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Not since Michael Crichton entertained and thrilled readers with science-driven novels like Sphere and Jurassic Park has there been anything this frightfully fun.
Fast-paced fun that will appeal to fans of Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan and Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Meddelin Chan.
UPDATE: On May 13, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued a sweeping preliminary injunction blocking Trump administration officials from acting on the March 14 executive order to dismantle the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Furthermore, the court ordered the administration to immediately takes steps to restore the agency’s employees and grant funding activities.
Oprah selects Ocean Vuong’s novel The Emperor of Gladness for her book club. LA Times previews 30 books for summer. Audible opens AI narration to selected publishers. Original Sin by Jake Tapper & Alex Thompson gets buzz. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Jeanine Cummins publishes a new novel, Speak to Me of Home, five years after the American Dirt controversy. LitHub celebrates 100 years of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. PW reports on the situation at Library of Congress. Plus, a federal judge orders the IMLS to be restored.
Anders’s latest is a breathtaking work of magic, grief, and love. The vulnerable depiction of relationships and challenges within queer and trans communities is heart-wrenching but still reflects hope and optimism throughout.
From works by Trevor Noah and Marjorie Liu to a foray into the secret lives of trees, these titles are most in demand by libraries and bookstores nationwide.
From Words and Money: On May 13, federal judge John G. McConnell in Rhode Island issued a sweeping preliminary injunction blocking Trump administration officials from acting on the president’s March 14 executive order to dismantle the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Furthermore, the court ordered the administration to immediately takes steps to restore the agency’s employees and grant funding activities.
Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.
The British Book Awards are announced; Percival Everett is named Author of the Year and his book James wins Fiction Book of the Year; Patriot by Alexei Navalny wins Overall Book of the Year and best narrative nonfiction book; Margaret Atwood laments the threat to words as she accepts the Freedom To Publish Prize. The PEN America Literary Awards winners are announced, along with shortlists for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Wales’s Book of the Year. HarperVia will launch a pocket-sized paperbacks imprint, Nomad Editions, in November. Plus, Trump names an acting librarian of Congress.
Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Danielle L. Jensen, Ocean Vuong, Carl Hiaasen, and Ron Chernow. Seven LibraryReads and six Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Red House by Mary Morris. Plus, June’s Indie Next preview is out, featuring #1 pick Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab.
President Donald Trump has fired Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden. In a two-sentence email obtained by the Associated Press, sent on the evening of Thursday, May 8, Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse wrote, “Carla, on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”
Libraries are evolving; their roles and services are being reshaped by our dynamic digital landscape. The new roles that libraries are assuming also demand new skills and expertise from librarians to remain adaptable and effective. MLIS programs provide the essential foundation for professionals to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape.
Trump has fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Winners of the Vermont Book Awards, winners of the Sarton and Gilda Women’s Book Awards, and shortlists for the UK Booksellers Association’s Indie Book Awards are announced. They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh wins the NYPL’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. Frank Herbert posthumously wins the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association’s Infinity Award. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Jennifer Hope Choi, Rachel Cockerell, Hamilton Nolan, and Jean Grae.
In an era of shrinking library budgets, innovative consortial relationships are proving essential for maintaining equitable access to resources. Library leaders share how ILS-agnostic consortial borrowing, strategic partnerships beyond traditional resource sharing, and communicating value to stakeholders can multiply a library's impact despite financial constraints.
Finalists are announced for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Book Awards for writers from Ontario, Canada. Margaret Atwood wins the Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award. Carley Fortune recommends high-stakes romances. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with José Andrés, the hosts of the podcast We Can Do Hard Things, and Brendan Slocumb.
The Tenant by Freida McFadden is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.
The Otherwise Award winners are announced. NYT explores the unusual process of awarding this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Percival Everett’s James. My Friends by Fredrik Backman is B&N’s May book club pick, while Good Housekeeping selects Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang. Baltimore romantasy festival A Million Lives is dubbed the “Fyre Fest of books.” Dua Lipa’s book club and author interviews earn high praise. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title The Tenant by Freida McFadden. Vanity Fair provides a first look at the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk. Andy West’s prison memoir The Life Inside will be adapted at BBC. Plus, Practical Magic 2 gets a release date.
In this important work of early feminism, which shocked its readers but reflected its times, Chopin mirrors the sensibilities of her age while universally underscoring the desire to reject prescribed roles and definitions.
All the September 2025 Prepub Alerts in one place, plus a downloadable spreadsheet of all titles from every post.
Outstanding reads and great picks across a wide range of fiction genres, audio, and nonfiction. Build TBR lists and find something to savor among this month’s top titles.
The Pulitzer Prizes are announced, with James by Percival Everett winning the top prize in fiction. Combee by Edda L. Fields-Black, Native Nations by Kathleen DuVal, Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts, New and Selected Poems by Marie Howe, Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls, and To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans also win Pulitzer Prizes. Earlyword’s May GalleyChat spreadsheet is out now. The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei is the May GMA book club pick. Diana Gabaldon’s 10th and final Outlander book will be titled A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out.
Audiobooks are a vital part of any public library’s collections, and streaming audio has become the preferred format among patrons. Yet, librarians often struggle to navigate the various access models available from publishers. Blackstone Audio has a solution to this challenge.
Early in her career, Moni Barrette realized patrons had a passion for comic books. “At that time, there was still stigma and a lack of understanding in the library community about the potential that comics had,” she explains, so Barrette moved into comics advocacy.
Jen Park knew the approach libraries usually took toward political advocacy. “We’d go up to the capitol once or twice a year,” she says. “I always felt like we were leaving something out.”
Until Janet Hyunju Clarke, Associate Dean of Research and Learning at Stony Brook University Libraries, got involved, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students who make up approximately 40 percent of the school’s population had never had a campus club that was open to anyone (as opposed to only students) or celebration related to their heritage. “We wanted to do something at a campus-wide level to show students that their history and experiences matter,” says Clarke.
Through her mobile outreach work with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), adult librarian Amanda Mellor creates vital connections between LAPL and persons experiencing homelessness. It is essential to bring library resources and support directly to them, says Mellor, whose efforts focus on delivering compassionate and responsive services to adults in the city’s Skid Row community.
With COVID, the scaffolding that Gregory developed to support students all but disappeared, and her work shifted to the purely transactional: Check books in, check books out. When the opportunity to join the Illinois Heartland Library System opened, Gregory transitioned from helping students to helping her fellow librarians.
“After COVID, our local newspapers were filled with stories on how teens were struggling. I thought, ‘Why couldn’t we do something for teens?’” says Renee McGrath, manager of youth services for the Nassau Library System, NY. In answer to that question, she envisioned and piloted Teen Calming Corners.
As Director of Donnelly Public Library (DPL), Sherry Scheline stewards a 1,024 square foot space that has become an anchor institution for Donnelly, ID—a town of fewer than 200 people, with a service population of just under 3,000.
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