Author: Katie McLain

Hey, librarians. This is Check Your Shelf, and the majority of this newsletter is COVID-19 updates. Before I jump into the links, I want to say I hope you all are hanging in there as best as you can. I know there are a lot of libraries that still haven’t closed to the public, and a lot of libraries that have closed but are not paying their staff. This situation has brought out the best and the worst in a lot of people, and if you’re feeling lost, angry, confused, or paralyzed with anxiety, you’re not alone.

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Libraries & Librarians

COVID-19 

• ALA’s official statement about the COVID-19 pandemic, and its later statement recommending that libraries close to the public.
• From Library Journal: Close your library.
• From Book Riot: With COVID-19, library staff should not be required to report to work.
• ALA’s pandemic resource guide for libraries.
• Macmillan abandons its library eBook embargo in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Will this be a permanent change? We shall see…
• NYC mayor Bill de Blasio was reportedly “furious” as library heads planned to close libraries in the wake of COVID-19.
• Chicago librarians are dealing with a conflict of their own as they protest mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to keep some of the CPL branches open. As of Wednesday evening, 61 of the 80 branches plan to close next week.
• Combating xenophobia and fake news surrounding COVID-19.
• Two school librarians create a resource guide for dealing with COVID-19 in schools and libraries. Plus 6 COVID-19 resources you may not know about.
• Book Riot put together its own list of COVID-19 resources.
• A very recent article from the Journal of Hospital Infection about the “persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces,” or as librarians put it, “How long can the coronavirus live on items returned to the library.
• 2020 Texas Library Association annual conference moves online. Plus tips for moving your own conference or presentation into the digital world.
• Amazon is putting book deliveries and other non-prioritized items on hold until April 5th.
• Universal is making its current theater movies available for on-demand viewing.
• How librarians are working digitally.
• Tips for building your remote workforce.
• Need something to keep you occupied? Help write the Great Librarian Novel on Google Docs!

News Updates

• The proposed Kentucky state budget cuts $2.5 million in funding for local libraries, which could mean that some rural libraries need to close.
• Minnesota legislature focuses on Drag Queen Story Hour.

Cool Library Updates

• The Huron (SD) Public Library wins a Fitbit grant for their library.
• Little Free Library celebrates its 100,000 box!

Worth Reading

• How J. Edgar Hoover used the power of libraries for bad.
• This Minecraft library gives users access to censored articles from countries around the world.
• 5 indicators of empowered readers.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Meet the cast of the new Netflix Baby-Sitter’s Club show!
• Lucy Alibar, who wrote the screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild, will be adapting the screenplay for Where the Crawdads Sing.
• Judy Blume’s novel Wifey will become an HBO limited series.
• Girl, Woman, Other has sold screen rights.
• Disney is planning for a live-action Peter Pan remake.
• Universal is making a new Dracula movie.
• The joys and challenges of adapting Stephen King novels.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Myriam Gurba writes an article for Vox, saying, “I called out American Dirt’s racism. I won’t be silenced.”
• How My Dark Vanessa has become one of the biggest books of the year.
• Other controversial Oprah book club picks over the years.

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Numbers & Trends

• National Endowment for the Arts says that in 2017, 55% of Americans reported some form of book-reading outside of work and school.
• This tiny Harry Potter book is expected to fetch £150,000 at auction.

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Award News

• Winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
• Leslie Marmon Silko wins a $100,000 lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for her writings about her Laguna Pueblo heritage.
• The James Beard media awards will be postponed until this summer.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• 10 ways to support your indie bookstore through coronavirus and beyond.
• This teacher is rewriting western fairy tales for Muslim children.
• Censoring Anne Frank: how her diary has been edited throughout history.
• Check out Tana French’s newly curated Pandora Station!
• The Harry Potter differences between the books and the movies that these BuzzFeed readers found unacceptable.

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On the Riot

• Using school libraries to fight fake news.
• In gratitude to libraries.
• Staying connected as a solo school librarian.
• What career in library science would be best for you?
• How to fix book binding.
• Best book podcasts for all genres
• The question we ask ourselves way too often: how flawed does a book have to be before I can’t appreciate it anymore?
• Gen Z’s relationship with reading.
• 50 gorgeous bullet journal spreads to track your reading.
• When you shouldn’t DNF a book.
• Book club questions & a reading guide for Such a Fun Age.
• Do the hot dudes reading know they’re being hot?

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I don’t even know what the next week will look like. Use whatever self care strategies you have at your disposal, be kind to yourself, stay inside as much as you can, and wash your hands.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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).

I feel like I’ve aged 30 years in the last week. While we were frantically trying to extend due dates and get our library ready for public closure this week, our system decided to change everyone’s due dates to November 25, 1962 instead. *headdesk*

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Collection Development Corner

COVID-19

• This COVID-19 impact list is updated with relevant cancellations, policy changes, closings, etc. in the publishing industry.
• Bookstores and children’s authors respond to the coronavirus impact.
• Everywhere Book Fest is an all-virtual kidlit conference to stand in for all of the in-person events being cancelled. Learn more here.
• Book Riot has created a story steam with COVID-19 updates from the bookish world

Publishing News

• These powerful women are changing the literary landscape.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Tiffany D. Jackson has a couple of horror novels coming out, and I. CAN’T. WAIT.
• Viet Thanh Nguyen announced a sequel to The Sympathizer.
• Nisi Shawl will be editing the Library of America edition of Octavia Butler’s work, which will come out in 2021.
• Lady Gaga has a book coming out called Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community.
• Michael Schur (creator of The Good Place) is publishing a book in 2021 called How to Be Good: A Definitive Answer for Exactly What to Do, In Every Possible Situation. Chidi would appreciate this, I think.
• Bustle picks the best books of 2020 so far.
• Best historical crime of 2020 so far.
• March picks from Barnes & Noble, O: Oprah Magazine, and Salon.
• 5 books you may have missed in February.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell (Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, New York Times, NPR, Salon, Washington Post)
• The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel (The Atlantic, O: Oprah Magazine, Vulture)
• The Mirror and the Light – Hilary Mantel (O: Oprah Magazine, USA Today, Washington Post)
• We Ride Upon Sticks – Quan Barry (New York Times, NPR)
• A Good Neighborhood – Therese Anne Fowler (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Deacon King Kong – James McBride (NPR, Washington Post)
• Recollections of My Nonexistence – Rebecca Solnit (New York Times, NPR)

RA/Genre Resources

• The comfort of pandemic fiction.
• The claustrophobic menace of boarding school fiction.
• The appeal of the seaside mystery.
• In a noisy world, books about silence are booming.

On the Riot

• Upcoming nonfiction written by women.
• 2020’s must-read crime thrillers.
• 5 YA books about elections hitting the shelves in 2020.
• Why we need more college YA.
• (CW: suicide, self harm) A look at writing suicide and self-harm in fiction. This is a good article to help us be more aware of reader triggers and difficult content.
• Title trend: The *Occupation’s* Daughter.
• Bookish ways to keep busy during a quarantine. (Normally this would go in a Friday newsletter, but I think we might need this info sooner rather than later.)

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All Things Comics

• Mariko Tamaki is taking over the Wonder Woman comic this summer.
• Graphic novels to help teens learn about racism, climate change, and social justice.

On the Riot

• Graphic novels to read if you like Yangsze Choo’s The Ghost Bride.
• 10 children’s books by comic creators.

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Audiophilia

• Why it matters that Asian representation is growing in audiobooks.
• 5 audiobooks featuring multiple cast members.

On the Riot

• 5 #ownvoices audiobooks about women with chronic illnesses or disabilities.
• 5 great audiobooks narrated by Saskia Maarleveld.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Baby books to introduce your kids to strong female role models.
• 16 YA books to speak to your introverted soul.

Adults

• We’ve got a host of outbreak and pandemic reading lists from Bustle, Electric Lit, Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, and Vulture.
• And after all that, here are 10 of the best books to calm anxiety.
• 5 queer SFF series from the last decade that can’t be missed.
• 5 SFF books written by Afro-Caribbean authors.
• 5 SFF books set in contemporary African locales.
• 8 contemporary novels by Japanese women writers.
• 8 books that celebrate complicated women.
• 44 books to read over spring break if your travel plans are cancelled.
• 9 books about the history of women’s protests.
• 26 books for true Disney fans.
• 9 books with unreliable narrators.

On the Riot

• 20 must-read children’s books about immigration.
• Science & nature books for your STEM-loving littles.
• 20 must-read YA fantasy standalone novels.
• 6 fresh fairy tales in YA novels.
• 40 of the best queer books.
• Books about female spies.
• 7 prolific female authors with more than 10 books.
• 5 alien romance novels.

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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.

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I have no idea what’s going to happen between now and Friday, so just stay calm, wash your hands, and don’t hoard the toilet paper.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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).

If it helps anyone, here’s a photo of my cat Gilbert with a giant spit bubble. May we all learn to be as relaxed and contented as he is.

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Here’s a collection of news links about libraries that are altering their services due to COVID-19.
• How libraries can address COVID-19 with facts and outreach.
• Signs indicate that Macmillan may be rethinking its library eBook embargo. They’ve suggested three potential models as alternative solutions.
• (TW: racist imagery, threats) Hillsdale (MI) Community Library found a noose hanging from a bookshelf.

Cool Library Updates

• This Indiana public libraries bill makes it easier for foster children to access the library.
• This mobile library serves refugees in Greece.
• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is going to be the focus of a new documentary.

Worth Reading

• How libraries can assuage census anxieties, plus what libraries can actually do with all that census data.
• If you’re able (or required) to work from home, here are 20 tips to help you stay focused and organized.
• Environmentally friendly children’s programming.
• Can libraries help solve climate change?

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Netflix and the Obamas’ production company are adapting Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.
• Snoop Dogg’s production company is executive producing a series based on Joe Ide’s IQ series, which I’m super stoked about!
• American Rust by Philipp Meyer is set for Showtime.
• George Clooney signs on to direct The Boys in the Boat.
• Taika Waititi is making two animated Netflix shows based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• Rebecca Roanhorse’s short story “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience” is being made into a film.
• Netflix plans to adapt Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera into a series.
• Trailer for The Undoing, based on You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Mystery author Barbara Neely has passed away at age 78.
• Hachette decided not to publish Woody Allen’s upcoming memoir after Ronan Farrow cut ties with Hachette and nearly 100 staff walked out on Thursday in protest.
• Stephen King once again put his foot in his mouth, saying that Hachette’s decision to not publish Woody Allen’s memoir made him uneasy.
• Allen’s French publisher also said that they still plan to publish his book.
• Oprah’s book club selects, and then abruptly drops, My Dark Vanessa as a book club selection, suggesting that the book’s controversy might overwhelm discussion about the actual story. Her book club is still standing by American Dirt, however.
• Oprah hosted a two-part edition of her book club show about American Dirt. More details and coverage from USA Today, LA Times, and The Guardian here.
• On a related note, Oprah and Macmillan have promised to do better to amplify Latinx voices, but #DiginidadLiteraria leaders say that these promises aren’t enough.
• Ludlow (MA) Middle School parents are protesting the book Sex is a Funny Word being on school library shelves.
• Acclaimed millennial authors who are changing the fantasy genre with more diverse and politically charged narratives.
• Rumor has it that the ghost of Agatha Christie is haunting the Torquay Museum and knocking her books (only her books!) off the shelves.

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Numbers & Trends

• New survey shows little improvement in diversity in romance publishing.
• Publishers say they’re seeing a spike in books about fictional epidemics.

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Award News

• The National Book Critics Circle postponed its award ceremony till the fall due to coronavirus concerns, although the winners will still be announced this week.
• 2020 Lambda Literary Award finalists announced.
• 2020 Romantic Novel Awards are announced.
• This international Booker prize nominated novel poses a difficult question in distinguishing between appropriation and plagiarism.

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Pop Cultured

• Film expert, actor, and author James Lipton has died at 93.
• Time unveils its 100 Women of the Year project, which will go back and spotlight women who have been overlooked over the last century.
• Chris Matthews retires from Hardball. (And I’ve already fielded a patron question about this, so you can probably expect a couple questions to come up at your library too.)
• The upcoming James Bond movie, No Time to Die, has been pushed back until November amid coronavirus concerns.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Shel Silverstein’s houseboat is for sale, so if you have nearly $800,000 laying around, this might be a good buy!
• An open letter to Oxford University Press requests changes to some of its dictionaries’ sexist definitions and synonyms of the word “woman.” (Some of these examples are astonishingly bad, and then when you look at some of the definitions of the word “man,” it’s enough to make your head explode.)
• Why are hardcover books published before paperbacks?
• Literary insults to keep in your back pocket.

On the Riot

• How well do you know the Dewey Decimal system?
• Why aren’t there more librarians in pop culture?
• Children’s book tattoos to make you feel nostalgic.
• The multi-generational book club.
• Why did reading become competitive?
• How to start your own reading journal.

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Hang tight, friends. Catch you all next week.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Only Girl in the World by Maude Julien.

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).

The world is scary right now, friends. I hope everyone’s staying healthy.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series moves to Atria in an enormous 8-figure deal.
• Simon & Schuster is up for sale.
• As of right now, BookExpo and BookCon are scheduled to proceed as planned amidst coronavirus concerns. The London Book Fair, however, has been cancelled, as well as the Paris Book Fair.
• The Chronicles of Now is a site dedicated to short fiction based on headline news, and features authors such as Carmen Maria Machado, Sloane Crosley, and more. Learn more about it here.

New & Upcoming Titles

• John Bolton’s publication date has been pushed back until May while it’s reviewed by the National Security Council.
• Kevin Kwan (author of Crazy Rich Asians) has a new book coming out in July!
• Keep an eye on this debut novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris: The Other Black Girl is described as a satirical novel about race and authenticity in the workplace, and has just been sold to Atria in a seven-figure deal.
• Michael J. Fox is writing a new book: No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality.
• Rosie O’Donnell is helping Michael Cohen with a tell-all book about Trump.
• There’s going to be an illustrated edition of Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales.
• A first look at Alex North’s upcoming thriller, The Shadows. (Alex North wrote The Whisper Man last year, which was supremely creepy and a surprisingly emotional read.)
• New SFF for Spring 2020.
• March picks from Amazon, Bustle, Crime Reads (also psychological thrillers), LitHub (also SFF), The Millions, Paste (YA), PopSugar, Shondaland, Time, and Town & Country.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post)
• Writers and Lovers – Lily King (Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, NPR, Washington Post)
• Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life – Tom Fitzgerald & Lorenzo Marquez (LA Times, Vulture, Washington Post)
• The Mirror and the Light – Hilary Mantel (The Atlantic, New York Times, NPR)
• Little Constructions – Anna Burns (NPR, Washington Post)
• These Ghosts Are Family – Maisy Card (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times)
• Separation Anxiety – Laura Zigman (New York Times, NPR)

RA/Genre Resources

• A guide to black romance novels.
• 10 years of queering SFF, from 2010 to 2020.
• Belletrist announces its next #WhyNotYA conversation about rewriting history and intersectional feminism.
• Escapist YA novels offer a breath of fresh air in the current political climate.

