Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I can hardly believe I’m typing this on a Friday, because it seems like just a few hours ago I was trudging through a never-ending Friday of ridiculous emails and long desk shifts. And now it’s back to the grind for a whole solid week before Christmas. Thankfully I was able to snag a couple extra days off, but now I just have to plow through the week. Okay, buck up, let’s do this!
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
USA Today has placed its best-seller list on hiatus after the presiding editor was laid off.
Authors co-host a rally at HarperCollins headquarters in support of striking HC workers.
A product design manager used an AI-powered chatbot to write and illustrate a children’s book, which he’s now selling on Amazon. Naturally, this raises lots of ethical questions.
Amazon is ending print textbook rentals.
How Jenna Bush Hager is becoming publishing’s new best friend.
New & Upcoming Titles
Akwaeke Emezi announces their next romance novel, Son of the Morning.
Cover reveal for Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s upcoming novel, Silver Nitrate, which hits shelves in July!
Here’s the cover reveal for Christina Lauren’s upcoming book, True Love Experiment.
27 new recommended food books, from cookbooks to memoirs.
15 books by Black authors to read this winter.
Best of 2022: AARP (cookbooks), Atlantic, BBC, Crime Reads (psychological suspense, critical nonfiction/biography, gothic fiction, traditional mysteries, historical fiction), Hip Latina, Kirkus (YA), Library Journal, LitHub (essays), New York Times (critics picks), New Yorker, Salon, Vanity Fair, Vulture (fantasy, horror, comedy), Wall Street Journal.
103 of the best book covers of 2022.
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, New York Times, USA Today.
December picks from Vulture.
RA/Genre Resources
Why romance novels are the biggest they’ve been in a decade.
How to read Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series in order.
Why read literary biographies?
On the Riot
Best books of 2022: romance, LGBTQ+, SFF.
Reading pathway for Sulari Gentill.
Why horror is such a hard genre to crack.
Why you should recommend books that you didn’t like reading.
Should Goodreads users be able to review books before they’re published?
All Things Comics
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 is not moving forward as the new DC studio heads prepare their multi year plan.
In other DC news, Henry Cavill says he will not return as Superman.
10 of the best crime thriller comics.
On the Riot
12 best graphic novels and comics of 2022.
Audiophilia
Best science fiction and fantasy audiobooks of 2022.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
13 YA books with sequels coming out in 2023.
6 YA books for fans of Colleen Hoover.
24 YA books featuring high-stakes heists.
Adults
5 speculative fiction books featuring tarot.
42 Christmas books to keep you cozy.
5 thrillers about choices and forked paths.
50 of the best horror books of all time.
8 queer fantasy romance books to love.
On the Riot
YA books for readers who don’t like YA books.
Fun books to read during Hanukkah.
8 unputdownable books about podcasts.
8 books about book clubs.
7 books about codependency to help you better understand the condition.
8 engrossing books with multiple timelines.
8 horror novels about creepy kids.
25 of the best nonfiction books of all time.
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.
My husband sent me this photo as he was trying to take a nap, but Dini insisted that it was snuggle time. I mean, how can you say no to that sweet face?? Needless to say, there was no nap time for my husband.
Welp, that’s all I’ve got. I’ll check in on Friday, after we’ve pushed through this last week before the holidays. We got this!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.