Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Since I’ve been keeping everyone updated on the toilet saga at work up to this point, I am happy to report that two brand new toilets were installed as of last Friday. I’m not naive enough to think that this will fix the inherent plumbing problems with this building, but it’s an improvement.
Here’s to more book updates in this newsletter, and fewer toilet updates.
Collection Development Corner
New & Upcoming Titles
The big indie books published this fall.
8 best romance novels of the summer.
250+ new books published in 2022.
Weekly picks from Bustle, Crime Reads, LitHub, The Millions, and USA Today.
Entertainment Weekly’s best books of August.
September picks from Barnes & Noble, Brightly (childrens/YA), Epic Reads, Kirkus, New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Washington Post.
Fall picks from Brightly (picture books, middle grade, YA), LA Times, USA Today, and Vulture.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
The Marriage Portrait – Maggie O’Farrell (Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post)
Fairy Tale – Stephen King (New York Times, Slate)
Carrie Soto is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid (Entertainment Weekly, USA Today)
On the Rooftop – Margaret Wilkerson (New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle)
RA/Genre Resources
What to read based on the fall TV shows you love.
M.T. Anderson’s Feed remains frustratingly prescient, even 20 years later.
The queer horror of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
On the Riot
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
Goodreads announces the most popular horror books of 2022, so far.
This is fun: recommending books based on their weirdest facts.
How to find good self-published books.
Why this reader only reads romance novels on their phone.
All Things Comics
The Harley Quinn animated series has been renewed for a fourth season at HBO Max.
Megan Thee Stallion makes a cameo appearance on She-Hulk.
Netflix greenlights a Parasyte: The Grey series, based on the manga series Parasyte.
On the Riot
Speaking truth to power: a history of political cartoons.
Why are DC’s Hispanic Heritage Month covers so awful?
9 slice-of-life webcomics you can read right now.
Audiophilia
16 of the best audiobooks for September.
5 YA audiobooks with nonbinary main characters.
On the Riot
8 audiobooks for Agatha Christie lovers.
8 must-listen audiobooks about food.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
11 picture book biographies about prominent change makers.
Middle grade books for young inventors.
100 of the most popular YA books of the past 5 years.
YA books to read while listening to Beyonce’s Renaissance on repeat.
Adults
Fiona Davis recommends 10 works of historical fiction.
Gothic novels featuring non-human love interests.
Historical fiction that lives in the space between history and myth.
5 SFF books about deadly magical games.
23 wonderful short books under 200 pages.
Alice Feeney’s favorite locked room mysteries.
6 books about Princess Diana.
13 witchy books to read this fall.
5 translated books from Japan.
12 self-published LGBTQ books to bring to the beach this summer.
On the Riot
10 inspiring stories of young rebels.
Sweet YA friends-to-lovers romance novels.
11 thrilling YA survival stories.
YA thrillers about fame and influencers.
8 high-stakes YA novels set in the ballet world.
Stay right where (and when) you are: books about timeline managers.
10 of the best sleuths in cozy mysteries.
10 romance recs for Barack Obama.
12 culinary romances to leave you hungry for more.
12 novels with recipes in them.
Escapist SFF to help you avoid the dumpster fires of reality.
Best books set in Australia.
Books about the Appalachian Trail.
Demonic horror books to steal your heart.
The best historical fiction books you’ve never heard of.
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 has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word has created a database of upcoming diverse titles to nominate, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
Gilbert is very tired and very happy to use his hoomans as a makeshift pillow. It takes a lot of work holding his head up by himself!
That’s all I’ve got for today folks. I’ll check in again on Friday. And remember, it’s a short week this week!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.