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 Laurie Halse Anderson’s SHOUT.
Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice—and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.
I am very excited to announce that I (Katie) will be taking over Check Your Shelf on a weekly basis! Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far – I look forward to filling your inboxes every week!
Libraries & Librarians
- How academic libraries respond to university budget cuts.
- “Our values can’t exist in a vacuum—they must work for librarians in the real world.”
- A perspective on the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and the resulting silence from librarians. (TW: hate crimes, anti-Semitism)
- A round up of library referenda and November election results.
- Constructive confrontation and saying “No” to patrons who accost library employees for dates or personal information. My colleague and I have given multiple presentations on addressing sexual harassment in the public library and dealing with patron incidents like this, so I was VERY happy to read this article.
- UK government’s response to library advocates has been “hugely disappointing.”
- Related: If books can cure loneliness, why are we closing libraries?
- Inside the Bodeleian Library’s collection of explicit and “immoral” books.
- Buzzfeed’s list of 17 Things Librarians Want You To Know.
Book Adaptations in the News
- A round-up of mixed reviews for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
- Lifetime is adapting a contemporary version of Pride and Prejudice set in Atlanta.
- John Boyega & Letitia Wright are set to star in the adaptation of Hold Back the Stars by Katie Khan.
- HBO is adapting The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.
- All of the book adaptations coming to Netflix in November 2018.
Books in the News
- Erin Morganstern, author of The Night Circus, announces the November 2019 release of The Starless Sea! Let the Muppet arms commence!!
- No surprises here: Oprah picks Becoming by Michelle Obama as her next Book Club selection.
- Malala Yousafzai is working on a new book about refugees.
By the Numbers
- Books-a-Million is hosting its sixth annual Holiday Book & Toy Drive through mid-December.
- Backlist titles and digital audiobooks led to a profitable quarter for 4 major publishers.
Award News
- It’s the final voting round for the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards.
- 2018 Christy Award finalists & winners.
- Rule changes for the Nebula Awards.
Pop Cultured
- Library of Congress hosts a collection of comic books, movie posters, toys, and other pop culture items.
All Things Comics
- Stan Lee, Marvel comics giant, dies at age 95.
- How a new wave of graphic novels are reviving classic books & promoting diversity.
- The original pages of “Master Race,” a famous comic book story about an encounter between a Nazi war criminal and a Holocaust survivor, is up for auction and initial estimates put the story at $150,000.
- A look at the harassment issues within Marvel Comics.
Audiophilia
- Washington Post’s 5 best audiobooks of 2018.
Best Books of 2018
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
- 20 of the best food books of 2018.
- 50 historical fiction picture books.
- 19 favorite books about pets.
- 50 of the most common TBR books, according to Goodreads.
- 5 books about intersectional feminism.
- 50 must-read microhistories.
- 9 tasty children’s books about food.
- 11 sci-fi and fantasy novels that have something to say about climate change.
- 10 books to commemorate WWI centenary.
- And on a related note, a list of books that envision a world without war.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- JK Rowling’s former assistant charged thousands of dollars worth of unapproved expenses to a company credit card, including luxury candles, $2000 worth of Starbucks, and a couple of cats. (I am now obligated to gently remind everyone to adopt, not shop!)
- Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style books for kids are seeing a resurgence in 2018 and beyond.
- An adorable photo of Tom Hanks holding a fussy baby at the Portland Book Festival.
- LGBTQ+ people are being erased from books in Russia under “Gay Propaganda” Law.
- Bette Davis’ ex-husband reported in 1938 that the reason for the divorce was that Bette read too much.
- Gillian Flynn peers into the dark side of femininity.
- Why you should listen to the poetry podcast, VS.
- And 15 must-listen romance podcasts.
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!).
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.
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Thanks for hanging out and I’ll see you again next week!
–Katie McLain, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.