Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).
“Check Your Shelf” is sponsored by Dreamscape Media, LLC.
Dreamscape Media and Hallmark Publishing have collaborated to bring the best Hallmark titles to audiobook. With recipes inspired by the novel, Hallmark audiobooks are a great way to get to know the characters you love even better and find out what happens after the kiss! Dreamscape Media is publishing over twenty Hallmark titles in 2019 alone. Our catalog will contain romantic Christmas stories, sparkling Valentine’s Day novels, and heart-warming narratives perfect for all audiences.
Libraries & Librarians
- A pipe burst at the Ashbury branch of the Dubuque Public Library (IA), and now hundreds of books have been put into a deep freeze to prevent the spread of mold.
- Berkeley Public Library launches Easy Access Cards, which provide library access to patrons without fixed addresses.
- A Drag Queen Story Hour was canceled in Greenville, South Carolina for violating library meeting room policies. Meanwhile, protesters march in Evansville, Indiana against a similar story hour.
- Should libraries be keepers of their cities’ public data?
- Librarians and their memorable patron interactions.
- How to learn from programming flops.
- An overdue library book returned after 73 years! Better late than never?
Book Adaptations in the News
- Michael B. Jordan is adapting Black Leopard, Red Wolf.
- Tom Hanks may be starring in News of the World.
- Lifetime starts work on four movies based on V.C. Andrews’ novels. Here’s a trailer for the first movie.
- Trailers for Pet Sematary and Catch-22.
- Showtime is adapting The President is Missing.
- Martin Scorsese & Leonardo DiCaprio are adapting The Devil in the White City for Hulu.
- The Stephen King novella, Mile 81, is being adapted for film.
- Ophelia, starring Daisy Ridley, will get a US release.
- Netflix picks up the rights to Joe Hill’s short story “Faun.”
- Ararat by Christopher Golden is going to be a TV show! This book was SUUUPER creepy.
- We’re getting a Wicked movie in 2021.
Books & Authors in the News
- Former NYT editor Jill Abramson has been accused of plagiarism. She responds to these accusations on NPR.
- Dan Mallory is the oldest story in publishing. This is a great essay.
- Kazuo Ishiguro is now Sir Kazuo Ishiguro.
- A look at Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new novel.
- We’re getting a true crime book based on Stieg Larsson’s research into the assassination of a Swedish Prime Minister.
- Alice Marie Johnson, the woman who was freed from jail after Kim Kardashian appealed to the president, is writing a memoir.
- Reporter Jim DeRogatis is writing a book about the R. Kelly accusations.
- Timbaland (yeah, that Timbaland) is writing a lyrical children’s book called Nighttime Symphony.
- Katie Couric is publishing a memoir in 2021.
- Tor.com has an exclusive first look at Annalee Newitz’s next novel, The Future of Another Timeline.
- Jac Jemc is publishing a collection of short stories for October.
Award News
- Jimmy Carter wins the Grammy Award for Best Spoken-Word Album.
Pop Cultured
- Cosmos Season 2 is delayed amidst sexual misconduct allegations against Neil deGrasse Tyson.
- World War Z sequel has been delayed.
- Creepshow gets a remake as a limited series on Shudder.
- Trailers for the live-action remakes of Aladdin and Dumbo, along with a trailer for the Tolkien biopic.
All Things Comics
- Comics to read for Galentine’s & Valentine’s Day (technically after the fact, but that’s okay).
- Here’s the trailer for Captain Marvel that premiered during the Super Bowl.
- LGBTQ graphic novels for 2019.
Audiophilia
- Audiobooks to listen to during Black History Month.
Upcoming Books in 2019
- Bustle picks fiction and nonfiction titles for February.
- Time’s picks for February.
- 5 SFF titles for February.
- 2019 essay collections.
- Books for activists.
- Thrillist picks their top titles for the year.
- Best psychological thrillers for 2019.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
- 10 contemporary Dickensian novels.
- Books to read before the last season of Game of Thrones.
- 17 books by black authors you need to read in your lifetime.
- 5 essay collections by women of color.
- Read Harder lists: A book with an animal or inanimate POV character; A book by or about someone who identifies as neurodiverse.
- 100 iconic love stories from around the world.
- Tons of lists for Historical Fiction Day, including international mysteries, historical horror novels, and diverse YA historical fiction.
- A reading pathway for Sarah Vowell.
- 7 deeply weird SFF Romance novels.
- Readalikes for fans of Russian Doll.
- Books about gangsters for the anniversary of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. (Well, that’s one way to celebrate February 14th.)
- 50 states of YA.
- Best vegan cookbooks.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- Large print can make a difference for young readers.
- A look at the Instagram era of book covers.
- In New Zealand, Happy Meals come with abridged versions of Roald Dahl books instead of toys.
- Holy cats. Check out the staircases at this Chinese bookstore!
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in LibraryReads, 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.
Thanks for hanging out and I’ll see you again next week!
–Katie McLain, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson.