lists for Nonfiction & Fiction next week, which will be posted after the newsletter is submitted.
• A UK bookseller erroneously placed stickers on its copies of The Testaments by Margaret Atwood that claimed the book had won the 2019 Booker Prize…which hasn’t been decided yet.
• 2019 Kirkus Prize finalists.
• Tor.com looks at gender and the Hugo Awards.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Scholars believe that they’ve found John Milton’s copy of Shakespeare’s first folio, complete with Milton’s notes and edits. This is being called one of the most important literary discoveries of modern times.
• A school vending machine that rewards kindness with books.
• Are you familiar with the “Don’t have a bookmark?” meme that’s been going around on Twitter? Hopefully not, but in case you’re curious, you can read about it here.
• On a related note, please don’t use tacos as bookmarks. And please don’t let tacos go uneaten.

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Thanks for hanging! See everyone on Tuesday! And don’t forget to enter our giveaway of the year’s 10 best mysteries & thrillers (so far)!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Speaking of Summer by Kalisha Buckhanon.

I’m baaaack! Thanks again to Liberty for acting as honorary librarian in my absence! I had a fabulous vacation in Seattle, where I got to snuggle with gray wolves and get up close with a humpback whale! (And yes, I absolutely visited the Seattle Public Library.)

Let’s get this twice-a-week party started!

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• If you’re planning on attending Book Expo 2020, here’s a look at some of the changes they’re making.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Ian McEwan is publishing a Brexit satire, which will publish on September 27th in the UK.
• Amazon’s fall reading picks.
• 13 nonfiction feminist books for September.
• Two fall book lists from Oprah Magazine.
• 18 books from smaller presses to keep an eye on.
• 20 new horror novels for readers who take spooky season seriously.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement – Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey (The Atlantic, Elle, New York Times, NPR, Oprah Magazine, Washington Post)
• Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know – Malcolm Gladwell (Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Washington Post)
• The Institute – Stephen King (Guardian, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post)
• Akin – Emma Donoghue (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, Washington Post)
• Inside Out: A Memoir – Demi Moore (Harper’s Bazaar, New York Times, USA Today)
• The Education of an Idealist – Samantha Power (Guardian, NPR, New York Times)
• The Testaments – Margaret Atwood (NPR, Time)
• Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir (NPR, Vox)
• Permanent Record – Edward Snowden (New York Times, NPR)

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All Things Comics

• 10 new manga to pick up this year.
• Kid-friendly comics for Halloween.
• Rainbow Rowell recommends 6 YA graphic novels.
• Mexican superheroes in comics.
• Graphic novels & social justice: a primer.

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Audiophilia

• Audible presses pause on its full captions rollout.
• Penguin Random House announces a star-studded cast to narrate a new series of 50 Penguin Classics audiobooks.
• Audiobooks for those back-to-school commutes.
• Paste: Best audiobooks for September.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 37 books for kids & teens in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
• 13 of the best YA horror novels.
• YA novels that tackle mental health issues.

Adults

• 10 authors shaking up the space opera.
• 10 books about being queer in a country where it’s illegal.
• Complicated female friendships.
• Books that explore the world of female spies during WWII.
• What to read if you loved The Goldfinch.
• Books about the US labor movement.
• 3 reading pathways for Jodi Picoult.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging! Part 2 of Check Your Shelf comes out on Friday!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here!

Wait, no, lemme start again.

Hello, book lovers! It’s Liberty Hardy again, sitting in again today while Katie McLain finishes up her vacation. I’m excited to be doing this again today, because as I mentioned last week, my mother was a librarian for most of my childhood, so I was practically raised in the library. (But don’t let that frighten you into keeping your kids away from the library. It took a lot more than that for me to turn out this weird. They’ll be fine.)

So I have more bookish news and lists for you today, to keep you up-to-date on the happenings in library land, and some useful resources for keeping up with upcoming releases. So buckle in!

And remember, Katie says: “Starting September 17th, you’ll be getting TWO doses of Check Your Shelf in your inboxes each week on Tuesdays and Fridays! Tuesdays will focus on collection development and book lists, while Fridays will be more about news-y items. Thank you to all you readers who have made this newsletter such a success!!”

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Young adult author Julia Watts pulled from Knox Library’s Teen Festival lineup because she also writes ‘erotica.’
• Update information on the protests of Macmillan’s new e-book policies for libraries.
• “Boston Public Library Leads Once Again in Digital Lending.”
• Yale’s Bass Library to offer textbooks in reserves.
• BookExpo is going back to a two-day trade show.
• ALA announced that National Library Legislative Day will be in May 2020.
• The International Literacy Association launches Children’s Rights to Read Campaign.
• Racine Public Library adds a part-time social worker to work with patrons facing crises.

