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 PRIDE WARS Book One: The Spinner Prince by Matt Laney.
For fans of the Warriors series comes a new clan of super-evolved felines in a world rife with rebellion. Only Leo, prince of Singara, has the power to save-or destroy-his kingdom. But can he conceal his curse, claim the throne, and protect his realm? A new fantasy series from debut author, Matt Laney!
Libraries & Librarians
- Atlantic City library and local barber shops partner to encourage children to read
- In censorship news, more than 300 people have signed a petition urging the Orange City Public Library to label and segregate books containing LGBTQ+ content or themes
- Street libraries in Brisbane, Australia
- Multnomah County Library offers tattoo-based reader’s advisory
- Jason Reynolds calls school libraries “places of recognition for young people.” (I think all libraries need a little more Jason Reynolds, tbh.)
- West Shore Community Library volunteer raises $10,000 for new books by knitting sweaters!
#MeToo: Sexual Harassment Updates From the Publishing World
(Trigger warning for sexual harassment and assault)
- Sherman Alexie’s accusers go on the record about his extended history of alleged sexual harassment
- Due to ongoing sexual harassment claims, Sherman Alexie declines his ALA Carnegie Award for You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me
- Paperback release for You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me delayed indefinitely
Book Adaptations in the News
- Reese Witherspoon extends her literary adaptation resume by adapting In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware.
- If you haven’t seen the new trailer for the second Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them film, you can watch it here.
- Here’s a first look at HBO’s adaptation of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante!
- Becky Albertalli talks about how Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda became a love letter to gay teens.
- Harper Lee’s estate is filing a legal complaint against Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, saying that the new adaptation deviates too much from the novel.
Books in the News
- Sarah Jessica Parker picks the next title for her book club: Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles.
- Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon’s latest pick for her book club is Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal.
- And in even more book club news, Barnes & Noble is launching a new book club with The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer.
- Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer is the Obama/Biden buddy-detective-story we never knew we needed. It’s out in August of this year.
- Malala has a new book coming out in September!
- Markus Zusak has a new book! Bridge of Clay, which follows five brothers raising themselves and learning about their father’s mysterious disappearance, is his first book in 13 years. Start ordering copies now!
- The former White House employee publishing deals keep rolling in…now it’s Anthony Scaramucci who’s just signed a deal for The Blue Collar President.
By the Numbers
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library donates its 100 millionth book to the Library of Congress.
- Trump’s presidency and the #MeToo movement have led to increased business for feminist bookstores. I guess there’s a silver lining in everything.
- April 11 is National Bookmobile Day – check out some of these historical stats about our favorite mobile libraries!
Award News
- 2018 Man Booker International Prize longlist announced
- PEN/Faulkner fiction finalists announced. (Now try saying that five times fast.)
- British Book Award nominees announced
- National Book Critics Circle winners are announced…and they’re all women!
All Things Comics
- The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the National Coalition Against Censorship have released a new comic book to help explain and protect student protesting rights.
- 25 favorite fantasy and science fiction graphic novels from Book Riot readers. If you’re not familiar with graphic novels, this would be a great list to keep in your back pocket.
- First annual Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards
- Little Women turns 150 this year! Celebrate with this modernized, multiracial, LGBTQ-inclusive graphic novel adaptation!
Audiophilia
- Nearly 1 in 5 adults listen to audiobooks now!
- Fabulous feminist audiobooks
- The 4 most perfect audiobooks this reader has listened to
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
- What to read after you see A Wrinkle in Time, because every library needs a display or a read-alike book list for this movie!
- Books if you’re really, really into March Madness
- Read Harder challenge: Read a book with a female protagonist over 60
- 50 of the best horror novels
- 100 contemporary short story collections
- Books by black authors that should be on everyone’s book shelves (including your library’s!)
- Inclusive mysteries and thrillers for January – March, 2018
- Upcoming memoirs for Spring 2018
Book Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- Reading should be a priority because science. (No kidding!)
- What is solarpunk? (Besides your next display theme?)
- How to pack books for a trip.
- Comic book wedding cakes for the ultimate nerdy nuptials.
- Book stores staffed by robots open in Beijing
- Alexa can now add books to your LibraryThing account!
Level Up (Library Reads)
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!). Links here will direct to Edelweiss digital review copies.
- Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova (June 5, 2018)
When a bus crash kills Lula’s classmates and her beloved boyfriend, Maks, she knows she can bring Maks back from the dead with the help of her magical sisters. But defying Death is a dangerous proposition and Maks isn’t the only one brought back… - The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong (June 5, 2018)
The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Bad Seed in this psychological thriller from a novelist known as “Korea’s Stephen King.” - A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal (June 5, 2018)
Part socio-political satire, part international mystery where a virus turns people into something other than human. - Call Me American: A Memoir by Abdi Nor Iftin (June 19, 2018)
The true story of a boy in Somalia who falls in love with America through movies, and then through a miraculous green card.
Check back in two weeks for another issue of Check Your Shelf. Thanks for hanging out!
–Katie McLain, currently reading My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris