Sponsored by Oni Press.
From Katie O’Neill, creator of The Tea Dragon Society, comes Dewdrop, the delightful children’s tale of an easygoing axolotl who enjoys naps, worm pie, and cheerleading. When the yearly sports fair nears, he and his friends get ready to showcase their skills to the whole pond! However, as the day of the fair gets closer, Dewdrop’s friends can’t help putting pressure on themselves to be the best. It’s up to Dewdrop to remind them how to be mindful, go at their own pace, and find joy in their own achievements.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. It is now the 2,467th day of 2020, and I hope you all are settling into some sort of a routine. I spent a lot of time this last weekend watching dumb shark horror movies with my husband, and I stayed up until 2 AM to finish re-reading a book I’ve read at least five times previously. So…quarantine is going well, I think.
Here are all the Book Riot COVID updates.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- Despite multiple employees being diagnosed with COVID-19 at a Barnes & Noble distribution center in New Jersey, Barnes & Noble said that it has no plans to close the facility.
- Ingram will not attend the rescheduled Book Expo.
- A look at how Amazon’s self-publishing arm is a haven for white supremacists.
New & Upcoming Titles
- Fellow Book Rioter Tirzah Price has a Jane Austen murder mystery series for teens coming out in 2021! The first book is called Pride and Premeditation.
- Zoraida Cordova announces a new YA SFF anthology.
- This new storybook aims to help children cope with coronavirus.
- New works by writers with disabilities.
- April picks from Crime Reads (psychological thrillers), and Salon.
- 15 new and upcoming indie press titles to be aware of.
- 40 great books to read this season.
- 29 of the best beach reads of 2020.
- Election-themed YA novels coming out this year.
- A list of 2020 YA books by Muslim authors to add to your TBR.
- The best LGBTQ+ YA books coming out this year.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- Godshot – Chelsea Bieker (Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, NPR, USA Today)
- How Much of These Hills is Gold – C Pam Zhang (New York Times, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)
- Afterlife – Julia Alvarez (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, Washington Post)
- Redhead by the Side of the Road – Anne Tyler (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)
- The Herd – Andrea Bartz (People, Washington Post)
- Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life – Marie Kondo (USA Today, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
- Check out these horror classics you can read for free thanks to Project Gutenberg.
On the Riot
- The ultimate guide to Spring 2020 YA books for your TBR.
- 9 new thrillers to add to your Spring TBR.
- 5 new works of innovative nonfiction.
- Does the general population still prioritize white male authors?
- A closer look at the unreliable narrator.
All Things Comics
- The Marvel Unlimited app will give users access to 12 popular Marvel comics for free until May 4th.
On the Riot
- YA comics and graphic novels being released April – June 2020.
- 25 of the best comics about social justice for every reader.
- 6 new romance manga coming out this year.
- 10 manga for fans of Death Note.
Audiophilia
- 27 immersive audiobooks that’ll take your mind off things for awhile.
On the Riot
- How audiobooks are getting this reader through COVID-19.
- 29 free audiobooks for kids and everyone else.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- YA recs based on your favorite video game.
- 8 portal fantasies for YA readers.
- 84 standalone YA novels to read when you’re not feeling a series.
Adults
- 5 Korean thriller authors you need to read.
- 36 mystery and thriller recommendations based on pop culture.
- 13 essential pandemic novels.
- 10 inspirational books with advice on how to live in tough times.
- 14 sports novels to fill the Olympic-sized hole in your heart.
- 21 books to keep you in touch with the natural world.
- 5 crime novels with multicultural heroes.
- 7 surreal books that suddenly seem relatable.
- 50 best contemporary novels over 500 pages.
On the Riot
- 11 picture book biographies of social justice leaders.
- 7 of the best homeschooling books.
- 20 social justice books for young adults and middle graders.
- 10 authors who write across age groups.
- 10 funny mystery authors like Janet Evanovich.
- 5 autobiographies of US Olympians to tide you over until 2021.
- The horror & speculative fiction that this reader’s been using as a distraction.
- 10 fantasies to remind you that there’s beauty in the world.
- 8 historical books to understand current social justice movements.
- 6 nonfiction books about revolutions and uprisings.
- 10 queer romance novels about social justice.
- 16 uplifting books.
- 20 must-read novels from 1990.
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.
Sending virtual hugs to anyone who wants them. Stay safe, healthy, and relatively sane.
Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.