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Check Your Shelf

Fall Releases, the Ethics of True Crime, and More Literary News for Librarians

Keep up to date with all the latest book announcements, recommendations lists, and other literary links with this round up.

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Katie McLain Horner

Contributing Editor

Katie's parents never told her "no" when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she's not at work, she's at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves. Twitter: @kt_librarylady

View All posts by Katie McLain Horner

Here are the literary and publishing links to put on your librarian radars this week.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

Len Riggio, the founder & previous CEO of Barnes & Noble, has passed away at 83.

New & Upcoming Titles

Fall picks from The Guardian, Kirkus, Time.

The best literary fiction of 2024 so far.

Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub.

September picks from The New York Times.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America – Amanda Jones (Datebook, Washington Post)

Colored Television – Danzy Senna (LA Times, New York Times)

RA/Genre Resources

Hollywood’s next Marvel moment is romantasy.

How cozy fantasy appeals to readers by offering high stakes with a happy ending.

On the Riot

The most-anticipated horror books for fall 2024, according to Goodreads.

The most-anticipated BIPOC books out this fall.

The best new weekly releases, the best new weekly LGBTQ releases, and the best YA weekly releases.

The most popular book club books of August, according to Goodreads.

A history of the campus novel.

The ethics of true crime.

All Things Comics

The inaugural winners of the American Manga Awards have been announced.

On the Riot

10 new mystery & thriller comics to devour.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Magical chapter books to introduce young elementary school readers to fantasy.

It’s complicated: 11 books for tween girls.

Adults

5 books that changed readers’ minds.

The 32 best romantasy books of all time.

8 brooding gothic mysteries set on the British Isles.

On the Riot

New horror reads that riff on the classics.

The best romance novels with neurodivergent main characters.

8 spicy dark academia romance novels to read this fall.

10 sapphic sci-fi books.

16 a-spec and asexual romance novels.

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 has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Edelweiss has a new catalog dedicated to diverse titles, which is managed by Early Word Galley Chatter Vicki Nesting. Check it out!

And Here’s a Cat Photo!

a black and white cat looking upside down at the camera

I’m writing this newsletter early because of Labor Day deadlines, so here’s a favorite (non-new) photo of Dini! He’s been hard at work inspecting our luggage since we came home.

Okie dokie, friends. I’ll be back on Friday! Have a good week!

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