BEA Librarians Day Live, LibraryReads Anytime Content, and Library Journal Day of Dialog

Today Book Expo Librarians Day is happening on their Facebook page all day. Here is the schedule:

Click here to view

I am not a Facebook user, but I am able to view it by just clicking on the link and watching without an account.

As you can see there is a lot of good content. I will probably have it playing in the background throughout the day as I work. I have no idea if the panels will be archive, but I will let you know if they are. Update, they are available on the Book Expo Facebook page at the same link to view after.

I am enjoying this because I would have missed the live BEA, so even popping in and out during the day is nice.

LibraryReads is normally a huge part of BEA and this virtual version is no different. Not only are they hosting a Book Buzz as you can see above, but they also recreated their author panel events.

Click here to go over to the Library Reads YouTube channel to see 2 sets of author panels. Each video is actually comprised of Executive Director Rebecca Vnuk interviewing the following:

Video 1Lisa Jewell, INVISIBLE GIRL (Simon & Schuster)Raven Leilani, LUSTER (Macmillan)Emily Levesque, THE LAST STARGAZERS (Sourcebooks)Helen Macdonald, Vesper Flights (Grove Atlantic)Naomi Novik, A DEADLY EDUCATION (Penguin Random House) 

Video 2Jennifer Nansabuga Makumbi, A GIRL IS A BODY OF WATER (Tin House, distributed by W.W. Norton)V.E. Schwab, THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE (Tor Books)Brad Thor, NEAR DARK (Simon & Schuster)Bryan Washington, MEMORIAL (Penguin Random House)

You can find a list on Edelweiss for ease in requesting and downloading advance reader copies for all of the available titles featured in these videos. That list is here: https://bit.ly/LibraryReadsBEA20Books

These  videos aren't going anywhere, so you can watch them today, tomorrow, or whenever.

Finally, Library Journal normally hosts their Day of Dialog during BEA. They have also transitioned to a FREE online event which will run live on Thursday AND be recorded and sent out to registered parties to view on demand through August 28th. Click here for details.

I for one am even more excited about this DoD event than about the online BEA content both because I can view it on demand later AND because the DoD panels are always broken up into larger categories. Personally, I am most excited about the SF/F/H panel and the nonfiction panel.

This is a busy week of events, but most of them can be viewed on your own time.

Book Expo Librarian Shout and Share

Last week, Donna Seaman moderated the annual Book Expo tradition of having librarians call out the Fall releases they are most excited about. Booklist was the sponsor this year and over on Booklist Reader, they have posted all of the titles. Click here to see what you should be planning to read and order for your patrons.

Below, I have reposted the intro and the information about the Shouters and Sharers but to see the books themselves you have to click through.

Thanks to everyone who worked hard while at Book Expo to gather up and share their favorite titles. I have been one fo these people at ALA Annual a few times, and I know it is not easy to do while attending the conference. But I also know how much it helps everyone, everywhere, to serve their patrons better. So thanks.

Shout ‘n Share! Booklisters Call Out Enticing Fall Titles

We were so excited to present this year’s Shout ‘n Share at Book Expo in New York City, an event where we called out forthcoming books we’re excited about, presenting as many brief synopses as possible in a quick hour. And now we’re delighted to share the shout-outs here, with the able help of Booklist editorial assistant Biz Hyzy. As Booklist’s editor for the Adult Books section, Donna Seaman was honored to moderate, and thrilled to be joined by a splendid panel of book-smart and enthusiastic librarians. Below you’ll find out more about each panelist—and their reading picks for the coming months.

ANDRIENNE CRUZ
Andrienne is a librarian at the Azusa City Library, City of Azusa, California. A rising star in the EarlyWord GalleyChat, she is a member of the LibraryReads board.

ELIZABETH JOSEPHElizabeth is currently the Coordinator of Information & Adult Services at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut. She has served on the Notable Books Council and the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction & Nonfiction selection committee.

BILL KELLYThe Adult Programming Manager for Cuyahoga County Public Library, Bill has served as Chair of ALA’s Notable Books Council, a member of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence selection committee, and a member of ALA’s Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Committee. Bill is also a recipient of the Allie Beth Martin Award, given to a librarian who has demonstrated extraordinary range and depth of knowledge about books and distinguished ability to share that knowledge.

STEPHEN SPOSATOAs Manager, Content Curation, Stephen Sposato supervises content selection and readers advisory for Chicago Public Library, where he has worked for over twenty years. He is a current member of the CODES Notable Books Council and serves on the LibraryReads Board.

DONNA SEAMAN

Click through to see all the titles and why these librarians are so excited to read them.

Resource Alert: LJ's 2019 BEA Galley Guide is Even Better For Those Left Behind

One of our best collection development resources is the Library Journal Galley Guides which Barbara Hoffert compiles for every major conference. Here is the hot off the presses one for BEA 2019 which begins next week.

