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Check Your Shelf

Forget The Alamo

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I am officially a year older (although perhaps not wiser), and I am also fast approaching my 10 year library career anniversary! My career may have started at a different library, but 10 years in libraries is a pretty cool achievement regardless, so I definitely plan on bringing donuts to celebrate!

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

ALA’s Committee on Diversity has released a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion scorecard for library and information organizations.

This Minneapolis-area police department got trolled after they reported thefts from a Little Free Library. While it’s nice that they donated books to refill the LFL, isn’t the point of a LFL is for people to…take the books? Anyway, if you run a LFL and notice the books disappearing, maybe ask for book donations instead of calling the police? Just a thought…

A Massachusetts man recently returned books from the 1920’s and 30’s to the local library.

Cool Library Updates

The Horror Writers Association has established the Young Adults Write Now fund, which will provide up to 5 endowments of $250 to selected libraries to create new, or support ongoing, writing programs.

The Stanwood (WA) Library got the city’s help to rescue ducklings. (I had a very similar duckling rescue experience a few weeks ago in a parking lot, where I had to gently scoop up a duckling and bring him back to his mama and siblings to make sure he didn’t get hurt. They’re so tiny!!!) Hopefully they’re all swimming peacefully in a nearby pond.

Worth Reading

Libraries and telehealth tackle healthcare gap full force.

Libraries and the curse of knowledge.

Take a look behind the spine of these books.

Book Adaptations in the News

Netflix is adapting the Ivy & Bean children’s series.

Blumhouse Productions is planning a sequel to The Exorcist.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren will be adapted by BCDF Pictures.

The Stephen King-inspired series Chapelwaite (set in Salem’s Lot) gets an August release date.

Casting updates for The Monster of Florence and No Exit.

5 great movies based on Patricia Highsmith books (that aren’t the Ripley adaptations).

9 of the best LGBTQ+ books that deserve a movie or TV series adaptation.

Books & Authors in the News

The Putnam County (FL) School District is under fire for removing three books from its summer reading list after receiving pushback from parents. One of the books was Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.

A promotional event for the book Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth, which examines the role of slavery in the Battle for the Alamo and Texas’ push for independence from Mexico, was canceled by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who called the book “fact free” and said it was a rewriting of Texas history.

Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates have joined the faculty at Howard University.

Numbers & Trends

TikTok is taking the book industry by storm.

Award News

Elle McNicoll wins the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for her debut, A Kind of Spark.

The 2021 CWA Dagger Winners are announced.

The nominees for the Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced.

Joy Williams wins the 2021 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.

Here are the winners and runners-up for the inaugural Good Sex Awards.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

These heckin good doggos were kept calm on the 4th of July, thanks to these volunteers who came to the Kentucky Humane Society animal shelter and read children’s books to the dogs.

On the Riot

10 book adaptations you can watch this summer.

What the Literati reviews don’t tell you.

What this writer has learned after a decade of book blogging.

On Wednesdays we read Tolkien: Lord of the Rings fandom in 2021.

A case against assigned summer reading.

The most bookish cities in the world.

Stay cool, friends. I’ll catch you next week!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

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Kid Lit Giveaways

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We’re giving away a $100 ThriftBooks gift card to one lucky Riot reader!

Enter here for a chance, or click the cover image below!

Here’s what it’s all about:

Summer Reading time is here! With millions of new and used books, ThriftBooks has an endless selection of books at the best prices. From childhood classics to new, undiscovered worlds of adventures, there is something for everyone and every budget. And with the ThriftBooks ReadingRewards program, every purchase gets you a step closer to a free book reward. Shop ThriftBooks.com today to unleash the joys of summer reading. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.

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Read This Book

Read This Book: With You All the Way by Cynthia Hand

Welcome to Read This Book, a newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!

I am so excited to be back, shouting about books I loved! Thanks so much to my fellow Rioters for covering my Friday send while I was off doing other bookish things! I read a lot of books I loved since I was last in your inboxes, and I can’t wait to tell you all about them. Since it’s summer, I thought I’d kick off with a fun (and high-drama) summery pick!

With You All the Way by Cynthia Hand

Ada is about to head out on a week-long Hawaiian vacation with her parents and two sisters when she catches her boyfriend cheating. Considering Ada just decided she was ready for sex, this is a pretty big blow. But things go from bad to worse when her step-father bails on the trip at the last minute, and then on their first day in Hawaii, Ada walks in on her mom having sex with someone who definitely isn’t her step-dad. With this explosive secret eating her from the inside out, Ada navigates a week in Hawaii with her over-eager five-year-old sister, her know-it-all older sister, and a potential crush.

I am a sucker for a good family drama, and the idea of a teenage girl knowing her mom is cheating without being able to let on that she knows to her sisters or parents sounds like torture if it were happening to me…but reading about it happening to someone else was super engrossing, with many cringe-worthy moments. The backdrop of a gorgeous Hawaiian vacation just adds to the tension, as does Ada’s complicated relationship with her older sister, Afton, who is acting odd and distant during the trip.

What made this book an instant must-read recommendation for me was that this story was full of surprises, and even though Ada feels helpless and caught up in circumstances beyond her control, it’s how she responds to these situations that facilitates her growth. At first, her reaction is essentially, “Eff it, if everyone is having sex, I’ll do it too!” This attitude leads her to a connection with Nick, who is sensitive and kind, and becomes Ada’s unexpected confidant in her family drama. When he and Ada agree to have sex and make a plan, it doesn’t go quite the way they imagine, but it does force Ada to confront the root of her problems and actually talk to her family about what she saw, even if she does go about it in an incredibly awkward way. This is a sex-positive YA novel that speaks frankly about the considerations of having sex for the first time, both physical and emotional, and takes a nuanced approach to relationships. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes books about complicated relationships of all types, and characters learning how to navigate them with humor and grace.

Bonus: I read this on audio, and the narrator Joy Osmanksi did a great job!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

Find me on Book Riot, the Insiders Read Harder podcast, All the Books, and Twitter.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, click here to subscribe.

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Unusual Suspects

DEFENDING JACOB Is First Apple TV+ Show To Get A DVD And Blu Ray Release

Hi mystery fans! It’s been a strangely quiet week again in the world of entertainment news but I still found you great things to listen to, read, and watch. Plus, great ebook deals for different reading moods.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

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Tirzah recommends two great backlist summer thrillers on All The Backlist!

Katie and Nusrah talk about mysteries that work great on audio for Audiobook Appreciation Month on the latest Read or Dead.

4 Great Mystery and Thriller Books That Blend Genres

Humorous Murder Mysteries Like KNIVES OUT (More so than a direct comp for the film, this is a good list if you’re looking for great cozy mysteries full of humor and hijinks.)

Get a Look at the Comic Book World of Alex Segura’s Neo-Noir Secret Identity (Super excited for this one!)

Good news if you don’t have Apple TV+ and have been wanting to watch the adaptation of Defending Jacob, starring Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery: Defending Jacob is first Apple TV+ show to get a DVD and Blu Ray release. (Now do Home and Ted Lasso!)

Aya de Leon—author of A Spy in the Struggle—is interviewed by Robert Justice.

‘Bosch’ Author Michael Connelly Reveals the Book the Spin-off Is Based On

14 Works Of Literature That Authors Really Regretted Publishing (Poirot and Holmes made the list.)

Actor Allison Mack Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison For NXIVM Case

Don Winslow has a book club and he has a video for his July picks.

Giveaway: Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes & Noble! – July 2021

Watch Now (Almost)

Catch and Kill cover image

Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes on HBO and HBO Max premiering on July 12th: This six-part, half-hour docuseries expands on the true crime book (Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators) and the podcast (The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow) with never-before-seen footage. This is Ronan Farrow’s story about how when he started looking into Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior and spoke to women who’d been attacked, he didn’t get the support a journalist would normally. He instead was asked to stop working on the story. It shows how no one operates alone and how systems and our culture not only enable but protect this kind of behavior.

Kindle Deals

TWs can be found in review links.

The Silence of Bones by June Hur

If you’re a fan of historical mysteries and want a time period most likely knew to you, you can travel to 1800, Joseon (Korea) for $2.99! (Review)

The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1) by Richard Osman

If you’re looking for community, murder-mystery, and an elderly group of amateur sleuths, start this series now for $2.99 in anticipation of the sequel, The Man Who Died Twice, releasing in fall. (Review)

August Snow (August Snow #1) by Stephen Mack Jones

If you’re a fan of PIs, action films, and communities playing a big part in stories, start this series for $2.99!

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2021 releases. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own, you can sign up here.

Categories
The Goods

It’s The Best Books Of 2021 So Far!

Stumped on summer reading? Never fear, Book Riot is here! We’ve selected the best books of the year so far, and trust us: you need these.

an extremely 80s style graphic that says BEST BOOKS OF 2021 S OFAR in neon purples, blues, and white, against a background of purple mountains and an orange sun

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The Stack

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Riot Rundown

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Today In Books

Hanif Abdurraqib Has Been Named Tin House Editor-at-Large: Today in Books

Get a First Look at Rebecca Roanhorse’s Fevered Star

Author Rebecca Roanhorse introduced us to the fantasy world of Meridian in her novel Black Sun, and now she’s returning to the world with its sequel Fevered Star, the second book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. You can get a first look at Roanhorse’s new novel over at Nerdist, where you can see a cover reveal and an excerpt from the novel. Fevered Star is available for pre-order now, and it’s due out on April 19, 2022.

Hanif Abdurraqib Has Been Named Tin House Editor-at-Large

Tin House announced earlier today that they have named Hanif Abdurraqib as their Editor-at-Large. In his new role, author, essayist, poet, and cultural critic Abdurraqib will acquire three nonfiction books a year for Tin House.⁠ “I am thankful for the opportunity to join the team at Tin House and begin the pursuit of work that propels and excites me,” said Abdurraqib. “My world was built reading writers who wrote, relentlessly, away from the comfortable center and into the so-called ‘margins,’ where one could be a little more free, a little more playful, a lot braver. Punk writers who scrawled things in zines, aspiring rappers who filled notebooks that few people would ever read, and so on. This is the work that renews me and that challenges my own writing.”⁠ Hanif Adburraqib is the author of several poetry and essay collections, including They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, A Little Devil in America, and A Fortune for Your Disaster. Tin House hopes to publish Abdurraqib’s first projects in 2023.

New Jersey Library Hosts Pet Parade to Encourage Reading

Woodbury Public Library in New Jersey hosted its very first community pet parade on Tuesday morning at Bell Lake Park. This event kicked off the library’s “Tails & Tales: Animals & Stories” program, a program designed for young readers aged 5 to 12 to encourage life-long reading habits. Leading the parade was the Grand Marshal Rita Moreno, a 4-month-old dachshund mix, along with her owner Ryan Morrison. Ribbons were awarded to pets in the parade for Best Costume, Best Trick, Most Unique, and Best Human/Pet Pair. Additionally, the library set up a photo booth with animal-themed props, a coloring station, and a table of gift bags and prizes for kids. If you want to learn more about the Tails & Tales program, including reading challenges for both children and adults, you can get all the details at the Woodbury Public Library website.

Critical Race Theory Books to Help You Make Sense of All the Hubbub

Critical Race Theory has been in the news a lot lately, but what is all the fuss about? Here’s an introductory guide to Critical Race Theory, including essential reads to help you make sense of the topic.

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Book Radar

A New Rebecca Roanhorse Novel and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, my bookish friends! I hope you have had a great week so far. I have been reading lots of books, a couple of which are rereads, and watching the Stanley Cup finals and the NBA finals, and also watching a lot of cartoons. Why no, I don’t really sleep, why do you ask? 😂

Moving on to today’s newsletter and book talk: I have a lot of fun news, including adaptation deals, a LOT of book cover reveals, and a look at a darkly comedic upcoming indie press novel. Plus I’ve included a picture of my sticker-stealing orange monster, some trivia, and more! I love writing these newsletters and I appreciate your support so much. Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I hope you goodbob and we same place again very now. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™

Trivia question time! What novel set during the Reconstruction period of the southern states after the Civil War is the latest Oprah Book Club pick? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Get your first look at Fevered Star, the sequel to Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse.

Michelle Yeoh has been cast in the six-episode Witcher prequel, Blood Origin.

Here’s the cover reveal of Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore.

A new Jennifer Egan book, the sequel to A Visit from the Goon Squad, is coming in 2022.

Lovecraft Country will not get a second season.

Here’s the first peek at Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron.

Here are the Good Sex Awards winners and runners up.

Here’s the cover reveal to the sequel to Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano: Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.

Read an excerpt from Sword Stone Table, the upcoming new anthology of Arthurian retellings.

Here’s the cover reveal of Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence by Sonja Thomas.

More cast additions to the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.

Here’s the cover reveal of The Turning Pointe by Vanessa L. Torres.

Check out the first look at Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram.

Here’s the cover reveal of Secret Identity by Alex Segura.

Book Riot Recommends 

At Book Riot, I work on the New Books! email, the All the Books! podcast about new releases, and the Book Riot Insiders New Release Index. I am very fortunate to get to read a lot of upcoming titles, and learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Excited to read: 

cover of New Animal by Ella Baxter

New Animal by Ella Baxter (Two Dollar Radio, February 15, 2022)

I am a huge fan of small press Two Dollar Radio, and I’m not going to lie, I get excited about pretty much everything they put out. But this darkly comedic novel sounds like something I am really going to enjoy and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

It’s about a young woman named Amelia who is trying to find her place in the world. She works at the family mortuary business as a cosmetic mortician, and is shocked by her mother’s sudden passing. So she turns to her birth-father in Tasmania for comfort and ends up stumbling into the local BDSM community, where she learns a lot about herself and who she wants to be. This one has ‘will make an amazing indie film’ written all over it. GIVE IT TO ME NOW.

What I’m reading this week.

cover of I came all this way to meet you by jami attenberg

I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home by Jami Attenberg 

A Song Everlasting by Ha Jin

Wish It Lasted Forever: Life With the Larry Bird Celtics by Dan Shaughnessy

Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Song stuck in my head:

Song 2 by Blur. This song is never not fun. And you can listen to it almost 30 times in an hour. (Also, I’m still really into listening to songs I loved when I was young. You can listen to a lot of them in this playlist I made!)

And this is funny:

OH NO.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • Phineas and Ferb: I am finally getting around to watching this! I like Perry the Platypus the best, although I also enjoy Ferb’s Silent Bob vibes.
  • The Owl House: This is scratching a lot of my Gravity Falls itch, which is helped by the fact that Alex Hirsch does some of the voices.
  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

orange cat with a sticker in its mouth

“This is my sticker now.” —Farrokh

Trivia answer: The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
Kissing Books

Fake Dating, But Make It Real

Hello again romance readers. I’m PN Hinton, your companion for the world of romance. I hope your spirit is doing well today. If you’re new to the Kissing Books newsletter, welcome and enjoy your stay. If you’re a long-time reader, welcome back; it’s good to see you again. 

The end of last week was really rough for me, so relaxing was at the top of my list this last weekend. Friday I embraced my love of horror by watching Fear Street: 1994, which I LOVED and can’t wait for the other two. Saturday I went swimming with the teenager and Sunday I dog-sat for my cousin. All that said, I can’t believe we’re already in July. This year is just breezing by like last year didn’t do a slow crawl.

Romance News

This July is the second annual is #JenkinsJuly, a month-long celebration of the career of Beverly Jenkins. This was started by Ana Coqui and celebrates the author’s twenty-seven year career that began with Night Song. In fact, eight of her books are celebrating milestone years. If you still haven’t read anything by her, they’re are a great spot to start from.

There was also a tweet floating around last week that touched on the subject of how one author approached writing about sex between two men and honestly, it was terrible. The author has since deleted her Twitter account but you can still see a screenshot of it here via this tweet from author Jack Harbon. There is a lot to unpack here, more than can be fit into a newsletter with a cap on word count but…this was not a good take.

Around the Web in Romance

Here’s a rundown of some of the must read YA romances coming out from now until the end of this year.

If you’re looking for a few good M/M romances to relax on the beach with, here is a list of contenders.

Here are a few books you might be tempted to marathon in one sitting. I can personally attest for how adorable and awesome How Sweet It Is was.

Here’s my plug to say I hope you took the When in Romance survey and if you haven’t, click here to get it done. It shouldn’t take too long depending on how prolific you want to be with your answers.

Recommendations

I recently had the realization that I am actually a bigger fan of the fake relationship/dating trope than I thought. When I began to look back on some of my well-loved books, it made sense since a lot of those fell into this trope. This leads me to today’s recommendations which are ones that have some thread of this trope. I think it’s a nice mix of historical and contemporary and the ladies mentioned here are some of my favorite authors. Hopefully you’ll find one you haven’t picked up yet, and have some beach reading options. 

Jewel by Beverly Jenkins

Y’all know Mrs.Bev was going to make an appearance with it being #JenkinsJuly. Jewel and Eli are lifelong friends who tend to butt heads along the way. When Eli has to pretend to have a wife to help get his struggling newspaper back off the ground, Jewel agrees and it seems like it will just be a secret between them. As often happens in small towns, word of the arrangement gets out resulting in a real marriage and the associated feelings that come with that. You don’t want to miss this gem from Jenkins, if you’ll pardon the pun. Or not; I know I make them a lot and am not sorry.

Angel by Johanna Lindsey

Angel is a gunslinger known as the Peacemaker, tasked with helping Cassie get out of the mess she got herself into when someone he owes a favor to calls in his chip. This mess? Getting herself caught in the middle of a family feud that rivals the Hatfields and the McCoys. Of course his reputation precedes him so when the families realize who he is, she claims he is her fiancé to try to prevent any more trouble. This ends up in a real life shotgun wedding though and both are left in a position where they can legally (for the time) give into their desires.

cover of that kind of guy by talia hibbert

That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert

Author Rae does not want to attend an upcoming awards convention where her ex-husband and his new wife will be in attendance solo. Her solution? Asking her friend Zach to pose as her boyfriend. He agrees thinking it will be an easy, breezy weekend but the desire both have been ignoring to avoid ruining their friendship rears its head in the close quarters. They both have to decide if they’re willing to take a risk. If you’ve read the rest of the Ravenswood books, this is a good wrap up one for everyone’s love story. Bonus points for the demisexual rep here!

First Comes Like by Alisha Rai

Beauty influencer Jai has been having an online correspondence with someone she thinks is Bollywood star Dev Dixit…until a face-to-face encounter proves she’s been catfished. She flees desperate to save face, which prompts Dev to follow her to make amends only for them to be caught in a somewhat compromising position. Damn that paparazzi. Both decide that a fake engagement is the best way to save face all around, but thanks to well -meaning but overbearing family members, it quickly becomes a very real marriage. Will they be able to overcome the initial rocky beginnings for a real chance at love?

That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next Monday to catch y’all up on the world of romance. In the meantime give me a follow over on Twitter under @PScribe801. Until next time!