Check Your Shelf

BookLooks, Book Ban Legislation, and Other Library News

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Let’s close out January with all the news updates to keep you at the top of your game! Know what your patrons are going to ask about before they do!

New & Upcoming Titles

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert cover

Bob the Drag Queen (aka the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8, aka one of the best queens in the series’ history) is publishing a debut novel that asks what if Harriet Tubman came to modern times to create a hip-hop album and live show about her life? Yeah! What if??

10 debut authors to watch this spring.

12 eye-opening reads to kickstart your 2025 reading goals.

We’ve got the best books of January as picked by Amazon, Kirkus, and Town & Country.

Most-anticipated books of 2025 from Brightly (YA), Electric Lit (queer reads, women of color), LitHub (general picks, SFF), NPR, Vogue, Vulture.

And don’t forget Book Riot’s most anticipated list for 2025!

RA/Genre Resources

cover of Their Eyes Were Watching God

Once dismissed as frivolous, Romancelandia is getting political. I don’t know so much about “getting,” because romance authors have been political for a while, but the point is still the same: don’t mess with Romancelandia!

A guide to Jimmy Carter’s books.

Are men’s reading habits truly a national crisis? (I say no.)

Where to start with Zora Neale Hurston.

The popularity of the plagiarism plot.

Book Adaptations in the News

The Monkey movie poster

Reba McEntire is producing and starring in an adaptation of Fannie Flagg’s The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion.

Tom Holland is producing and starring in an adaptation of The Partner by John Grisham.

Everything you need to know about Osgood Perkins’ adaptation of The Monkey, based on the short story by Stephen King. Y’all, I can’t wait for this one: the trailer looks bonkers in all the best ways!

Every Wattpad movie adaptation, ranked.

Censorship Updates

Here’s what you can do to help pass the newly introduced anti-book ban legislation for 2025.

BookLooks, RatedBooks, and other unprofessional book “review” sites to be familiar with.

The current Crawford County (AR) library director returns fire in an ongoing legal battle.

How Tennessee quietly made it harder for its prisoners to access books.

An Oklahoma lawmaker has filed a bill that would require schools to provide the State Department of Education with an annual list of all library materials. Because that’s a good use of the teachers’ time.

The Boise Library Board (ID) wrestles with the application of the Library Protection Act.

Curiosities & Miscellaneous

50 wonderful pop culture things that happened in 2024.

Self-improvement trends to watch for in publishing in 2025.

The unbearable whiteness of the Goodreads Choice Awards.

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