Welcome to Check Your Shelf. The final stages of vacation planning always have me freaking out about how much stuff I have to pack, buy, and clean. And since my in-laws are helping out with cat-sitting, we’re a little more paranoid about making sure the apartment is in good order. But at least it’s not like I have a ton of stuff to get done at work in the next two days…(This is a lie. I have way too much stuff to get done.)
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch did not recuse themselves from court cases that involved Penguin Random House, which published books for both justices over the last decade.
TikTok’s owner may launch a publishing company.
May 4th is designated as the first National Black Authors Day.
New & Upcoming Titles
Cover reveal for the upcoming ecothriller, The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler, which is described as “Jurassic Park meets Hummingbird Salamander.”
Keep an eye on Carson Faust’s debut novel, When the Living Haunt the Dead, described as a Native American southern gothic.
Upcoming queer poetry books to add to your TBR.
Best books of 2023 (so far) from PopSugar, Vulture.
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, USA Today, Wall Street Journal.
May picks from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Crime Reads, Gizmodo, LA Times, Lambda Literary, New York Times, Time, Tor.com (SF, fantasy, horror/genre bending)
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
Don’t Call Me Home: A Memoir – Alexandra Auder (Shondaland, Vogue, Washington Post)
The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece – Tom Hanks (Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post)
The Story of Art Without Men – Katy Hessel (LA Times, New York Times)
Shy – Max Porter (New York Times, NPR)
Gone to the Wolves – John Wray (LA Times, NPR)
On the Riot
40 of the most-anticipated beach reads of 2023.
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
May picks for mysteries/thrillers, romance, SFF, horror, nonfiction, YA, children’s books.
What is (or isn’t?) literary fiction?
Let’s stop asking romance books to have moral instruction.
What counts as cozy fantasy?
10 of the best magic systems in fantasy.
Fantasy books for people who don’t like fantasy.
All Things Comics
IDW Media is cutting its workforce by 40% and will delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
Sweet Tooth will end with Season 3.
Legendary horror manga creator Junji ito hopes to create a manga that’s so creatively creepy, AI tools can’t match it.
On the Riot
The best new comics and graphic novels for May 2023.
10 books like Guardians of the Galaxy.
Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading? Subscribe to Book Riot’s The Deep Dive to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox.
Audiophilia
Bob Woodward and Simon & Schuster will move to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit against the audio version of The Trump Tapes: The Historical Record. The lawsuit claims that the book violates Trump’s copyright interests.
The May 2023 Earphones Award winners are announced.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
11 YA books about fae that will enchant you.
19 YA romance novels with Asian characters.
17 teen books about forbidden love.
Adults
AAPI Heritage Month reads from NYPL, Seattle Times.
Understanding the Vietnam War with books by these Vietnam authors.
Coronation and royalty reading lists from Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, Washington Post.
Gothic fantasies to add to your TBR.
9 books about immigrants to the Middle East.
Top 10 books about being poor in America.
30 true crime books to read right now.
20 of the best music memoirs.
8 quietly creepy books for fans of Shirley Jackson.
7 books with dark, edgy storytelling.
On the Riot
8 pitch-perfect novels about music talent contests.
Crafting a reading list for Jewish American Heritage Month.
10 sweeping fantasy books like Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
8 summer mystery books to heat up your TBR.
13 books about Walt Disney and the Disney Parks.
8 books about exercise for all bodies.
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 that includes information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
Here’s Dini looking all lazy and floofy and chonky. It is *insert Chris Traeger voice* LITERALLY impossible not to snuggle him when he’s showing off his belly like that.
Okie dokie friends. The next newsletter will be coming to you from the heart of Colorado Springs! Super excited!!
Don’t forget, BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal has a new podcast called First Edition, with bookish interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more! Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.