Sponsored by Little Bee Books.
Eleven-year-old Beulah “Blue” Warren spends every waking moment surrounded by boys: her three brothers, her father, her best friend, even the family dog, but that’s never stopped her from being her usual rambunctious self. Grappling with the loss of her mother, Blue is determined to do what she wants without fear of consequences. But everything changes on the day she explores the attic and finds her mother’s death certificate. Blue will need to muster all the strength she has to deal with the truth, find forgiveness, trust in her father, and grieve for her mother once and for all.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf, where I am going to try not to talk about curbside services.
If you need a giggle, here’s an example of a criminal living his best life during quarantine – taking selfies with dinosaur skeletons.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- Thomas Low, one of the co-founders of Lee & Low Publishing, has died at 78.
- Publishers are unsurprisingly snatching up coronavirus books, from poetry to case studies. But what other types of books are they looking for during the pandemic?
- How the publishing world is staying afloat.
New & Upcoming Titles
- James Patterson and Bill Clinton announce their second book, The President’s Daughter, which is a standalone and not a sequel to The President is Missing.
- Charlie Jane Anders has a YA novel coming out, as well as a nonfiction book/memoir about writing, which Tor.com will publish online, week by week.
- Best international crime novels for May.
- 15 YA books to read this spring.
- Most anticipated YA books for June 2020.
- The New York Times unveils its summer reading picks.
- Most anticipated crime books of 2020: summer reading edition.
- 17 thrillers to speed through this summer.
- 27 of the best books to read in 2020.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- Rodham – Curtis Sittenfeld (New York Times, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, NPR, Slate)
- These Women – Ivy Pochoda (Entertainment Weekly, NPR)
- Wuhan Diary: Dispatches From a Quarantined City – Fang Fang (New York Times)
RA/Genre Resources
- Genre labels: what makes a book more thriller than sci-fi?
- Tananarive Due talks about black horror.
- A look at how trans representation is changing in YA fiction.
On the Riot
- A deep dive into the secret-keeping romance trope.
All Things Comics
- Ruby Rose is no longer playing Batwoman.
On the Riot
- 5 comics representing 5 emotions.
- 9 of the best comics featuring F/F relationships.
- Holy bell hooks! 21 books about the women mentioned in the first 6 volumes of Lumberjanes!
Audiophilia
- Audible is releasing the first unabridged audio version of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, performed by Laurence Fishburne.
- Best audiobooks of May 2020.
- 20 of the best audiobooks to listen to in quarantine.
- 8 sci-fi audiobooks to lose yourself in over a weekend.
- Authors recommend their favorite soothing audiobooks.
On the Riot
- 8 audiobooks under 8 hours, and 9 audiobooks under 9 hours.
- 5 nonfiction audiobooks by Asian American women authors.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- The best children’s books to read at home right now.
- Wired picks some books for kids to read during their very long summer.
- 21 YA books to read during Mental Health Awareness Week.
- 10 YA books that shed light on police brutality.
- 20 books to read after you finish The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Adults
- 19 books to read for AAPI Heritage Month.
- 23 guaranteed good mood books.
- 20 books to read in quarantine this summer.
- 6 Muslim authors recommend their favorite Ramadan reads.
- 8 queer historical fiction novels similar to Tipping the Velvet.
- 7 books about cyberspace by women writers.
- 5 back-to-basics cookbooks.
- 7 queer SFF books.
On the Riot
- 6 multicultural Cinderella picture books.
- 35 must-read books about racism.
- 9 rom-com books for foodies.
- I saw a tiger, and the tiger saw a man: 8 books like Tiger King. (Bonus meme here.)
- 6 cookbook authors and their one must-have cookbook.
- 4 books for readers quarantining in dysfunctional households.
- 10 microhistories for this moment.
- 20 free classics you can find on Project Gutenberg.
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in Library Reads, 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.
Keep on keeping on, everyone. I’ll see you on Friday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.