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Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Book Riot is taking this Friday off for the 4th of July, so the next issue of CYS will be coming out next Tuesday. In the meantime, I’m gearing up for my (very chill) 31st birthday on Sunday and a week off from work after that. It’s my gift to myself every year to take time off from work around my birthday.
Regardless, I hope everyone can take a breather this weekend, and remember to stay masked up and safe.
Black Lives Matter
- Resources for cultivating an anti-racist mindset.
- Black voices 2020.
- You should have been listening to Octavia Butler this whole time.
- 6 books to help kids and young adults learn about racism.
- 7 revolutionary anthologies by Black women.
- 5 books that provide historical context for today’s protests.
- 5 graphic novels by Black authors.
- Cookbooks by Black authors.
- 11 books by Black authors to preorder.
- 8 poetry collections on Blackness.
- 10 powerful bell hooks books on the intersection of race and feminism.
- 6 nonfiction Canadian books by Black authors about racism.
Pride Month
- Children’s books for LGBTQ+ families.
- LGBTQ+ books for kids.
- 10 middle-grade LGBTQ+ books.
- 3 YA F/F rom-coms to read for Pride Month.
- 17 highly-anticipated books by LGBTQIA+ authors for the second half of 2020.
- 16 queer love stories.
- LGBTQ+ books that are changing the literary landscape in 2020.
- LGBTQIA+ SFF books from Bustle and Riveted Lit.
- 7 queer comics by nonbinary writers.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- Macmillan CEO John Sargent steps back from the day-to-day operations of US publishing, which will be handled by a 13-person committee.
- Eight out of ten board members and the executive director have resigned from the International Thriller Writers Association, which faced widespread criticism for its responses to Black Lives Matter protests.
- Writers Against Racial Injustice raises $55,000 for the Equal Justice Initiative.
- Several authors have quit their literary agency after it stood behind JK Rowling’s recent transphobic statements.
- For disabled and other marginalized fans, online events aren’t a compromise – they’re a lifeline.
New & Upcoming Titles
- Publishers Weekly unveils its adult book announcements for Fall 2020.
- George R.R. Martin hopes that Winds of Winter will be published in 2021. As with most George R.R. Martin-related news, I’ll believe it when I see it.
- Maureen Johnson announces an unexpected fourth book in the Truly Devious series.
- Julie Murphy announces the third and final book in the Dumplin’ universe.
- Grady Hendrix has two new books coming out over the next couple years.
- Emma C. Eisenberg, who wrote The Third Rainbow Girl, announces a two book deal.
- 6 international crime novels to read for June.
- July picks from Epic Reads and the New York Times.
- Best Books of 2020 (so far) from Amazon, Crime Reads, and Tor.com.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- Death in Her Hands – Ottessa Moshfegh (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)
- The Lightness – Emily Temple (Entertainment Weekly, LA Times)
- The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett (USA Today)
- The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir – John Bolton (LA Times)
- Friends and Strangers – J. Courtney Sullivan (New York Times)
RA/Genre Resources
- How women writers are transforming hardboiled noir.
- Some bookstores are displaying books with the back cover facing out, in an attempt to get people to pick up books based on the blurb rather than the cover.
On the Riot
- 2019 diversity in children’s and YA literature.
- Reading pathway for Francesca Lia Block.
All Things Comics
- (TW: sexual assault) Chris Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, has resigned from the organization as a result of renewed pressure from the industry surrounding a 2005 sexual assault.
- (TW: sexual harassment) Kelly Sue DeConnick talks about how the comic industry fosters sexual harassment, and how to change the system.
- Michael Keaton is in talks to reprise his role as Batman for the upcoming Flash movie.
- This upcoming graphic novel, Science of Ghosts, sounds super rad!
Audiophilia
- Libro.fm raised over $67,000 in celebration of Juneteenth, which will be distributed between 53 Black-owned Libro.fm partner bookstores.
- June is almost over, but there’s still time to try and score some awesome audio giveaways.
- New romance picks on audio, plus Black voices in romance.
- Best audiobooks of June.
On the Riot
- 5 audiobooks by or about women who speak up and fight back.
- 3 audiobooks written and narrated by queer women.
- 4 audiobooks to discover on Spotify.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- Ultimate YA summer reading list.
- 20 standalone YA fantasy novels.
Adults
- 16 books to celebrate Caribbean-American Heritage Month.
- 5 books with fantasy worlds inspired by India.
- Thrillers & mysteries with characters stuck in isolation.
- 50 books to transport you this summer.
- Best sports memoirs, according to sports journalists.
- 19 books about summer romance.
- 11 thrilling procedurals that don’t involve the police.
- 18 books featuring interracial relationships.
- 7 grisly reads for fans of The Alienist.
On the Riot
- 6 free children’s eBooks about COVID.
- 8 international adventure stories for kids.
- Anti-racist middle grade books to help young readers challenge white supremacy.
- 50 must-read books for 6th graders.
- 8 horror novels set in Maine that aren’t by Stephen King.
- 15 books similar to Dune.
- 5 compelling memoirs of women who hiked the Pacific Coast Trail.
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.
Stay safe and stay well, everyone.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.