Author: Katie McLain

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’m going to PLA in a couple weeks!! I hope some of you are able to make it too!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• The White House budget once again proposes eliminating IMLS.
• Bringing Congress on board with #eBooksForAll.
• PLA preview, for anyone who’s going.
• The Dallas Public Library basement now functions as a temporary emergency overnight shelter.
• Pasco County (FL) Libraries are going fines free.
• The L.A. Library is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of a long-lost statue.
• Native American groups take issue with the Library of Congress posting tribal stories.

Cool Library Updates

• The Pima County (AZ) Library launches an 8 week program called “Ready, Set, School!” that helps prepare 4 and 5 year olds for kindergarten.
• High school students in the Maxwell High School of Technology’s construction program helped build 200 little free libraries, which were decorated by community members and art classes, and will be distributed throughout Gwinnett County (GA), particularly in low income areas. This is such a cool community project!
• The Ohio State library holds the largest manga collection outside of Japan – read more about it here!

Worth Reading

• Libraries and authoritarianism.
• How to help prisoners get books.
• Where did leveled reading go wrong?
• Soft censorship that makes LGBTQIA+ stories disappear.
• A profile of Vivian Harsh, Chicago’s first black librarian, who put in tremendous work to preserve black history and literature.
• 12 teacher tricks that also work in an elementary school library.
• RuPaul does story time at the library on SNL!

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret may finally get an adaptation.
• The Color Purple returns to theaters for its 35th anniversary.
• Chris Pratt is starring in the adaptation for Jack Carr’s The Terminal List.
• Pedro Almodóvar is adapting A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin.
• Another adaptation of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is in the works.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Kirk Douglas has died at 103.
• This is a seriously badass profile of five of the best black YA authors in the business.
• Author Vikram Chandra created a writing bot called Granthika, which is supposed to help authors keep track of timelines, character attributes, story continuity, etc.
• Patti Smith pitches in after she learns that burglars stole a copy of her complete lyrics from an Oregon bookshop.

American Dirt

• An official statement on the cancellation of the book tour.
• How booksellers are dealing with the controversy.
• “I couldn’t care less if Jeanine Cummins is white, but her book is a failure.”
• Before American Dirt, there was the book described as the “Korean Angela’s Ashes.”

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Numbers & Trends

• Love & marriage book sales were on the rise in the US in 2019. Have you seen this trend at your library?

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Award News

• Edwidge Danticat wins the $100,000 Vilcek Prize in Literature.
• BAFTA Awards and the Writers Guild Awards are announced.
• The Women’s Prize for Fiction is marking its 25th anniversary with a plan for a “Winner of Winner’s” prize, which will be determined by public vote.
• Here are the 2020 shortlists for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. 
• The new Carol Shields Prize will award $150,000 to a female novelist.
• Check out the 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List.
• We’ve got the Splatterpunk Award nominees here.
• The 2019 nominees for LitHub’s Oscars for books.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Amazon is tracking your reading in great detail.
• What exactly is bibliotherapy?
• The Strand is opening a new store on the Upper West Side.
• Lord of the Rings may have been the result of some epic procrastination.
• A CONTINUOUS SUPPLY OF BOOKSTORE KITTENS. I WANT TO GO TO THERE!
• The history of Harry Potter book covers.

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On the Riot

• How library social workers provide community support.
• Why do some authors choose to publish their books via Kickstarter?
• Why working in an indie bookstore is the bee’s knees.
• Book club questions for The Dutch House.

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Thanks for hanging! Enjoy the weekend!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Untamed Shore by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia.

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

• B&N pulls their controversial “Diverse Editions” campaign after a lot of people referred to it as “literary blackface.” 
• Macmillan and the leaders of #DignidadLiteraria met to discuss the backlash following American Dirt, and Macmillan has promised to expand Latinx representation through its books and its staff.
• James Daunt, the new Barnes & Noble CEO, says that B&N is a “big mess” right now, although Waterstones is showing a profit.

New & Upcoming Titles

• We’re going to get not one but two posthumously published books by Katherine Dunn this year.
• Alice Hoffman reveals the cover for an upcoming prequel to Practical Magic.
• P.C. and Kristin Cast announce a new YA series, Sisters of Salem.
• The next Wayward Children book by Seanan McGuire will be published in January 2021, called Across the Green Grass Fields.
• Here’s a teaser for Susanna Clarke’s new book, Piranesi, which comes out in September of this year.
• Books by black women we can’t wait for in 2020.
• 27 novels feminists should read in 2020.
• True crime books to watch out for in 2020.
• Best books of the month from Amazon, Bustle, Crime Reads, Entertainment Weekly, Gizmodo (SFF), LitHub (SFF), Paste (YA), PopSugar, Refinery29, Salon, and Time.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Weather – Jenny Offill (LA Times, New York Times, Time)
• Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line – Deepa Anappara (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump’s War on the World’s Most Powerful Office – Susan Hennessey & Benjamin Wittes (New York Times, Washington Post)
• The Cactus League – Emily Nemens (LA Times, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

• YA fantasy where the oppression is real.

On the Riot

• 5 of the most anticipated books from Asian Authors in 2020
• February indie press roundups.
• The haunted house in fiction.

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All Things Comics

• 5 comics to read in February.
• Sam Raimi may direct the new Doctor Strange film.

On the Riot

• 5 books that would make awesome graphic novels.
• The experience of rereading Persepolis in 2020.
• DC graphic novels for kids and young adults.

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Audiophilia

• In the final captions copyright settlement, Audible agrees not to use AAP member content without permission.
• Short story suggestions for podcast fans trying to get into audiobooks.
• 8 audiobooks about queer women.

On the Riot

• 5 of the best audiobooks narrated by Soneela Nankani.
• A listening pathway for Bahni Turpin.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 10 children’s books to read this winter, reviewed by kids!
• 10 books about equality for tweens.
• 21 YA recommendations for fans of Birds of Prey.
• 20 YA books to read during Black History Month.

Adults

• 23 classic retellings from science fiction and fantasy.
• Must-read black history recommendations from Bustle, Shondaland, and USA Today.
• Roxane Gay’s favorite books of 2019.
• 14 books to read in honor of Doctor Who’s first black doctor.
• 17 books to make you believe in love.
• 8 crime novels about people haunted by their pasts.
• Books with reality-bending settings.
• 11 books about forbidden romances.
• 8 SFF romances.

On the Riot

• Books for the littlest Star Wars fans in your life.
• 11 funny picture books to read out loud.
• 18 gorgeous children’s books for storytime.
• 6 mysteries set in Scotland.
• 40 of the best feminist books.
• 5 M/F romances that are queer as hell.
• 5 books about pandemics to help you understand coronavirus.
• 5 books for anyone who was disappointed by the sequel to Call Me By Your Name.
• 19 fiction & nonfiction books about affairs.

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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 on chugging – I’ll see you on Friday!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James.

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

• Here’s a breakdown of the 90 minute meeting between Macmillan CEO John Sargent and librarians at ALA Midwinter. (Spoiler: it was about as productive as you’d expect it to be.)
• Related, here’s a report on the state of the Macmillan eBook embargo.
• Two people were arrested at the controversial Women’s Liberation Front program at the Seattle Public Library.
• Drag queens plan a protest at the Missouri State Capitol in regards to the proposed bill that would call for legal penalties against librarians who allowed children to take LGBTQ+-themed materials out of the library.
• Toronto Public Library figures show that librarians face increasing violence on the job.
• The McAllen (TX) Library opts out of promoting American Dirt.
• Several Washington & Idaho libraries adopt fines free policies.
• The Australian Library & Information Association has a list of ways libraries can support the bushfire efforts.

Cool Library Updates

• The Eau Claire (WI) Library system has winter gear available for checkout.
• St. Paul libraries see a boost after going fines free.
• A library station opens in a Luxemburg (WI) grocery store.
• Harrison Ford for American libraries!

Worth Reading

• Read about this request for reconsideration about a juvenile nonfiction book about biblical dinosaurs. This is interesting.
• Did you know that Punxsutawney Phil lives at the library when he’s not making his annual appearance?

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Disney paid $75 million for movie rights to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, which may be the biggest film acquisition ever.
• Grady Hendrix’s upcoming Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires sells rights for a possible TV series.
• Netflix is adapting Karin Slaughter’s Pieces of Her.
• Here’s a casting update for the US adaptation of the Lincoln Lawyer series.
• Joel Coen is filming a Macbeth adaptation with Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand.
• ABC is producing a drama series called The Big Sky, which is based on The Highway, the first in the Cassie Dewell series by C.J. Box.
• Trailers for The Plot Against America and The Pale Horse.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Mary Higgins Clark has died at 92.
• Stephen King writes an op-ed for the Washington Post about how the Oscars are still rigged in favor of white people. It’s a good article, but I’d really like to see him talk about putting in the work to read more books by women and authors of color. He has also decided to quit Facebook over false political ads.
• Slate and Vulture looks at the recent controversy surrounding My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. Some people believe it borrows heavily from the memoir Excavation by Wendy C. Ortiz and represents another example of how books by white women are heavily promoted while authors of color struggle to have their own writing published.
• Laramie County school district representatives vote unanimously to keep Drama by Reina Telgemeier on school shelves.
• Tulane University acquires Anne Rice’s archives.

American Dirt

The conversation and controversy continues.

• Oprah promises to have deeper conversations about American Dirt and what it says about who gets to tell which stories.
• In a meeting with Macmillan, author Roberto Lovato and member of #DiginidadLiteraria received confirmation that Jeanine Cummins did not receive death threats.
• David Bowles praised the public library that sent back the free ALA/Oprah book club copies of American Dirt.
• Bitch Media collects some of the criticisms.
• “The problem isn’t who wrote it, but how.” (Wellllll, I don’t know if the first part is true, but the how is definitely problematic too.)
• A look at cultural appropriation and the publishing industry.
• Sandra Cisneros doubles down on her support of the book.

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Numbers & Trends

• Lee & Low published the results of their 2019 diversity in publishing baseline survey. Not much has changed.

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Award News

• The 2020 Audie finalists have been named.
• Take a peek at the 2020 Over the Rainbow book list.
• Winners of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature are out.

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Pop Cultured

• The Crown will end with season five.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• The world’s largest book takes six people to turn a single page.
• The importance of rereading, in case you needed permission to pick up an old favorite.

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On the Riot

• Library fines are trash and people are taking notice.
• Strategies to make your public library welcoming to LGBTQ+ patrons.
• Is it considered bad form to share this article about hacking your library holds list?
• The most uniquely popular books in libraries, October – December 2019.
• Confronting racial slurs in literature.
• Why working in a bookstore was so disappointing.

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Catch you later, library friends!

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).

We made it to February, and I am still reeling from that amazing Half Time show on Sunday. That’s the kind of energy I needed for this week!

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• A report on the publishing industry in the 2010’s. 
• Which celebrity book club is “more potent”: Oprah’s or Reese Witherspoon’s?

New & Upcoming Titles

• Jodi Picoult and David Mitchell both announce new books for 2020.
• Dave Matthews is publishing a middle grade fantasy novel with an environmentalist edge.
• Margaret Atwood is publishing her first poetry collection in over a decade.
• Solaris Books is publishing Yoon Ha Lee’s next book, although there’s no word on a US release date yet.
• Tasha Suri has a new epic fantasy trilogy coming out.
• The Millions has a list of writers to watch in Spring 2020. 
• Most anticipated YA of 2020.
• Books to look forward to in 2020.
• Most anticipated books for February from Library Journal, LitHub, New York Times, Pop Sugar, and Washington Post.
• Tor.com has new fantasy, sci-fi, YA SFF, and genre-bending titles for February.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Run Me to Earth – Paul Yoon (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Kingdomtide – Rye Curtis (NPR)
• The Missing American – Kwei Quartey (Washington Post)
• The Majesties – Tiffany Tsao (NPR)

RA/Genre Resources

• What happens to your brain when you read true crime.

On the Riot

• 20 debut novels of 2020.

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All Things Comics

On the Riot

• 4 comic book roles for Oscar Isaac. Because let’s be real, we all need more Oscar Isaac in our lives.
• Best manga of 2020.

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Audiophilia

• How to book that first audiobook narrator gig.

On the Riot

• How does Libro.fm work?
• Australian audiobooks for your TBR.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 10 books about football for kids.
• 16 YA book recommendations inspired by the 2020 Oscar nominees.

Adults

• 18 new books about the immigrant experience that aren’t American Dirt.
• 30 of the best books to read by black authors in your lifetime.
• 15 essential Colombian novels you should read.
• 15 female detectives to read while you mourn Nancy Drew.
• 14 contemporary books by Native American writers to get excited about.
• 4 super claustrophobic thrillers.

On the Riot

• Inspiring children’s books about the environment.
• 6 YA books about assassins.
• YA books set during a single night.
• 10 books like Beloved by Toni Morrison.
• 18 books about wolves.
• 10 of the best books on sleep.
• 14 authors like John Grisham. (Every librarian should have a copy of this at the ready for those patrons that gobble up legal thrillers like they’re going out of style.)
• 40+ celebrity books to read this year.
• 8 serious queer novels without queer suffering.

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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.

See 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).

The Chicago area’s been without sunshine for over a week now, and I’m starting to feel like I’ve been living in a cave full of fluorescent lighting for the last several months. My kingdom for some Vitamin D!

Anyway, on with the newsletter. Here’s hoping that February will be just a touch less dreary than January.

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• Whether you attended ALA Midwinter this year or watched it unfold on Twitter, catch up on the conference highlights here.
• A bill filed in Illinois could allow local libraries to get a cut of the taxes on recreational cannabis sales.
• The Montclair (NJ) Library reports an increase in library use after eliminating late fees.

Cool Library Updates

• Cedar Rapids (IA) Library is piloting a program that promotes healthier lifestyles for its patrons.

Worth Reading

• “You should be outraged by the state of Philadelphia public school libraries.”
• Some extra-cute Little Free Libraries.
• The most architecturally stunning libraries.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• We’re getting a movie adaptation of the Mean Girls musical, with Tina Fey writing the screenplay. That sounds so fetch.
• The House on Mango Street is going to be a TV series.
• Walter Mosley is reportedly writing the film script for The Man in My Basement.
• Hulu is adapting F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender Is the Night.
• Netflix has optioned The Last by Hanna Jameson.
• Amazon is planning an Alex Cross TV series based on the James Patterson books.
• Matt Damon will star in the adaptation of Don Winslow’s The Force.
• V.C. Andrews’ Ruby Landry novels are being turned into a five-movie series with Lifetime.
• First trailer for Normal People by Sally Rooney.
• Here’s a trailer for The Undoing, which is based on the book You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
• Trailer for the upcoming Netflix film, Lost Girls, based on the true crime book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker, which is a really excellent book.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Leaked information from John Bolton’s unpublished manuscript could have a significant impact on the ongoing Senate impeachment trial. Meanwhile, the White House could use the pre-publication review process to delay or kill the book’s publication.
• Basketball star and author Kobe Bryant has died at 41.
• Journalist and author Jim Lehrer has died at age 85.
• Parents want Brandy Colbert’s book Little & Lion removed from the Palm Beach Central High School (FL) curriculum, despite students being allowed to opt out of reading the book.
• Adam Savage of MythBusters fame, is starting a new book club, and selected Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker.
• George R.R. Martin said that season 8 of Game of Thrones was supposed to be a film trilogy, rather than the final TV season.
• Marlon James is starting a literary podcast.

American Dirt

Yeah, there’s enough news with American Dirt that I’m giving it its own subsection.

• Amazon restricts reviews of American Dirt.
• Jeanine Cummins responds to the criticism, as does Flatiron Books.
• Booksellers are divided on how they feel about the book.
• Vulture, BuzzFeed, and Vox explain the controversy.
• The book tour has been cancelled; find details on the cancellation in the statement.

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Numbers & Trends

• In the US, more people visited public libraries than movie theaters in 2019.
• Breaking down the bestsellers of 2019.

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Award News

• Michelle Obama won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Becoming!
• RUSA/CODES book awards were announced at ALA Midwinter, including the Notable Books List, the RUSA Reading List, and the RUSA Listen List.
• School Library Journal has full coverage of the Youth Media Awards.
• Seanan McGuire becomes the first three-time winner of the Alex Award!
• Winners were announced for the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Awards.
• Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli and Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham have won the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.
• We Need Diverse Books names the winners of the Walter Dean Myers Award.
• Winners of the 2019 Costa Awards have been announced.
• Here are the 2020 PEN American Literary Awards finalists.

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Pop Cultured

• Doctor Who casts Jo Martin as its first black doctor.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• ReadClubHub is a free service designed to connect readers with book clubs at local indie bookstores. (Previously, the service was named ReadTribe, but the founder changed the name after criticism from Indigenous communities.)
• Anyone have thoughts about the person who rips long books in half for easier portability? (I have thoughts, and it’s called GET AN EREADER!!!)

Found on Book Riot

• Kelly Jensen talks about the recent posting for Hello Sunshine’s Resident Librarian, and a spokesperson for Hello Sunshine posted a statement that this will be a paid position.
• The history and debunking of librarian stereotypes.
• 8 bequests by famous authors to libraries. (My former library is on this list!)
• 5 ways to support your local library.
• Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in NYC.
• Oprah’s controversial book club pick, American Dirt, casts a long shadow.
• 20 Shakespeare puns that the Bard himself would probably love.

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Catch you later, library friends!

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

New & Upcoming Titles

• A first look at the upcoming Nancy Drew prequel novel, Nancy Drew: The Curse, based on the CW series.
• Entertainment Weekly, People, and Vulture all look at Jessica Simpson’s upcoming memoir.
• The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, appears to focus on a teenage President Snow, which a lot of fans aren’t thrilled about. You can read an excerpt here.
• Former Book Rioter Preeti Chhibber has written an adorable Star Wars picture book called A Jedi You Will Be.
• 10 best debut novelists of 2020.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins (Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, New York Times (here and here), Time)
• A Long Petal of the Sea – Isabel Allende (New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post)
• The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia – Emma Copely Eisenberg (New York Times, NPR)
• Little Gods – Meng Jin (NPR, Washington Post)

On the Riot

• What is speculative fiction?
• How to find the right books for you. (And help your patrons find the right books for them!)
• The final folk of thrillers and horror.
• What all those dead girls say about us.
  
• A quick and dirty guide to essays.

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All Things Comics

• Netflix is producing a Witcher anime film.
• To celebrate Nancy Drew’s 90th anniversary, Dynamite is publishing a comic that…murders Nancy Drew and has the Hardy Boys investigate her murder.
• 20 most-anticipated comics of 2020.
• 13 graphic novels feminists should read in 2020.

On the Riot

• Treat graphic novels like books in 2020 (because they ARE).
• 4 comic movies more deserving of an Oscar than Joker.

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Audiophilia

• AudioFile’s best audiobooks of January.

On the Riot

• 5 queer audiobook memoirs read by their authors.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 11 picture books to help kids feel warm and cozy.
• 9 books to calm an anxious toddler.
• 7 great contemporary novels for teens.
• Fantasy & sci-fi books for trans kids and teens.
• 14 friends-to-lovers teen romances

Adults

• 10 western mysteries/thrillers
• 9 books to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
• 7 thrillers for domestic suspense lovers.
• 7 empowering books for female gamers.
• 19 books that people say have traumatized them.

On the Riot

• Children’s books for the Lunar New Year.
• 15 children’s books about butterflies.
• 5 YA sci-fi and fantasy novels that tackle climate change.
• YA books about fashion design.
• The beer lover’s big book list.
• 5 baking cookbooks by women of color.
• 20 Martin Luther King Jr. books.

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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.

See 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).

Don’t forget that Book Riot has a new literary fiction podcast called Novel Gazing! Put some lit fic in your ears!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• I missed this update previously, but the Seattle Public Library has decided to move forward with the program sponsored by the Women’s Liberation Front, despite the group’s history of transphobic beliefs.
• ALA responds to the proposed Missouri legislation that proposes punishment for public libraries that provide children access to “sexually inappropriate” materials.
• Reese Witherspoon’s company, HelloSunshine, is looking for a Librarian-in-Residence, so if you have experience as a librarian and don’t mind being on camera, you might be interested in this! (Note that this originally appeared to be a contest rather than a paid employment position, but new information suggests this might not actually be the case. Stay tuned!)
• The National Archives digitally altered historic photographs of the 2017 Women’s March, then later apologized after the news broke.
• The Cleveland Public Library has been criticized for its social media postings about an ongoing union dispute.
• The Columbus Metropolitan Library was hit with a massive data breach.
• US states move to stop prisons from charging inmates for reading.
• Nike donates $5 million to create an athletic facility at the Obama Center Presidential Library.
• Veronica Vichit-Vadakan, a reference librarian at Washington State University Vancouver, won big on Jeopardy!

Cool Library Updates

• Many libraries are seeing their circulation numbers rise with “binge boxes”: sets of movies and TV shows with related themes and titles to spark long viewing sessions. I personally have some qualms with the use of the word “binge” here, but the overall idea is great.

Worth Reading

• Is the Macmillan eBook boycott working?
• Creating a space for important conversations about race.
• 3 reasons to love self-checkout in elementary school libraries.
• Way beyond books: how libraries have changed.
• One library takes a neglected, unborrowed book out for a magical day outside the library. This is adorable!

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Binti is getting a Hulu adaptation, and Nnedi Okorafor will co-write the script!
• Starz is in talks for a second season of Dublin Murders, and is also keen to continue the Outlander story with spinoffs and story extensions.
• A look at the casting for Naomi Alderman’s The Power.
• AMC is adapting Stephen King’s Sleeping Beauties, but Amazon will not be moving forward with the previously planned Dark Tower series.
• Amazon orders a Jack Reacher series.
• The Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, will air in 2022, and George R.R. Martin will write the scripts.
• Epix is adapting A Column of Fire by Ken Follett, as well as The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell.
• Mindhunter Season 3 has been put on indefinite hold.
• Netflix renews You for a third season.
• Trailers for Little Fires Everywhere, The Ghost Bride, and Stargirl.
• Here’s some reverse adaptation news: thanks to the success of Netflix’s Witcher series, the original book series is getting a massive reprint.

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Books & Authors in the News

• Oprah selected American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins as her next book club pick, but there has been a lot of sharp criticism about the book from the Latinx community. Also, the book release party featured centerpieces wrapped in barbed wire, so needless to say there are some problematic issues that need to be addressed.
• Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R. Tolkien, has died at age 95.
• Florida parents are protesting the book Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart, which was approved for classroom use by the Palm Beach County School District.
• After launching a somewhat successful campaign to remove LGBTQ literature from elementary school libraries and classrooms in Loudon County (VA), a subcommittee of the Loudon County School Board voted in favor of keeping two challenged titles: Prince & Knight and Heather Has Two Mommies.
• Melissa de la Cruz has signed a writing/producing deal for two Hallmark Channel movies.

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Numbers & Trends

• Where the Crawdads Sing officially takes the “triple crown” of publishing sales, as it was also the top-selling eBook and audiobook of 2019, selling more than one million units in each format.

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Award News

• Check out the nominees for the Edgar Awards and the National Book Critics Circle Awards. 
• The preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Awards has been released.
• National Jewish Book Award winners announced.
• Longlist for the Dublin Literary Award.
• YALSA announces its 2020 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers.

Pop Cultured

• Monty Python co-founder Terry Jones is dead at 77.
• Killing Eve gets a third season.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Dane Pratt, a cardiovascular profusionist at MercyOne hospital in Des Moines, spends time reading to critically sick children, and the hospital is now flooded with book donations.
• A Lord Byron poem has been banned from a Church of England gravestone because the words offer no “Christian hope for resurrection.” Ooookay then…
• Take “bathroom reading” to the next level with this 18th century toilet that was disguised as a giant book.

On the Riot

• Kelly Jensen provides an in-depth look at the proposed Missouri legislation to censor public library materials.
• Celebrating awards season in the library.
• The history and debunking of librarian stereotypes.
• The history (or herstory) of Drag Queen Story Time.
• Are Amazon’s book algorithms sexist?
• Ever wonder why self-help books feature the authors on the cover?
• This writer returns to the childhood best-sellers that she originally missed when she was a kid.
• Why this reader can’t quit the Goodreads yearly book challenge.

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Catch you later, library friends!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Vessel by Lisa A. Nichols.

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).

Fun podcast news: Book Riot has a literary fiction podcast now, called Novel Gazing! Join Louise and Mary Kay as they contemplate the joys and vagaries around literary fiction, including how to even define it!

And now, onto the newsletter.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Courtney Milan posted the letter that she sent to the RWA, in which she offered to settle all claims against her in exchange for complete transparency from the organization.
• Harlequin’s Carina Press is launching a LGBTQ romance line.
• The Atlantic plans to publish more fiction, starting with a new story by Lauren Groff.
• Svetlana Alexievich, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015, is opening her own publishing house just for women.
• Lee Child is passing on the Jack Reacher series to his brother Andrew Grant, with the requirement that Andrew change his last name to “Child.”
• Amazon is publishing commercial fiction by famous authors – why traditional publishers should be scared.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Bob Woodward is writing a follow-up book to Fear, but this time Trump apparently allowed himself to be interviewed.
• A first look at the travel guide Anthony Bourdain was working on when he died, which will be published later this year.
• Lev Grossman is writing a children’s book “reminiscent of Roald Dahl and The Chronicles of Narnia.”
• Booklist has its editors’ choices for 2019. 
• Writers to watch: Spring 2020 edition.
• Most anticipated books of 2020 from LitHub and Vulture.
• 15 small press books to look for in 2020.
• Most anticipated middle grade & chapter books of 2020.
• Most anticipated books by Indigenous authors in the first half of 2020.
• Books to read this January from Barnes & Noble and O Magazine.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• American Dirt -Jeanine Cummins (LA Times, New York Times, NPR, Time, Washington Post)
• Uncanny Valley – Anna Wiener (The Atlantic, Esquire, The Guardian, LA Times, NPR)
• Cleanness – Garth Greenwell (Electric Lit, Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, New York Times)
• Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick: Stories From the Harlem Renaissance – Zora Neale Hurston (New York Times, Time, Washington Post)
• A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America – Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)
• Oligarchy – Scarlett Thomas (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)
• A Long Petal of the Sea – Isabel Allende (LA Times, Time)
• Little Gods – Meng Jin (New York Times, USA Today)
• Zed – Joanna Kavenna (USA Today, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

• A beginner’s guide to African crime fiction.
• The new golden age of the SFF novella.
• LGBTQ fantasy comes of age.

On the Riot

• Book Riot’s most anticipated books of 2020!
• 9 new series from your favorite authors.
• How horror helps with processing grief and trauma.

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All Things Comics

• HBO is not planning on a second season of Watchmen.
• Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan is getting a film adaptation, which will be re-named The Great Machine to avoid confusion with the 2015 sci-fi thriller of the same name.
• 100 of the best horror comics of all time.

On the Riot

• 5 must-read comics and graphic novels from the Philippines.
• 7 graphic biographies and memoirs for your learning pleasure.

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Audiophilia

• Audible settles its copyright lawsuit with publishers over audiobook captions.
• Look for the first set of Marvel original audiobooks to arrive this year.
• The ACLU, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman are collaborating to release an audiobook anthology called Fight of the Century, and will feature a star-studded narrator cast, including Sir Patrick Stewart, Samuel L. Jackson, and Lucy Liu.
• YALSA names its 2020 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.

On the Riot

• Audiobooks by Native, First Nations, or Indigenous authors.
• Listening pathway for Dion Graham.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 10 badass YA characters to inspire your 2020 goals.
• 18 YA #throwback historical fiction books.
• 17 books for after you’ve been emotionally devastated by Little Women.

Adults

• 5 books that Jay-Z thinks you should read.
• 6 anthologies written by, for, and about disabled people.
• 7 of the best vegetarian cookbooks.
• 7 books for surviving political and environmental disasters.
• 73 black romance novels to read from 2019.

On the Riot

• 20 black children’s books by black authors.
• 16 of the best picture books about historical figures.
• 33 of the top middle grade books on Goodreads.
• 15 of the best books about marriage.
• 8 long books to commit to during cold weather.
• 10 fascinating books by (or about) child prodigies. (There’s a mix of age ranges on this list.)
• 10 captivating books similar to The Da Vinci Code.
• 8 new books you won’t be able to put down.
• Read Harder: a book in any genre written by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous Author, an edition of a literary magazine (digital or physical).

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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.

See you on Friday!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid.

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).

My cats pushed my head off of my pillow while I was sleeping, and now I feel like a robot because I can only turn my head by turning my entire body. On that note, on to library things!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• The Florida Citizens Alliance urges the state Attorney General to prosecute schools that provide reading material to its students that the organization deems “inappropriate.” WOW. That is…a terrifying proposition.
• Then Missouri said “Hold my beer!” A similar bill was filed in Missouri that will penalize public libraries if minors are allowed to access “age-inappropriate sexual material.” Titles would be judged “age-inappropriate” by a five person parental library review board.
• And in more gatekeeping news, Goodnight Moon didn’t make the New York Public Library’s 10 most-checked out books of all time list because influential children’s librarian Anne Carroll Moore hated the book, even though Moore had retired from the library in 1941 and the book wasn’t even published until 1947. The library didn’t even purchase a copy until 1972!
• Gregory Priore, a former archivist at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, and John Schulman, owner of Caliban Book Shop, have pleaded guilty to stealing $8 million worth of rare items from the Carnegie Library.
• Rapper Noname designated January 11th as National Library Card Registration Day.

Cool Library Updates

• San Mateo County (CA) libraries allow patrons to check out bikes with their library card.
• The Donald Dungan Library in Costa Mesa (CA) takes a bilingual approach to community services.

Worth Reading

• Making room for inclusive storytimes.
• Libraries as social centers.

Book Adaptations in the News

• Melissa McCarthy is starring with Nicole Kidman in Hulu’s adaptation of Nine Perfect Strangers.
• HBO Max is adapting The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper, with Cary Joji Fukunaga on board.
• Oooh, this sounds cool…CBS is creating a crime drama series called Clarice that follows FBI agent Clarice Starling after the events of Silence of the Lambs.
• SyFy is planning a new Peter Pan series called The League of Pan.

Books & Authors in the News

• Jason Reynolds has been named the next National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
• Don Winslow and Stephen King have jointly promised to donate $200,000 to a children’s hospital if the White House will hold a press conference. (The last White House press conference was over 300 days ago.)
• Stephen King made the news in a less awesome way when he tweeted his response to the Oscar nominations, saying “I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality. It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong.” He later backtracked his statement after facing lots of online criticism.
• Candice Carty-Williams (author of 2019’s acclaimed novel Queenie) is the new weekly books columnist at The Guardian.

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Numbers & Trends

• OverDrive saw a 20% increase in digital circulation in 2019 – that’s over 326 million digital titles checked out last year worldwide!

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Award News

• The Oscar nominations are out.
• Publisher’s Weekly and BookBrunch have launched a new award, the Selfies, for self-published authors in the U.S. The shortlist will be announced on May 29th, and the winner will be announced at ALA Annual on June 27th.
• NAACP Image Award nominations are out, as well as nominees for the Philip K. Dick Award.
• John le Carre wins a $100,000 prize for his “contribution to democracy.”

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Pop Cultured

• The CW has renewed a bunch of shows, including Riverdale, Nancy Drew, and The Flash.
  
• ABC and Mel Brooks are teaming up for Young Frankenstein: Live! this fall.
• The BBC, Warner Brothers, and the UK’s Natural History Museum are partnering on an hour-long documentary that will explore the connections between the creatures in Fantastic Beasts and real animals that have existed.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• These second grade students have become published authors through a national student publishing program!
• How Tolkien and Lord of the Rings changed publishing forever.
• If any of us need any more convincing, here’s a Washington Post article about why you should read.
• A roundup of scathing book reviews from 2019.

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On the Riot

• How libraries help people in cold weather.
• 13 must-listen librarian podcasts.
• Authors support Australia fire services with the fundraising hashtag #AuthorsForFireys.
• How to do nothing, or, the case for rereading books.
• How Nancy Drew helped this writer reject toxic masculinity.
• Why buying used books is a great thing.
• Why this writer won’t attempt to read 100 books in 2020.
• Revamping your book club in 2020.
• 20 things overheard in bookstores. 

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See you on Tuesday! Hopefully I’ll have regained the use of my neck by that point.

–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

• RWA president Damon Suede and executive director Carol Ritter resign amidst the ongoing racism controversy. Major publishers are also dropping out of RWA’s annual conference.
• Chuck Tingle wrote a 4300 word story called Not Pounded By Romance Wranglers Of America Because Their New Leadership Is From The Depths Of The Endless Cosmic Void to show support for the authors grappling with the terrible RWA leadership. Yes, really.
• Also, check out what he did with the domain name www.romancewritersofamerica.com

New & Upcoming Titles

• The Guardian posted a 2020 literary calendar with all kinds of dates for literary awards, adaptation releases, new titles, and more!
• Stacey Abrams is writing a book about voter suppression, coming out June 2020!
• Jonathan Van Ness of Queer Eye fame is writing a children’s book about a non-binary guinea pig.
• 17 must-read books for Winter 2020, along with a Winter 2020 thriller preview.
• Buzzfeed & The Millions pick their most-anticipated books for 2020.
• Goodreads compiled a list of 33 of the most highly anticipated reads for 2020 based on users’ “Want to Read” shelves.
• 2020 reading lists for mysteries/thrillers and YA novels.
• Most anticipated LGBTQ novels, crime novels, and international releases for the year.
• 17 memoirs feminists should read in 2020.
• 25 novels for YA feminists coming out this year.
• Here’s a cover reveal thread for some Fall 2020 YA titles.
• 5 SFF novels to start your New Year’s off right.
• Best books of January from AV Club, Crime Reads (debut fiction), LitHub, Paste, Salon, and Tor.com.
• Must-read January poetry.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid (The Atlantic, Vox, Washington Post)
• Creatures – Crissy Van Meter (LA Times, New York Times, NPR)
• Cleanness – Garth Greenwell (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Long Bright River – Liz Moore (New York Times, Washington Post)
• Dear Edward – Ann Napolitano (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times)
• Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity – Peggy Orenstein (NPR, Time)
• Topics of Conversation – Miranda Popkey (New York Times, NPR)

RA/Genre Resources

• Library Journal launches a horror-focused review column, with reviews by Becky Spratford of RA for All and RA for All Horror.
• A look at this new wave of female-driven espionage fiction.
• Reviving the traditional mystery for a 21st century audience.

On the Riot

• 12 romance authors to add to your 2020 TBR.
• 20 must-read 2020 SFF novels.
• 50+ YA novels featuring queer girls published in 2020.

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All Things Comics

• Boom! Studios announces a graphic adaptation of Slaughterhouse-Five.
• The Smithsonian partners with IDW to publish graphic novels and more.
• An early look at the Dune graphic novel adaptation.
• New York Times previews the new Robert Kirkman graphic novel, out in April.
• Trailer for Locke and Key, which airs on February 7, 2020.
• Graphic novel suggestions for 2020.
• 5 comics to read this January.
• 10 honest portrayals of mental illness in graphic memoirs.

On the Riot

• YA graphic novels, memoirs, and comics coming out this winter.
• 5 comics & graphic novels to read if you enjoyed The Witcher.
• 10 powerful graphic memoirs for young readers.
• 6 cookbook comics for your consumption.

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Audiophilia

• Stephen King will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Audies.
• As of January 1st, the audio version of The Martian is narrated by Wil Wheaton rather than R.C. Bray, due to contract issues.

On the Riot

• 5 of the best audiobooks narrated by Robin Miles.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 9 books about kindness for tweens.
• 26 YA books to read if you’re a fan of The Witcher.

Adults

• 100 amazing books written by black women.
• 12 SFF books you might have missed in 2019.
• 5 books about finding hope at the end of the world.
• Lupita Nyong’o talks about her 10 favorite books.
• USA Today: 100 bestselling books of 2019.
• 10 Latinx poetry collections you may have missed in 2019.
• 12 new and overlooked vampire novels.
• 14 best-selling horror novels to keep you up tonight.
• 6 crime novels about processing trauma.
• 7 books about Hollywood to read during award season.
• Top 10 books about toxic masculinity.
• 15 books about the lives of middle-aged women.

On the Riot

• Children’s books about bears.
• 11 YA books about interracial couples.
• A list of WLW (Women Loving Women) romances.
• Cozy cat mysteries.
• 15 of the best LGBTQ science fiction novels.
• The all-time most recommended books on the Get Booked podcast.
• Read Harder: horror novel published by an indie press (I wrote this one!), a book with a protagonist with a disability, a middle grade book that doesn’t take place in the US or the UK, a book written by or about refugees, and a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community.

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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.

See you on Friday!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel.