Sponsored by the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group.
Join Greta and Minette once more for the heartwarming conclusion of K. O’Neill’s award-winning Tea Dragon series! Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng’s care, Greta still can’t chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. It is officially summer in northern Illinois, which means the temperature has gone from mid-50’s to 90’s every day. So naturally, I picked today to go on a hike with my husband. It was only a couple miles across very flat terrain, but I still ended up drenched in sweat, sunscreen, and bug spray. But we’re trying to visit different hiking areas in our county this summer, so we’re probably going to try another one this weekend.
Okay, time to talk less about sweat and more about books!
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
2022 US Book Show dates have been announced.
This new royalty fund allows authors to earn royalties on secondhand books for the first time.
How booksellers were complicit in the resurgence of White supremacy and the rise of Donald Trump.
Publishing’s cancel culture debate boils over.
The conservative publishing industry has a Joe Biden problem.
A list of 40 queer-owned and queer-focused bookstores.
New & Upcoming Titles
Margaret Atwood announces an essay collection coming in 2022.
Sabaa Tahir has a new standalone novel coming out.
Ibi Zoboi is writing a YA Black Panther novel, set to release in 2022.
Indie speculative fiction for May.
May romances kickstart summer with escapism.
10 new LGBTQ books to celebrate Pride Month.
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads and USA Today.
June book picks from Barnes & Noble, Bitch Media, Book Marks (SFF), Bustle, Crime Reads, Entertainment Weekly, Gizmodo (SFF), Good Morning America, The Millions, Oprah Daily, PopSugar (romance, mystery/thriller, YA), Shondaland, and Washington Post (general & mystery/thriller).
Summer reads picks from The Atlantic, Kirkus, Vogue, and Washington Post (mysteries & thrillers).
The best books to read in 2021.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America – Clint Smith (LA Times, New York Times, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)
With Teeth – Kristen Arnett (New York Times, USA Today)
Somebody’s Daughter – Ashley C. Ford (New York Times, USA Today)
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch – by Rivka Galchen (LA Times, Washington Post)
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu – Tom Lin (New York Times, NPR)
Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid (New York Times, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
Why We Need Diverse Books is no longer using the term #OwnVoices.
On the Riot
Turning the page: on publishing’s controversies and challenges.
5 great new works of innovative nonfiction.
10 of the best new June YA books to TBR.
Celebrate Pride Month with these LGBTQ books out on June 1st.
An introduction to locked room mysteries.
The cold equation of science fiction.
Reading pathways for José Eduardo Agualusa.
Reading hard books is good, actually.
All Things Comics
If You’ll Have Me, a new YA Sapphic rom-com graphic novel, has sold for a whopping six figures!
On the Riot
Get to know these nine manhwa and manga set in college.
An introduction to josei manga.
Reading mecha manga in lockdown.
Audiophilia
Audiobook sales rose by 12% in 2020.
The June 2021 Earphones Award winners have been announced.
The best lesbian listens by queer authors.
The best mystery series to listen to on audio.
The best audiobooks for your summer drive, sorted by length and who’s in the car.
On the Riot
An ode to audiobooks improving this reader’s life.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
22 sweet picture books that celebrate fatherhood.
Celebrate Juneteenth with these 9 kids’ books by Black authors.
25 of the greatest queer YA books to add to your summer reading list.
Adults
7 beloved LGBTQ+ books paired with new releases.
115 LGBTQ authors share the books that changed their lives.
40 AAPI authors who made the USA Today bestseller list.
26 books to gift for Father’s Day.
At the intersection of journalism and memoir: a reading list.
6 literary thrillers about espionage, spies, and double agents.
Great books about grifters and swindlers.
5 SFF novels with trans women protagonists.
15 books to make you ugly-cry as much as The Last Letter From Your Lover.
Moody crime reads for fans of Mare of Easttown.
7 books about faith and feminism.
On the Riot
Picture books to teach children about residential schools.
20 great books about music for young readers.
5 Cruella De Vil-inspired children’s and YA novels.
8 queer romances to read for Pride Month.
10 sci-fi thrillers to get your pulse racing.
5 non-spiritual self-help books to help you sail through troubling times.
8 celebrity novels to add to your TBR.
8 books to read if you love the Serial podcast.
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.
Gilbert has just crawled into my lap, so I guess that’s my cue to wrap this thing up. See you on Friday!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently listening to A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight.