News

The Colorado Book Award winners and RSL Christopher Bland Prize shortlist are announced. Lambda Literary announces new fellows for the 2024 Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Chris Whitaker’s buzzy book All the Colors of the Dark. Adaptations are forthcoming for Emily Henry’s Happy Place and Lindy Ryan’s Bless Your Heart, plus a long-awaited Green Lantern series. The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, turns 20 this week. Plus, ALA’s Annual Conference kicks off in San Diego tomorrow.

A Minnesota bill with a section prohibiting book bans in public libraries, and libraries or media centers in public postsecondary institutions and schools, was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz on May 17. Senate File 3567, an omnibus education reform bill—which also includes rulings on cell phone use in schools, student performance data, and student journalism, among other items—went into effect immediately.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Anne Applebaum is awarded the German Book Trade Peace Prize. Patrick deWitt wins the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for his novel The Librarianist. Alicia Elliott’s And Then She Fell and Brandi Bird’s The All + Flesh: Poems win Indigenous Voices Awards. Hillary Clinton will release a new book, Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty, on September 17. Plus, authors recommend books for Pride Month.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Ashley Poston, Danielle Steel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Beatriz Williams. Five LibraryReads and four Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Bear by Julia Phillips. The Glass Bell Award longlist is announced. NYT profiles physician Freida McFadden’s rise as the fastest-selling thriller writer in the U.S. Plus, Washington Post celebrates audio narrators for Audiobook Appreciation Month.

Chris Whitaker’s All the Colors of the Dark is the new Read with Jenna book club pick. Jackie Wullschläger’s Monet: The Restless Vision wins the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. Jamaluddin Aram’s Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday, Jérémie Harris’s Quantum Physics Made Me Do It, and Keziah Weir’s The Mythmakers win the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prizes. Shortlists are revealed for the Taste Canada Awards for the best in Canadian food writing. The lineup for the Library of Congress’s National Book Festival is announced. 

R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface and Katherine Rundell’s Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures have won Britain’s Indie Book Awards. Isabella Hammad’s Enter Ghost wins the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award for best second novel. Winners of Britain’s Society of Authors Awards and the shortlist for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize are also announced. Plus, new title bestsellers.

June 24 marks two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, making abortion a state’s issue. As of this writing, abortion is banned or severely restricted in 21 states. However, abortion is just one part of the larger landscape of Reproductive Justice and reproductive health. Whether you are providing reproductive health information, especially abortion information, in your collections, at the reference desk, or through programming, consult with a legal expert about your options. This may include what type of information you can provide and where in your collection it’s located.

LibraryReads’ top pick for July is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. In the fall, Macmillan will launch Saturday Books, an imprint with a new adult focus. B&N is buying Denver’s storied Tattered Cover bookstore. Amazon announces its Best Books of 2024 So Far, including Percival Everett’s James, the #1 book so far. The Taste Canada Awards shortlist is announced. Author Yulin Kuang suggests book and wine pairings for the summer. Anthony Bourdain’s graphic novel series Get Jiro! will be adapted for TV. Plus, LJ's Galley Guide for the 2024 ALA conference is now available.

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are new titles by Riley Sager, Liv Constantine, Patricia Briggs, Catherine Newman, Jack Carr, and Claire Lombardo. Eight LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Catherine Newman’s Sandwich. Several adaptations earned Tony Awards, including The Outsiders, based on the novel by S.E. Hinton, which won Best Musical.