Newsletters Dev – Page 1180

Diverse Summer Nonfiction Recommendations!

Post author By Kim Ukura
Post date June 29, 2018

Hello, True Story readers! After a crazy few months at my day job, I’m taking a vacation “up North,” as we say here in Minnesota, for a week at my parent’s cabin in Wisconsin. I’ve got an entire bag devoted just to books (and another one for booze), which seems just about right for a full week off the grid. I cannot wait.

Just for Book Riot readers: sign up for an Audible account, and get two audiobooks free!

Truthfully, most of the books I’m bringing along are fiction. I love fantasy and young adult novels for reading by the beach, mostly because I don’t have to pay attention as carefully as I do otherwise. But never fear, a couple of memoirs have made their way to the stack – Don’t You Ever by Mary Carter Bishop (July 3 from Harper) and Stalking God by Anjali Kumar.

But before I am off on vacation, some bookish news and some new books for late June and early July:

Bookish has collected this summer’s must-read nonfiction, a pretty wide-ranging list of titles that includes everything from “a thriller-like trip to Shanghai” to “a heart-wrenching illness memoir.” I am not as on top of my 2018 nonfiction reading as I’d like to be, but several on this list are on my TBR.

If you want to add some more diversity to your summer reading, the African American Intellectual History Society put together a list of recommended nonfiction that “offer(s) valuable insights on the Black experience in the United States and across the globe.” I love that many of these are from small or university presses because that means they’ve probably slipped under my radar. Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper is on my shelf, and History Teaches Us to Resist by Mary Frances Berry just got added to the list.

Still not sure what nonfiction to read this summer? A few more general summer reading lists also have some nonfiction sections that might help:

Publisher’s Weekly has a full summer reading guide, including a relatively robust nonfiction section.
Newsweek’s summer reading guide is also good. You can find nonfiction in the sections labeled “Reality Bites” (biographies and memoirs), “Political Animals” (power and corruption), and “Natural Highs” (science and nature).
TIME’s summer reading guide includes “mind-expanding history” and “conversation-starting nonfiction” to peruse, with some good suggestions.

Finally, a few upcoming titles to keep your eyes open for:

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (June 26 from William Morrow) – A collection focused on “illuminating the widespread obsession with women who are abused, killed, and disenfranchised, and whose bodies (dead and alive) are used as props to bolster men’s stories.” A couple readers I trust have highlighted this one, so I am in.

Empress by Ruby Lal (July 3 from W.W. Norton) – I’m obsessed with reading about queens, but need to branch out beyond Europe. Empress is a biography of Nur Jahan, who in 1611 married an emperor, becoming his partner and most cherished wife. Sold!

City of Devils by Paul French (July 3 from Picador) – I’m in the middle of this one, and so far really enjoying it. It’s a nice mash-up of history and true crime, all about the two gang leaders who ruled the underground scene in Shanghai in the lead up to World War II. The first section is written in a sort of 1930s newspaper style, which takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s fun.

And with that, I’m out for vacation – look for a guest editor of this newsletter next week! You can find me on Twitter @kimthedork, and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. Happy reading!

Today In Books

CURSED CHILD West Coast Premiere: Today in Books

Post author By Sharifah Williams
Post date June 28, 2018

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by One of NPR’s Best Books of the Year, Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory, new in paperback from Vintage Books.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Sets West Coast Premiere

The Tony Award-winning play will premiere on the West Coast at the historic Curran in San Francisco. The play premiered in New York this year; it’s in its third year of performances in London, and a Melbourne, Australia production is planned for early 2019. Details on dates, purchasing tickets, and casting will be announced in the coming months.

Royal Society of Literature Works To Address Historical Biases

The Royal Society of Literature just appointed 40 new writing fellows under the age of 40. The RSL decided to bring in a new generation of fellows through their 40 Under 40 initiative in order to step away from its “overwhelmingly white, male, metropolitan and middle class” history. The names chosen were almost three-quarters female, with 30% from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. Prior to the initiative, only three of the 523 fellows were under 40 (the article doesn’t mention how many were from marginalized communities, but I can guess the number).

Midnight’s Children Set As Netflix TV Series

Netflix is adapting Salman Rushdie’s postcolonial novel of magical realism, Midnight’s Children, for a series. The book about India’s transition to independence was previously adapted as a Canadian-British film directed by Deepa Mehta in 2013. No word yet on a release date or casting.

Giveaways

Win the Best Beach Reads of 2018!

Post author By Jeff O'Neal
Post date June 28, 2018

It’s here. The height of summer reading season. Hammocks. Beaches. Porches. Benches along rivers. That sort of thing.

And to celebrate we are giving away our 11 favorite beach reads of 2018. And in true Book Riot style, these aren’t exactly stereotypical beach reads. More of…well just great books that you might want to read while it happens to be summer. Go check out the the titles you could win here: The Best 2018 Beach Reads.

Go here to enter for your chance to win, or just click on the fancy image below. Good luck!

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships Jun 29

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date June 28, 2018

Happy Friday, demigods and dragonriders! Today I’m reviewing Dark Mirror by Diane Duane, Silver Silence and Ocean Light by Nalini Singh, and bringing you exciting LEGO news, the Locus Awards, sci-fi greats, and more.

This newsletter is sponsored by Penguin Teen and Warcross by Marie Lu.

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation. Emika’s thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu conjures an immersive, exhilarating world where choosing who to trust may be the biggest gamble of all.

The Locus Awards are in! There aren’t a lot of surprises this year — all these authors are well-known and acclaimed for good reasons — but there are a few that were off my radar. I need to pick up The Book of Swords sooner rather than later!

Who are the best sci-fi authors? Erika has nominated eight. Using her criteria, my personal list has to include Ursula Le Guin and Yoon Ha Lee, but these are a reasonable start.

Need more Latinx authors in your life? This list of SF/F authors has some of my favorites (Malka Older! Carmen Maria Machado!), and some I need to bump up on my TBR.

You definitely need more indigenous authors to read, and author Rebecca Roanhorse is here to recommend some. You should read her too! Trail of Lightning is out now, and getting rave reviews.

You know what else you need? HARRY POTTER LEGOS.

How would you die on Game of Thrones? Our quiz will tell you! I was blown up at the Sept of Baylor, RIP me.

A Discovery of Witches still doesn’t have a US air date or platform (bidding war???), but you can watch the trailer.

And now in reviews, I give you dolphin scientists and dolphin changelings!

Dark Mirror (Star Trek: The Next Generation) by Diane Duane

So you want to be a starship captain? Yes, that Diane Duane wrote a ST:NG novel, and it is a delight. It also has the distinction of being the first and only Star Trek franchise I have ever read. I’m not necessarily opposed, but franchises are among my least-read sub-genres (I think I’ve read something like five of the Star Wars ones, and nothing of any others that I can recall).

Duane uses the plot of the ST:TOS episode “Mirror, Mirror” as her starting point. Picard’s Enterprise is exploring a quiet quadrant of space when they get sucked into an alternate, morally-inverted universe. Thanks to a visiting scientist (who is also a dolphin, and one of my all-time favorite new characters), the crew discovers this sooner rather than later and have just enough time to hatch a plan to thwart their evil selves. Of course, nothing every goes to plan…

I found this in a Little Free Library in my neighborhood and grabbed it on a whim, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a while. Janeway is the captain of my heart but Picard is the captain of my childhood, and it was lovely to be reunited with the crew of the NCC 1701-D. Duane clearly loves the characters herself, and inhabits them well. It’s funny, it’s gripping, and it balances female and male, human and alien characters nicely. Even better, when skimpy outfits are involved, both the men and the women are subject to them! And Duane has written several other Star Trek novels, which I will be attempting to get my hands on as soon as possible. This, it turns out, might be how I want to spend my summer.

Silver Silence and Ocean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity #1 and #2) by Nalini Singh

If you’re listening to SFF Yeah!, you might recall that I talked about the Psy-Changeling series in Episode 11. It’s my all-time favorite paranormal romance series, but it’s a tough one to come to late — there are more than a dozen books currently, and Singh shows no signs of stopping (thankfully). Happily, as mentioned on a recent All the Books episode, the new installments in what Singh is referring to as “Psy-Changeling Season 2”, formally called the Psy-Changeling Trinity, are perfect jumping-on points.

The world of the series contains three races: the mentally super-powered Psy, the shapeshifting Changelings, and “vanilla” humans. The Psy have spent years in what they call Silence, barring themselves from feeling any emotions whatsoever in a search for ultimate efficiency. This has backfired conclusively, including breeding dangerous serial killers and psychopaths, and now the Psy are divided between those who want to heal and feel, and those who refuse to abandon Silence. The Changelings have been mostly concerned with protecting their own, but are starting to become more enmeshed with the Psy and humans, and the humans are trying to hold their own against the paranormal abilities of the Psy and Changelings. It’s a political and personal mess — but love might be able to save the day.

In Silver Silence and Ocean Light we get two cross-species romances: Psy/Changeling, and Changeling/human, respectively. While the cast of characters will be familiar to those who have been reading along, Singh takes great care to introduce new clans, characters, and plot elements, without belaboring or neglecting the backstory. They move the overall story forward while standing alone nicely, and I for one am delighted that we have finally gotten an underwater installment! Highly recommended if you want steamy, emotionally satisfying stories set in a beautifully imagined alternate Earth.

And that’s a wrap! You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.

Your fellow booknerd,
Jenn

Today In Books

The Academy of Motion Pictures Welcomes J. K. Rowling: Today in Books

Post author By Maria Cristina Garcia Lynch
Post date June 27, 2018

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Litworld Publishing House. Get Patch 17 for FREE today by clicking the cover below:

Author, Can You Spare a Dime? (No, They Cannot)

I don’t think any clear-eyed person decides to become an author in order to accumulate obscene wealth. But as it turns out, it’s almost impossible to eke out a living by writing alone. A new report by the UK nonprofit Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society says that professional writers have a median income of under £10,500 a year, or $13,774. And like their counterparts across all industries, women authors are earning just 75% of what men get.

J. K. Rowling Gets Her Letter

Authors in the UK have another reason to envy outlier J. K. Rowling: she just got invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures in the Writer category. She joins 927 other new members, 49% of whom are female. But my favorite stat about the new class? The new additions mean the people of color in the Academy have doubled since 2015…to 16% of overall membership. It’s a low bar, but we need something to celebrate.

First Look at Kristen Wiig in “Wonder Woman 1984”

More film adaptation news! It’s the teensiest of sneak peeks, but director Patty Jenkins shared a photo of Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva, aka Wonder Woman villain the Cheetah. She’s shown in a museum, wearing an outfit I am sure my mild-mannered mom had back then, so we’ll have to wait for a more Cheetah-licious lewk later.

Audiobooks

Trevor Noah Talks Audiobooks, and More Audiobook News

Post author By Katie MacBride
Post date June 27, 2018

Happy Thursday, audiobook fans!

Greetings from Oklahoma! I’m writing this on Tuesday from the great state of Oklahoma–-I’m here because I’m working on a documentary about medical cannabis and the state is voting on a medical cannabis bill today. By the time you read this, we’ll know what happened! Time! It’s wild! Sorry, I’m a little punchy. Sleep hasn’t been much of a thing for me recently. But, as my 10th grade English teacher (shout out to Mr. Faggi!), AVANTI!

Just for Book Riot readers: sign up for an Audible account, and get two audiobooks free!

Trevor Noah’s audiobook, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, was chosen for Newark, New Jersey’s first citywide high school listening club. First, it’s just freaking awesome that the city created a high school listening club. I love that so much. And I think this is an excellent choice to introduce (or further expose) teens to the delights of audiobooks. If you haven’t listened to Born a Crime, I strongly recommend adding it to your list.

In an interview with CBS News, Noah talked about the power of the spoken word. “What I loved seeing how different people connect with the story when it is spoken to them. I’ve always been a storyteller. I come from a culture of storytellers. And so to have my book as part of the curriculum but as an audiobook is a completely different way for learners to learn not just about my story but also about South Africa’s story. A story of belonging, a story of segregation, a story of overcoming a lot of those obstacles.”

This storytelling prowess obviously helped Noah in his path to The Daily Show but it also helped him narrate the audiobook. In fact, narrating it gave him a new appreciation for his own words. He told CBS This Morning, “It forced me to visualize everything. When you’re writing a book, you’re in the words. You see the words, and you think through in a different way. When you’re performing the audiobook, I think the reason this became the biggest selling audiobook on Audible was because I poured my heart and soul in it…. I spent hours and hours going back (to the studio) for weeks,” he said. “I remembered each person in such a vivid way because I had to embody them for the story.”

The high school students of Newark, New Jersey are in for a treat (and so are you if you haven’t listened to Born a Crime yet!)

More Audiobook News

A new study claims that “audiobooks are better at eliciting an emotional response than movies or TV.” The University College of London (partnering with Audible) had “102 participants listen to or watch gripping scenes from eight major books: Alien by Alan Dean Foster, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and The Silence of the Lambs by Richard Harris. The audiobook scenes raised pulses, body temperatures, and the skin’s electrical conductance higher than corresponding scenes from film and TV adaptations. However, The Guardian notes that ‘participants reported that the videos were ‘more engaging’ than the audiobooks by about 15% on average.’”

I very much want to make my friend Emily who did not cry at the end of The Perks of Being a Wallflower movie. I won’t reveal any spoilers, I’ll just say that I had read the book before seeing the movie and was therefore prepared for the emotional stuff at the end of the movie and still SOBBED LIKE A BABY. The first thing I had to do when I got home from the movie was throw my sweatshirt in the wash because the sleeve was covered in my snot and tears. But Emily? Didn’t shed a single tear. I’m wondering if that would be different if she listened to the audiobook or if she is really, truly dead inside (I’m 99% sure she doesn’t read this newsletter, but I guess I’ll find out for sure after this!)

Which audiobooks have made you the most emotional? What m Let me know (or just say hi!) on twitter at msmacb or at katie@riotnewmedia.com.

The new Apple Books redesign will have a dedicated Audiobooks tab as well as a feature that lets users keep track of their audiobook listening progress. Via MobileSyrup

Buzzfeed contributor Maris Kreizman outlines some of her favorite author-narrated audiobooks. Via Buzzfeed

In a similar vein, Bustle has a list of “11 New Books That Are Even Better as Audiobooks.” Notice that David Sedaris’ “Calypso” made both this and the Buzzfeed list? I may have to add this to my TBR list–-I do enjoy some good Sedaris Snark.

Roadtripping this summer? The Manual offers some thoughts on the “12 Best Audiobooks for Road Trips” and Bustle has a list of “9 New Audiobooks For Road Trips To Keep You Entertained On The Long Drives Of Summer.”

Happy listening and until next week,

~Katie

Kissing Books

Sci-Fi, Werewolves, and Bears, Oh My!

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date June 27, 2018

It’s the last week of June! I hope everyone who celebrates had a good Pride! Let’s get down to business (to defeat the Huns).

News and Useful Links

Sarah MacLean blessed us with some stories about her book titles. So many puns.

Just What My Procedural-Loving Heart Needed

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date June 26, 2018

Hello mystery fans! I’ve got a fictional serial killer, a British detective, a #MeToo novel, plus a bunch of releases for you this week. Also, The Tonight Show is doing a summer book club and IQ and The Good Son are on the list of 5 book choices. You can see the other three options and vote here!

Just for Book Riot readers: sign up for an Audible account, and get two audiobooks free!

Dark Serial Killer Page-Turner (TW: rape scenes/ domestic violence/ pedophilia off page)

cover image: silhouette of a woman's profile with red rose petals flutting through and a blue sky background Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier: Geo Shaw is a wealthy 30-year-old executive who is now going to jail because the body of her high school best friend has finally been found, 14 years later. She’s cooperating with authorities, doing her time, and trying to get her life back on track. Problem is, there’s a string of new murders, and the bodies are being left with a message. Is Geo being targeted, or does she still know more than she’s told? I inhaled the audiobook, as I really quite liked getting to know Geo (especially her time in jail) and was definitely doing the “gimme more” while waiting for the reveals. (I find the summary gives away a lot of the book, so if you don’t like knowing a lot before hand you may want to avoid reading the entire summary.)

A Novel for Our #MeToo Times (TW: rape scenes/ suicide/ cutting)

cover image: a black and hot pink smokey graphic with the title and author name in block letters Any Man by Amber Tamblyn: Tamblyn has effectively spotlighted our rape culture, focusing on how we treat and talk about victims and perpetrators, through the use of prose and poetry that focuses on male victims of a female serial rapist. It’s a difficult, yet important book to read that doesn’t let you look away. It succeeds in continuing the very necessary conversations of the #MeToo movement, but also left me with questions rattling around in my brain: Was the centering of fictional male victims so powerful because the genre is essentially always female victims? Is it partly because we’ve been trained to center men’s stories and feelings as most important? Are we just not “used to” hearing male stories because, fictionally and in real life, they come forward even less than women? There were a few parts of the novel that felt like Tamblyn just cut herself open and poured herself onto the page the way Roxane Gay does, and it stayed with me. And most likely will for a long time.

Just What My Procedural-Loving Heart Needed (TW: rape)

cover image: village on ocean water with a woman from behind walking down dock Salt Lane (DS Alexandra Cupidi #1) by William Shaw: I loved Shaw’s The Birdwatcher (review) and my only note at the time had been that I’d wish there had been more of a side-character. Well, let me tell you, dreams do come true because that character is the star of this new series! DS Alexandra Cupidi is having a difficult time in her private life–new home, struggling teen daughter, still settling in her new job, visiting mother, new partner–when a difficult case of a dead Jane Doe is assigned to her. Then a John Doe. Will Cupidi be able to keep her quick temper, big mouth, and inability to follow procedure to stay safe in check in order to solve these cases? A great procedure, with a flawed lead you root for, which incorporates current political issues. I’m already counting down the days for #2! (You do not need to have read The Birdwatcher to read Salt Lane, but I recommend both because they’re great reads.)

Recent Releases

cover image: silhouette of a camp fire with three women around it and one looming over looking at them Bonfire by Krysten Ritter (Paperback) (Jessica Jones wrote a good thriller: Review)

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (Currently reading: A really good exploration of the dead girl trope in films and novels and our society’s obsession with dead women.)

Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly (TBR: Cozy mystery set in Maryland.)

Bimini Twist (Jane Bunker Mystery #4) by Linda Greenlaw (Currently reading: A non-nonsense former Miami homicide detective is now living in Maine as an insurance investigator and deputy sheriff.)

cover image: a bridge and forest on a very foggy day The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (Paperback) (Great noir with thriller ending: Review)

Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox (Currently listening to the audiobook: Really interesting look at the author of Sherlock and how he used his own deduction skills on a real case.)

Peril & Prayers (A Sister Lou Mystery #2) by Olivia Matthews (Currently reading: Cozy mystery where Sister Lou, her nephew, and a reporter try to solve the murder of a retreat’s owner.)

On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen (Paperback) (Historical mystery)

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye: A Lisbeth Salander Novel by David Lagercrantz (Paperback)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Giveaways

Win a Pair of AirPods!

Post author By Jeff O'Neal
Post date June 26, 2018

When Macmillan wanted to sponsor an audiobook-related giveaway and was open to suggestions, I knew immediately what I wanted to do: give away some Apple AirPods.

Because I can honestly say that they are crucial to my audiobook listening life. They get great battery life. They pair easily with all bluetooth devices and darn near magically if you have an Apple device. They have a fantastic case that charges as you store them. And they also work as a great headset if you for some terrible reason have to talk on the phone.

I loved them from day one, and on a recent trip to New York, I could see that they are catching on. Every time I was on the subway, at least two people were wearing a pair.

