Sponsored by The Man Who Played With Fire by Jan Stocklassa
Little did anyone know, Stieg Larsson, the late Swedish author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was trying to solve Sweden’s most notorious unsolved true crime. In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was murdered on a Stockholm street at point-blank range. Larsson was following a trail of evidence before he died. Now, Journalist Jan Stocklassa dives into Larsson’s archives to pursue the mystery. What follows is the story of an unbelievable true crime and the world-famous thriller writer determined to investigate it. Read The Man Who Played With Fire by Jan Stocklassa.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).
We had SNOW ON HALLOWEEN, and that may be the scariest thing I’ve ever written. And now…on to library stuff!
Collection Development Corner
New & Upcoming Titles
- Mackenzi Lee announces the third book in the Montague siblings series, A Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks.
- Imbolo Mbue’s second novel will be published in June 2020.
- Also coming in June 2020…Elena Ferrante’s next novel! It’s called The Lying Life of Adults and is scheduled for publication on June 9, 2020.
- Don Winslow’s next book, Broken, will contain five novellas and one short story, due to be published in April 2020.
- Check out this coffee table book filled with gorgeous, candid photos of Aretha Franklin, which just came out last month.
- Best books of November from Amazon, Bustle, CrimeReads, Entertainment Weekly, Epic Reads, LitHub, New York Times, Refinery29, and the Washington Post.
- Barnes & Noble picks the best general fiction, mysteries, and thrillers of November.
- Tor.com picks the best fantasy, science fiction, YA SFF, and genre-bending novels for November.
- Foyles released its shortlist for the Best Books of 2019.
What Your Patrons are Hearing About
- The Beautiful Ones – Prince (Entertainment Weekly, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)
- Find Me – André Aciman (Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Washington Post)
- Nothing to See Here – Kevin Wilson (New York Times, NPR, USA Today)
- Your House Will Pay – Steph Cha (NPR, USA Today)
- Ordinary Girls: A Memoir – Jaquira Díaz (New York Times, NPR)
- Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo (New York Times, Washington Post)
- The Starless Sea – Erin Morganstern (New York Times, Time)
RA/Genre Resources
- A guide to the largest & longest lasting mystery series and franchises.
- The Atlantic looks at the intersection of #MeToo and horror.
- In search of Afro-Solarpunk, parts one and two.
- When middle grade is too young and YA is too old – where are the just-right books for tweens?
- Why we need horror in kidlit.
- 10 ways to keep up with new YA releases.
All Things Comics
- Sony announces a sequel for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but fans will have to wait until 2022.
- The CW is coming out with a series about Superman and Lois Lane at home, called…Superman and Lois.
- Check out this trailer for DC’s Hill House Comics. Plus a look at the horror comics renaissance, and why you should care.
- Best comics & graphic novels for November.
- A comic book-themed bar opens in Oakland.
- Feminist crime comics for fans of My Favorite Murder.
- Fiction & nonfiction books you should read by comic book writers.
Audiophilia
- Here’s an audio sample of Meryl Streep reading the new Charlotte’s Web audiobook.
- Frontlist & backlist suggestions for the best audiobooks.
- A guide to the best Stephen King audiobooks.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- 13 books for tweens.
- 30 best YA novels of the decade.
- 9 YA novels inspired by mythology.
- Awesome YA thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
- Creepy YA novels for Halloween & beyond.
- 20 YA books with disabled characters.
Adults
- If you loved Nancy Drew as a kid, you’ll totally dig these 15 thrillers now. Plus, all 56 original Nancy Drew novels, ranked.
- The best true crime books of all time.
- Scary feminist reads.
- 8 books to read in honor of Filipino American Heritage Month.
- 10 creepy horror poetry collections.
- 10 readalike authors like Nicholas Sparks.
- 11 books similar to Little Women.
- 8 nonfiction books about motherhood written by writers of color.
- 6 books to read if you’re interested in the Dublin Murder Squad TV series.
- 10 best essay collections of the decade.
- Reading recommendations based on your favorite season of American Horror Story.
- 20 must-read books about cancer.
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? 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.
Thanks for hanging! See you on Friday!
–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century by Sarah Miller.