Cool Library Updates

• Patience and Fortitude are getting a laser bath.
• “The Crack Squad of Librarians Who Track Down Half-Forgotten Books.”
• No more overdue fines for patrons of libraries in Detroit or Phoenix.
• “UCLA Library Celebrates the University’s Centennial with OpenUCLA.”
• Contra Costa County Library unveiled new card designs.
• “Libraries and Archivists Are Scanning and Uploading Books That Are Secretly in the Public Domain.”
• 10 unexpected things you can get at the library.
• “UNLV Alumna Beverly Rogers Establishing a $5 Million Endowment to Support a Rare Books Curator and Bolster Rare Books Collection at UNLV University Libraries.”
• A Libraries/Friends mashup.
• Birmingham Public Library getting marriage license traffic.
• Tiny libraries inside art sculptures appear in Santa Barbara.
• “Thousands of Ideas Shared by Librarians From Around the World Now Available on the IFLA Global Vision Ideas Store.”
• The Library of Congress shared a September 11 Web Archive documenting several news, government, charity & tribute websites related to 9/11.
• Newberry Library to receive Eastland disaster collection.
• A UK library that welcomes overnight guests.

Worth Reading

• “Next Phase of the IMLS/COSLA “Measures That Matter” Collaboration Will Explore Link Between Public Libraries, Workforce Development, and Community Wellbeing.”
• “Homeless patrons find community, comfort at Minneapolis Central Library.”
• Using hip-hop lyrics in library lessons to engage youth in activism.
• New open web reference resources for the new NFL Season.
• How Little Free Libraries influenced Little Free Pantries.
• Gender inclusivity and equity in academic libraries.
• United Nations releases first digital economy report.
• How libraries are embracing artificial intelligence.
• 2019 Adult books on children’s literature.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Markus Sakey’s superhero novel Brilliance is being made into a movie, with Will Smith to play the lead.
• Richard Dormer will appear in the BBC’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s The Watch.
• Whoopi Goldberg has joined the cast of the new adaptation of The Stand.
• Rupert Everett has taken a role in the Broadway revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He replaces Eddie Izzard, who had to drop out because of a schedule conflict.
• Ali Fazal has joined the cast of Death on the Nile.
• Netflix is making a Young Wallander series, based on the character from the Henning Mankell novels.
• The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders has been optioned for a series.
• 8 major books with upcoming adaptations.

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Collection Development Corner

New & Upcoming Titles

• Oprah: 18 Must-Read Books for Fall.
• Den of Geek: Best new fantasy books for September.
• Huffington Post: 14 books to add to your fall reading list.
• Fodors: 16 travel books to read this fall.
• Refinery29: The best books to read in September.
• Hello Giggles: 11 best new books to read in September.
• The most popular books on Goodreads published in September 2019.
• Barnes and Noble: The best scifi and fantasy books of September 2019.
• Popsugar: 20 best books of September 2019.
• Bustle: 35 new books out in September 2019.
• The New York Times: 17 new books to watch for in September 2019.
• Chicago Review of Books: The best books of September 2019.
• Vox: The 12 most anticipated books of fall.
• Ms. Magazine: Reads for the Rest of Us: September 2019.
• Time: The 42 most anticipated books of Fall 2019.

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Books & Authors in the News

• The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, came out on Tuesday.
• Attica Locke on her latest novel, Heaven, My Home.
• Elena Ferrante’s new novel will be available in Italy on November 7, with an English translation hopefully not too far behind.
• Emma Cline, author of The Girls, announced a new collection coming in 2020.

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Award News

• The 2019 ALA Award winners.
• 2019 American Poets Prizes.
• Here are the nominees for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

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Pop Cultured

• It bears repeating: here’s the trailer for the BBC series adaptation of Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books.
• Here’s the first trailer for BET’s new adaptation of The First Wive’s Club.
• 12 biggest music memoirs being published this fall.

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All Things Comics

• A guide to banned comics for Banned Books Week.
• Hellmouth comic crossover brings Buffy and Angel back together.
• ‘Disney Plus eyes Hailee Steinfeld for lead role in Hawkeye series.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 50 YA paperbacks for fall.
• 15 great books about foster kids.
• 25 books that teach kids to care about the environment.

Adults

• 4 perfect books for September.
• 11 books for fall (without any scary bits.) (YA & adult)
• Book Riot celebrated Poe Day, with MANY Edgar Allan Poe-related lists.
• 10 books like Circe by Madeline Miller (YA & adult)
• 5 readalikes for The Goldfinch.
• 20 must-read books about disease, being sick, and the history of medicine.
• 5 great books about expats.
• Top 10 Judy Blume books. (YA & adult)
• 4 books Bill Gates says you should read right now.
• 18 books from smaller publishers that deserve your attention.
• 7 books to read after The Handmaid’s Tale.
• Feminist books, podcasts and movies to look forward to this fall.
• Top 10 culinary memoirs.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Books as more than fonts of information or fun.
• How googly eyes solved one of today’s trickiest UX problems.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for joining me today! And thanks to Katie for letting me push the buttons on the motherboard.

