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.
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.
Grab one of these cute book heartbeat vinyl decals for $3.
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Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again in two weeks!