There’s plenty of larger news happening right now, so if you need a break from all of that, here’s a roundup of links and updates to help you with your collection development work. This week, we re-examine the concept of the beach read, contemplate “fem-gore,” and consider crime novels where the trees did it.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
What is publishing’s responsibility during an election year?
Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, Parade.
July picks from Crime Reads (debuts), People, Reactor (horror, romantasy, SFF crossovers; YA SFF)
August picks from Barnes & Noble (adults, teens, children), Epic Reads.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want To Run the World – Anne Applebaum (Guardian, Washington Post)
This Great Hemisphere – Mateo Askaripour (NPR, Washington Post)
Black Bird Oracle – Deborah Harkness (Elle, People)
I Was a Teenage Slasher – Stephen Graham Jones (New York Times)
In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife – Sebastian Junger (Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
How “femgore” is reinventing horror fiction.
Readalikes for Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The best beach reads are long, dark, and difficult.
How “smut” took over our summer reading lists.
The second coming of the sports novel.
What is a “millennial midlife crisis novel?”
A somewhat definitive ranking of Emily Henry’s novels.
On the life-changing joy of rereading books.
On the Riot
The most popular book club books of the summer, according to the Indie Next List.
The best new weekly releases, plus the best new LGBTQ+ weekly releases.
What is a “scream-of-consciousness” book?
Diverse authors like Freida McFadden.
All Things Comics
Publisher’s Weekly has their Comics & Graphic Novel preview for fall 2024.
Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea is getting a graphic adaptation.
The American Manga Award nominees have been announced.
26 graphic novels that everyone should read.
Audiophilia
Audible’s new royalty model allows for more opportunities for authors and publishers.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard will narrate the audio version of her upcoming memoir.
On the Riot
Everything you need to know about an Audible membership.
The best fantasy audiobooks for adults.
10 of the best new nonfiction audiobooks for adults.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
Robust lift-the-flap books that are tougher than your toddler.
Books about sleepaway camp for tweens.
Adults
LitHub offers 71 additional books that the NYT missed in their list of the Best Books of the 21st Century. Plus, readers pick their own best books of the 21st century.
36 of the best celebrity memoirs.
5 SFF books featuring frigid, icy worlds.
10 Appalachian books to read after (or instead of…) Hillbilly Elegy.
The trees did it: 5 novels where nature gets involved in the crime.
7 bedside table books for sleepless nights.
A reading list for fans of Showtime’s Couples Therapy.
The rise of the feminist caper.
Psychological thrillers in which houses have secrets of their own.
7 books about Jamaica by Jamaican authors.
10 neurodivergent romance books that are actually relatable.
On the Riot
8 essential Jewish history books for readers of all ages.
8 page-turning books with short chapters.
9 great novels set in bookstores.
8 excellent genre-bending sci-fi tales.
10 of the best mystery novels set in the Pacific Northwest.
12 fantasy books inspired by mythologies from around the world.
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!
Look at these two. Any time they’re not wrestling, I start getting suspicious…
That’s all I have for today, but I’ll pop back in on Friday. Catch you later!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.
