Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Have you ever had a day, or even just a single incident where NOTHING seemed to go right? On Saturday, my car got a major flat while I was going 75 mph on the highway, and while I’m happy to report that the car is okay and everyone involved is okay, everything after that point just devolved into chaos, and my car ended up being towed by the highway patrol, and as of this newsletter writing, I can’t retrieve my car until the work week starts. My poor car has been towed three times in the last three years, and I don’t particularly care for that.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
How Barnes & Noble transformed its brand from corporate bully to loveable neighborhood bookstore.
The free market is tough on Australian writing. Does the country need a national publisher?
New & Upcoming Titles
Publishers Lunch has their Spring/Summer 2023 Buzz Book downloads available.
Um…Roxane Gay and Channing Tatum are co-writing a romance novel!!
Ken Follett is releasing a new novel in September.
Clay McLeod Chapman has another horror novel, What Kind of Mother, coming out in September 2022.
Author Carly Manes has written a children’s book about abortion.
Boris Johnson is writing a political memoir in a rumored 7-figure deal.
Molly Ringwald is writing a memoir about her time living and working in Paris in her 20s.
Here’s a first look at Uzma Jalaluddin’s latest book, Much Ado About Nada.
Cover reveal for Cassandra Clare’s adult fantasy debut, Sword Catcher.
Cover reveal for the upcoming YA horror anthology, Night of the Living Queers.
9 new romance novels to look forward to in 2023.
2023 picks from Entertainment Weekly, PopSugar (historical fiction), Tor.com (SFF).
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, USA Today.
January picks from Crime Reads (debut novels, international crime).
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
The Fight Of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House – Chris Whipple (New York Times, Washington Post)
Mr. Breakfast – Jonathan Carroll (Locus, Tor.com, Washington Post)
Tell Me I’m Worthless – Alison Rumfitt (Autostraddle)
RA/Genre Resources
Does historical accuracy matter in historical fiction?
A look at North Atlantic noir.
On the Riot
It’s not just the covers: other ways in which the U.S. and UK book worlds differ.
The best books of 2022, according to Reddit.
10 newly published historical mysteries, from the 1880s to the 1970s.
Most anticipated cookbooks for 2023.
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
Behind the curtain: writing mysteries from different points of view.
When did the butler dunnit? The history of “the butler did it” trope.
All Things Comics
Spring 2023 comics & graphic novels.
Comixology staff are hit by Amazon’s recent layoffs.
Weird Al’s songs are featured in a new graphic novel, The Illustrated Al.
Blacula gets a new graphic novel.
The Cult of Dracula comic is getting a movie adaptation.
On the Riot
The 23 most influential comic books of all time.
9 of the best revenge manga.
Audiophilia
People are especially concerned about the Apple AI audiobook narrators because some of the AI narrators are actually pretty good.
Why some books should not be made into audiobooks.
The best romance audiobooks to fall in love with.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Adults
9 novels about losing and finding yourself in work.
14 books for just about every New Year’s resolution.
5 cautionary tales about artificial intelligence.
The best literary novels with a helping of romance.
The best killer dolls and puppets in fiction.
On the Riot
8 of the best children’s books with complex monstrous characters.
9 YA books about fresh starts.
9 books to help you get your sh*t together in 2023.
The best of the weird west: 8 alternate history westerns.
8 really good SFF series that also grapple with racism.
Some of the best indie romance novels.
20 must-read cozy fantasy books.
Books for the recovering girlboss.
8 inspiring goal-setting books.
12 of the funniest books to kick off the new year.
13 thrilling queer gothic books.
8 horror novels with unreliable narrators.
8 memoirs about getting older.
9 cheerful books to chase away the winter blues.
25 of the best Kindle Unlimited books to read in 2023.
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.
Here’s Dini giving us the business while he annihilates his favorite feather toy.
All right, folks. Hopefully I’ll have my car back by the time I sit down to write the next newsletter. Have a great week!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.