Category: Check Your Shelf

Welcome to Check Your Shelf, which is once again being brought to you from quarantine. I’m taking regular walks, working from home, and listening to a lot of Mumford & Sons.

Here’s a list of Book Riot’s ongoing COVID-19 coverage. And here’s a list of some of the good news related to COVID-19 that you probably haven’t read about.

Also, I have a redaction from the last issue of CYS. I posted a link from LitHub about the National Emergency Library created by the Internet Archive, which offers access to over 1 million eBooks. What I didn’t realize was that a good portion of this library includes titles by authors who did not consent to sharing their titles. The Authors Guild has written a statement against the the Internet Archive, which you can read here. The original article I linked to has since been taken down, but I wanted to officially redact that last link, and ask that we as library employees do not use or recommend this resource. I deeply apologize to any authors who might have been hurt by me sharing this article.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• A running list of special publisher offers, events, and discounts.
• With Macmillan’s cancellation, the rescheduled Book Expo is looking at a conference without any of the Big 5 publishers.
• Ingram and the Penguin Random House warehouse have both been deemed “essential businesses.”
• Scholastic starts temporary staff reductions.
• Barnes & Noble temporarily closes 400 outlets.
• The Strand Book Store laid off nearly 200 staff in the wake of COVID, and then rehired over 100 staff members after a surge of online orders.
• Publishers struggle with when and how to move publication dates.
• How the coronavirus will change book publishing, both now and forever.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Tana French is publishing a new standalone suspense novel in October called The Searcher!!! For the first time in all this mess, I feel real hope!!
• Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns, is publishing a new book in August called Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
• Jim Butcher announces the next book in the Dresden Files.
• Hillary and Chelsea Clinton will have a new book out at the end of March.
• Town & Country picks the must-read books for Spring 2020.
• 23 of April’s most-anticipated YA novels.
• 47 new YA books to support this spring.
• 21 YA romances you need to read this spring.
• 5 urban SFF novels to add to your 2020 TBR.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, NPR, Slate, USA Today, Washington Post)
• The City We Became – N.K. Jemisin (New York Times, NPR, Time, Washington Post)
• Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women That a Movement Forgot – Mikki Kendall (NPR)
• Darling Rose Gold – Stephanie Wrobel (Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

• Have you read any Japanese crime fiction yet?
• Our obsession with beautiful dead girls is keeping us from addressing domestic violence.
• Readers turn to romance novels in tough times, and the coronavirus is no exception.
• A roundtable discussion on romantic Christian suspense.

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All Things Comics

• DC details how comic book retailers will be supported amid the COVID outbreak.
• Diamond Comic Distributors will cease delivery of weekly published comics until further notice.
• DC Comics launches an online at-home activity program called DC Kids Camp.

On the Riot

• Albert Uderzo, creator of Asterix comics, dies at age 92.
• 7 of the best educational comics to give to your kids while they’re learning at home.
• 7 comics similar to Calvin and Hobbes.
• How Marvel missed the mark with its first nonbinary superhero.

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Audiophilia

• An expert’s guide to finding and listening to amazing audiobooks while social distancing.
• Libro.fm saw its membership increase by 200% this month.
• Best audiobooks of March.
• Music, podcasts, and audiobooks to enjoy while social distancing.
• Audiobook suggestions for all that “forced family time.”
• Even more audiobook suggestions from The Cut, BuzzFeed, and The Guardian.

On the Riot

• Where to find the best audiobook reviews online.
• 10 of the best audiobook series.
• Audiobook adventures with Animal Crossings: New Horizons.
• Bookish puzzles and audiobooks go hand-in-hand.
• Listening pathway for Ramon de Ocampo.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 14 sweet children’s books about home.
• 20 book series to keep the whole family entertained.
• 29 YA novels with awesome ensemble casts.

Adults

• Entertaining nonfiction to lift your spirits.
• NYPL staff suggest mental health reads during these trying times.
• I like big books and I cannot lie…14 enormous crime novels and 5 massive SFF novels to keep you occupied.
• 100+ books by black women that should be essential reading for everyone.
• 6 debut fantasy novels featuring black women.
• 7 thrillers about female ambition, suggested by Andrea Bartz, author of The Herd.
• 30 books for anyone going through a quarter-life crisis.
• 21 books to put you in a good mood, guaranteed.
• Hang onto hope with these 11 books.

On the Riot

• 7 of the best Disney baby books for showers.
• 6 of the best picture books for children about consent.
• 5 books to get you started with Roald Dahl.
• 13 action-packed series for middle schoolers.
• New York City in children’s and YA SFF.
• 8 of the best magical cities in YA fiction.
• Books for when anxiety makes it hard to concentrate.
• 20 feel-good ebooks unlikely to have long library waitlists. Plus 20 of the best books on Hoopla right now.
• 20 books about forbidden romances.
• 20 must-read books for nature lovers.

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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.

Sending virtual hugs to anyone who wants them. Stay safe, healthy, and relatively sane.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently re-reading The Likeness by Tana French.

This is Check Your Shelf, and once again, the majority of this newsletter is COVID-19 updates.

Before we jump into the links, here’s something to make you giggle!

And here’s Book Riot’s updated story stream with COVID-19-related articles. 

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

• ALA’s annual conference has been canceled for 2020.
• All branches of the Chicago Public Library are now (finally) closed through Tuesday, April 7th.
• Temporary free access to Booklist, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Horn Book. Also a reminder that if you’re looking to do some continuing education while you’re at home, all of Booklist’s archived webinars are free.
• Penguin Random House is discounting eBook and digital audiobook sales to public libraries for the next 90 days.
• ALA petitions the FCC to let libraries turn their bookmobiles into mobile WiFi hotspots.
• The downtown Spokane library may become a temporary homeless shelter.
• Library services during the pandemic highlight the digital divide as well as worker safety issues. (CLOSE THE LIBRARIES.) Also, I’m in disbelief at the West Virginia college library cited in the article that requires students to have their temperatures taken before being allowed to enter the building.
• Related, here are some suggestions to advocate for closing the library, if yours is still open.

Cool Library Updates

• Families who stop by Springfield (MA) Public Schools to pick up breakfast and lunch for students can also pick up an individually wrapped book to take home, thanks to the work of Link to Libraries.
• Columbia University librarians provide the guides and design for 3D-printable face shields.
• The Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh launches an online reading program called “Stay In and Read.”
• The Fraser Valley Regional Library (British Columbia) is hosting a virtual dance party.
• Little Free Libraries are transforming into makeshift food banks.
• 19 immersive museum exhibits you can visit from your couch.
• Here are a couple articles on doing virtual story time (without violating copyright law!).
• You can now read 1.4 million books for free from the National Emergency Library.

Worth Reading

• Fighting fake news in the pandemic.
• Self care for librarians during COVID-19.
• Serving homeless patrons when your library is closed.
• Professional development opportunities to take advantage of from home.
• Advice for doing digital book clubs.
• When libraries close, it feels like the end of the world.
• Advice for those at home, working or otherwise.
• How to help librarians and archivists from your living room.
• And finally, some non-COVID news: this Brazilian teenager started a community library in Rio.

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Book Adaptations in the News

• Some of the SFF adaptations that have halted production due to COVID-19.

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Books & Authors in the News

• A federal court ruled in favor of PEN America, who filed a lawsuit against Trump, saying that he has used government power to retaliate against media coverage and reporters he dislikes in violation of the First Amendment.
• Stephen King, Amy Tan, and Mitch Albom are among several authors to participate in the virtual book festival Wordplay.
• Linda Fairstein sues Netflix for defamation in When They See Us.
• Netflix is planning a new show with Marie Kondo.
• Don Winslow cancels his book tour.

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Numbers & Trends

• Physical book sales have dropped 10% from last week due to COVID-19.

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Award News

• Valeria Luiselli is the first woman to win the Folio Prize.
• Rick Atkinson wins the American History Book Prize for The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777.
• Shortlists were announced for the Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals, as well as the British Book Awards.
• Here are the winners of the Bancroft Prize. 
• The Lambda Literary Awards will not be held in person in June, but the winners will be announced on schedule.
• The Nebula conference is going digital, with the winners being announced May 30th via live stream.

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Pop Cultured

• Kenny Rogers dies at age 81.
• Rosario Dawson has been cast in season two of The Mandalorian.
• Birds of Prey is available for on-demand viewing this week.
• Acorn TV extends its free trial, if you’re in the mood for some British crime dramas.
• Wonder Woman 1984’s theatrical release will be postponed from June 5th to August 14th.
• Here’s a list of all the movies (so far) that have been postponed due to COVID-19.

On the Riot

• This Pennsylvania library created a digital Harry Potter escape room using Google Forms!
• How to get the most out of story time, from a children’s librarian.
• Children may…misunderstand how libraries work.
• Get your child hooked on reading with 1000 books before kindergarten.
• 20 of the best books on Hoopla right now.
• Harry Potter Alliance is hosting a virtual conference through April 4th!
• How to read to a child.

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Sending virtual hugs to anyone who wants them. Stay safe and healthy, friends.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Only Child by Mi-Ae Seo.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf, which is being brought to you from my quarantine bunker. This marks my first week of officially working from home…we’ll see how I’m doing on Friday. (Also, who told Chicago that now would be a great time for snow?!?!)

As a general note, Book Riot has an ongoing list of COVID articles that they’re updating regularly, and I’ll link back to this list at the beginning of every newsletter. I hope this is a helpful resource – it certainly saves me a lot of time and mental agony. And it frees up space for more book list links, which are infinitely more enjoyable.

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• BookExpo and BookCon have been postponed until July.
• Amazon de-prioritizes book sales amid COVID-19 crisis.
• Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt makes the push that books should be considered essential during the pandemic.
• 9 ways to support your indie bookstore during COVID-19.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Yusef Salaam (who was one of the “Central Park Five”) and Ibi Zoboi are teaming up on an upcoming YA novel, Punching the Air, about wrongful imprisonment.
• Thomas Olde Heuvelt announced a new horror novel in 2021. If you’re a horror fan and you haven’t read his last novel, Hex, yet, you must do so ASAP!
• Christine Mangan (author of Tangerine) announces a new thriller.
• Ariel Lawhon is writing a historical mystery set in Maine, which is based on true events.
• David Lagercrantz announces a modern Sherlock Holmes series for 2021.
• Madeline Westerhout has a new book out in August about her time as a Trump staffer: Off the Record: Picking Up the Pieces after Losing My Dream Job at the White House.
• Best novels for March from Crime Reads (debuts & international crime novels) and Vogue.
• 25 of the best new books this spring.
• 13 new spring fantasy novels.
• 14 highly anticipated LGBTQ+ books this spring.
• 30 books by Latinx authors coming out in 2020.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• The Mountains Sing – Nguyen Phan Que Mai (New York Times, NPR)
• Beheld – TaraShea Nesbit (New York Times, USA Today)

RA/Genre Resources

• LitHub has a new RA column called bookrecs.
• Five SFF subgenres for fans of true crime.
• What the heck is silkpunk?
• How YA literature is rewriting the Muslim-American experience.

On the Riot

• Indie press releases for March 2020.
• Best horror fiction podcasts.

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All Things Comics

• Free Comic Day has been postponed until the summer.
• Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera is getting a graphic novel adaptation!
• She-Ra’s 5th season will be its last.
• 5 comics to read while social distancing.

On the Riot

• A list of some of the comic chroniclings of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Audiophilia

• 10 best audiobooks of March.
• 11 celebrity-narrated audiobooks.

On the Riot

• 5 feel-good middle grade audiobooks.
• Here’s an older article on finding free audiobooks online.
• 7 authors that this reader only listens to on audio.

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• 9 boredom-busting activity books for kids.
• 23 YA novels with strong female characters.

Adults

• 13 fiction breakthroughs that live up to the hype.
• 5 creepy books once you’ve finished watching You.
• Readalikes if you love Little Fires Everywhere.
• 8 books if you’re obsessed with Love is Blind.
• 19 books to read when you have a lot of alone time.
• 20 happiness books to make you feel good with every page.
• 13 books guaranteed to put you in a good mood.
• Book suggestions when you need a laugh.
• 25 romance and erotica novels to keep you company during the quarantine.
• Meghan Markle picks some badass books for your reading list.
• 30 books that pass the Bechdel test.
• 87 books written by women that you won’t be able to put down.
• 10 new books for Womxn’s History Month.
• 12 backlist titles to dig into.
• 8 books if you’re suddenly nostalgic for inter-office drama.
• A booklist for all 50 states.
• 12 stress-relieving coloring books for adults.

On the Riot

• 31 of the top children’s books.
• 21 cat books for kids who love kittens.
• 8 books for fans of Looking for Alaska.
• (Nearly) 80 YA books set around the world.
• 12 of the best cookbooks for quarantine cooking and food prep.
• 20 must-read feel good fantasies.
• 10 mystery novels to prepare for the Woman in the Window adaptation.

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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.

Sending virtual hugs to anyone who wants them. Stay safe, healthy, and relatively sane.

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias.

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

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Libraries & Librarians

COVID-19 

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

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

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Numbers & Trends

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

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Award News

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

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

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On the Riot

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

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

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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

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Collection Development Corner

COVID-19

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

Publishing News

• These powerful women are changing the literary landscape.

New & Upcoming Titles

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

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

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

RA/Genre Resources

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

On the Riot

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

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All Things Comics

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

On the Riot

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

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Audiophilia

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

On the Riot

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

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

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

Adults

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

On the Riot

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

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

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

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

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Numbers & Trends

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

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Award News

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

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

On the Riot

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

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Hang tight, friends. Catch you all next week.

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

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

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

New & Upcoming Titles

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

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

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

RA/Genre Resources

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

On the Riot

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

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All Things Comics

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

On the Riot

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

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Audiophilia

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

On the Riot

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

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

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

Adults

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

On the Riot

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

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Catch you on Friday! Wash those hands!

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

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

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Numbers & Trends

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

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Award News

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

On the Riot

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

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

On the Riot

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

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Have a great weekend! Catch you all next week!

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

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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

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Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

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

New & Upcoming Titles

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

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

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

RA/Genre Resources

• The best crime fiction small presses.

On the Riot

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

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All Things Comics

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

On the Riot

• What’s with all the Star Wars manga?

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Audiophilia

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

On the Riot

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

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Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

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

Adults

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

On the Riot

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

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Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Catch you on Friday!

Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

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

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Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

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

Cool Library Updates

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

Worth Reading

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

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Book Adaptations in the News

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

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Books & Authors in the News

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

On the Riot

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

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Award News

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

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Pop Cultured

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

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Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

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

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On the Riot

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

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Thanks for hanging! Catch you next time!

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