Best books of the year so far
Weekly book picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, Wall Street Journal.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
The Book of Elsewhere – Keanu Reeves & China Miéville (BBC, Guardian, New York Times, People)
Catalina – Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (New York Times, People, Washington Post)
Feh: A Memoir – Shalom Auslander (New York Times, Washington Post)
The Modern Fairies – Clare Pollard (New York Times, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
What exactly makes a “romantasy?”
Why we need speculative fiction more than ever.
Where to start with Jodi Picoult.
On the Riot
The best books out in August, according to indie booksellers.
New SFF for your book club this summer.
BIPOC beach reads.
The best new weekly releases to TBR, and the best new LGBTQ+ weekly releases.
What is an autoethnography?
All Things Comics
Here’s a new trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux.
Patton Oswalt’s comic book Minor Threats is being adapted as a Netflix series.
On the Riot
What are the best yaoi manga to start with?
Audiophilia
On the Riot
9 new SFF audiobooks.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
11 books for kids who love sea life.
Picture books to boost social and emotional learning skills.
Make a splash with these summer read-alouds.
20 smart books to help your kids get ready for preschool or kindergarten.
Early chapter books with fierce female characters.
Swoon-worthy YA romantasy books to obsess over.
Adults
Books for Disability Pride Month.
Have a Brat (Book) Summer with these brat color-coded reads. (Sorry, I’m not quite up on what this means either.)
8 novels about the dangerous pursuit of youth and beauty.
6 crime and horror novels with unusual narrators.
5 of the best books about conspiracy theories.
The literature of obsession, addiction, and disease.
9 books that blur the boundary between novel and story collection.
7 books that reimagine queer history.
12 rockstar romance novels.
27 dark and twisted romances.
So you want to read a memoir?
On the Riot
Books by and about Kamala Harris for readers of all ages.
10 summer ghost story novels.
8 “one last heist” thriller novels.
8 of the best perimenopause books.
12 of the best queer historical romances.
5 books for fans of Chappell Roan.
8 short historical fiction reads you can finish in one sitting.
10 hilarious and heartfelt books like Funny Story.
8 quirky books like Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
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!
These knuckleheads had each other in a headlock. Please admire the symmetry of this new wrestling move.
Peace out, friends. Don’t let summer pass you by — enjoy some good weather this week!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.
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