Ok, enough with the hardsell. Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image below. Good luck!

Check Your Shelf

Audiobook Purchases Up 23%, THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING Burning Up The Charts, & More

Post author By Kelly Jensen
Post date June 26, 2018

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

“Check Your Shelf” is sponsored by Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed from Penguin Teen.

Amal Unbound Cover Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal’s Pakistani village, she has no complaints, and she’s busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when the unimaginable happens. After an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.

Libraries & Librarians

Here are Nancy Pearl’s picks for summer reading this year.
A nice piece about the growth of Drag Queen storytimes in libraries throughout the YS.
Berkeley Public Library has ended fines for teen and adult books.
Take a gander inside one of the world’s most beautiful libraries.
Behind the scenes with New York Society Library’s head librarian, Carolyn Waters.
On the practice of binding books with even older books.

Book Adaptations in the News

The trailer for The Hate U Give is here and it’s making me want the movie ASAP.
Need a handy list of all the Stephen King adaptations in the works? Here you go!
Victor LaValle’s The Changeling will be coming to TV.
Amazon will be releasing a “Wheel of Time” adaptation.
There’s a trailer for the Netflix adaptation of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Books in the News

This is a really fabulous profile of Megan Abbott and delves into the growth of female-driven psychological thrillers.
Jimmy Fallon is launching a Tonight Show Book Club.

By the Numbers

Audiobook revenue jumped nearly 23% in 2017. More readers are listening!
The President is Missing is selling a lot of copies. More than any book since the release of any other hardcover fiction title since Go Set a Watchman.
So are Americans reading more or less than they were in the past? A deep dive into the numbers.

Award News

The long list for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize is outstanding.
Dig into this year’s Locus Award winners.
It’s hard to have missed the news that the Laura Ingalls Wilder award is now the Children’s Legacy Award. It’s also hard to ignore how many comments have popped up clearly not understanding that this change — a name change! — does not equal censorship.

All Things Comics

What to read after you finish Brazen and itch for more awesome comics about awesome women.
The first wave of new DC titles for young readers have covers!
Walmart will begin selling an exclusive monthly DC comic starting this month. Worth knowing for your collection development purposes.

Audiophilia

The best audiobooks read by their authors.
Maybe part of the growth we’ve seen in audiobooks is that we’re more emotionally invested in them.
Great nonfiction audiobooks that’ll help anyone up their party-talk game (& enjoy a good listen, too).

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Here are the “Read ‘N Rave” titles shared by 5 librarians at this year’s American Library Association conference.
40 of the best villains in literary history. This would make both a fun display and a fun passive program, where patrons can vote for their favorite villains.
Add some Jamaican authors to your reading life and your library’s collection.
The best books of 2018 so far, according to Amazon.
25 of the best psychological horror books.
28 fabulous works of queer historical fiction.
Upcoming romance novels to know about.
A handy guide to great book club book ideas.
Need books to hand to readers who loved Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series? Try these!
And for fans of Killing Eve, a round-up of books about obsessive friendships.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

Reading secrets from a bibliophile who consumers 200+ titles a year.
Need a new lanyard? Here are some bookish ones.
Ever considered starting a Dungeons and Dragons club in your library? Here are five reasons to consider it.
This beach toy library is really smart. Are any libraries who have collections at their local beach doing the same?

Level Up

Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? Whether or not you read and nominate titles, we’ll end every newsletter with a few upcoming titles worth reading and sharing (and nominating for LibraryReads, if you so choose!).

Last month, I put together a reference guide for finding these books, along with a database of titles and publication dates to make reading and highlighting these books as easy as can be. Your only work is to read them and talk about them.

There is literally no excuse. Nominations for titles on the September list need to be submitted by July 20.

I highly encourage you read through the wonderful notes and slides about why LibraryReads is worth doing, as presented at ALA this past week.

Book heartbeat vinyl sticker

Grab one of these cute book heartbeat vinyl decals for $3.

____________________

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again in two weeks!

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and Twitter.