Sponsored by Forge Books
My Brilliant Life explores family bonds and out-of-the-ordinary friendships, interweaving the past and present of a tight-knit family, finding joy in even the most difficult times. Areum lives life to its fullest, vicariously through the stories of his parents, conversations with his best friend, and through the books he reads to visit the places he would otherwise never see. For several months, Areum has been working on a manuscript, piecing together his parents’ often embellished stories about his family. He hopes to present it on his birthday, as a final gift to his mom and dad; their own falling-in-love story.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. They say that the temperature is supposed to creep above freezing in Chicagoland next week. I hope the same can be said for all of you down in Texas. As rough as Chicago winters can be, we’ve mostly been able to get through them with power and running water.
Let’s jump right in.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
The NAACP is working to remove a mural inside the Cabarrus County Public Library, which depicts a a Confederate flag and images symbolizing slavery.
Here are the Big 5 publishers’ digital content terms for libraries in 2021.
Cool Library Updates
East Lansing Public Library is doing a diversity audit of its collections.
This diverse Little Free Libraries project has reached all 50 states.
Check out the 2021 Summer Scares horror winners!
The Over the Rainbow Book List has been posted.
This Saskatoon family created a stick library for neighborhood dogs.
Worth Reading
The health hazards of librarianship.
From librarians to barbers: “Our jobs are essential, but we are not.”
Report update on BIPOC library workers, low morale, and COVID-19.
Will COVID end the all-day academic librarian interview?
Tarnished legacies: presidential libraries grapple with the histories of their subjects.
6 ways to support your local library during Library Lovers Month.
Book Adaptations in the News
Well, let’s just start with this: how the streaming-driven proliferation of content has led to an explosion of book-to-screen deals.
The showrunners behind Game of Thrones are adapting Richard Powers’ The Overstory for Netflix.
The Three Musketeers gets a fresh film remake starring Eva Green and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, officially making this one of the best-looking casts of all time.
The Wizard of Oz is getting a reboot.
New Pictures is adapting The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale as a TV series.
Gail Mancuso will direct the feature adaptation of The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez.
Namina Forna’s new YA fantasy novel, The Gilded Ones, is already slated for adaptation and Forna will be writing the script.
Joe Hill’s novella Voluntary Committal is getting a TV adaptation.
Netflix is adapting the Redwall books into multiple animated movies and a TV series.
Minhal Baig is adapting Samanta Schweblin’s short story collection A Mouthful of Birds.
Andrew Sean Greer will help adapt The Man Who Ate Too Much – James Birdsall’s recent biography on James Beard.
Claire Danes has been cast in the lead role of The Essex Serpent.
Casting update for Bridgerton Season 2.
Books & Authors in the News
Diverse books are on hold in a Utah school district.
Best-selling science fiction author James Gunn has died at 97.
Sarah Weinman becomes the new crime fiction columnist at the New York Times.
Numbers & Trends
See how libraries are meeting ebook demand for the New York Times bestseller list with this visualization. (The original visualization is here.)
Award News
The 2021 PEN America Literary Award finalists have been announced.
Jessica Au wins the inaugural Novel Prize for her book Cold Enough for Snow, which will be published internationally in 2022.
The Southern Book Prize winners have been announced.
The second annual Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction are announced.
Pop Cultured
Gina Carano has been removed from The Mandalorian and all future Star Wars projects for her recent social media posts.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
Check out the We Read Too app developed by Kaya Thomas, which makes books written by Black authors more accessible for readers of all ages.
Simon & Schuster is teaming up with McBride Sisters, the largest Black-owned wine business in the country, to launch the Black Girl Magic Wine and Book Club.
On the Riot
Archives, archivists, and dealing with the Trump presidency.
What is the Little Free Library Unbound digital event series?
5 readers advisory books for librarians.
Where are the board books featuring disabled people?
Post-publication corrections: how and why.
An ode to the emergency book.
Bundle up, stay warm, and stay moisturized. (My hands are soaking up my most hardcore lotion like its going out of style, and I STILL feel like a lizard.) Catch you on Tuesday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.