Booklist's Shelf Care
Booklist's bookish library podcast
Welcome to Booklist’s Shelf Care, where we bring all things readers’ advisory, collection development, and reference right to your earbuds. Hosted by Susan Maguire, Senior Editor, Collection Management and Library Outreach, each episode of Shelf Care will introduce you to rock star librarians, hot topics in publishing, and books you need to know from colleagues at Booklist.
Subscribe to Booklist’s Shelf Care on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app. The Shelf Care Interview is also included in the subscription feed. More information on the Shelf Care Interview is located on this page, below the list of previous Shelf Care episodes.
Listen to the Latest Episode:
It’s that time of the year again, when the Booklist editors gather ‘round the proverbial fire and share some of their favorite reads of the year. Covering everything from our Top of the List titles to personal faves, this episode has a little something for every reader. Here’s what we talked about:
Donna:
We Loved It All: A Memory of Life. By Lydia Millet. (Adult Nonfiction Top of the List)
The Morningside. By Téa Obreht.
Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar.
My Black Country: A Journey through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future. By Alice Randall.
The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. By Zoë Schlanger.
Annie:
Wandering Stars. By Tommy Orange. (Adult Fiction Top of the List)
Donna Seaman interviews Tommy Orange for One Book, One Chicago
All Fours. By Miranda July.
Susan:
The Wedding People. By Alison Espach.
One of Us Knows. By Alyssa Cole.
The Cottage around the Corner. By D. L. Soria.
Sarah:
A Greater Goal: The Epic Battle for Equal Pay in Women’s Soccer—and Beyond. By Elizabeth Rusch. (Youth Nonfiction Top of the List)
Dispatches from Parts Unknown. By Bryan Bliss.
Ash’s Cabin. Written and illustrated by Jen Wang. (Youth Graphic Novel Top of the List)
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir. Written and illustrated by Tessa Hulls. (Adult Graphic Novel Top of the List)
The Puerto Rican War: A Graphic History. By John Vasquez Mejias. Art by the author.
The Jellyfish. Written and illustrated by Boum.
Julia:
The House on Yeet Street. By Preston Norton. (Middle Grade Top of the List)
Bye Forever, I Guess. By Jodi Meadows.
Ronny:
That Always Happens Sometimes. By Kiley Frank. Illustrated by K-Fai Steele. (Picture Book Top of the List).
The Yellow Bus. Written and illustrated by Loren Long.
Kelly:
Ariel Crashes a Train. By Olivia A. Cole. (YA Top of the List)
The Dark We Know. By Wen-yi Lee.
Compound Fracture. By Andrew Joseph White.
My Throat an Open Grave. By Tori Bovalino.
Heather:
Birding with Benefits. By Sarah T. Dubb. Read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Evan Sibley.
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years. By Shubnum Khan. Read by Soneela Nankani.
Know Your Newlywed. By Heather Taylor, Hillary Nussbaum, and Elena Armas. Read by Tyler Posey, Mary Mouser, and a full cast.
Stars in Your Eyes. By Kacen Callender. Read by André Santana and others.
Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”. By Nicholas Day and Chris Rashka. Read by Fred Berman.
Onyx & Beyond. By Amber McBride. Read by André Santana.
Gender Queer. By Maia Kobabe. Read by Maia Kobabe and a full cast.
Tree. Table. Book. By Lois Lowry. Read by Hope Newhouse.
And
Anita de Monte Laughs Last. By Xochitl Gonzalez. Read by Jessica Pimentel and others. (Adult Audio Top of the List)
Better Must Come. By Desmond Hall. Read by Jaime Lincoln Smith. (Youth Audio Top of the List)
Browse Previous Episodes:
Episode #38:With a Little Help from Our Friends
Episode #37: Book-Clubbable
Episode #36: So. Many. Book. Suggestions.
Episode #35: After the Diversity Audit, and Farewell, Maggie (sad emoji).
Episode #34: Summer Scares 2024
Episode #33: Memoirs, Author Visits, and Books Books Books
Episode #32: Editors' Choice 2023
Episode #31: Craft Books, Celebrity Memoirs, and Evil Hamburgers
Episode #30: Free People Read Freely; Banned Books Week 2023
Episode #29: Cool People Talking about Cool Books
Episode #28: Summer Scares 2023!
Episode #27: RA Training, the Audies, and Mothman
Episode #26: A Deep Dive into Book Groups
Episode #25: Editors' Choice 2022
Episode #24: Reading Glasses and Other Helpful Insights
Episode #23: Personal Weeding and Personal Reading
Episode #22: Book Banning and Book Suggesting
Episode #21: Spookier Than a Clown in a Cornfield: Summer Scares 2022
Episode #20: Reading the Reading List
Episode #19: Hyperlocal Streaming Music, Audiobook Awards, and Picture Books with Boots
Episode #18: Editors' Choice
Episode #17: No Library is a TARDIS: Or, Why and How to Weed
Episode #16: Don’t Think of an Elephant! (RA for non-RA Staff)
Episode #15: Graphic Novels for Every Reader
Episode #14: Circ Stats, Bridgerton, and Other Library Business
Episode #13: Summer Scares 2021
Episode #12: Editors' Choice 2020
Episode #11: Games!
Episode #10: Pandemic-Induced Programming Pivot
Episode #9: Comics and Book Groups and Libraries, Oh My!
Episode #8: Shelf Isolation
Episode #7: Size (and Format) Matters
Episode #6: Editors’ Choices
Episode #5: Cookbooks and the Apocalypse
Episode #4: Body Horror, Bruce Springsteen, and Vampire Feelings
Episode #3.5: Rebecca 'n' Rave
Episode #3: Graphic, Two Ways
Episode #2: To Beach Their Own
Episode #1: It's a Podcast!
The Shelf Care Interview
Welcome to Booklist’s conversation series, where our editors talk with book people. Below is a list of our recent conversations:
The Creative Team Behind RIFTS AND REFRAINS
Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic, author of Touch the Sky
Patricia Kreiser, author and illustrator of Always Together
BonHyung Jeong, author and illustrator of Amy’s Big Brother
Saadia Faruqi, author of Ali the Great
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, author of Small Shoes, Great Strides
DK Dyson and Rudy Gutierrez, author and illustrator of Window Fishing
Rachel Werner, author of Moving & Grooving to Fillmore’s Beat
Pedro Martín, author of Mexikid
Kate Glasheen, author and artist of Constellations
Sarah Sax, author and artist of Picture Day
Paul Gilligan, the author and artist of Pluto Rocket: New in Town
Jessixa and Aaron Bagley, the author and artist of Duel
Series author Andrea Beaty and audiobook narrator Bahni Turpin of the Questioneers
Heather Murphy Capps, author of Indigo & Ida
Tameka Fryer Brown and Nina Crews, authors of Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm’s Fight for Change
Saadia Faruqi, author of Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party
Svetlana Chmakova, author of Enemies
Daniel Minter, illustrator of Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky
Reimena Yee, author of My Aunt Is a Monster
April Lavalle and Alex Boniello, authors of A Case of the Zaps
Bao Phi, author of You Are Life, from Capstone
Johnnie Christmas, author of Swim Team, from from HarperCollins Children’s Books
Dan Abdo & Jason Patterson, author of Barb and the Ghost Blade, from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Sajni Patel, author of My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding, from Amulet Books
Jamar J. Perry, author of Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms, from Bloomsbury Children's Books
Dave Scheidt and Miranda Harmon, creators of Mayor Good Boy, from Random House Children's Books
Chris Barton, author of How to Make a Book (About My Dog), from Lerner Publishing Group
Karla Valenti, author of Lotería; and Emma Otheguy, author of Sofia Acosta Makes a Scene, from Random House Children’s Books
Sara Pennypacker, author of Pax: Journey Home, from HarperCollins Children's Books
Jeffrey Archer, creator of Over My Dead Body, from HarperCollins
Nidhi Chanani, creator of Jukebox, from Macmillan
Barry McGovern, Marcella Riordan, and Roger Marsh, the team behind Finnegans Wake, from Naxos Audiobooks
Olivia Matthews and Janina Edwards, the team behind Murder By Page One, from Dreamscape Audio
Raúl the Third, author of Tag Team and Training Day, from HMH
J. William Lewis, author of The Essence of Nathan Biddle, from Greenleaf Book Group Press
Ally Carter, author of Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery, from HMH
Traci Sorell, author of Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, from Lerner
John Gallagher, creator of Max Meow: Cat Crusader, from Random House Children's Books
Alex Sanchez, author of The Greatest Superpower, from Capstone
Duchess Harris, author of Being LGBTQ in America: LGBTQ Social Movements in America, from Gale's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice student eBook collection
Aliza Layne, creator of Beetle and the Hollowbones, from Simon & Schuster; and Gabby Rivera, author of Juliet Takes a Breath, from BOOM! Studios
Talia Sherer, Amanda Rountree, Emily Day, and Samantha Slavin, from Macmillan Library Marketing
Kim Johnson, author of This Is My America, from Random House Children’s Books; and Alex Aster, author of Curse of the Night Witch, from Sourcebooks
Mike Curato, creator of Flamer; John Patrick Green, creator of the InvestiGators series; and Natalie Riess and Sara Goetter, creators of Dungeon Critters, all from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Nancy Pearl, author of The Writer’s Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives, from HarperOne
V. T. Bidania, author of the Astrid and Apollo series, from Capstone
Margaret Owen, author of The Faithless Hawk, from Henry Holt & Co.
Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, creators of When Stars Are Scattered, from Dial, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers
Tracey Hecht, author of The Weeping Wombat, from Fabled Films Press
Sabaa Tahir, Nicole Andelfinger, and Sonia Liao, creators of A Thief among the Trees, from BOOM! Studios
Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of the Farah Rocks series, and Siman Nuurali, author of the Sadiq series, both from Capstone
Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, authors of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, from Little, Brown
Irene Latham and Charles Waters, authors of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z, from Lerner/Carolrhoda
Chris Ferrie, author of The Everyday Science Academy series, from Sourcebooks
Irene Hannon, author of Starfish Pier, from Revell
Suzanne Woods Fisher, author of Two Steps Forward, from Revell
Lynette Eason, author of Collateral Damage, from Revell
Irene Hannon, author of Dark Ambitions, from Revell
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