–Liberty, @franzencomesalive on Instagram

Hello, book lovers!

It’s Liberty Hardy, sitting in these next two weeks while Katie McLain is on vacation. I’m excited to do this, because I am a library brat. My mother was a librarian for most of my childhood, and I spent thousands of hours in our hometown library, reading books while she worked. And then when I got older, also working the desk, shelving, emptying the returns box, straightening the card catalog, and putting plastic jackets on the books, because my mother had no fear of child labor laws. (It was still a good part of it, too, though.)

I always thought I would grow up to be a librarian, but I also thought I would grow up to marry George Michael. Hey, sometimes these things just don’t work out. But I am happy to be working in the book industry and I am happy to be sharing news with you today!

And remember, Katie says: “Starting September 17th, you’ll be getting TWO doses of Check Your Shelf in your inboxes each week on Tuesdays and Fridays! Tuesdays will focus on collection development and book lists, while Fridays will be more about news-y items. Thank you to all you readers who have made this newsletter such a success!!”

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Unknown John Locke manuscript discovered in St. John’s College library in Annapolis, Maryland.
• Lynette Noni and Holly Black have won the 2019 Inky Awards, presented by State Library of Victoria, Australia.
• Henrico County Public Library staffers save patron’s life.
• A documentary is being made about The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu.
• Georgetown University has begun its search for candidates to work as the librarian for collections on slavery, memory and reconciliation.
• Aldergrove librarian wins radio station’s RAMdom Acts of Kindness for new books.

Cool Library Updates

• Cleveland Public Library is starting its 10-year, $100M project to improve 27 neighborhood branches.
• The Pacific Island state of Tonga will open its very first public library in October.
• The winners of the 2019 ALA/AIA Library Building Awards.
• No more overdue fines for patrons of the Detroit Public Library or the Idaho Falls Library.
• $1 million renovation at Hershey Public Library to begin in October.
• Site work has started on the planned expansion of the North Conway Public Library.
• The University of Virginia’s “book migration” has started.

Worth Reading

• The most popular under the radar books in libraries: spring/summer edition.
• “The Decline and Evolution of the School Librarian.”
• What if social media platforms were more like libraries?
• “A device that projects interactive light games onto a table is being used in Irish libraries to help people with dementia and autism.”
• Little free libraries are growing in popularity.
• “Could Librarians Be the Superheroes We Need?”

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Emily St John Mandel’s upcoming novel, The Glass Hotel, is being adapted for television, with Mandel herself writing the pilot.
• Hulu is already developing the Handmaid’s Tale sequel based on The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, which comes out next week.
• Rooney Mara has joined Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley adaptation.
• Kate Mulgrew has joined the cast of Mr. Mercedes.
• Will Poulter has been cast in the lead of the Lord of the Rings series.
• Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle is being adapted for television.
• Daniel Henney will play al’Lan Mandragoran in the Wheel of Time series.
• Bruce Holsinger’s new novel The Gifted School will be adapted for television.

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Collection Development Corner

New & Upcoming Titles

• Huffington Post: 14 books to add to your fall reading list.
• Fodors: 16 travel books to read this fall.
• Refinery29: The best books to read in September.
• Hello Giggles: 11 best new books to read in September.
• The most popular books on Goodreads published in September 2019.
• Barnes and Noble: The best scifi and fantasy books of September 2019.
• Popsugar: 20 best books of September 2019.
• Bustle: 35 new books out in September 2019.
• The New York Times: 17 new books to watch for in September 2019.
• Chicago Review of Books: The best books of September 2019.
• Vox: The 12 most anticipated books of fall.
• Ms.: Reads for the rest of us: September 2019.
• Time: The 42 most anticipated books of Fall 2019.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Amazon breaks the embargo for The Testaments.
• Dorothea Benton Frank dies at 67.
• Jade Sharma dies at 39.
• Lara Prescott on writing the fall’s biggest debut novel, The Secrets We Kept.

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Award News

• The 2019 Booker Prize shortlist has been announced.
• The 12 nominees for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
• IFPDA Foundation announces annual grants and book award.

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Pop Cultured

• The trailer for Just Mercy with Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan has arrived.
• Here’s the trailer for the third season of Anne with an E on Netflix.
• Here’s Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson in the new trailer for Dickinson, debuting this fall on Apple TV+.
• Here’s Meryl Streep in the trailer for The Laundromat, based on Jake Bernstein’s non-fiction book Secrecy World.
• And here’s the trailer for The King with Timothée Chalamet and Robert Pattinson, inspired by Shakespeare’s Henry work.
• Here’s the first official trailer for Edward Norton’s adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn.

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All Things Comics

• Nic Stone is writing a Black Panther novel about Shuri, to publish next year. And former Rioter Preeti Chhibber is writing about the Avengers!
• Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur to be an animated series for the Disney Channel.
• A Ms. Marvel series in the works for the upcoming streaming service DisneyPlus.
• The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl cosplay.
• 10 of the coolest techie women in comics.
• 5 comics to read in September.
• 28 comics to watch for in September.
• DC Comics may be introducing a Black Caped Crusader.
• New comics coming to Marvel Unlimited in September.
• The best new manga of September 2019.

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Audiophilia

• Audible agrees to delay parts of disputed captions program.
• Independent science fiction and fantasy publisher Baen Books partners with audiobook company RBmedia for an audiobook program.
• “Charting the Changes in Spanish Audiobooks.”
• Libro.fm names Top 14 audiobooks for Fall.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 4 of the best September 2019 YA releases.
• 6 YA books about teens and technology.
• 6 of the best epic YA fantasy novels.
• 18 favorite middle grade books about friendship.
• 10 2019 children’s book recommendations from children’s bookstores.
• Time traveling books for young readers.

Adults

• 3 great memoirs involving animals.
• 20 of the best post-apocalyptic books of 2019.
• 15 hugely entertaining books like Crazy Rich Asians.
• September 2019 celebrity book club picks.
• Diversify your sci-fi with these 11 books.
• Immigrant tales to read and embrace.
• The all-time best science fiction books for gamers.
• Top 10 books about fake news.
• Every summer reading list Barack Obama has shared over the last ten years.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Bill introduced to create Toni Morrison Day.
• Which sf/dystopian book should you read next?
• September 2019 horoscopes and book recommendations.
• 101-year-old woman releases her first book of poetry.
• The new trend of illustrated romance covers.
• Preparing for the price increase on books and paper goods.
• Politics & Prose sells nearly 17,000 books at 2019 National Book Festival.
• “Why are all the motherhood memoirs so white?”

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for joining me today! I’ll see you next week.

–Liberty, @franzencomesalive on Instagram

Two announcements before we dive in! First: I am going to be on vacation for the next week and a half in Seattle, so Liberty Hardy will be filling in as honorary librarian/newsletter author for the next 2 issues!

Second: Starting September 17th, you’ll be getting TWO doses of Check Your Shelf in your inboxes each week on Tuesdays and Fridays! Tuesdays will focus on collection development and book lists, while Fridays will be more about news-y items. Thank you to all you readers who have made this newsletter such a success!!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• New Kansas corrections secretary eliminates the banned book list for Kansas prisons and implements a new policy.
• Ocala (FL) school board votes down a recent high school book ban request.

Cool Library Updates

• Waukegan (IL) Public Library (aka hometown of Ray Bradbury, aka my former library) unveils a gorgeous statue of Bradbury on what would have been his 99th birthday!
• The Indianapolis Public Library book bike offers free books – no library card required!
• These Key West hotels created a lending library of waterproof books that you can literally read in the pool.

Worth Reading

• Wellness for library workers. A good starting list, but I want to see less emphasis placed on individual self care and more on managerial & administrative support. I know too many people who burned out because they weren’t supported or cared for by their organization. This blog post points the conversation in that direction.
• A look at low morale among academic librarians.
• That time when people worried about library books spreading deadly diseases.
• Banned Book Week ideas for teen librarians.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• William Jackson Harper, aka Chidi Anagonye on The Good Place, will have a recurring role in the upcoming series adaptation of The Underground Railroad.
• Lifetime has an upcoming original movie based on the memoir Captive, which details Catherine Oxenberg’s struggle to free her daughter from the NXIVM sex cult.
• The Woman in the Window adaptation has been pushed back until next year.
• We have to be getting close to the end of Stephen King books that haven’t been adapted yet – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is getting the film treatment.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar will likely star in a TV adaptation of Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman.
• You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz is getting a series called The Undoing, and will star Nicole Kidman.
• Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty by Daniel Schulman is set for TV.

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Collection Development Corner

New & Upcoming Titles

• Who wants an illustrated edition of The Ocean at the End of the Lane??
• Elle: 16 best books of 2019 so far.
• Oprah Magazine: 29 of the best 2019 romance novels.
• 21 anticipated YA novels for September.
• Best international crime fiction of August.
• Fall 2019 book preview from Shondaland.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession – Rachel Monroe (NPR, Slate, Washington Post)
• A Particular Kind of Black Man – Tope Folarin (New York Times, NPR)
• The Warehouse – Rob Hart (NPR, USA Today)

RA/Genre Resources

• Why black romance matters.

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Books & Authors in the News

• N.K. Jemisin, Jasmine Guillory, and Lauren Wilkinson talk about the white male hierarchy of publishing.
• Nicholas Sparks wins his defamation case.
• If you needed proof of Toni Morrison’s ongoing legacy, the demand for Toni Morrison books is so high that Knopf has had to print more books in both hardcover and paperback.

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Award News

• An African history of the Booker Prize for Fiction.
• Splatterpunk Award winners, for your patrons who like their fiction extreme.

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Pop Cultured

• The first trailer for The Mandalorian, plus a special look at The Rise of Skywalker.

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All Things Comics

• A Black Panther sequel is set for Summer 2022!
• Disney announces shows based on Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and more.
• Kevin Smith is creating an anime He-Man series for Netflix.
• A history of comics censorship.
• 7 books to read to learn about comics.
• Graphic nonfiction about anxiety.
• Comics that turn mythology on its head.

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Audiophilia

• Publishers sue Audible for their planned speech-to-text feature, claiming copyright violation.
• Taron Egerton, star of Rocketman, will be narrating the audiobook for Elton John’s upcoming memoir.
• More proof that reading and listening to a book aren’t really all that different.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• New picture books to help kids ease into a new school year.
• The best chapter books for kids.
• 32 books recommended by your favorite YA authors.

Adults

• 50 greatest coming-of-age novels.
• 10 books for fans of Girl, Wash Your Face.
• 7 books for fans of Mindhunter. (Spoilers ahead!)
• 50+ must-read gothic novels.
• 15 novels set on school campuses.
• Idyllic vacations gone horribly wrong.
• All 80 of Oprah’s book recommendations so far.
• The United States of Wrongdoing: 50 great books about true crimes.
• Obama’s summer reading recommendations.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Gwyneth Paltrow’s “celebrity bibliophile.”
• How to review a novel.
• The challenges of encouraging a reading culture in developing countries.
• A definitive ranking of the Baby-Sitter’s Club parents.
• Marriage proposal ideas for couples who love to read.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you when I come back! Seattle, ahoy!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Halifax libraries train staff on how to handle a wide range of unruly and disruptive behavior.
• Charleston County Public Libraries add armed guards in response to a credible shooting threat received last year. I cannot tell you how much this idea terrifies me.
• Santa Barbara County Libraries were able to use the tax revenue from cannabis sales to strengthen their budget, meaning that they won’t have to reduce hours or programming!
• Leander (TX) Public Library shares their policy updates after the recent drag queen program debacle.
• Hundreds of books were removed from an Illinois prison library. The Chicago Tribune notes that the majority of the books were about black history and empowerment.
• Florida Department of Education posted an extremely dated, whitewashed, and out-of-touch reading list for students, and Twitter clapped back.

Cool Library Updates

• Digitizing the Vatican Library.

Worth Reading

• Why do publishers suddenly hate libraries?
• How to stealthily incorporate intellectual freedom lessons into your youth book clubs.
• Bolstering the MLS: What librarians need to know about certification, badging, and microcredentials.
• Ghana’s wondrous one-woman library.

Book Adaptations in the News

• Netflix announces the premiere date for To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
• Updates on There’s Someone Inside Your House and The Haunting of Hill House Season 2.
• Love, Simon is going to be a Disney series!
• NBC’s streaming service orders a pilot for One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus.
• Check out the first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women and prepare to argue (again) over which character is the best.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Amazon responds to the New York Times story that questions how Amazon polices copyright in its bookstore.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Cyntoia Brown signs a major book deal upon her release from prison.
• Alleged sexual abuser Mark Halperin already has a book coming out.
• Reasons why you need to be excited about the diverse crime fiction from Agora. I already have a couple of these titles on my list to purchase for my own library!
• 28 YA sequels and 15 awesome middle grade books to keep an eye out for this fall.
• New true crime for August.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• An American Sunrise – Joy Harjo (Elle, New York Times, NPR, Vogue, Washington Post)
• Inland – Téa Obreht (Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Time, USA Today)
• Doxology – Nell Zink (New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair)
• gods with a little g – Tupelo Hassman (NPR, Washington Post)
• The World Doesn’t Require You – Rion Amilcar Scott (New York Times, USA Today)

RA/Genre Resources

• Why do so many women read thrillers? Because it’s a safe space to own their own fears.
• Related: Karin Slaughter says readers are drawn to true crime because “it’s human nature to want to know where the danger is.”
• Have you noticed a recent witch trend? You’re not alone.
• A bookworm’s guide to finding the light: or why this reader loves horror.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi are teaming up to help young people navigate and fight racism.
• Nicholas Sparks denies the claims made in a defamation lawsuit against his school.

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Numbers & Trends

• Barnes & Noble reports a 31% increase in Romance sales compared to last summer.

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Award News

• The 2019 Hugo Award winners are here!
• Teens ages 12-18 can start voting for YALSA’s 2019 Teens’ Top Ten List.