Here's a secret, I think this guide is actually more useful to those of us who aren't at the conference than those who are going. Why? Well, when people are there in person, most use it simply to find out which galleys are going to be given out when and who is signing where. Honestly, when you are there all you use it for is to run around and stand in line and I am on the record saying that running around trying to get free books and wait in long lines is not a good use of your time.

But, those of us who are back at home, we have time to go through the Galley Guide, taking note of which books the publishers are pushing the hardest. What do they think will take off? What should we be pre-ordering. We actually use it as a resource to help our patrons and craft our collections.

Everyone, whether they are attending BEA or not, should look through the guide and note trends, authors who you already have in your collections who are going to have a new book, etc... For example, in this guide, I have noticed a lot of self help titles and true crime. Obviously this is not a shock that these topics are popular, but it serves as a reminder that now is a great time to put up those displays and then also include a handout or book mark with upcoming titles from this Galley Guide that readers may also like. Remind them of what you already have that would be great to read right now AND alert them to what is around the corner on which they might want to place a hold. Make the buzz of new books work for your backlist collections.

You can also make displays based on what you learn from going through the guide even though not a single one of these books is out yet. I'll help you get started. Make a display titled-- "Coming in 2019 By...." and put out books by some of the big names with books coming out as noted in the guide. Make sure you also offer a handout with their new titles where patrons can check off those they want to place on hold. This is a display that is easy to put up and keep filled and it is interactive for your patrons because they get a book now and get to tell you what they want later.

Or do a "Read While You Wait," version of the display, again having a handout or book mark with upcoming titles from this Galley Guide that fans of those authors may want to put on hold. Also by default this display will be diverse and inclusive because you aren't limiting it by genre, format, fiction vs nonfiction, etc... The display will and should include anything and everything because anything and everything is already in the Galley Guide.

And, another benefit, a display as broad as this one higjights the breath of your collections. For example, have you ever had literary fiction authors, travel books, nonfiction history, romance and sf on the same display? But, I would also bet that more readers than you think have read and enjoyed all fo these types os books. I know I have.

So stop being sad you are not at BEA, and start using the resources being created by the conference to serve your patrons better right now. Your colleagues in NYC will have to catch up to you when they get back.

Library Journa's BEA Shout N Share Titles and the ALA Version Featuring ME!

My vacation got extended one extra day due to the crappy weather in Chicago yesterday. But never fear, I am still here as promised, back from vacation [at least online] with a brand new post for you.

Thanks to Library Journal, we have access to all of the details on what happened at their Shout 'n Share program at BEA 2 weeks ago. Read the intro below and click here for all of the titles which these library experts are most excited about.

But first, Booklist does a version of this at ALA every year and for the second year in a row I have been invited to participate. Here is all the info about that event.

Booklist's Read 'N' Rave

Monday, June 25

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Location: Morial Convention Center, Rm 281-282      

ALA Unit/Subunit: ALA
Meeting Type: Other
Cost: Included with full conference registration.
Open/Closed: Open

Hear several collection development specialists rave about their favorite titles gathered from the exhibit floor. Moderated by Susan Maguire, Booklist’s Senior Editor, Collection Management and Library Outreach. Panelist to include:

Ariel Farrar, New Orleans Public Library
Stephen Sposato, Chicago Public Library
Becky Spratford, RA for All
Kaite Stover, Kansas City Public Library
Rebecca Vnuk, LibraryReads

I hope to see some of you there. However, don't fear if you can't make it. I will be posting my list with details about each book by Tuesday morning [6/26] AND Booklist Reader will have a full list of all of our titles a few days later.

Back to the BEA version sponsored by Library Journal to tide you over. It's a great list of books that is not only inclusive but also represents all genres, fiction and nonfiction. Enjoy.

Librarians Shout ‘n Share Their Show Picks | BookExpo 2018



Shout ‘n Sharers (left to right): Wilda Williams (moderator), Stephanie Anderson

 Gregg Winsor, Jennifer Hubert Swan, and Shayera Tangri.

Photo by Chris Vaccari

Celebrating its tenth anniversary, Library Journal’s popular Librarian Shout ‘n Share panel once again took center stage on the final day of BookExpo 2018, held May 30–June 1 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

Occupying the Downtown Stage, one of three main venues for special book and author events, the discussion was moderated by LJ Fiction Editor Wilda Williams and featured a mix of first-time and veteran librarian shouters: Stephanie Anderson, assistant director of selection, BookOps, New York and Brooklyn Public Libraries; Gregg Winsor, reference librarian, Johnson County Library, Overland Park, KS; Jennifer Hubert Swan, middle school librarian and director of library services, Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School, NYC; and Shayera Tangri, senior librarian, Porter Ranch Branch Library, CA.

As with last year’s session, there was surprisingly very little overlap in the discoveries shared by panelists. Home After Dark, author/illustrator David Small’s long-awaited follow-up to his 2011 National Book Award finalist Stitches, drew nods from Winsor, Swan, and Williams. Other titles attracting multiple attention included The Real Lolita, Sarah Weinman’s investigation of the kidnapping that inspired Vladimir Nabokov’s literary masterpiece; Stephen L. Carter’s Invisible, which recounts the life of the author’s remarkable grandmother, who helped take down 1930s gangster Lucky Luciano; and Sarah McCoy’s Marilla of Green Gables, the much anticipated prequel to Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Canadian classic, Anne of Green Gables.

In 2017, A.J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window was the Big Book of the show. No such thriller appeared on the horizon this year, but buzz is building for British screenwriter Alex Michaelides’s chilling debut The Silent Patient, which will be released in early 2019 by Macmillan’s new Celadon Books imprint.

The following list includes all titles presented, in roughly the order mentioned, with bold titles indicating those selected by more than one panelist.

Click here to see the lists and thanks to Library Journal for allowing me to repost.

Barbara Hoffert’s 2018 BEA Galley Guide

BEA is just around the corner, but don’t be sad if you aren’t going because you still have access to Barbara Hoffert’s wonderful Galley Guide. 

Click here for access to over 200 key titles from the show with descriptions!

But Becky, if I am not going, why should I care about the free books other people are going to get?

Thanks for asking disembodied voice of the average reader.

As I have explained in this [different] post, whether or not you are present at the conference in question, these galley guides can help you immensely. I will not repeat myself as to why. You can easily go here and read.

So before you head out for the holiday weekend, take a look at the galley guide and especially this post by me on how to use it to help patrons right away. Seriously, even though many of these books aren’t coming out for a while, I have proven tips and tricks on how to make this preview work for you today-- right now! I’m not kidding. Immediately. Click through and see for yourself.

And if you see something you really like, head on over to NetGalley or Edelweiss+ and request an eGalley of your own. Not sure how to sign-up and get preapproved? No problem, Library Reads has you covered here.

Have a great holiday weekend. May you read a good book or two. See you Tuesday.

BookExpo News and Recaps From PW

As you saw on the blog over the last couple of days, I have been traveling to train library staff.  I got home late last night and this morning I am spending some quality time with my daughter who became a Sophomore while I was gone, successfully completing her finals. Then after lunch, I will be with the 6th grade boy working his “End of the Year” event, the final one for our family.

So between the travel and the time with my kids, like many of you, I am missing Book Expo, I barely have time even to follow it virtually [but thanks to my friends who are there who have been tagging me in their posts for things they know I would like]. 

But that’s okay, because Publishers’ Weekly has us al covered because that it literally their job- to cover publishing.

Click here to read the 116 page [!] BEA Show Daily from yesterday. And head on over to their homepage to see more reports from BEA.

This coverage will catch you up on everything you may have missed.

Click here to read it

Get This Short and Busy Week Off To A Fast Start With BEA Galley Guide and NPR Books Survey on Comics and Graphic Novels

This is an extremely busy week. Not only is BEA beginning-- and whether you are going or not, there is plenty of news that will be flying at all of us-- but all of you are also either starting summer reading today, or gearing up to begin it very soon [my local library begins Friday night!]

So let's kick it off with a few things that are both fun and get our brains moving. I know this is the beginning of the very busy summer for all of us, but we need to find ways to stay engaged and capture the joy of what we do as RA specialists-- spreading a love of books and reading!

click here for the pdf of the guide

BookExpo America starts tomorrow and that means Barbara Hoffert has prepared her annual Galley Guide. Even though I am not going, I still signed up for the Galley Guide. Why? To torture myself about everything I am missing. No. Because as I explained in detail in this post last week, whether or not you are present, these galley guides can help you immensely.  I will not repeat myself as to why, go here and learn.

Here is the direct link to Barbara’s Galley Guide of all the books you should be aware of right now for these reasons.

But before you get lost in reading about all the upcoming titles, why not first take a trip down memory lane while also helping NPR build the best list of comics and graphic novels that they can.

From NPR Books:

Here at NPR headquarters in DC, MARVELous IMAGEs and FANTAstic GRAPHICS are dancing in our heads as we contemplate this year's edition of our famous Summer Reader Poll — who will make the cut? Will it be packed with old favorites or BOOM! Will a DARK HORSE muscle in?

Oh god, we can't keep this up anymore. Let's just come right out and say it: This summer, we're celebrating comics and graphic novels, and we need your help! Whether it's a dogeared childhood treasure, the latest Eisner award winner or the webcomic you binge-read last week, tell us about it using the form on this page.

Based on what you tell us, our expert panel of comics creators, reviewers — and geeks — will curate a final list of 100 favorite comics.

But before you get clicking, let's establish some canon...

Click here to read the rules and to nominate your 5 favorites.

I am pleading all of you library workers out there to get in on this. Please contribute your favorites to the poll so that we get as wide a list as possible.  Millions of people will see this list. For many it may be their first brush with graphic novels and comics. Let’s get our expert voice in there because goodness knows when NPR releases their “Expert” top 100, it will not include a librarian voice [even though I know a few librarians who are bigger experts in the world of graphic novels and comics than some writers and illustrators are], so we have to make ourselves heard in this poll.

Besides, it will be super fun. I have already submitted one response and am thinking carefully about the others I will enter. And if you have read this blog for more than a hot second, you know what that #1 choice was, but just in case, you could click here to see.

Speaking of having a busy week, I am posting this with my 30 minutes of free wifi at Midway airport as I get ready to lead 2 days of training in Tampa.  Details over the next 2 days here on the blog, along with some bonus non RA Roadshow content too.

Safe travels to all who are going to BEA including all of my Library Reads friends.

Pre-Pub Alert: Becky’s BEA Galley Favs Part 2 of 2

Let’s get right back into the discussion of the books I am excited out. Six more today in part 2.

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler [September 2016]:

From one of America’s most important writers, Perfume River is an exquisite novel that examines family ties and the legacy of the Vietnam War through the portrait of a single North Florida family. 

Robert Quinlan is a seventy-year-old historian, teaching at Florida State University, where his wife Darla is also tenured. Their marriage, forged in the fervor of anti-Vietnam-war protests, now bears the fractures of time, both personal and historical, with the couple trapped in an existence of morning coffee and solitary jogging and separate offices. For Robert and Darla, the cracks remain under the surface, whereas the divisions in Robert’s own family are more apparent: he has almost no relationship with his brother Jimmy, who became estranged from the family as the Vietnam War intensified. Robert and Jimmy’s father, a veteran of WWII, is coming to the end of his life, and aftershocks of war ripple across their lives once again, when Jimmy refuses to appear at his father’s bedside. And an unstable homeless man whom Robert at first takes to be a fellow Vietnam veteran turns out to have a deep impact not just on Robert, but on his entire family.

So before BEA I knew who Robert Olen Butler was because he had won the Pulitzer, that meant I knew I had to buy his books for my library. But I didn’t know anything else.  After listening to him talk about his life, his work, and this upcoming book, I am sad I didn’t pay more attention to him previously.

He spoke at length about the Vietnam War and how it effected him personally but also many others. He also talked about how literature is “the art form of human longing,” with brilliance and elegance. Finally, he said in this new novel one of the big questions he is trying to answer is “who is our own and who is the other.” This alone is the reason many patrons would and should read this book.

Everyone sitting around me was blown away by him. One of my friends even tweeted at the event:

I second that. Don't just order the book, read it.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead [September 2016]:

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all slaves, but Cora is an outcast even among her fellow Africans, and she is coming into womanhood; even greater pain awaits. Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her of the Underground Railroad and they plot their escape.

Like Gulliver, Cora encounters different worlds on each leg of her journey...Whitehead brilliantly recreates the unique terrors of black life in pre-Civil War America. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage, and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Look, I know you know Colson Whitehead is great. Personally, I am a huge fan of Zone One. This new title is getting great buzz.  Whitehead was on a panel and here are a few things he shared with the group:

• With regards to the violence in his book, Colson Whitehead took inspiration for the tone (matter of fact) from slave narratives.
• "It's very disappointing when you discover as a kid that [the Underground Railroad] not a subway.”

I am excited to read this book because Whitehead is one of the few writers who is able to write wonderful stories without ever allowing himself to be pigeon-holed. He is a rare treat for library workers, a literary fiction writer who is accessible to all. I also think he is a good example of what I wrote about at length in this post-- just because an author is of a different race than the patron in front of you, doesn't mean you should be hesitant to suggest that author.

From 2 known quantities to a new voice that I am excited about....

The Mortifications by Derek Palacio [October 2016]:

Derek Palacio’s stunning, mythic novel marks the arrival of a fresh voice and a new chapter in the history of 21st century Cuban-American literature. 

In 1980, a rural Cuban family is torn apart during the Mariel Boatlift. Uxbal Encarnación—father, husband, political insurgent—refuses to leave behind the revolutionary ideals and lush tomato farms of his sun-soaked homeland. His wife Soledad takes young Isabel and Ulises hostage and flees with them to America, leaving behind Uxbal for the promise of a better life. But instead of settling with fellow Cuban immigrants in Miami’s familiar heat, Soledad pushes further north into the stark, wintry landscape of Hartford, Connecticut. There, in the long shadow of their estranged patriarch, now just a distant memory, the exiled mother and her children begin a process of growth and transformation. 

Each struggles and flourishes in their own way: Isabel, spiritually hungry and desperate for higher purpose, finds herself tethered to death and the dying in uncanny ways. Ulises is bookish and awkwardly tall, like his father, whose memory haunts and shapes the boy's thoughts and desires. Presiding over them both is Soledad. Once consumed by her love for her husband, she begins a tempestuous new relationship with a Dutch tobacco farmer. But just as the Encarnacións begin to cultivate their strange new way of life, Cuba calls them back. Uxbal is alive, and waiting. 

Breathtaking, soulful, and profound, The Mortifications is an intoxicating family saga and a timely, urgent expression of longing for one's true homeland. 

I knew nothing about this author or this title before I went to Library Journal Day of Dialog.  This is why you go people. To find out about titles that you might have missed.

Here are some of my notes as to why I was excited about this book:

• For fans of Zadie Smith, Rachel Kushner, Marlon James and Junot Diaz. These are very popular authors for lit fiction readers.
• Sweeping family saga-- also VERY POPULAR
• Portrait of what it is like to be an immigrant in America! and a refugee-- current events!

I put this title after Whitehead to reiterate the point I made above about suggesting good "diverse" books to people not of the same heritage of the diverse author. Again, I have many, many examples and thoughts in this post, but the point is, this is a good book for the public library, general audience, no matter who they are or where they live. Order it.

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple [October 2016]:

Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action-life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office-but not Eleanor-that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret.  

TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT is a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention, sisterhood, and how sometimes it takes facing up to our former selves to truly begin living.

Not much more to say here than....heads up, Semple will have a new book. I included this more as a reminder as to what a great backlist option Where's You Go Bernadette? is, especially for people looking for a beach read that is funny, quirky, and compelling.

Now for the biggest surprise for me personally-- a nonfiction book about math!

How to Bake Pi: An Edible Explanation of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Dr. Eugenia Cheng [Out Now]:

What is math? How exactly does it work? And what do three siblings trying to share a cake have to do with it? In How to Bake Pi, math professor Eugenia Cheng provides an accessible introduction to the logic and beauty of mathematics, powered, unexpectedly, by insights from the kitchen: we learn, for example, how the béchamel in a lasagna can be a lot like the number 5, and why making a good custard proves that math is easy but life is hard. Of course, it’s not all cooking; we’ll also run the New York and Chicago marathons, pay visits to Cinderella and Lewis Carroll, and even get to the bottom of a tomato’s identity as a vegetable. This is not the math of our high school classes: mathematics, Cheng shows us, is less about numbers and formulas and more about how we know, believe, and understand anything, including whether our brother took too much cake. 

At the heart of How to Bake Pi is Cheng’s work on category theory—a cutting-edge “mathematics of mathematics.” Cheng combines her theory work with her enthusiasm for cooking both to shed new light on the fundamentals of mathematics and to give readers a tour of a vast territory no popular book on math has explored before. Lively, funny, and clear, How to Bake Pi will dazzle the initiated while amusing and enlightening even the most hardened math-phobe.

Talk about diverse reads.  Look, I have always appreciated reading books by people with a different world view, but I have not been so great about reading books about topics that do not interest me. I took so many notes when she was talking.  Not only did she make math seem approachable, but she also was hilarious. Here is just a small sampling of the things she said:

• Eugenia Cheng talking about her book How to Bake Pi. Telling us we can do math. I am starting to believe her.
• People will not realize they are learning math while they read-- Cheng
• "Math is not just about numbers, it's about thinking logically about things."
• Most people like food more than math, so she combined them to make math seem more approachable.
• We all want to take a math class with Dr. Cheng now.
• My kids love math. I need to read this book to understand why.
• She poked fun at the "grumpy old" mathematicians who will complain that her book has no theorems. So what?- Cheng
• She's even drafted theorems about hard hard it is to lose weight. Math can be used for everything.
• Listening to Dr. Cheng talk about math makes it seem like I am missing a big party by not being engaged by math.

That's just a sampling of the notes I took. This book and its author made me realize that a book I might have dismissed for myself is actually a perfect read for me. Sure, this is a great general nonfiction purchase for all libraries, but I learned something about myself as a reader through her talk; I learned that making sure I read "diverse" books goes beyond the identity of the author. I need to consider more topics too. Something I think might not be "for me." might be just perfect if I only drop my preconceived notions.

Last but definitely not least-- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders [February 2017]:

The captivating first novel by the best-selling, National Book Award nominee George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven year old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War 

On February 22, 1862, two days after his death, Willie Lincoln was laid to rest in a marble crypt in a Georgetown cemetery. That very night, shattered by grief, Abraham Lincoln arrives at the cemetery under cover of darkness and visits the crypt, alone, to spend time with his son’s body. Set over the course of that one night and populated by ghosts of the recently passed and the long dead, Lincoln in the Bardo is a thrilling exploration of death, grief, the powers of good and evil, a novel - in its form and voice - completely unlike anything you have read before. It is also, in the end, an exploration of the deeper meaning and possibilities of life, written as only George Saunders can: with humor, pathos, and grace.

Yes, the short story master, Saunders has written a novel.  I saw him speak about it at a dinner during BEA.  I was touched by how honest he was about how difficult writing this novel was for him.  He worked on it for years and despite his enormous success with stories, he still struggled. He had to tell this story in novel form though. He out it aside many times before completing it.

That's my very abbreviated look at only 11 of the general interest galleys I was most excited about after BEA. There will be a genre related post of upcoming titles coming tomorrow.

Pre-Pub Alert: Becky’s BEA Galley Favs Part 1 of 2

Today I have part 1 of my posts on the galleys I got at BEA that I am most excited to share with you because I feel like these are books you need to share with a large audience-- your patrons.  Above is the picture I took of the upcoming titles I will discuss below. I no longer have many of these books in my possession anymore as I sent them off to other libraries to use as prizes or to share with their staff in preparation for hand selling them later this year.

For each title, I will provide the publisher summary, a link to Goodreads, and the publication month followed by some commentary by me on why I think you should be promoting these reads to your patrons. I also have some suggested readalikes based on the publisher’s book talks. Read my comments to help you decide who to hand these books out to, but I would argue that each of these 11 titles need to be purchased by every public library. 

Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge [October 2016]:

On an average day in America, seven young people, aged nineteen or under, will be shot dead. In Another Day in the Death of America, award-winning Guardian journalist Gary Younge tells the stories of the lives lost on one random day—November 23, 2013. Ten children died that day. From Jaiden Dixon, nine, shot point-blank by his mother’s ex-boyfriend on his doorstep in suburban Ohio, to Tyshon Anderson, an eighteen-year-old gang member who’d recently been released from prison on Chicago’s South Side; from a rural hamlet in Michigan to the deindustrialised streets of Newark, the narrative crisscrosses the country over a period of twenty-four hours to reveal the stories behind the statistics and brief mentions in local papers. 

This powerful and moving work puts a human face—a child’s face—on the “collateral damage” of gun violence at a time when the gun issue in America is being hotly debated. This is not a book about gun control, but about what happens in a country where it does not exist. What emerges in these pages is a searing portrait of youth and family in America today.

Mr Younge spoke on a panel at LJ Day of Dialog focused on forthcoming Nonfiction.  As you can see above, this is a serious but necessary book for everyone to read. I was struck by the topic and it’s focus-- using a single day makes it so much more poignant and hopefully, will make the call for change much stronger.  Here are a few paraphrased comments made by Mr. Younge on the panel [from my notes]:

• In some parts of this country, people expect to be shot.
• Kids are shot each day in America. “In no other country would this be possible.” --this comment alone is why you need to read this book.
• As an outsider who has lived in America [Black-British man married to an American], Younge discussed his unique perspective to look at this heartbreaking topic

This was the most serious book on the nonfiction panel by far, but it is also the most important. Give this to your readers who care about social justice or current event. No, scratch that, give it to everyone. This book feels like it will become as important as There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz has become. Kotlowitz’s book led to the end of public housing in Chicago. Can Younge’s book help curb gun violence in America? If enough people read it, maybe.

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn [Out Now]:

Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect, Nicole Dennis- Benn pens a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also perhaps a chance to admit a shocking secret: her forbidden love for another woman. As they face the impending destruction of their community, each woman—fighting to balance the burdens she shoulders with the freedom she craves—must confront long-hidden scars. From a much-heralded new writer, Here Comes the Sun offers a dramatic glimpse into a vibrant, passionate world most outsiders see simply as paradise.

I saw Ms. Dennis-Benn speak on 2 librarian focused panels AND I ran into her on the convention floor where I thanked her so much for coming to talk to us.  Not only does her book look fantastic, but she was so eloquent and thoughtful in her talks. She literally bared her soul to us about the dichotomy between the world of Jamaica we see on vacation and the real life of the women who provide the services to the tourists. She brought herself and many of us to tears in her second appearance.

Personally, I enjoy Caribbean set novels and have ready many, but this novel is so much more.  One of the many moving and brilliant things Ms. Dennis-Benn said to the audience was this [and I paraphrase from my notes]: I write about mothers and daughters and the mother saying, I love you so much, I will be the first to break you.

What an honest and moving statement. She talked about how when she read Beloved the first time she was confused as to the choices the main character makes, but reading it later, as an adult, she truly understood why someone would kill their own daughter to save them from a terrible fate. She made it clear she was not comparing herself to Toni Morrison, but only sharing what she had learned from her own life and how it was put into her writing.

All mothers of daughters should read this book. All people who have been to a resort on vacation in the Caribbean should read this book. All people who want to understand those who work in the shadows should read this novel.  Basically everyone should read it.

I am grouping the next 2 books in the stack together for a few reasons: Leave Me by Gayle Foreman and Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

First the summaries. Leave Me [Out September 2016]:

International bestselling author Gayle Forman's trademark humor and insight abound in this masterful adult debut, showing us that sometimes you have to leave home in order to find it again. 

For every woman who has ever fantasized about driving past her exit on the highway instead of going home to make dinner, for every woman who has ever dreamed of boarding a train to a place where no one needs constant attention--meet Maribeth Klein. A harried working mother who's so busy taking care of her husband and twins, she doesn't even realize she's had a heart attack. 

Afterward, surprised to discover that her recuperation seems to be an imposition on those who rely on her, Maribeth does the unthinkable: She packs a bag and leaves. But, as is so often the case, once we get to where we're going, we see our lives from a different perspective. Far from the demands of family and career and with the help of liberating new friendships, Maribeth is finally able to own up to secrets she has been keeping from those she loves and from herself. 

With big-hearted characters who stumble and trip, grow and forgive, Leave Me is about facing our fears. Gayle Forman, a dazzling observer of human nature, has written an irresistible novel that confronts the ambivalence of modern motherhood head-on

Second, Here I Am [Out September 2016]:

In the book of Genesis, when God calls out, “Abraham!” to order him to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham responds, “Here I am.” Later, when Isaac calls out, “My father!” to ask him why there is no animal to slaughter, Abraham responds, “Here I am.” 

How do we fulfill our conflicting duties as father, husband, and son; wife and mother; child and adult? Jew and American? How can we claim our own identities when our lives are linked so closely to others’? These are the questions at the heart of Jonathan Safran Foer’s first novel in eleven years--a work of extraordinary scope and heartbreaking intimacy. 

Unfolding over four tumultuous weeks, in present-day Washington, D.C., Here I Am is the story of a fracturing family in a moment of crisis. As Jacob and Julia and their three sons are forced to confront the distances between the lives they think they want and the lives they are living, a catastrophic earthquake sets in motion a quickly escalating conflict in the Middle East. At stake is the very meaning of home--and the fundamental question of how much life one can bear. 

Showcasing the same high-energy inventiveness, hilarious irreverence, and emotional urgency that readers and critics loved in his earlier work, Here I Am is Foer’s most searching, hard-hitting, and grandly entertaining novel yet. It not only confirms Foer’s stature as a dazzling literary talent but reveals a mature novelist who has fully come into his own as one of the most important writers of his generation.

These are both big name authors and you will probably be buying these titles anyway, but the reason I wanted to point them out was because both look at parenting from an interesting, different, and thought-provoking  perspective. I wanted you to be prepared for book talking these upcoming buzz titles to your patrons. Both may have a different audience than their previous books. You need to be aware that you can expand who you think will like these books.

Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vásquez [Out September 2016]:

From the brilliant mind of the author of The Sound of Things Falling, a powerful novel about a legendary political cartoonist. 

Javier Mallarino is a living legend. He is his country’s most influential political cartoonist, the consciousness of a nation. A man capable of repealing laws, overturning judges’ decisions, destroying politicians’ careers with his art. His weapons are pen and ink. Those in power fear him and pay him homage. 

At sixty-five, after four decades of a brilliant career, he’s at the height of his powers. But this all changes when he’s paid an unexpected visit from a young woman who upends his sense of personal history and forces him to re-evaluate his life and work, questioning his position in the world. 

In Reputations, Juan Gabriel Vásquez examines the weight of the past, how a public persona intersects with private histories, and the burdens and surprises of memory. In this intimate novel, Vásquez plumbs universal experiences to create a masterful story, one that reverberates long after you turn the final page.

I don’t feel like this summary does this novel justice.  So I am going to share my notes from the panel where a representative from Riverbed books gushed about this slim novel:

• Can be read in 1 sitting.
• Powerful and politically infused
• Vásquez is one of the most powerful writers of his generation in Columbia
• For fans of Ishiguro, Coetzee, Julian Barnes, and Ian McEwan-- all very popular book discussion authors AND among the best circulating literary fiction writers in the library. This will be an easy one to hand sell.

After the presentation, I ran (well speed walked) to grab a copy of this novel.  I have not read it cover to cover, but I have skimmed it.  This is a tight, compelling, and thought provoking read. Worth your purchase for all collections.

That’s the first half of the stack. I’ll be back tomorrow with the second half.

Free Issues of BEA Show Daily: May 12

Here is the link for yesterday's issue.

Also you can go directly to the BEA page on the PW website for more up to the minute news.

I will be back later today with the June Library Reads post and a post about some of the better things I saw at BEA.

Free Issues of BEA Show Daily: May 11

Whether you are here in Chicago at BEA or not, Publisher's Weekly is offering copies of its daily show issues for free.

Here is the link for Wednesday May 11. Go straight to page 15 for the PW Presents BEA's Librarians' Lounge.

I'll post the others soon.

RA for All Roadshow @ BEA

This morning I will be presenting on the following panel:

Libraries Transform™: ALA@BEA, Embrace the Innovative Future of Readers’ Advisory

05/12/2016, 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM

Room W183

The question heard daily – “ Do you have anything else like this?” In public libraries, reference librarians are often called on to make recommendations to readers, sometimes in genres that they don’t personally read. Learning how to frame a discussion and articulate the appeal of a book, author, or genre marks the essence of a successful readers’ advisor. This session will track the latest trends in Readers’ Advisory. Focus will be on methods for delivering personalized, immediate and mobile-friendly recommendations, including input from Booklist!

Use this link to get all of the details including who else is on the panel with me.

After the presentation, I will gather everyone’s slides here in this post, but for now, here is the access to my slides. Please click on the images in the slide show. Most have links embedded in them. 

ADDED 5/19/16 Here is access to Polli Kenn’s slides.  She went before me.

I look forward to meeting some of you tomorrow. If it is anything like meeting many of you yesterday at LJ DOD and/or the Library Reads Dinner, it’s going to be a great day.

Click here for slide access

BEA is Coming to Chicago and You Can See Me At the Conference or On STAGE!

Next week the entire book world will be centered on Chicago. I wanted to post here on the blog a few things about where I will be during the week for those of you who want to meet up with me, what to expect here on the blog during BEA, AND a few suggestions on RA related programs to attend.

This also gives me an excuse to finally put my schedule together. Seriously, I will be using this post to figure out where I am supposed to be as much as you will use it to find me.

First, I have had many questions about meeting up IRL. Besides the schedule I will outline below [which is very broad], the best way to reach out during the week is to DM me on Twitter @RAforAll. I have changed my DM settings so anyone, whether I follow you or not, can DM me. OR go to my About page. It has my cell number and email address.  Either is fine.  Feel free to use them.

When I am staying in one place for awhile, I will also Tweet my location. Since those Tweets run here on the blog in the side bar, anyone, Twitter person or not, can see them. If you see me, please come up to me. I do not bite [usually] and would love to meet you.

Second, here is my very broad schedule for BEA events:

Wednesday May 11th: I will be at Library Journal's Day of Dialog from 8am to 6pm. Click here for the schedule. That one is easy because we are all together.

I will then be attending the Adult Librarian's Dinner sponsored by Library Reads and the Association of American Publishers at 6:30 at the Palmer Place Hilton. I promised MC Rebecca Vnuk that I would sit up front to heckle, I mean support, her. So if you want to sit with me, you gotta sit in the front row.

Thursday May 12th: I will be at BEA proper at McCormick Place ALL DAY. But it all begins bright and early with the best event of the conference, the one that is most relevant to all of my readers, oh, and it also happens to be the one that features me:

******************************************************************

Libraries Transform™: ALA@BEA, Embrace the Innovative Future of Readers’ Advisory

05/12/2016, 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM

Room W183

The question heard daily – “ Do you have anything else like this?” In public libraries, reference librarians are often called on to make recommendations to readers, sometimes in genres that they don’t personally read. Learning how to frame a discussion and articulate the appeal of a book, author, or genre marks the essence of a successful readers’ advisor. This session will track the latest trends in Readers’ Advisory. Focus will be on methods for delivering personalized, immediate and mobile-friendly recommendations, including input from Booklist!

******************************************************************

Use this link to get all of the details including who else is on the panel with me.

When I am done, I will be staying in Room W183 to see the other two parts to the ALA @BEA Libraries Transform programming.  Click here to see all three programs on one page.

From 12-1:30 I will be in room W185 for the Library Reads and Association of American Publishers Adult Librarian's Lunch.

After lunch I'm going to see Horror writer Amy Lukavics, whose first book was awesome and who I have worked with previously. She will be signing copies of her new book, The Women in the Walls, from 1-2:30 at Booth 2240 and 2241.

I will probably stick around the exhibit hall the rest of the day. I have to meet up with a few specific horror publishers, but I'll be around. I am also not interested in getting any autographs, so if you want to wander the Hall with me I figured you should know that upfront.

Friday May 13th: Honestly, I am not sure if I will be driving in on Friday or not. If I do, I have to leave after lunch for a late afternoon appointment. But, if I am there, I will 100% be at this program:

Demystifying How Librarians Buy  

05/13/2016, 11:00 PM - 11:50 PM   Room W179a

According to Library Journal’s 2014 Budget Survey U.S. Public Libraries materials budgets total approximately $1.8 billion. In this session, hear what librarians Stephen Sposato of the Chicago Public Library, Wendy Bartlett of the Cuyahoga Public Library and Charlene Rue of BookOps, are buying and how they make decisions. Get the inside track to help better market to the library channel and understand the ins and outs of how librarians buy, what they buy and when they make their decisions.

Okay, that's the schedule.

Now, third, the blogging schedule. There will definitely be posts every day during the conference, but they may be shorter than normal. Please check back frequently though, especially if you are not on Twitter, as I will be live Tweeting quite a bit. Those run in the right gutter of the blog. 

I can't wait to see many of you next week. And whether or not you are here in person, I will have you covered with the most important RA info from BEA here on RA for All.