Author: Katie McLain

Book List Bonanza, Plus Rage Bees.

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date August 10, 2020

The Hugo Awards Were a Mess, and Other News For Librarians

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date August 6, 2020

Sponsored by Oni Lion Forge Publishing Group.

Join Greta and Minette once more for the heartwarming conclusion of Katie O’Neill’s award-winning Tea Dragon series! Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng’s care, Greta still can’t chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. My library is still open, and we’re still plugging along, offering public hours 12 hours a week and curbside services an additional 12 hours each week without too many issues (knock on wood). I wish the same could be said for all libraries, but I know that’s not the case, so please accept some virtual hugs if you’d like them.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

The New York City child care plan includes using libraries.
Canadian libraries respond to the Globe and Mail essay attacking public libraries.
The Douglas County sheriff who told the Douglas County (NV) Public Library that he wouldn’t respond to 911 calls from them because they issued a statement in support of Black Lives Matter, has backtracked from his initial statement.
How Massachusetts libraries are coping as they slowly reopen.

Cool Library Updates

Nashville Public Library previews its new women’s suffrage room.

Worth Reading

Curbside services is not the answer: re-imagining public library youth services during the pandemic.
Re-closing libraries after they’ve reopened.
How public libraries play a vital role in restoring the economy.
As schools, libraries, and businesses pivot, the new pandemic era buzzword is “hybrid.”

Book Adaptations in the News

What we know so far about Reese Witherspoon’s Where the Crawdads Sing adaptation.
Jasmine Guillory spills some film adaptation news on Today with Hoda and Jenna!
Jordan Peele and Issa Rae have teamed up to adapt Leyna Krow’s short story “Sinkhole,” about a woman who moves into a new house with her family that happens to have a mysterious sinkhole in the backyard.
The R.L. Stine adaptation train rolls on…this time, it’s his Babysitter series that’s getting the series treatment.
Shania Twain (yes, THAT Shania Twain) is adapting Debbie Macomber’s Heart of Texas books.
Trailer for Season 2 of His Dark Materials.

Books & Authors in the News

Oprah picks Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson as her next book club pick.

Numbers & Trends

The postmaster general has announced plans to slow mail delivery, and Raven Book Store ran some numbers about how the potential loss of the USPS would be extremely detrimental to bookstores and libraries.
Not surprisingly, Amazon online sales did extremely well in the second quarter of 2020.

Award News

The Hugo Award winners have been announced, but unfortunately, that news has been overshadowed by George R.R. Martin’s widely-criticized performance as host. (TW for racism & transphobia) The CoNZealand chairs issued this apology after the ceremony.
Little Fires Everywhere and Watchmen have both been nominated for “Outstanding Limited Series” Emmys!
Voting is open for the Not the Booker Awards.
The brand new Gotham Book Prize will award $50,000 to a fiction or nonfiction book published in 2020 and set in New York City.

Pop Cultured

Disney is bringing the live-action version of Mulan to Disney+ rather than theaters, but will still charge subscribers extra to watch it.
There’s a trailer for Ryan Murphy’s latest show, Ratched, which stars Sarah Paulson as Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

The New York Times spotlights black book clubs.

On the Riot

The most popular under-the-radar books in libraries: Quarantine 2020 edition.
Why the library is still the only place this reader feels safe, even in a pandemic.
Which librarian from pop culture are you?
Bookish stamps to support the USPS.
Multiple ways to organize rainbow bookshelves.

Take a breath and take care of yourselves, folks. I’ll see you next week. (I still have not moved from my new couch.)

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Check Your Shelf

Alright, Alright, Alright: Matthew McConaughey Has a Memoir

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date August 3, 2020

Sponsored by Random House Children's Books

You can’t escape the truth. It runs through your veins. New from Rory Power, author of the New York Times bestseller Wilder Girls comes a feverishly twisty thriller about a girl whose past has always been a mystery–until she decides to return to her mother’s hometown . . . where history has a tendency to repeat itself. Start reading Burn Our Bodies Down now!

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I’ll get to the library/book stuff in a minute, but first: we added a new feline member of our family this week! Say hello to Houdini, who is a world-class snuggle monster and an absolute doll! We still miss our Star every day, but we were ready to find another kitty who needed a home.

Okay, back to book stuff!

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

O: The Oprah Magazine will cease print publication as of December 2020.

New & Upcoming Titles

Matthew McConaughey is writing a memoir in his own style, which will be published this fall (and sadly, the book is not called Alright Alright Alright).
Jessica Simpson and Karin Slaughter pick summer reads for Amazon.
Elle picks the best books of Summer 2020.
August picks from Barnes & Noble, Crime Reads, Epic Reads, New York Times, Washington Post.
Writers to watch this fall.
8 true crime books for your 2020 TBR.
Best romance novels for 2020 (so far).

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir – Natasha Trethewey (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post)
Intimations: Six Essays – Zadie Smith (LA Times, NPR, Vulture)
Afterland – Lauren Beukes (Tor.com, Washington Post)
A Star is Bored – Byron Lane (New York Times, USA Today)

RA/Genre Resources

What makes epic fantasy “epic?”
The New York Times has a guide to the essential Tana French before her new novel is published this fall. And if you want another look at Tana French (as well as the best order to read her books), here’s our post from way back in 2016.
A guide to Nordic noir.
BuzzFeed News and Crime Reads both talk about how the future of true crime will have to be different.

On the Riot

The best books you’ve never heard of, Summer 2020 edition.
Reading pathway for James Baldwin.

All Things Comics

(TW sexual assault): The comic book industry reckons with abuse claims.
Avatar: The Last Airbender will get a graphic novel spin-off.
20 graphic novels and nonfiction for YA readers.

On the Riot

New, upcoming, and undiscovered graphic history and memoir.
8 powerful graphic memoirs about mothers and motherhood.

Audiophilia

The harmful impact of Audible-exclusive audiobooks.
5 audiobooks to help you travel the world from home.
Best audiobooks of July.

On the Riot

6 short story collections on audio for your TBR.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Kid-approved books for struggling 2nd and 3rd grade readers.
20 must-have classic children’s books – and when to introduce them.
16 clever and underestimated YA novels.
20 YA books to help you deal with grief.

Adults

6 books about defunding the police that will inspire you to protest.
10 books set to become new feminist classics.
6 stories with fierce female friendships.
8 books to take you back to the 1980’s.
9 books where women of color tell their own stories about mental health.
7 crime & suspense novels that explore the causes & consequences of infatuation.
9 uplifting books by YouTubers.
5 genre-jumping masterpieces.

On the Riot

8 back-to-school picture books for teaching coronavirus procedures.
6 of the most popular children’s & YA series published since 2010.
3 YA books about basketball.
13 fantastic Black fantasy authors.
20 must-read Black authors of LGBTQ books.
5 contemporary Afro-Latinx authors to know.
10 extremely unique crime reads.
16 best pandemic books – fiction & nonfiction.
20 must-read books set in Spain by Spanish authors.
8 thrillers told from multiple points of view.
5 books that provide a holistic perspective on the immigrant experience.
10 books for your intersectional environmentalist reading list.

Level Up (Library Reads)

Mask up and stay hydrated. See you on Friday!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Check Your Shelf

Time Traveling Serial Killers, Coming to a TV Screen Near You!

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date July 30, 2020

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publishers of Mirage by Somaiya Daud.

Cinder meets Shatter Me in this “immersive and captivating” (Booklist) fantasy about a poor girl who must become the body double of a princess of a ruthless empire.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Blaine and I are now the proud owners of my parents’ old L-shaped couch, which actually isn’t that old, and is probably the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on. I’ve barely moved from the couch since Monday evening. I am slowly becoming one with the couch. The couch is all.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

DC librarians are alarmed over the lack of communication and safety measures put in place as area libraries start to reopen to the public.
This Nevada sheriff threatened to not respond to emergency calls from a local library that drafted a diversity statement in support of Black Lives Matter. FLAMES. FLAMES ON THE SIDE OF MY FACE.
The three staff members of the Wardsboro (VT) Public Library (including the director) have resigned in the face of trustee demands to re-open the library.
All 20 locations of the St. Louis County Library system are returning to a curbside-only model to prevent further spread of COVID.

Worth Reading

The Boston Public Library needs help transcribing 40,000 anti-slavery documents from the 1800’s.

Book Adaptations in the News

HBO is turning the stage play of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates into a special documentary/stage production.
Elisabeth Moss is starring in the upcoming Apple adaptation of Lauren Beukes’s thriller The Shining Girls, about a time-traveling serial killer in Chicago! I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH, and I think Elisabeth Moss is perfect for the role!!
Curtis Sittenfeld’s Rodham has been optioned by Hulu.
The comic series Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan is getting an Amazon adaptation.
PBS’ Masterpiece is co-producing and broadcasting the adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s best-selling novel, Magpie Murders.
Disney is planning a stage musical adaptation of Hidden Figures.
Milly Bobby Brown is starring in the adaptation of the upcoming Tess Sharpe thriller, The Girls I’ve Been.
HBO Max is adapting The Wild by Owen Laukkanen.
Rights have been sold for Greer Macallister’s Woman 99.
Acorn TV orders a second season of Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, based on the series by Kerry Greenwood.
Every single one of N.K. Jemisin’s novels has sold film/TV rights!

Books & Authors in the News

Last week, I linked to an article about how Michael Cohen said that he’d be sent back to prison in retaliation for the tell-all book he was planning about Trump. A federal judge apparently agreed with this statement, and ordered Cohen released from prison and put in home confinement.
Author Mark Dawson lost his position on the Sunday Times best-seller charts after admitting that he bought 400 copies of his book to boost sales.
Patrick Rothfuss fans are getting very upset that they have had to wait so long for the next book in the Kingkiller Chronicles, but apparently so is Rothfuss’ editor.
Four-year-old Nadim Shamma-Sourgen has landed a book deal for his poetry collection!
(TW: sexual harassment) Orbit has released a statement about the recent accusations of sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated by Sam Sykes.
(TW: transphobia) Current Affairs does a deep dive into J.K. Rowling’s books and her history of transphobia, saying “The creator of Harry Potter could imagine the most marvelous fictional universe in children’s literature—yet she can’t imagine the inner lives of transgender people or the radical expansion of political possibilities.”

Award News

The 2020 Booker Prize longlist has been announced.
The Eisner Award winners have been announced!
The longlist for the 2020 First Novel Prize from The Center For Fiction has been announced, and it’s quite a list!
2020 World Fantasy Award finalists have been announced.
2019 Ladies of Horror Fiction award winners.
Adrian McKinty wins the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for The Chain.
Strand Critics Awards nominees are announced.

Pop Cultured

Regis Philbin has died at age 88.
The Witcher is getting a live-action prequel series.
Spider-Man: Far From Home’s release date has been delayed due to COVID.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

The Madison Reading Project donates a record-setting 35,000 books to local families.
It’s time to radically rethink online book events.

On the Riot

Lessons from the high school library.
How many books is too many? Ask the world’s 10 biggest libraries!
Why this reader is afraid to watch adaptations of their favorite books.
Book club questions for Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
Virtual book events you won’t want to miss this summer.
6 apps to help you up your #Bookstagram game.
Reflections of a professional BookTuber.
11 great reading comprehension apps for kids.
How authors make money on eBooks.

Take a breath and take care of yourselves, folks. I’ll see you next week, if I can bring myself to move from the couch!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Check Your Shelf

Book List Bonanza

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date July 27, 2020

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of His & Hers by Alice Feeney.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sometimes I Lie, comes a new thriller from Alice Feeney. His & Hers is a twisty, smart, psychological thriller. A gripping tale of suspense, told by expertly-drawn narrators that will keep readers guessing until the very end. Samantha Downing, author of My Lovely Wife, says His & Hers “should not be missed” and Mary Kubica calls it “deliciously dark.”

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Remember to hydrate and wash your hands this week. There are a lot of major problems going on in the world, but we won’t be able to tackle them unless we’re properly hydrated and sanitized. Use this week to take care of yourself!

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

Internet Archive has asked publishers to drop their copyright lawsuit and work together to find a solution.
Donald Trump has permanently changed the publishing industry.

New & Upcoming Titles

Jason Reynolds announces his first adult fiction title, which will be published in 2022!
The Decameron Project provides 29 free short stories from acclaimed writers such as Tommy Orange, Margaret Atwood, and Victor LaValle.
Debut and international crime novels for July.
18 feel-good summer novels to read if you need a break.
21 best books of the year (so far).
Preview of Fall 2020 books that focus on the presidential campaigns and election.
15 new books to add to your TBR.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

The Pull of the Stars – Emma Donoghue (LA Times, New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)
Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell (LA Times, NPR, Washington Post)
Pew – Catherine Lacey (LA Times, New York Times, USA Today)
The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life – Alex Trebek (LA Times, NPR, Washington Post)
Baseless: My Search For Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act – Nicholson Baker (New York Times, NPR)
Blacktop Wasteland – S.A. Cosby (NPR)
Crooked Hallelujah – Kelli Jo Ford (Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

The false promise of anti-racism books.
Top Summer Reads: 56 new and favorite titles across the fiction genres.
Take a look at the #midlibfaves20 spreadsheets to see the books that librarians are talking about halfway through the year.
Muslim women authors are building new worlds through science fiction and fantasy.
A look at horror and our current society that experiences so much through screens.

On the Riot

8 new epic fantasy debuts for 2020.

All Things Comics

9 translated graphic novels about inequality.

On the Riot

What was the first comic book?

Audiophilia

5 audiobooks with love in the spotlight.
10 audiobooks that will make any road trip fly by.
7 audiobooks for a perfect dose of escapism.

On the Riot

30 audiobooks written and read by Black authors.
7 audiobooks to celebrate Disability Pride Month.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

YA mystery lists from Goodreads, Buzzfeed, and Epic Reads.
16 books like A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Adults

50 most impactful Black books of the last 50 years.
16 thrillers to give you instant goosebumps.
8 books about cross-generational friendships.
25 books about the immigrant experience.
What 100 writers have been reading during quarantine.
9 books to read if you’re missing Olympic gymnastics. (It me.)
9 books about being homesick for a place that doesn’t exist anymore.
8 queer Scandinavian books.
7 mysteries featuring senior citizens as secondary characters.
12 books by Latinx authors.
9 Afrocentric fantasy novels.

On the Riot

Hygiene books for elementary students.
Totally rad 80’s and 90’s series for kids.
Scary stories that doomed millennials as kids.
15 middle grade books to help learn empathy.
7 diverse Jewish children’s and YA books.
10 short romance novels.
8 books celebrating Black joy.
15 fabulous books about drag.
12 queer witch books to bring some magic to your TBR.
5 books with pansexual main characters.
5 books on the necessity of police reform.
7 books to read in honor of the 30th anniversary of the ADA.
5 books to help you learn data visualization.
3 books about the Hong Kong protests.
An American History summer reading list.

Level Up (Library Reads)

Stay safe and stay hydrated, everyone.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Check Your Shelf

Remembering John Lewis

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date July 23, 2020

Sponsored by our Barnes & Noble $250 gift card giveaway!

We’re giving away $250 to spend at Barnes and Noble! All you have to do is sign-up for our Giveaways newsletter and get notified every time we run a giveaway for free books and bookish stuff!

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Our reopening has so far been very manageable, yet somewhat anticlimactic, and I find myself in the very odd position of wanting more people to come into the library because that’s my job, and wanting people to continue staying away because PANDEMIC!

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

John Lewis, the incredible Congressman, civil rights leader, graphic novelist, and library advocate, died at age 80. Read about how his life changed with a library card here.
The results of Phase 2 of the REALM Project have been released in regards to how long COVID stays detectable on library materials.
Penguin Random House extends their open license for online readings through the end of 2020.
The Philadelphia Free Library director is under growing pressure to quit amidst racial discrimination complaints.
A look at how suburban Chicago libraries are reopening with new COVID restrictions.
The Windsor Public Library in Ontario adopts an anti-racism action plan.
Library supporters urge action on a bill that would provide relief funding to public libraries.

Cool Library Updates

How librarians are turning Google Forms into virtual escape rooms.
This library created a story walk in their local park.
This teenager built a 58 pound scale model of the Bangor (ME) Public Library out of Legos.

Worth Reading

America’s libraries are essential now.
Dismantling white supremacy in public libraries.
Find your focus: what kind of librarian should you be? Plus, 8 people share the reasons why they became librarians.
Using #Bookstagram to enhance your library.
6 kid-friendly websites with free arts & crafts activities.

Book Adaptations in the News

Netflix just gave the green light to a $200 million adaptation of Mark Greaney’s novel The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, making it Netflix’s most “financially ambitious” film to date.
Netflix wins the adaption rights to Rumaan Alam’s upcoming book Leave the World Behind.
Sandhya Menon announces on Instagram that there’s an Indian adaptation inspired by her best-selling YA novel, When Dimple Met Rishi, which will debut globally on Netflix sometime this fall. (The adaptation is called Mismatch.)
The CW is adapting the Stephen King short story, “The Revelations of ‘Becka Paulson.”

Books & Authors in the News

Sales for Mary Trump’s new book shatters records by selling 950,000 copies by the end of its first day on sale.
Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann’s book about the Mueller investigation has been cleared for publication by the Trump administration.
Michael Cohen is planning a book and claims in a new lawsuit that he was sent back to jail because of it.
Magic School Bus author Joanna Cole has died at age 75.
Disney partners with Melissa de la Cruz to create a new studio that will work with authors to create original content across multiple Disney platforms.
Despite book sales rising in June, J.K. Rowling’s book sales have been lagging. This is likely due to her ongoing history of transphobic statements and the resulting backlash.
Susan Orlean is all of us right now with her drunken tweets from over the weekend.

Numbers & Trends

The best-selling books of 2020 so far.
And in related news, a report on how authors can buy their way onto best-seller lists.
How to sell books in 2020: put them by the toilet paper.

Award News

The National Book Critics Circle announces its new board.
2020 Thriller Awards have been announced.
The nominees for the Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards have been announced.

Pop Cultured

Michelle Obama is starting a podcast on Spotify.
Idris Elba says “We’re close to making a film version of Luther.”

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

Idris Elba, Oscar Isaac, Cillian Murphy, and other extremely good-looking celebrities with gorgeous voices will read you bedtime stories in partnership with HBO Max.

On the Riot

Quaranzines are popular, and libraries are noticing.
A history of stage-to-book adaptations.
Bookish and literary face masks for your pandemic (working?) life.

Take a breath and take care of yourselves, folks. I’ll see you next week.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Check Your Shelf

Contemporary Native Lit, Plus All the New Book Deals

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date July 20, 2020

Rethinking Police Presence Inside Libraries

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date July 16, 2020

Sponsored by All These Monsters by Amy Tintera, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

From New York Times best-selling author Amy Tintera comes this high-stakes sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who will do anything to escape her troubled home—even if that means joining a dangerous monster-fighting squad. Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father and most of all, fight back against scrabs, earth-dwelling monsters that are ravaging the world. When an opportunity arises for Clara to join a monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance. But as Clara gains confidence in her battle skills, she starts to realize scrabs might not be the biggest evil. The true monsters are the ones you least expect.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Some sad news for this week: my husband and I had to say goodbye to Star, one of our beautiful kitties Monday morning. She was a purring machine with little vampire toofs, and loved to sit behind us on the couch and drape her paws over our shoulders like a scarf. If you have pets at home, give them extra cuddles this weekend in honor of our baby girl.

And now, on to some much-needed distraction in the form of library news.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

The Summersville Library (WV) closes after a maskless patron refused to wear a mask and coughed on books and public computers.
The executive director of New Brunswick Public Library Services resigns after controversy emerges over his qualifications.
Georgia Tech Library creates a Black Lives Matter Reading Room.
Obama’s presidential library hits a major roadblock from the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office.
School Library Journal announces SLJTeenLive! – a free virtual event on August 5th.

Cool Library Updates

This book lover has set out to diversify Little Free Libraries with books written by BIPOC.
How to support the Liberation Library, which provides books to incarcerated children.
Cast members from the new Baby-Sitters Club series recorded a pro-library PSA video!
Bertha Seavers, the first black librarian in Cairo, IL, turns 100 years old!

Worth Reading

When not to call the cops, plus rethinking police presence inside libraries.
Responding to a threat, and the importance of immediate action.
How can libraries be a path towards inclusivity and forgiveness?
The increasingly essential role of the law librarian.

Book Adaptations in the News

Jennifer Weiner’s Mrs. Everything is going to be adapted as a TV series.
Three of the four novellas in Stephen King’s most recent collection, If It Bleeds, have been optioned for film.
An animated series based on Matthew A. Cherry’s Oscar-winning short film and children’s book, Hair Love, is coming to HBO.
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian is headed to TV.
The New York Times, Lionsgate, Oprah, and others are adapting The 1619 Project into film, TV programming, and more.

Numbers & Trends

The Most Sold Books of 2020 so far, according to Amazon Charts.
Comic sales hit a record $1.21 billion in North America in 2019.

Award News

Not surprisingly, the 2020 National Book Awards ceremony will be held virtually.
Colson Whitehead wins the 2020 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction as well as the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for The Nickel Boys.
The LA Times Book Prize Awards have been announced.
The Shirley Jackson Awards are out too.
Derek Owusu wins the Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel for That Reminds Me.

Pop Cultured

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has been cancelled at Netflix.
10 books, movies, and musicals to enjoy after Hamilton.
The Crown is getting a sixth season on Netflix.

On the Riot

A new role for little free libraries.
7 summer tasks for school librarians.
Why the Baby-Sitters Club Netflix series is even better than the books.
How to find free baby books.

Take a breath and take care of yourselves and your pets, folks. I’ll see you next week.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Check Your Shelf

Books With Beatles Songs As Titles, and More Collection Development Ideas

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date July 13, 2020

Sponsored by Scullion: A Dishwasher’s Guide to Mistaken Identity from Oni Press

n celebrity-obsessed Timberwood Village, humble dishwashing teens Darlis and Mae are looking forward to the great warrior Riqa’s wedding of the century. That is, until Riqa mysteriously disappears and an unsuspecting Darlis is mistaken for her! It’s flattering until two trolls try to capture him for ransom. To get out of this predicament, these dishwashers will have to get their hands a little dirty. Armed with only their wits and Riqa’s book, The Fair Maiden’s Guide to Eating Your Captor for Breakfast, can Darlis and Mae give their captors a run for their money?

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. As I put this newsletter together, I am about to go back to work after a week’s staycation, and somehow I feel more tired at the end of this week than I was at the beginning. So let’s mask up and push through the week.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

Editor and publisher Nan A. Talese announces her retirement after six decades.
The American Booksellers Association is asking its membership to vote on a change to its bylaws that would promote diversity on its organization board.
Phoebe Robinson is launching a new book imprint.

New & Upcoming Titles