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All Things Comics

• Art Spiegelman was asked to write an essay for a collection of Marvel Golden Age comics, so he wrote about how superhero comics pushed back against facism, and made comparisons between the 1940’s and today. Marvel asked him to rewrite his essay to make it apolitical, so Spiegelman withdrew his essay and submitted it to the Guardian instead, because did these people SERIOUSLY think that the creator of Maus was okay with being apolitical? The original essay is here.
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman will start over as a new comic series.
• Crime manga that explore the other side of the law.

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Audiophilia

• Audible continues its expansion of original content. Or in other words, this means that there’s even more content that libraries will be unable to provide access to.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 10 books to help kids understand climate change.
• Snake books for readers of all ages.

Adults

• NPR picks 100 favorite funny books.
• True crime that goes beyond serial killers and sensationalism.
• Awesome detectives from recent crime novels.
• Novels for true crime fans.
• Crime novels for horror fans. (This one’s mine!)
• International true crime you’ve never heard of.
• 50 must-read parenting books for all parents.
• Sea creature romances.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• A mother’s search for Indian bedtime stories grew into a small business that distributes Indian cultural books geared towards newborns through middle school readers.
• This calculator will tell you how many books you could read in a year if you stayed off social media. Yes, this is a reductive look at reading and social media use, but it’s still eye opening.
• Reader in chief: Is Obama our newest book influencer?

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you next week!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

---

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Librarians facing new tasks say that the crisis isn’t in the catalog. If you’ve been seeing discussions online about librarians being required to administer naloxone, this is the article that’s been sparking discussions. I say it’s one thing for libraries to choose to offer this service, but no library employee should be shamed or forced to administer this type of medical aide. I’m really tired of library staff being expected to shoulder trauma for the sake of the community.
• Nearly 100,000 Christians have signed a petition to ALA protesting its support of Drag Queen Story Hour. Seriously, can’t these people find something more productive to do with their time?
• There are 20,000 different titles banned in Florida prisons.
• The NYPL lions are getting a $250K restoration. 
• I’m leaving this headline unchanged: Shoreline prudes cover up nippleless mannequin at the library.

Cool Library Updates

• Jeff Rise was helping his library move donated books into storage between fundraising sales when he thought, “What if a local business kept the book sale going year-round and gave all the profits back to the library?” And then thought “What if MY business did that?” So he ran the library book sale out of his liquor store and raised over $10,000 for the library in its first year! Way to go, Jeff!
• Silent book groups are a thing, and I would LOVE to see this as a low-key library program.

Worth Reading

• Libraries are finding new ways to support patrons experiencing mental health challenges, as well as the staff who serve them.
• Another response to Macmillan’s new eBook lending model for libraries.
• School libraries are essential for black and Latinx students.
• Why this librarian chose not to genrify the fiction section.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Lucasfilm is adapting Tomi Adeyemi’s best-selling Children of Blood and Bone!
• Daveed Diggs will play Frederick Douglass in the upcoming Good Lord Bird adaptation.
• James Wan’s production company picked up film rights for Nick Cutter’s The Troop, and my horror-loving self has just collapsed from excitement and impending fear.
• Netflix is adapting Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton, along with Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• The Atlantic writes about the Amazon Publishing Juggernaut.
• The final details of the Barnes & Noble deal. Can James Daunt save Barnes & Noble?

New & Upcoming Titles

• Dashka Slater, author of the YA nonfiction book The 57 Bus, has another YA nonfiction title slated for 2022 that looks at hate crimes and free speech.
• A look at Ronan Farrow’s upcoming book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.
• Rachel Maddow announces a new book.
• Best books to read this August from Town & Country, Salon, Crime Reads, and PopSugar.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Inland – Tea Obreht (New York Times, Washington Post)
• The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa (NPR, New York Times)
• The Turn of the Key – Ruth Ware (NPR, Washington Post)
• The Doll Factory – Elizabeth Macneil (New York Times, Washington Post)

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Books & Authors in the News

• If you or your patrons have never read Toni Morrison, you might be interested in these resources, which give readers a place to start: NYPL, O Magazine, Barnes & Noble, New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today.
• J.D. Salinger’s novels will now be available as eBooks for the first time.

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Award News

• The complete shortlist for Not the Booker Prize.
• Barnes & Noble picks its titles for their Discover Great New Writers selections.
• 2019 National Poetry Series winners.

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Pop Cultured

• Teen-friendly horror movies that are heavy on the scares and light on the type of content that might give parents pause.
• There’s going to be a new animated Addams Family movie and SNOOP DOGG IS DOING THE VOICE FOR COUSIN ITT. There you go, you need no other news for the week.

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All Things Comics

• Comic book thieves stole 3,000 comics, then unknowingly tried to sell the comics back to the original owner.
• 9 things this writer learned about parenting from reading comics.
• 8 dark, queer graphic novels.

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Audiophilia

• Here are some audiobooks narrated by Toni Morrison.
• This AI reads books out loud in the authors’ voices. Is it time to welcome our technological overlords yet?
• Washington Post picks some audiobooks with stellar narration, and some with…less-than stellar narration.
• And some books that just work better on audio.
• Best audiobooks of August 2019.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Books to ease the transition to middle school.

Adults

• Books with new rules about dating.
• Readalikes for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
• 25 political books to read ahead of the 2020 election.
• 50 must-read books recommended by Roxane Gay.
• 19 books about white supremacy and how to combat it.
• Books to read if you loved The Nickel Boys.
• 6 metafictional horror novels that dissect the genre.
• Book Riot’s picks for Women in Translation Month.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Turkish government destroys more than 300,000 books.
• A Tulsa, OK bookstore has been targeted by a white supremacist hate group.
• How to repurpose old books into DIY wall art.
• Some of the best hacks to up your Goodreads game.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you next week!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently (re)reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

---

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Libraries are fighting to preserve your right to borrow ebooks.
• A look at the Lynda.com/LinkedIn acquisition, and why this is troubling for your patrons’ privacy.

Cool Library Updates

• A North Carolina organization runs a literacy-based anti-racism camp for kids.
• Queens Public Library will host a series of salary negotiation boot camps for women this fall.
• A look at seed lending libraries in the Bay Area.
• These Colorado teens used their library’s Makerspace to create accessible board games!
• Librarians are changing the 50+ dating game. It’s definitely a desired service, but I’m just getting unpleasant flashbacks to all the awkward (and occasionally boundary-crossing) interactions I had with patrons about their online dating efforts.

Worth Reading

• Supporting students who are homeless.
• Libraries can have 3D printers, but they’re still about books.
• Find inspiration for your upcoming programs with these resources!

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Circe is coming to HBO!! I can’t WAIT for this adaptation!
• Robert de Niro is in talks to join the adaptation for Killers of the Flower Moon.
• The Stand adds more actors to the cast, and Stephen King is planning to write a new ending for the show.
• Elizabeth Acevedo is reportedly adapting her latest book, With the Fire on High.
• ABC is planning a miniseries based on Mitchell Zuckoff’s Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11.
• 13 Reasons Why has been renewed for a fourth and final season with Netflix.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• We Need Diverse Books celebrates its 5th anniversary and talks about its plans for the next five years!
• Toy company Melissa & Doug is going to be publishing children’s books, with more than 90 titles planned through 2020.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Workman is publishing a biography of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
• Word on the streets is that Meghan Markle is publishing a children’s book! This hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but we can keep our fingers crossed.
• Edward Snowden has written a memoir, which will be published in September.
• Hillary and Chelsea Clinton team up to write a book about gutsy women throughout history.
• August picks from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (Thrillers & SFF), Book Browse, CrimeReads, Entertainment Weekly, io9, Lambda Literary, LitHub, The Millions, New York Times, Time, Tor.com (SFF, YA SFF, and genre-benders), The Verge, Vulture, and Washington Post.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Reese Witherspoon picks The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda for her August list.
• Chances Are… – Richard Russo (New York Times, USA Today)
• The Right Swipe – Alisha Rai (NPR)
• The Escape Room – Megan Goldin (New York Times)

RA/Genre Resources

• What does it really mean to “read for pleasure?”
• A guide to Korean noir.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Award-winning author Toni Morrison passed away at 88. To say America has lost a literary giant is a vast understatement.
• Your book group has probably already read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, but did you know about THIS dark chapter in the author’s history? (Read the article – it’s bonkers.)
• Sherrilyn Kenyon has reportedly dropped the case against her husband, who she accused earlier of poisoning her.
• Scholastic has pulled children author Tim Tingle’s upcoming book from publication in light of recent allegations of inappropriate behavior.
• A look at a recently discovered short story by John Steinbeck.

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All Things Comics

• Barnes & Noble and Entertainment Weekly pick the best comics & graphic novels for August.
• Comics to get you through a reading slump.
• Graphic novel recommendations based on YA books.

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Audiophilia

• Meghan McCain reportedly has an audiobook coming out next year with Audible.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Picture books to perk up any kid’s summer.
• 21 YA books to read during Romance Awareness Month.
• YA novels starring DC superheroes.
• A reading list for fans of To All the Boys I Loved Before.

Adults

• All of Reese Witherspoon’s book recommendations!
• 8 books about unsung WWII heroes.
• 50 must-read first-person narrative books from the last 20 years.
• 17 Christian fiction authors for your (or your patrons’) TBRs.
• 5 underrated celebrity memoirs by women.
• 8 must-read paranormal books.
• Historical crime novels.
• Marathon-worthy romance series.
• 11 love stories for non-romance readers.
• The 20 most-reviewed books on Amazon.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• How to conquer your biggest reading fears.
• How white nationalists have co-opted fan fiction.
• A retired Boeing 727 has been converted into a library!

