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 The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg.
Magicians are pitted against one another to make the next big discovery in Charlie N. Holmberg’s fascinating new read in The Paper Magician series.
Alvie Brechenmacher came to London to study under world-renowned magician Marion Praff. Little did she know she would make a discovery that could change the world of magic forever. Now a rival is after the plans, and in the high-stakes world of magical discovery, not everyone plays fair . . .
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg returns to the enchanting world of The Paper Magician.
Libraries & Librarians
- Local or not, you’ll want to swoon over these gorgeous Chicago libraries. And then you can read about the family that took their children on a world tour of libraries.
- 20% of US public school librarian jobs have disappeared since 2000. One fifth!
- Further reading: why school librarians are the literacy leaders we need.
- This is a cool partnership to encourage reading that the New York Public Library and HBO cooked up.
- Libraries along the Silk Road in a number of countries have developed an alliance. Sometimes we forget what feels common in the library world is completely new in other parts of the world.
- Why Finland is home to the world’s most radical libraries.
- This one made the librarian internet rounds, but just in case you haven’t seen it, BuzzFeed put together a list of 17 awesome things libraries have done that’ll make you want to do them for your library.
- Kabul library bus helps drive Afghan children to read. I love stories like this.
Book Adaptations in the News
- Clear your calendar on October 19 — that’s when The Hate U Give will hit the big screen.
- I didn’t know there would still be interest enough for a TV adaptation of The Babysitter’s Club to be shopped. The comics must be helping renew interest.
- Kristen Stewart will direct the adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s Chronology of Water.
- Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits is coming to Hulu.
- There’s a trailer for The Sisters Brothers.
- Idris Elba + The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Books in the News
- Certainly by now, you’ve seen the Jimmy Kimmel clip where your average person on the street can’t name a book. Let’s not talk about that and instead talk about how shaming people who aren’t bookish isn’t cool. Not to mention it’s a common psychological phenomenon that people can’t name something off the top of their head when asked like that.
- How a book can become a hit even before it’s finished. Here are the Buzz books of this year so you can be ready.
- The New York Times highlights the arguments about Philip Roth’s best books.
- A look at the dwindling number of rare and valuable books, in light of the deaths of a handful of literary icons.
- Michelle Obama is teasing her memoir on Instagram. If your library hasn’t preordered a pile yet, it’s time (and same with audio, since she’s performing it herself).
By the Numbers
- 33,000 new library cards have been registered with the help of Libby in the first four months of 2018. I was skeptical about how this would work out when I heard it was happening, but that’s a nice number.
- The most popular libraries in the world. Inexact (and that’s noted!) but really fascinating to look at.
- Ebook revenue is down.
- But digital audiobook revenue is up.
Award News
- This year’s finalists for the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction are out, and you can vote on this one.
- The winners and finalists for the Indie’s Choice and EB White Read Aloud books were announced.
- There’s a winner in the Man Booker Prize for this year.
- Check out the titles on the Golden Man Booker Prize list and vote for your pick.
- Dig into this year’s Nebula winners.
All Things Comics
- Vulture names the best comics of 2018 so far.
- A comics guide to the surprise characters in Solo.
- Marvel characters make for popular baby names is not a thing I think I’d ever consider typing, but there it is.
- She-Ra, the adaptation by Noelle Stevenson, has a cast.
Audiophilia
- Reese Witherspoon has teamed up with Audible in a new partnership. Consider these monthly titles essential for library collections or reader advisory.
- The New York Times offers up great audiobook recommendations for trips without kids and for trips with kids.
- More audiobook recommendations for your summer road trip, this time from the Washington Post. Consider putting the titles here and in the above lists into a nice display for patrons.
- Audiobooks…for dogs?
- No, listening to audiobooks is not “cheating” when it comes to reading.
- Tune in to some great history audiobooks.
- 17 secrets of audiobook narrators.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
- 19 new translated books you need on your TBR (and in your library).
- Love reality TV or a patron base that does? Here are some appropriate books.
- Wired suggests 12 books you need to read this summer.
- 50 must-read books with gorgeous writing.
- Great time travel romances (beyond Outlander).
- The perfect mystery books for fans of literary fiction.
- 21 excellent queer women of color books to read with bonus fancy graphic!
- Over 120 Stephen King short stories and where to find them. This is some excellent reference for your King fanatics, especially given the rate of adaptations of his work in the last year.
- These new books with animal covers would make a fabulous display.
- Pick up some excellent books by Asian American writers, whether or not it’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- The oldest cookbooks from libraries around the world.
- What’s going on in your child’s brain when you read them a story? This one is for all of the librarians who not only encourage reading, but who are also sharing stories aloud with the youngest readers.
- Why are middle age women invisible on book covers? This isn’t just an issue with books, of course. It’s also even more pronounced when you consider middle age women of color.
- 50 school libraries to follow on Instagram.
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!).
This 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.
Snag a sweet “It’s Lit” enamel pin for $7.
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Thanks for hanging out! We’ll see you back here in two weeks with another edition of Check Your Shelf.
–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter and Instagram.
Currently reading Final Draft by Riley Redgate