Category: Check Your Shelf

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. My Monday shift at the library was quite an adventure! A massive storm rolled through, and as the designated Person-in-Charge, I had to coordinate emergency procedures, usher everyone to the shelter location in the basement, and then made the call to close the library early when the power went out. Fun!

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• ALA’s Midwinter meeting in January will be virtual only.
• The Horror Writers Association’s Librarians’ Day 2020 will be held online, for free.
• Penguin Random House extends its temporary eBook and digital audio terms for libraries.

Cool Library Updates

• Meet Curbside Larry!
• Libraries are launching Black Lives Matter book clubs.

Worth Reading

• Are there exceptions to face mask requirements? Plus: wear the dang mask: lessons from a library that opened too soon.
• Libraries are about being together. So what do they do now?
• YALSA has some suggestions for celebrating National Voter Registration Day on September 22nd.
• Barcelona’s best hidden gem may be a library for the working class.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Megan Abbott has a new book coming out in 2021 (!!!) and it’s already been picked up for TV.
• Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are producing a Hulu adaptation of Mexican Gothic.
• John Legend’s production company is developing Paper Gods by Goldie Taylor for ABC.
• Hulu announces a film adaptation of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood.
• LeBron James and Universal are teaming up for a film adaption of the graphic novel, New Kid, by Jerry Craft.
• Candice Fox’s Crimson Lake is getting adapted under the name Troppo.
• Daniel Dae Kim will star in Pantheon, an animated drama series on AMC based on Ken Liu’s short stories.
• Hulu cancels High Fidelity after just one season, while Love, Victor gets a second season.
• Upcoming book-to-film adaptations.

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Books & Authors in the News

• The Department of Justice is going after John Bolton’s book earnings and advance for The Room Where It Happened.
• John Boyne made headlines after a reader noticed that some perfunctory research led to Boyne including details straight from Zelda: Breath of the Wild in his latest novel, The Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom.

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Award News

• Winners of the Diverse Book Awards, 2020 Splatterpunk Awards, and the Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Award have been announced.
• FIYAH, the Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, announces the creation of the first Ignyte Awards, celebrating efforts towards inclusivity in speculative fiction.

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Pop Cultured

• Rogue One is getting a spin-off series on Disney+.

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• Brooklyn bookstores unite for Independent Bookstore Day.
• This woman hunts for photos and other treasures left behind in used books, and then returns them to the owners.
• 15 tried-and-true ways to get out of a reading slump.

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On the Riot

• Look inside 7 beautiful monastic libraries.
• More fascinating and free things from the Library of Congress website.
• 15+ library stickers to show your support.
• 8 reasons book lovers need USPS, and how to save it.
• 5 ways to upcycle your ARCs.

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Take a breath and take care of yourselves, folks. I’ll see you next week. Here are more adorable pictures of our little Houdini, who is quite the master of disguise!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. This issue of CYS is brought to you in part thanks to the efforts of my new at-home supervisor, who made sure I stayed on task this afternoon.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• Brooklyn Book Festival moves to an entirely virtual format.
• An interview with Phoebe Robinson on spotlighting diverse voices through her new imprint.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Former president George W. Bush is releasing a book of 43 immigrant portraits he’s painted himself, along with the people’s accompanying stories.
• Stephen King will be publishing a new crime novel in March.
• Goodnight Moon is getting a pandemic-era spoof called Good Morning, Zoom.
• 35 standout debut novels for Summer/Fall 2020.
• New and upcoming fiction from Black voices.
• August 2020 picks from Amazon, Bustle, Den of Geek (fantasy), Entertainment Weekly, io9, Lambda Literary, LitHub, The Millions, Pop Sugar, Shondaland, Time, Town & Country, Tor.com (YA SFF), Vogue, and Vulture.
• Summer reading picks from O: Oprah Magazine and USA Today.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• The Death of Vivek Oji – Akwaeke Emezi (NPR, USA Today)
• Lobizona – Romina Garber (Tor.com, USA Today)
• Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots – Morgan Jerkins (New York Times, USA Today)
• Migrations – Charlotte McConaghy (LA Times, New York Times)
• Harrow the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir (NPR, Vox)

RA/Genre Resources

• Black storytellers are using horror to battle hate.
• Taye Diggs “on why representation matters in kids’ books.”
• Library Journal has a collection development resource on Christian fiction.

On the Riot

• This Authors for Black Voices auction will benefit racial justice organizations.
• 3 new thought-provoking horror novels.

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All Things Comics

• Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming Candyman reboot, will direct Captain Marvel 2.
• Best comics for August.

On the Riot

• A brief guide to comic book art styles.
• New & upcoming middle grade and YA graphic novels.
• I watched the SDCC small press panel and now I am 86% rage bees.

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Audiophilia

• The best audiobooks, chosen by writers.

On the Riot

• The benefits of audiobooks for your heart and mind.
• 6 of the best audiobooks for Women in Translation Month.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Books about all kinds of families.
• 25 middle grade novels to get your hands on ASAP.
• 12 YA reads better than required school reading.

Adults

• 7 books about coming of age in a small town.
• Best Instant Pot cookbooks.
• 8 mystery novels with collections.
• 9 books that predicted the future.
• 10 books about book lovers.
• 8 SFF romances.

On the Riot

• 10 informative picture books about women’s suffrage.
• 5 YA fantasies with feisty princesses.
• 8 YA books set in post-apocalyptic cities.
• 20 must-read YA books about cults.
• 20 must-read books about the women’s suffrage movement.
• Books about women’s suffrage movements across the globe.
• 11 biographies of US suffragists.
• 5 books about the influence of Black women in the suffrage movement.
• 8 books about the history of women’s suffrage in America.
• 10 of the best Middle Eastern cookbooks.
• Plus-size romances.
• 10 small-town thrillers to read this summer.
• 16 books like Taylor Swift’s Folklore to add to your TBR.
• 23 delightful light fantasy novels.
• 14 books for a more inclusive look at American history.
• 7 postmodern mystery novels.
• 9 of the best books about astronomy.
• 8 collections featuring underrepresented voices.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen 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.

Mask up and stay hydrated. See you on Friday!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

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Numbers & Trends

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

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Award News

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• The New York Times spotlights black book clubs.

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On the Riot

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

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

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

Okay, back to book stuff!

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

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

New & Upcoming Titles

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

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

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

RA/Genre Resources

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

On the Riot

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

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All Things Comics

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

On the Riot

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

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Audiophilia

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

On the Riot

• 6 short story collections on audio for your TBR.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

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

Adults

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

On the Riot

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

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen 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.

Mask up and stay hydrated. See you on Friday!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

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Award News

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

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

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On the Riot

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

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

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

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

New & Upcoming Titles

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

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

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

RA/Genre Resources

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

On the Riot

• 8 new epic fantasy debuts for 2020.

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All Things Comics

• 9 translated graphic novels about inequality.

On the Riot

• What was the first comic book?

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Audiophilia

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

On the Riot

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

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

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

Adults

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

On the Riot

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

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen 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.

Stay safe and stay hydrated, everyone.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

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Numbers & Trends

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

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Award News

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

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

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On the Riot

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

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

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. My library is opening up to patrons for the first time in 4 months this week, albeit on a VERY limited basis. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and everyone wears a mask.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• The Strand Book Store union denounces new layoffs.
• The publishing industry’s “rare moment of transformation.”
• As bookstores reopen, stores seek safe practices.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Munroe Bergdorf, model and transgender activist, signs a six-figure deal for her memoir which will look at issues of sexuality, relationships, gender, identity, and race.
• Colson Whitehead announces his next book, Harlem Shuffle, will be released in fall 2021.
• Dervla McTiernan signed a seven-figure deal for three standalone novels set in the US.
• Seanan McGuire is writing a sequel to Middlegame, which will publish in spring 2022.
• Paul Tremblay has a new three-book deal.
• James Patterson & Conde Nast are planning a new series of books based on the vintage crime fighter, The Shadow.
• Andrew McCarthy is writing a memoir about his Brat Pack years.
• Psychological suspense, plus horror & genre-bending titles for July.
• Best books of the year (so far) from Vulture and Washington Post (SFF).
• Most anticipated books for the second half of 2020 from Amazon & Lit Hub.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones (LA Times, NPR, Washington Post)
• Crooked Hallelujah – Kelli Jo Ford (New York Times, Time)
• Utopia Avenue – David Mitchell (USA Today, Washington Post)
• Survivor Song – Paul Tremblay (New York Times, NPR)

RA/Genre Resources

• Crime fiction is complicit in police violence, but it’s not too late to change.
• What do you call books set in the last half of the 20th century that are too old to be called contemporary, but too new to be called historical? How about “throwback fiction”??

On the Riot

• 10 great 2020 adult LGBTQ+ science fiction books.
• A deep dive into contemporary Native literature.
• Reading pathway for Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
• What is Southern Noir?
• Literary columns to keep your bookish knowledge up-to-date

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All Things Comics

• DC has ended its relationship with Diamond Comic Distributors and will instead partner with Penguin Random House for its graphic novels.
• (TW: sexual harassment) Accusations of unwanted sexual contact have been leveled at comics author Warren Ellis.
• Keanu Reeves makes his comics debut.
• A brief history of Mexican horror comic books, featuring Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
• 22 can’t-miss panels of Comic-Con 2020 (at home).

On the Riot

• 16 of the best new comics in 2020.

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Audiophilia

• NetGalley announces a new app and a new pre-pub audiobook arm.
• Here’s a new audiobook club that will help you discover new books by Black authors.
• 89 (!!!) of the best audiobooks for a road trip.
• Awesome sexy audiobooks that “will make you lose track of time and reality.”

On the Riot

• Audiobooks narrated by the original cast of Hamilton.
• 20 must-listen new full-cast audiobooks.
• 5 of the best romance novels on audio.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 19 books for kids about the immigrant experience.
• Children’s books that teach kids about emotions.
• 23 YA books with family secrets.
• 36 books your favorite YA authors recommend reading.

Adults

• S.A. Cosby’s 5 favorite books about Black lives.
• 11 novels featuring essential workers.
• 24 completed series for you to read while you’re stuck inside.
• 8 novels about female superheroes.
• 17 books to help you unleash your inner creativity.
• Books to read while you wait for your concerts to be rescheduled.
• 8 books that teach you American History that you never learned in school.
• 10 translated books from India.

On the Riot

• 11 rhythmic read-alouds for toddlers.
• Middle grade and YA books written by Korean authors.
• 25 awesome books for 8th graders.
• 3 great YA novels in verse by authors of color.
• 8 weird genre fiction books written by diverse authors.
• 20 self care books for anxious times.
• 20 must-read SFF books by women and nonbinary authors.
• 6 nonfiction books about time.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen 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.

Stay safe and stay well, everyone.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

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

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Numbers & Trends

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

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Award News

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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On the Riot

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

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

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

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

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

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

New & Upcoming Titles

• Ernest Cline is publishing a follow-up to Ready Player One called…Ready Player Two. (My husband was the first person to tell me about this news, and to be honest, I thought he was making it up.)
• There’s another Trump tell-all book coming this fall, this time from a former confidante of Melania Trump.
• Actor Norman Reedus is writing a novel.
• Pete Buttigieg announces a new book: Trust: America’s Best Chance.
• Mariah Carey’s memoir is coming out in September.
• Philip Pullman is publishing a new story set in the His Dark Materials universe.
• A final collection of early short stories from the late Terry Pratchett will be published in September.
• Lana del Rey has a debut poetry collection coming in September.
• 7 books from the first half of 2020 that you may have missed.
• Barnes & Noble’s best books of 2020 so far. 
• July picks from Bustle, LitHub, and Tor.com (fantasy, sci-fi, and YA SFF)
• Summer reading picks from LitHub and Salon.
• 20 popular mystery series returning this fall.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• Want – Lynn Steger Strong (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)
• Antkind – Charlie Kaufman (New York Times, NPR, Washington Post)
• The Golden Cage – Camilla Läckberg (LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post)
• Utopia Avenue – David Mitchell (LA Times, New York Times)

RA/Genre Resources

• A list of SFF events that have been cancelled or rescheduled due to COVID.
• Tour through the history of Black science fiction.
• Top horror titles and trends coming this season.
• A brief history of queer women detectives in crime fiction.

On the Riot

• Book Riot’s Best Books of 2020 so far.
• Queer book talk from Book Riot’s #OwnVoices.
• 12 must-read high fantasy novels coming out in the second half of 2020.
• 5 new genre-bending nonfiction books.

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All Things Comics

• (TW: sexual harassment) This article outlines a long history of bullying and sexual harassment at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
• Comic-Con 2020 announces its virtual lineup.
• Marvel and Scholastic are launching an all-new line of original graphic novels for young readers.
• Archie Comics joins with Spotify to develop podcasts based on the Archie Comics universe.
• Javicia Leslie has been cast as the new Batwoman.
• 5 must-read comics for July.

On the Riot

• 8 comics and graphic novels if you loved Watchmen.
• Summer 2020 YA comics and graphic novel releases.

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Audiophilia

• Andy Serkis is recording The Hobbit for a new audiobook to be released in September.
• Audiobook recs for road trips.
• Must-listen audiobooks for July.

On the Riot

• What’s the difference between audio dramas and full cast audiobooks?
• 6 audiobook mysteries to take you around the world.
• 10 audiobook thrillers with complicated relationships.
• 5 classic audiobooks narrated by famous actors.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 8 picture books that let young minds wonder and wander.
• 11 illustrated biographies that introduce kids to diverse heroes.
• 16 YA books set at boarding school.
• 15 sizzling YA thrillers.
• 5 YA SFF/Horror novels about women reclaiming their identities.

Adults

• 8 spine-chilling books about occult mysteries.
• The ultimate summer reading list from Wired.
• 5 SFF books set in contemporary African locales.
• 7 books about NYC’s drastic economic divide.
• 5 books about voter suppression.
• 16 romance novels that are scorchingly sexy.
• 7 books told from the perspective of domestic workers.

On the Riot

• YouTube books for kids to watch.
• 3 YA books about K-Pop.
• An updated required reading list.
• The best legal thrillers that aren’t by John Grisham.
• 10 books with Beatles songs as titles.
• 8 memoirs about mothers, motherhood, and loss.
• 8 books set in India.
• 6 books on inequities within the healthcare system.
• 10 books that celebrate Black girls and women.
• 10 of the best books about musicians.

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen 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.

Stay safe and stay well, everyone.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Deep by Alma Katsu.