---

Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you next week!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Library Journal covers the controversial proposed changes to the Leander (TX) Public Library meeting room & speaker policies.
• Macmillan CEO John Sargent doubles down on Macmillan’s (stupid) embargo on digital library titles. Also, the Wall Street Journal writes about how library ebook lending poses a rising problem for the publishing industry. (NO IT DOESN’T.)
• West Georgia Library system is the first in the state to eliminate overdue fines.
• This bookless library devotes an entire building to Makerspaces. Related, this library is called Idea Exchange Old Post Office, and some councillors are suggesting that the library board reconsider using the word “library” for these branches because “Idea Exchange” is confusing.
• (TW gun violence) A man was shot to death inside the South Brooklyn branch of the Cleveland Public Library.
• The new Long Beach Main Library will be named after Billie Jean King.

Cool Library Updates

• What the heck is a digital pop up library?
• Librarians and…pig wrestling?

Worth Reading

• A school librarian’s philosophy of lost books.
• NYPL employees share their literary tattoos.
• Jefferson County Public Library (CO) created an online petition to name the Earth’s moon Geoff. Yes, this is real.

Book Adaptations in the News

• Orlando Bloom will not be playing Legolas in the Amazon Lord of the Rings series, saying he’s too old. Pardon me as I try to comprehend how Orlando Bloom is now considered “old.” My high school self is crying right now.
• The Handmaid’s Tale has been renewed for a fourth season.
• Outlander Season 5 won’t air until 2020.
• We’re getting film adaptations for The Confession and Lord of the Flies.
• Lots of series adaptation news: Three Women, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Barkskins, Challenger Deep, and The Bankers Wife are all being adapted for TV/streaming.
• New trailers for Looking for Alaska and The Goldfinch.
• Just Mercy, starring Michael B. Jordan, will be released in theaters nationwide on January 10, 2020.

Collection Development Corner

New & Upcoming Titles

• Soccer star and all-around American hero Megan Rapinoe has a book deal!
• Daniel Mallory Ortberg is publishing a new memoir-in-essays.
• Lois Lowry is writing her first novel in verse.
• Recently translated Chinese titles available in the US.
• Best debut novels for Summer/Fall 2019.
• Best general fiction & mysteries for August.
• July’s best debut crime fiction and international crime fiction.
• Paste picks the best books of July.
• Vanity Fair: Best books of 2019 so far.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Lady in the Lake – Laura Lippman (NPR, Salon)
• Chances Are… – Richard Russo (Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post)
• The Lager Queen of Minnesota – J. Ryan Stradal (USA Today, Washington Post)
• My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress – Rachel DeLoache Williams (ABC, Elle)

Books & Authors in the News

• San Francisco Public Library announces There There by Tommy Orange as its 2019 One City One Book.
• Prepare for even more holds on this book: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane is the next Tonight Show summer read.

Numbers & Trends

• Reprint from last week, because the link didn’t copy correctly: How diverse are the characters in Canada’s top-selling picture books?
• Related: more children’s books feature animals than black people. 

Award News

• The Booker Prize longlist was announced, including one of my personal favorites, My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite! Also, Margaret Atwood’s upcoming book made the list, even though it’s not out until September.
• Finalists for the British Fantasy Awards and the World Fantasy Award.
• Check out the longlist for the 2019 First Novel Prize.
• The Ripped Bodice announces the Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romance Fiction, and Book Riot’s very own Jessica Pryde is one of the judges!
• The Dewey Decibel podcast looks at 50 years of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards.

Pop Cultured

• Blade Runner actor Rutger Hauer dies at age 75.
• A reading list for your patrons who are waiting to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
• Books to read if you’re an adult who loves Veronica Mars.

All Things Comics

• First trailer for HBO’s Watchmen series.
• Essential graphic nonfiction for 2019.

Audiophilia

• Best audiobooks for July 2019.
• 8 cozy mystery series perfect for audiobook fans.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Best board books for babies.
• 20 awesome science books for kids.
• 17 YA fantasy novels inspired by cultures from around the world.
• 100 books for ambitious teen readers.

Adults

• 50 must-read fantasy books by women.
• 50 must-read fiction books featuring older women.
• 5 books to fuel your F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
• 12 books about climate change solutions.
• True crime books that’ll make you sleep with the lights on, plus 50 states of true crime.
• 5 must-reads of Philippine literature.
• 9 books about important historical slave uprisings.
• 5 books about asylum and immigration.
• Urban fantasy books recommended by Seanan McGuire.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• This woman converted a 1962 Volkswagen Transporter into a book bus and it looks so cool!
• Philadelphia public transit users have an opportunity to grab free books on their commute!
• Why book lovers don’t read all the books they already own.
• A look at why we don’t see many memoirs written by Indian women.

Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.

Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you next week!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly.