Well, my months of nudging you to vote for more diverse reads has worked. This month is the most inclusive list yet! As I said last month:

We need to keep finding inclusive titles, under the radar titles, titles that even we didn’t know about before giving them a try. Please look for books that could use the boost that Library Reads can give a title that your colleagues might not know about without that vote, especially more inclusive titles.

Here you can find a link to a database by library professionals who are going through the digital ARCS and screening titles for you to choose from. Please consider starting here, not with the latest, imminent bestseller. Seriously, if you want to help, start at those databases, start by reading those titles. Try something new and if you like it, vote for it.

Don’t start with a book you already know you are going to like. That is the worst thing you can do. We are trying to broaden everyone’s horizons-- patrons, yes, but also the publishers. We want to show them that more inclusive titles will resonate and sell. But, we need to start with ourselves first.

Keep it up. Good job.

But I also don't want you to spend too much time patting yourselves on the back because the reason this list is finally reaching truly inclusive levels is because of the work the Library Reads Steering Committee has done to improve the list.

One of the nagging problems with the list, especially after 5 years, is that the same authors were showing up over and over again, but last month Library Reads solved this problem by creating a Hall of Fame. This month there are 4[!] HoF authors [see below for details]. These are huge authors that library workers love and patrons love too. I get it that people are excited that Louise Penny et all have a new book coming out. Since Library Reads couldn't convince people to stop voting for these popular authors, they found a way to honor these authors but keep the list truly more about identifying more under the radar titles that no one would know about without us.

Here's the thing though....without that HoF list, 4 of these titles wouldn't be here, and the number one title, a book I have had on hold for months, would not have been number 1. Actually I don't know this for sure, but looking at the HoF, I am going to make a very educated guess that they would have taken many of the top spots.

I am so proud of Library Reads for finding a way to keep the integrity of the list but allow more voices to be included. But, now we need to keep up our end of the bargain and keep voting for titles that are less well known that we are excited about.

And now, the list...
_________________________________________________

Today is Library Reads day and that means three things here on RA for All:

I post the list and tag it “Library Reads” so that you can easily pull up every single list with one click.

I can remind you that even though the newest list is always fun to see, it is the older lists where you can find AWESOME, sure bet suggestions for patrons that will be on your shelf to actually hand to them right now. The best thing about Library Reads is the compound interest it is earning. We now have hundreds and hundreds of titles worth suggesting right at our fingertips.

You have no excuse not to hand sell any Library Reads titles because there is a book talk right there in the list in the form of the annotation one of your colleagues wrote for you. All you have to say to your patron is, “such and such library worker in blank state thought this was a great read,” and then you read what he or she said.

So get out there and suggest a good read to someone today. I don’t care what list or resource you use to find the suggestion, just start suggesting books.

Also, please remember to click here for my Library Reads 101 recap for everything you need to know about how to participate. And click here to see a database of eligible diverse titles sorted by month.

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

November 2018 LibraryReads

Don’t miss the November 2018 Hall of Fame Winners! Scroll down or visit the Hall of Fame page.

My Sister,the Serial Killer:
A Novel

by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Published: 11/20/2018 by Doubleday
ISBN: 9780385544238

“Nigerian nurse Korede puts up with so much from her sister Ayoola (the serial killer). Braithwaite tells a dark, lively, and funny story of how begrudgingly cleaning up after someone else’s deadly habits is just one of those things one does for family. For fans of satirical humor.”

Lisa Hoffman, Bloomfield Public Library, Bloomfield NJ