Welcome to Check Your Shelf. The days are slowly getting longer, which means baseball season is back, baby! Well, okay, spring training is back, which is arguably less fun than regular season baseball, and this year there’s a lot of…um…controversy over the new MLB uniforms, but it feels great to have baseball on TV again!
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
“Copyright owners’ ability to reach back and recover many years’ worth of damages when they didn’t discover infringement within the statute of limitations will be on the line before the US Supreme Court Wednesday.”
The New York Times reports on the recent surge in AI-written biographies that crop up in the weeks following a celebrity’s death.
Delacorte has a new YA romance imprint.
Tor Books’ romance imprint Bramble is getting a lot of criticism for using AI cover art.
Generative AI’s environmental costs are soaring.
Parisian booksellers along the Seine will not need to shut down their stalls for the 2024 Summer Olympics. French President Emmanuel Macron reversed a decision made by the Paris police chief last summer.
New & Upcoming Titles
Richard Osman announced a new crime series.
Questlove is publishing a new book about the history of hip-hop.
Jenny Slate is releasing her second book this October.
Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert are publishing a cookbook.
Sabaa Tahir has a new novel coming out this fall.
Here’s a sneak peek at Gisele Bündchen’s upcoming cookbook, Nourish.
And here’s a sneak peek at Laura Dave’s upcoming thriller, The Night We Lost Him.
Cover reveal for Kendare Blake’s Warrior of Legend.
Sneak peek at Lamar Giles’ Ruin Road.
20 novels in translation to read this winter and spring.
10 new gothic reads that explore the darkness within.
Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times.
February picks from The Guardian (thrillers).
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story – Leslie Jamison (The Millions, NPR)
This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life – Lyz Lenz (Esquire, New York Times)
The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai (NPR)
Wandering Stars – Tommy Orange (Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
The New York Times has a new feature to help you find your next read.
A guide to the paranormal romance of Molly Harper.
On the Riot
YA authors with debut adult novels coming in 2024.
10 new romance reads for your beach bag.
The best new weekly book releases.
The rise of body horror novels.
Book club theme: “Who TF did I marry?!”
All Things Comics
EC Comics will relaunch this summer.
The Nimona movie is available for free to watch on YouTube! (And yes, it’s legit!)
Seven great graphic novels that go beyond words.
On the Riot
Your go-to guide for how and where to read manga.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
Picture books featuring memorable Black artists from the past, present, and future.
13 critter-filled chapter books for kids who love animals.
11 books like the Alex Rider series.
8 YA novels for readers who love the fake-dating trope.
16 adult novels for teens looking to move beyond YA.
12 unforgettable YA memoirs that will tug at your heartstrings.
Adults
7 books that celebrate the healing magic of birds.
7 novels inspired by South Asian mythology and folklore.
5 of the best books about grief.
Books that juxtapose the beauty and ugliness of ballet.
5 cozy mysteries set at summer fairs and festivals.
6 books that draw inspiration from folk tales.
6 of the best social thrillers from 2023.
On the Riot
Excellent how-to books for kids.
10 essential Black middle grade authors to read every month this year.
8 horror novels in translation.
8 of the best “no plot, just vibes” books.
7 Black romance novels that celebrate Black joy.
9 of the most thought-provoking mysteries ever written.
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 Edelweiss has a new catalog dedicated to diverse titles, which is managed by Early Word Galley Chatter Vicki Nesting. Check it out!
Every time I pull out my black and white duffel bag, Dini wiggles his way in, and then an hour later, Blaine and I are wandering around the apartment, going, “Where’s Dini?” I think he knows he blends into this bag particularly well…he’s like a chameleon or a cuttlefish.
All right, friends. Hopefully, the weather is warming up a smidge in your neck of the woods. I’ll see you on Friday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.