On the Riot

• March 2020 YA releases.
• 20 of the best Asian American YA novels to read in 2020.
• Why are so many scary books set in Maine?

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All Things Comics

• The forthcoming Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker comic will include extended and deleted scenes not shown in the film.
• 5 comics for March 2020.

On the Riot

• 8 of the best women comics artists.
• This author’s ongoing relationship with Wonder Woman.
• The transformative power of anger through graphic novels.

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Audiophilia

• How Lucy Ellmann’s 1000 page novel, Ducks, Newburyport, was transformed into a 45 hour (!!) audiobook.
• 17 audiobooks to listen to when all you want to do is zone out.
• Best audiobooks of March 2020.

On the Riot

• 7 nonfiction audiobooks about feminism.
• 5 must-listen poetry audiobooks by poets of color.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Book series from your childhood that are still putting out new titles.
• 13 YA books about social media.
• 16 teen novels that blend romance and revenge.
• 21 happily-ever-after YA rom-coms.

Adults

• 8 true stories of women who made their mark on history.
• Mr. Roger’s favorite books.
• Try these books if you liked My Sister, the Serial Killer.
• Must-read books by Latinx authors.
• Lesbian romance novels to read when you’re perpetually single. (Or any time!)
• 9 books to give your mom for Mother’s Day.
• 23 books by female authors to read ASAP.
• 7 illustrated novels for adults.
• Classic monster re-imaginings, if you’re a fan of the new Invisible Man film.
• Best books for burgeoning black feminists.
• 13 can’t miss historical fiction novels.

On the Riot

• 6 picture books about vehicles.
• 6 books for children’s yoga and mindfulness.
• 8 books about child prodigies.
• 5 books about homelessness to better understand the issue.
• Where to start with Keigo Higashino’s mystery novels.
• A reading guide for Ann Patchett.
• Books that make astonishing use of maps.
• 5 romantic time travel novels.
• Finding meaning in motherhood through reading (with recommendations!)
• Must-read mysteries and thrillers.
• Essential books about periods.
• 5 books that 5 books that celebrate male friendships.
• 9 nonfiction books about depression.
• 10 works of Korean literature in translation, for fans of Parasite.

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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.

Catch you on Friday! Wash those hands!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir.

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).

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Fine free updates!
  • Richmond (VA) Public Library eliminates overdue fines.
  • Sarasota (FL) County Libraries have seen a surge in visitors since doing away with late fees.
  • The New York Times looks at the growing number of libraries that are eliminating late fees.
  • Going fine free improves library access for patrons.
• The Brooklyn Public Library and the Brooklyn Historical Society are merging.
• OverDrive does away with automatic hold checkouts and allows readers to take advantage of hold redelivery. Learn more here.
• A funding error leads to expanded library services in Kalamazoo (MI) County’s Texas Township.
• Advocates say that the Windsor (Ontario) Public Library’s new rules are discriminatory against homeless patrons.
• The Library of Congress is looking for volunteers to help transcribe Walt Whitman’s poems and letters.

Cool Library Updates

• St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Phoenix opens a library inside the hospital so that NyICU parents can read to their babies.
• Check out this awesome reader’s advisory programming idea: books and libations!
• 10-year-old Bailey Black raised over $2000 to help build the first library in Birch Bay, Washington!

Worth Reading

• Unlike Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler loves libraries!
• 18 surprising things stolen from libraries.
• This beautiful modern library is for fans of shiny things. (I love this headline.)

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Nicole Kidman’s production company acquires Samantha Downing’s bestselling psychological thriller, My Lovely Wife.
• Judy Blume’s novel Summer Sisters is being adapted into a Hulu limited series.
• NBC is adapting Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.
• Rebecca Breeds will play Clarice Starling in the CBS series Clarice, which takes place a year after the events of Silence of the Lambs.
• Classic horror novel Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge is being turned into a film.
• Ava DuVernay and Victoria Mahoney are planning a TV series adaptation of Dawn by Octavia Butler.
• Amazon is adapting The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
• The Magicians will end after the current season.
• Trailer for Artemis Fowl.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Mega best-selling author Clive Cussler dies at age 88.
• Former Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh is going to prison for a “years-long scheme in which she sold her self-published children’s books to nonprofits and foundations to promote her political career and fund her run for mayor.”

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Numbers & Trends

• A look at Library Journal’s updated Materials Survey.
• The most popular self-help books by state.

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Award News

• We’ve got the Audie Award and PEN Literary Award winners here!
• Edwidge Danticat is the first two-time winner of the $20,000 Story Prize.

On the Riot

• Longlists for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Booker International Prize.

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Pop Cultured

• The Oprah Winfrey Show is getting replayed as a podcast.
• Scientists discovered a new genus of pterosaur and gave them a very Game of Thrones name: Targaryendraco wiedenrothi.
• Have you seen the trailer for Candyman yet??

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• The best book club questions to spark discussion.
• How Ramona Quimby taught a generation of girls to embrace brashness.
• How to build a book arch.

On the Riot

• Tennessee becomes the next state seeking public library oversight & censorship.
• Guidelines for using the Libby app to optimal effect.
• 10 of the biggest book deals in history.
• The social and emotional benefits of reading.
• How to start a queer book club. Plus, an introvert’s guide to starting a book club.

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Have a great weekend! Catch you all next week!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha.

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).

PLA was very interesting, and car problems made getting back home a little too interesting. But I’m back now, so let’s jump into some more library stuff!

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Lucasfilm announces The High Republic, a major cross-medium publishing project that will take place two centuries before The Phantom Menace, and will feature titles by Daniel José Older, Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, and more!
• How Coronavirus is affecting Italian publishing.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Put ALL of these Book Expo Buzz titles on your radar.
• Rep. Elijah Cummings’ book, We’re Better Than This, will be published posthumously in June.
• Former Congresswoman Katie Hill is writing a book that’s part memoir, part “gender-equity battle plan” called She Will Rise.
• Jane Goodall announces a new book in 2021.
• Simon Cowell is planning a book series for kids.
• There’s going to be an Office kid’s book spinoff called The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary.
• Karen McManus’ latest YA thriller is pitched as “murder mystery + Ferris Bueller.” Um, YES PLEASE.
• Deanna Raybourn announces a new series about female assassins.
• R.L. Stine is publishing a new series based on the Garbage Pail Kids.
• Holy cats! This Spring 2020 list of Latinx books has over 100 titles!
• PopSugar has the best books for spring.
• Most anticipated books for March from Barnes & Noble, Entertainment Weekly, Tor.com (SFF, YA SFF, and genre benders), and the Washington Post.  

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Apartment – Teddy Wayne (New York Times, NPR, USA Today)
• Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America – Adam Cohen (New York Times, NPR)
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz – Erik Larson (New York Times, NPR)
• Facebook: The Inside Story – Steven Levy (New York Times, NPR)
• Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country – Sierra Crane Murdoch (LA Times, New York Times)

RA/Genre Resources

• The best crime fiction small presses.

On the Riot

• Put these 2020 LGBTQ+ romance novels on your TBR now!
• 30 small press books for 2020.
• What’s the appeal of dark, sexy academia novels?
• Queer representation in horror. 
• On becoming a romance reader.

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All Things Comics

• Bong Joon-ho’s storyboards from Parasite will be turned into a graphic novel.
• Graphic novels are real books. Obviously.

On the Riot

• What’s with all the Star Wars manga?

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Audiophilia

• Jude Law and other Harry Potter actors will narrate the new Tales of Beedle the Bard audiobook.

On the Riot

• Here are some short story collections for your audio TBR.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 17 children’s books with queer characters.
• 30 picture books with black male protagonists.
• 20 kids series to read after Harry Potter.
• 12 YA novels that prove we’re ready for the dystopian renaissance.
• 17 plot twists in YA novels that you never saw coming. (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Adults

• 6 works of Canadian fiction to read for Black History Month.
• 16 of the best books by black women.
• 6 books that contextualize the Harvey Weinstein verdict.
• 13 romance novels that should be on every woman’s bucket list.
• 52 books for 52 places.
• Book recommendations for Eleanor Shellstrop from The Good Place. (Proceed with caution – I can’t guarantee if there are any season 4 spoilers because I haven’t seen season 4 yet, and I don’t want to spoil it for myself!)
• 7 mysteries from the past.
• 5 books about dysfunctional rich families.

On the Riot

• 7 board books for woke babies.
• 21 awesome bilingual children’s books.
• 15 of the best true crime authors for genre fans.
• 11 authors who write like Gillian Flynn.
• A reading pathway for Danielle Steel.
• 15 must-read black-authored historical romance novels of the last 25 years.
• 5 new books about mental health written by women.
• 6 short novels to pull you out of a reading slump.
• 20 must-read black American memoirs.

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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.

Catch you on Friday!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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).

This newsletter is brought to you from the great city of Nashville! I got down here in one piece, and I’m not moving from my hotel room until tomorrow morning. Let’s do this!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Tennessee state legislators have put forth a proposed bill that would require a parental oversight committee to make decisions about what types of material are sexually inappropriate for children in public libraries. We all know this is a terrible idea, right?
• The Tennessee Library Association and ALA release statements about Tennessee’s proposed parental oversight bill.
• Southern California libraries have difficulties finding books in the languages of their patrons.

Cool Library Updates

• The Grand Area (NE) Public Library is hosting a series of job seeking programs to help people learn new workplace skills.
• Paula Pridgen, a marathon runner racing at the Olympic trials, said that she learned how to do long distance running from library books!
• This Little Free Library in Philadelphia is stocked with yarn rather than books.
• The Seattle Public Library’s most checked-out books.
• Check out these awesome book bikes in Afghanistan!

Worth Reading

• Compassion fatigue can take its toll on librarians.
• After the recent death of a security guard, libraries look at the balance between safety and access.
• Librarians at the Tilton Library in Massachusetts emphasize diversity and social justice in children’s books. Rock on!
• PLA 2020 preview: How the award-winning Nashville Public Library makes the city tick.
• Here’s a letter to the editor of a local Maine newspaper saying that drugs are easier to get than a library card.
• Who should decide what books are allowed in prisons?
• The NYPL lions are reading large lion-sized books! Plus, how to navigate the NYPL like an expert.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• The Love, Simon series has moved from Disney+ to Hulu, and will be renamed Love, Victor. Some people have speculated that this was an example of Disney’s reluctance to feature LGBTQ content, but Becky Albertalli has asked fans to give Disney the benefit of the doubt.
• Riley Sager’s upcoming thriller, Home Before Dark, has been snagged for an adaptation already. (Also this is the first I’ve heard that Riley Sager has a new book coming out!)
• Graham Moore’s latest novel, The Holdout, has been optioned for a Hulu series.
• The BBC is adapting Sally Rooney’s debut novel, Conversations With Friends, as a 12-part series.
• E.L. James’ The Mister was optioned by Universal.
• Dennis Lehane is set to write multiple episodes of HBO’s The Outsider.
• Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy is being adapted as a ballet.
• Here’s the trailer for I Am Not Okay With This, based on the graphic novel by Charles Forsman.
• Trailers for Little Fires Everywhere and My Brilliant Friend, season 2.

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Books & Authors in the News

• There’s been controversy surrounding the book Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Fury, and Women’s Voices, in that it doesn’t credit the work of Tangerine Jones, who began using the phrase “rage baking” as a response to racial injustice.
• (TW: sexual assault) E. Jean Carroll says that she was fired from Elle after she accused Trump of sexual assault.
• Myriam Gurba, a leading voice in the American Dirt controversy, was placed on administrative leave from her high school teaching job and was escorted out of the building. Her students are protesting the decision.

On the Riot

• Author and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson has died at 101.

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Award News

• The Bram Stoker and Nebula finalists were announced.
• Toni Morrison and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton each win an NAACP Image Award for their writing.
• Martin Edwards wins the 2020 Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association.
• 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Award winners.
• Finalists for the LA Times’  Book Prize and its inaugural Ray Bradbury Prize.

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Pop Cultured

• Forgot this from Valentine’s Day, but there’s a teaser promo for Stranger Things Season 4! Watch at your own risk – contains a VERY big spoiler.
• Lucifer might get an additional season after the final fifth season airs.
• Trailer for Killing Eve, season 3.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• The importance of reading to your kids.
• A typewriter shop is holding typewriting classes for kids, and they’re surprisingly popular!

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On the Riot

• New ways to think about libraries.
• Public library collection development secrets revealed!
• 5 memorable library heists.
• There’s a new award for disabled writers called the Berbellion Prize – read more about it here.
• On letting books find us organically.
• How to host a reading party.
• 8 perspectives on building a personal library.
• Test your bookish trivia with 125 literary-themed Jeopardy questions.
• Should you stay up late to finish that book?

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Thanks for hanging! Catch you next time!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis.

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).

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Penguin Random House parent company, Bertelsmann, announces plans to become carbon neutral by 2030.
• Apple is taking legal action against former German App Store manager Tom Sadowski, who has published a book about his work, saying that the book reveals “confidential business secrets” that the author wasn’t allowed to disclose.
• Flatiron Books announces a new imprint with iHeart Radio named Stuff You Should Read: An iHeart Book, which will focus on the podcast material from iHeart Radio.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Here’s a galley roundup for PLA. Even if you’re not going, you can still use this for collection development!
• Tiffany D. Jackson is publishing her first picture book!
• LeBron James is also publishing his first children’s book.
• Dan Brown (yes, that Dan Brown) is ALSO publishing his first children’s book.
• Jeff Bridges breaks the trend by illustrating a children’s book written by his daughter, Isabelle Bridges-Boesch.
• Zakiya Dalia Harris, a former Knopf assistant editor, just sold her debut novel in a 7 figure deal about a young black publishing assistant that’s a mix of suspense, horror, and cultural commentary. The book is described as “Get Out meets Younger” and I NEED THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW.
• Jennifer Niven’s next YA novel is coming out in October.
• Debut crime novels for February.
• 25 new books to add to your spring TBR list.
• 22 of the most anticipated YA novels for March, plus 39 YA sequels you won’t want to miss this year.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber – Susan Fowler (LA Times, New York Times, NPR, Time)
• Amnesty – Aravind Adiga (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Little Constructions – Anna Burns (LA Times, New York Times)
• The Resisters – Gish Jen (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Saint X – Alexis Schaitkin (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times)
• The Only Child – Mi-ae Seo (LA Times, NPR)

RA/Genre Resources

• Bestselling YA authors are aiming at older readers.
• The hottest new literary genre is “doomer lit.”
• Why cozy mysteries are the hottest TV genre of 2020.
• Georgette Heyer and the state of the regency romance.

On the Riot

• YA anthologies and YA book collaborations coming out in 2020.

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All Things Comics

• The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will become an official part of Oklahoma school curriculum, thanks to the HBO Watchmen series.

On the Riot

• 6 Muslim superheroes that deserve their own standalone comics.
• New middle grade graphic novels and comics.
• Lit ladies for your comics TBR.

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Audiophilia

• The best celebrity-narrated audiobooks to listen to right now.
• Best audiobooks for February 2020 from Paste and AudioFile.

On the Riot

• 8 awesome contemporary romance audiobooks.
• Audiobook narrators who need to record more books ASAP.
• 5 middle grade and YA audiobooks with Muslim girl protagonists.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 17 children’s book covers to make you cry on sight.
• If you’re a fan of the “fake dating trope,” make sure to check out these YA reads.

Adults

• 5 Korean thriller authors you need to read right now.
• Books where badass librarians fight for our future.
• 22 book club picks for your next meeting.
• 8 black LGBTQ poets to be familiar with.
• 6 books that celebrate being black and proud.
• 8 books that celebrate inspirational Afro-Latinos.
• 5 SFF reads that celebrate black excellence.
• 7 stories about the anxiety of settling down.
• A reading list about America’s housing crisis.

On the Riot

• 10 YA Shakespeare retellings.
• A reading pathway for Dawn Kurtagich.
• 6 historical romance series you can marathon.
• 10 underrated books for Black History Month.
• Scifi reads based on your favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation character.
• 12 romance reads if you enjoyed Red, White, and Royal Blue.
• 10 books about breastfeeding.
• 6 Sapphic Shakesperean retellings.
• 24 popular books from women writers around the world.
• 6 extremely disturbing books you HAVE to read.
• 12 authors recommended by Toni Morrison.
• 9 books about Iran to help understand current events.

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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.

The next newsletter will be coming to you live from Nashville! Catch y’all later!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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).

It’s Friday! Did we all make it in one piece?

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Syracuse librarians are warned to watch out for “First Amendment auditors” who have threatened to test the library’s free speech policies and the rights for citizens to film in public.
• What public libraries need to know about the Coronavirus.
• (TW: violence) A library security guard was killed after being stabbed repeatedly by a patron, seemingly without provocation.
• Two teens have been arrested on suspicion of starting a fire in a public library that left one firefighter dead and another missing.
• Someone filmed a porn movie around and inside a public library during business hours. Just…please…don’t do this. Library employees have enough to deal with.
• California senator proposes a bill that would provide free library cards to all K-12 school children in California. (Finally some good news this week!)

Cool Library Updates

• Israeli librarians win a global Wikipedia competition.

Worth Reading

• This library hosted a “Bad Romance” event on Valentine’s Day. I really don’t like the thought of librarians making fun of someone’s reading material, but this romance author says she doesn’t see a problem with poking fun at the same tropes that romance authors themselves make fun of. Thoughts?
• The NYPL releases its list of “125 books we love” in honor of its 125th anniversary.
• Legal advice for librarians about service and support animals, book displays, and video recording.
• Do you have any patrons who wish that the card catalog system was still in use? Well, there are some rural Maine libraries that still let patrons search for books the old fashioned way!
• Play musical bookcases in your school library to get more books in students’ hands.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Missy Elliott and John Mulaney are now starring in the upcoming Cinderella movie, which will also star Pierce Brosnan, Minnie Driver, and Billy Porter as the Fairy Godmother. Sign. Me. Up.
• Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne are starring in the film adaptation of the true crime book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber. (Great true crime book, btw!)
• Director & casting updates for the adaptation of A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, which is one of my favorite horror novels!
• An Aladdin sequel is in the works.
• HBO Max is adapting More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her directorial debut with an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter.
• You no longer need a Netflix subscription to watch To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before!
• Disney’s probably going to censor the F-bombs in the upcoming film release of Hamilton. (I doubt that will stop everyone who will probably be singing along in the theaters though…)
• Teaser trailer for Dev Patel in The Green Knight.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Charles Portis, author of True Grit, dies at 86.
• Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, is planning a Whitechapel mural to celebrate the lives of these women.
• A Harvey Weinstein juror was almost kicked off the trial for reading My Dark Vanessa.
• Essence does a great profile of Jason Reynolds.
• How Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse may have inspired a murderer.

American Dirt

• Myriam Gurba, one of the leading voices speaking out against American Dirt, has revealed death threats against her.
• Roxane Gay, Myriam Gurba, and other authors discuss the publishing crisis after American Dirt.
• There’s been a jump in sales for Latinx authors following American Dirt’s publication.
• An open invitation to Oprah Winfrey from #DignidadLiteraria.
• The American Dirt backlash has book publishers reviewing their diversity efforts.

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Award News

• Missed this in last week’s newsletter, but an especially big shoutout to Hair Love for winning Best Animated Short Film at the Oscars! Here’s a brief history about how the story went from Kickstarter to an Oscar winner.
• Longlist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the British Book Awards.
• Winners of the 2019 Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romance Fiction.

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Pop Cultured

• Billie Eilish co-wrote and recorded the theme to the upcoming Bond film, No Time to Die. Have you heard it yet? It’s pretty awesome.
• Rian Johnson says “all bets are off” when it comes to casting the sequel to Knives Out.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• British booksellers that are fighting back against digital algorithms with personalized subscription services. Plus a look at how indie bookstores can beat Amazon at the bookselling game.
• Arizona bookstores have partnered in a drive to register Arizona voters and hopefully persuade them to vote blue in the upcoming election.
• After J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments last month, this bookstore announced plans to donate to the trans children’s charity Mermaids every time they sell a book by J.K. Rowling.
• 5 things this writer learned from tearing through a 50-book crime series over the span of 5 months.
• 9 Airbnbs with libraries that would make Belle jealous.
• Take yourself and a favorite book on a book date.
• If you’re not familiar with book nooks, prepare to meet your newest obsession.

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Found on Book Riot

• Unexpected roles and amazing feats of librarianship.
• A day in the life of a public librarian.
• The importance of diversity in school libraries.
• Book Riot, Library Journal, School Library Journal, and the Horror Writers Association release the 2020 Summer Scares reading list.
• A reading guide and book club questions for The Underground Railroad.
• Does anyone actually know how to raise a reader?
• Toward a philosophy on book collecting.

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Thanks for hanging! Catch you next time!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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).

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• The full RWA board has resigned and will hold a special election in March to fill the Board seats until August. Need a recap? Here’s an extremely detailed account of everything that’s happened with the RWA since December, broken down by date and supported with links to additional news items.
• The Coronavirus outbreak is impacting Chinese publishers, many of which are temporarily shuttered due to the outbreak. UK publishers are also being affected.
• Asian American writers are finally breaking out on their own terms.
• Updates and an amazing speaker list for the 2nd annual Antiracist Book Festival in Washington D.C.
• Amazon is quietly removing white nationalist books from its site.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Marilynne Robinson is publishing a new book in October.
• Naomi Novik is writing a new fantasy trilogy, which publisher Del Rey describes as a “twisted, super dark, super modern, female-led Harry Potter.” SIGN ME UP RIGHT NOW!
• V.E. Schwab’s new book The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue will be released in October.
• A preview of Jeff VanderMeer’s upcoming novel, A Peculiar Peril, which comes out in July.
• Jeff Kinney is expanding his Wimpy Kid universe with a fantasy adventure book, out in April.
• Epic Reads has a great Twitter thread of upcoming YA novels this fall. The covers alone are breathtaking.
• Upcoming true crime books to make 2020 your most paranoid year ever.
• February picks from Crime Reads (international crime, nonfiction, psychological thrillers), O: Oprah Magazine, Popsugar, and Town & Country.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Weather – Jenny Offill (Esquire, Guardian, NPR, Shondaland, USA Today, Vulture)
• The Regrets – Amy Bonnaffons (NPR, USA Today, Washington Post)
• The Mercies – Kiran Millwood Hargrave (New York Times, NPR, USA Today)
• Eden Mine – S.M. Hulse (LA Times, New York Times)
• Something That May Shock and Discredit You – Daniel Mallory Ortberg (currently Daniel M. Lavery) (LA Times, New York Times)
• And I Do Not Forgive You – Amber Sparks (NPR, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

• Crime Writers of Color has a great list of black crime authors to read for Black History Month.
• Tor.com has a guide to the queer fantasy romance of K.J. Charles.

On the Riot

• 100 upcoming spring releases.
• How the New York Times Best Sellers List became the Big Deal (™) that it is today.
• Reading pathway for Courtney Milan.

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All Things Comics

• A first look at The Batman and Robert Pattinson’s camera test.
• Read these comics if you loved Birds of Prey.

On the Riot

• 5 comics (almost) as good as Saga.
• Diverse Green Lanterns from DC Kids.

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Audiophilia

• Colin Kaepernick launches a publishing house and lands a deal with Audible.
• 10 best audiobook apps for Android.
• 15 podcasts and audiobooks to improve your commute.

On the Riot

• 15 LGBTQ YA audiobooks to listen to in the first half of 2020.
• 20 must-read audiobooks narrated by black women.
• 15 of the best Audible Escape books.
• 8 great contemporary romance audiobooks.
• What are your audiobook quirks?

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 5 books that teach your kids about amazing black women in history.
• 16 ice skating books for kids.
• 23 YA romance novels better than a candlelit dinner.
• 15 YA novels to read after watching To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
• 7 YA novels to read if you loved watching You on Netflix.

Adults

• 6 SFF books to read for Black Future Month.
• Books for people concerned about Coronavirus.
• 8 impactful books for Black History Month.
• 8 swoony fantasy romances.
• 13 celebrity memoirs to read after finishing Jessica Simpson’s Open Book.
• 10 books about black Appalachia.

On the Riot

• Picture books about parental love that even grumpy cynics will enjoy.
• 8 meta romance novels.
• What to read after Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
• Books that would make great video games.
• 3 underrated memoirs by black women that changed this reader’s life.
• 10 feminist historical fiction titles to add to your TBR.
• 4 awesome memoirs by Latinx authors.
• 23 books authors are reading on Instagram this winter.

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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.

Keep your eyes on the (Friday) prize! Catch you later!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber.