Library Love Fest

LLF Guest Post: Spike Carlsen, author of A WALK AROUND THE BLOCK

"Writing in the mode of Edward Humes, David Owen, and Mary Roach, Carlsen offers an eye-opening and exuberantly informative walk-around-the-block tour that is made-to-order for this time of necessary at-homeness."
—Donna Seaman, Booklist review

 

Today, we welcome Spike Carlsen, author of A Walk Around the Block, to the blog. We loved learning all about the book on our July 21st Door to Door episode. If you haven't had the time to view it, please take some time to watch the video here. In A Walk Around the Block, the bestselling author of A Splintered History of Wood uses a walk around his hometown to explore how every part of our urban landscape—from manhole covers and recycling bins to pedestrian crossings and bike lanes—impact and shape our lives in this fascinating work of popular science.

***

LIBRARY LOVE FEST is sooooooo appropriately named. Getting together with other book lovers, book promoters, book writers, and librarians to discuss the who, what, when, where, and why of writing is what it’s all about.

I’ve served on the Stillwater Public Library Board of Trustees in my hometown for 7 years, gaining a front row seat to what goes on behind the façade of our 1902 Beaux Arts Carnegie library. I see a place like no other—a place where kids, teens, adults, and senior citizens blend with ease. Where community meetings are held, weddings are celebrated, and issues discussed. Where there’s something for everyone. A place open to all.

My soon-to-be-released book, A Walk Around the Block, discusses how, in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, we often overlook less obvious groups of “essential” workers; those that keep our water and sewage safely flowing, collect our trash and recycling, generate our electricity, repair our roads. Another group of essential workers is often overlooked—those who continue to work away behind the façades of 1902 Carnegie libraries, as well as the employees and book lovers offering curbside pickup, presenting online storytime, trivia nights, field trips, art projects, answering questions and offering guidance—presenting some semblance of “ordinary” in these extraordinary times.

So thank YOU for your service, librarians, everywhere.

And I can’t wait until I can once again stand in front of a wall of books, scratching my head, wondering whose world I should next explore.

***

Thank you, Spike! Find a few photos from the book, some of the places Spike traveled to research the book, and a video of Spike talking about the book here. You can get your copy of A Walk Around the Block on October 20, 2020.

Download an egalley on Edelweiss+ and NetGalley now. LibraryReads votes are due September 1st.

-Lainey

 

Editors Unedited: Jean Marie Kelly in Conversation with Mandy Robotham, Author of THE BERLIN GIRL

This week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast features an interview with Mandy Robotham, author of The Berlin Girl, and the Affiliate Publisher at HarperCollins 360, Jean Marie Kelly. Learn all about Mandy's new historical fiction novel and her background as a journalist and midwife, as well as a sneak peek of what she is writing next.

Listen to the conversation here:

More about The Berlin Girl (available December 8, 2020):

From the USA Today bestselling author of The German Midwife and The Secret Messenger, comes a new historical novel set in 1938 Berlin with England on the brink of war.

Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm.

Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realizes she and Max have to act—even if it means putting their lives on the line.

But when she digs deeper, Georgie begins to uncover the unspeakable truth about Hitler’s Germany—and the pair are pulled into a world darker than she could ever have imagined…

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• We mentioned the podcast episode where Jean Marie gave us an overview of the HarperCollins 360 imprint. Listen to that here.
• Jean Marie also mentioned the book will be available as a library hardcover edition. Find out more info here.

-Lainey

Booklist's Donna Seaman Interviews Nancy Pearl, Author of THE WRITER'S LIBRARY

The day is almost here! The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager publishes on September 8th. We can't wait to throw a very Happy Book Birthday celebration on Facebook Live for Nancy on publication day—featuring some very special guests! You can RSVP and sign up for notifications here. The buzz just continues to grow for this special book.

Donna Seaman, Adult Books Editor at Booklist, recently spoke with Nancy Pearl on the latest episode of the Booklist's Shelf Care podcast. Listen to the interview here:

The Writer's Library is an intimate, moving, and insightful collection from "American's Librarian" Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager that celebrates the power of literature and reading to connect us all. It features twenty-three of today's living literary legends, including Donna Tartt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Andrew Sean Greer, Laila Lalami, and Michael Chabon, revealing the books that made them think, brought them joy, and changed their lives. 

The Writer's Library was selected as a September 2020 LibraryReads pick. Check out more of the star-studded reviews it has received:

"The nearly two dozen literary conversations gathered here are at once substantial and effervescent—magnetic qualities attributable to the focus on what writers read and the expertise and passion of the two interlocutors, renowned librarian and book champion Pearl and playwright, producer, and journalist Schwager.…Complete with lists of titles from each writer’s inner library, this is a zestfully elucidating and inspiring portal onto the lives and thoughts of truly exceptional writers."
—Donna Seaman, Booklist  review

"Pearl and Schwager bring boundless enthusiasm and curiosity to this eclectic and probing book of interviews. The 22 authors represented are a varied and never boring cohort.... Readers of this delightful compendium will relish the chance to find many of those shared loves, as well as discover new ones."
—Publishers Weekly  review

We also had Nancy on our Door to Door episode:

We featured a conversation between Nancy and LLF's Virginia Stanley on our podcast:

The Writer's Library comes out on September 8th, but there's still some time to download the egalley from Edelweiss+ and NetGalley. 

-Lainey

Door to Door: Questions for Diane Cook, Author of THE NEW WILDERNESS

On August 4th, the library team hosted Diane Cook, author of The New Wilderness, on our Door to Door program. The New Wilderness is a debut novel that explores a moving mother-daughter relationship in a world ravaged by climate change and overpopulation, a suspenseful second book from the author of the acclaimed story collection, Man V. Nature. This book has been receiving so many rave reviews, including the honor of being longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Watch the recorded conversation here:

We were not able to get to all the amazing questions that were submitted by viewers, but Diane was kind enough to answer these questions separately. We have listed the answers below. 

1. There were so many layers—experimental societies, marriages, relationships to each other and with others. Do you have a relationship to living off the land? —Kim McGee, Lake Travis Community Library

I've never lived off the land, but I've spent a lot of time in remote, rustic places. And have also read a lot of literature about doing similar things. I grew up in suburbs and cities. I think my draw to these landscapes is a reaction to that.

 

2. What is your background, Diane? Your topics in the book seem to deal with psychology/sociology/human relations. —Shannon Wilson Spease 

 

I studied literature and writing in college. And I went on to be a producer for public radio's This American Life. So I have  spent a lot of time thinking about stories and how people tell them, and how we process and talk about the things that happen to us. I also moved a lot as a kid and as the one who was always the new kid, I think I learned very early to watch and observe people to figure out how I could fit in, or how I didn't.

 

3. What books have informed your own writing? —Lillian Dabney, Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum Library

 

Walden is a foundational text for me. I've taught at an experiential literature program for years, where we go to New England, live rustically and read Thoreau, Emerson, Dickinson, Frost, the big names of their time. The ideas in their work, especially in Walden, and from this program, really informed The New Wilderness. As far as a fiction hero, Aimee Bender and George Saunders are two very inspirational writers to me. Aimee Bender taught me I could make the mundane into something fantastical. That was an essential lesson for me.

 

4. Was it your intention to use the relationship between these future people and nature as a theme to caution us in today's society? —Paulette Brooks, Elm Grove Public Library (WI)-retired librarian

 

I'm not sure it was so much an intention as something unavoidable. When writing speculative fiction, part of my goal is to see where we might end up if our current culture and society goes unchecked. I take it to the farthest and most logical point. In that way, our time now and the future time of the book are inextricable.

 

5. What lessons about nature would you like to convey to your children? —Paulette Brooks, Elm Grove Public Library (WI)-retired librarian

 

I think about this a lot because I currently live in a city and worry often that this will always be the case. But I think it reminds me that one important lesson about nature is that we always have a relationship with it, even when it feels distant or absent. When I write about the City in the book, in my mind, I'm really writing about the natural world and its absence. And that absence is telling me and the reader something about our characters. I also want to make sure my kids can see the natural world in places that aren't obvious. Because even as I talk about its "absence," it's never really absent from any part of our day, regardless of where we live. It's all in how we think about it and define it.

 

6. Please tell us more about the New England Literature Program. The rustic nature and non-traditional study methods sound fascinating! and How did your experience in radio influence your writing? —Maureen Roberts, Baltimore County Public Library

 

The New England Literature program is an experiential literature program though the University of Michigan (but you can be a student at any university to apply.) I was a student there and I taught there for many years. As I mentioned above in another question, we read Thoreau, Emerson, Frost, Dickinson and others and live in rustic cabins, with fire heat and not a lot of electricity. The students give up their technology for 6 weeks, and we all live, work, and study together, cooking, cleaning and teaching as part of the program. It's an amazing opportunity for students to study a text in the landscape that generated it, and ask how place affects our experience of a text, and to have a completely different educational experience. Find out more here: https://lsa.umich.edu/nelp

 

Thanks for taking time to answer these thoughtful questions, Diane!

You can get a copy of The New Wilderness now.

 

-Lainey

LLF Guest Post: Thomas Hynes, Author of WILD CITY

We were lucky to have Thomas Hynes, author of Wild City, on our July 21st Door to Door episode. If you haven't had the time to view it, please take some time to watch the video here. We loved chatting about Wild City, an illustrated guide to 40 of the most well-known, surprising, notorious, mythical, and sublime non-human citizens of New York City. There is so much to explore in this book: illustrations, fun facts, and an appreciation of all the wildlife that calls New York City home. Today, we welcome Tom to the blog for a guest post.

***

I spent a lot of time in New York City libraries while writing my book, Wild City. But if I’m being totally honest, it had probably been years since I had stepped foot inside a library. I supported them in the abstract. Who wouldn’t? Libraries are the mark of a great society, a brick and mortar place where anyone can learn anything, an institution not driven by profit or sales, but rather purely for the benefit and education of humanity.

But even though I wax poetic about libraries, I rarely ever went inside one. I overlooked them. All that changed when I started working on my book. Writing was a relatively new occupation for me. It didn’t exactly come with an office. I needed a reliable place to work and a trusted source for research. I needed a library.

My first stop was the crown jewel of the New York Public Library system, the main branch on 42nd Street. I would walk upstairs to the iconic and beautiful Rose Reading Room and stare at the beautiful ceiling. Then a half hour would pass and I’d realize I’d been admiring the room the whole time and not getting much else done. For the sake of my attention span and productivity, I needed something slightly less distracting.

So I went downtown to the Jefferson Market Library. For those who don’t know this branch, it looks like a fairytale castle was dropped on to 6th Avenue. There’s even a turret and a winding spiral staircase. It’s technically a former women’s prison among other things. But today it’s a library, and it’s definitely the most beautiful and interesting building for blocks. And anyone can walk right in and learn about whatever they like. That’s the beauty of libraries.

Closer to home, I spent time working and writing at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library. Their second floor space was featured in the TV show, Mozart in the Jungle, and the film, Blackkklansman, among other productions. The Othmer Library isn’t part of any municipal system, but it’s still free to enter, provided you sign in, check your bags, and promise to follow their rules. For example, they ask guests to not use any pens. Though, not to worry, the friendly librarians are happy to provide pencils as well as anything else you might need from their impressive archives.

Libraries provided me with the space and the research materials I needed to write my book, just as they provide similar opportunities to millions of others. As the country grapples with rising unemployment and tough budgetary decisions, it’s more important than ever to support these institutions.

My book in a lot of ways is about the wonderful things we tend to overlook in our lives. Incidentally, writing it gave me a new-found appreciation for the overlooked institution in my own life: libraries.

***

Thank you, Tom! You can get a copy of Wild City now. Learn some fun facts and see a few illustrations from the book here.

-Lainey

Walter Thompson-Hernández, Author of THE COMPTON COWBOYS, Has a New Podcast!

Walter Thompson-Hernández, author of The Compton Cowboys, just released his new podcast called California Love. This is an audio love letter to Los Angeles. The description of the series says: "Tupac and Dr. Dre's 'California Love' served as a love letter and anthem for a generation. The song inspired author and New York Times writer, Walter Thompson-Hernández, to create a show as prescient as it is personal. In his California Love series, Walter invites listeners to join him in his family home, on horseback through the streets of Compton, and up into the sky to examine belonging. Walter takes us deep into his own story as he explores what it means for him to love Los Angeles." You can listen to the episode about the Compton Cowboys here.

More about Walter's book, The Compton Cowboys:
A rising New York Times reporter tells the compelling story of The Compton Cowboys, a group of African-American men and women who defy stereotypes and continue the proud, centuries-old tradition of black cowboys in the heart of one of America’s most notorious cities.

We have had the honor of hosting Walter on our own podcast and on our Door to Door program. Listen to both interviews about The Compton Cowboys below. Find posts from Walter's Instagram takeover on our Instagram feed here.

 

You can get a copy of The Compton Cowboys and The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition now.

-Lainey

Join the Ray Bradbury Read-A-Thon from 8/22 to 9/5!

Hello, librarians. Big news! Saturday, August 22nd marks the 100th birthday of Ray Bradbury! In a must-see celebration—The Ray Bradbury Centennial Read-A-Thon—book lovers from across the country can enjoy a star-studded reading of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Fahrenheit 451 streamed over YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The reading begins Saturday, August 22nd and runs until Saturday, September 5th. Check out the promo below!

Contributors include Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, who will introduce each of the three parts of Bradbury’s book, as well as John Szabo with the Los Angeles Public Library, actress Rachel Bloom, Charles F. Bolden Jr. (12th NASA Administrator), and writer/producer/director Ann Druyan who will offer additional introductions.

The all-star line-up of readers includes William Shatner, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, and many more. Author Susan Orlean will also provide an afterword. 

A lifelong lover and advocate for libraries, Ray Bradbury framed their importance in his own words: "I'm completely library educated. Libraries are absolutely at the center of my life. Since I couldn’t afford to go to college, I attended the library three or four days a week from the age of eighteen on, and graduated from the library when I was twenty-eight."

We hope you will join in this extraordinary celebration of the 100th birthday of Ray Bradbury. Which of his classics will you read to celebrate? You can check out all the Ray Bradbury novels available from HarperCollins Publishers here. 

-Chris

HarperCollins Titles Included in Oprah.com's "Best Books to Pick Up Before Summer Ends" List

We were so excited to see THREE of our books listed on Oprah.com as "...the Best Books to Pick Up Before Summer Ends." The article included: Wandering in Strange Lands by Morgan Jerkins, Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden, and Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall. Find out more about these titles below.

 

From the acclaimed cultural critic and New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing—a writer whom Roxane Gay has hailed as “a force to be reckoned with”—comes this powerful story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration, and the displacement of black people across America.

 

 

 

 

From the article on Oprah.com:

"Feeling like 'an outsider among my blood,' the stellar essayist of This Will Be My Undoing sifts through the 'scraps, rubble, and frayed threads' of her personal history—her father’s Southern roots, her mother’s Northern pedigree—and charts the path of the migrant diaspora in this edifying 'journey in reverse.'"

 

Additional praise for Wandering in Strange Lands:

 

“A thrilling, emotional, and engaging ride that almost commands the reader to turn the page, Wandering in Strange Lands is required reading, accurately widening the lens of American history.”

—Booklist  review

 

“[A] forthright and informative account.... Jerkins’s careful research and revelatory conversations with historians, activists, and genealogists result in a disturbing yet ultimately empowering chronicle of the African-American experience. Readers will be moved by this brave and inquisitive book.”

—Publishers Weekly

 

“Driven by a need to understand her own identity, cultural critic Jerkins mounted an investigation into her family's tangled history, recounting in this candid memoir the surprising discoveries that emerged from her emotional journey. . . A revelatory exploration of the meaning of blackness.”

—Kirkus Reviews

 

Wandering in Strange Lands is available now.

 

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An addictive and groundbreaking debut thriller set on a Native American reservation.

Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s own nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.

 

From the article on Oprah.com:

"In his assured debut novel, David Heska Wanbli Weiden melds the gritty realism of Dashiell Hammett with the lyricism of Tommy Orange."

Additional praise for Winter Counts:

“Weiden combines funny, complex, and unforgettable characters with strong, poetic prose. . . This is crime fiction at its best.”
—Publishers Weekly  review

"Winter Counts is a terrific debut—tight and tense, hard-eyed and big-hearted. David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s main character, Virgil Wounded Horse, is as compelling, complex, and sharply observed as the world he inhabits." 
—Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of November Road and The Long and Faraway Gone

“Winter Counts is a marvel. It’s a thriller with a beating heart and jagged teeth. This book is a brilliant meditation on power and violence, and a testament to just how much a crime novel can achieve. Weiden is a powerful new voice. I couldn’t put it down.” 
—Tommy Orange, author of There There

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley on NetGalley
On Sale: August 25, 2020

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An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow's classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James' Man Booker Award-winning masterpiece, A Brief History of Seven Killings.

 

 

 

 

From the article on Oprah.com:

"In this alluring cocktail of a novel, a dying dance teacher reminisces and records for posterity his memories of Detroit’s postwar ferment of Black artists, writers, musicians, and activists, a 'caramel Camelot...a rare light and a heat,' with cameos by Ethel Waters and Dinah Washington."

Additional praise for Black Bottom Saints:

"This is an exuberant celebration of the arts, including the arts of living well and caring for others.... Each of Randall’s books is a literary event, and readers will embrace this radiant celebration of African American art and culture."
—Booklist  review

"Black Bottom Saints is easily the most inventive and musical novel I've read in a decade. Alice Randall has rewritten and re-energized the rules of the American novel!"
—Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division and Heavy, Professor of English and Creative Writing, University of Mississippi

Black Bottom Saints is available now.

 

Find the full list of books here.

-Lainey

The September LibraryReads List is Here!

You voted, they counted, and the winners have finally been announced!

This month, we are thrilled to share that When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole is the #1 LibraryReads pick for September! Congratulations, Alyssa!

More great news: Monogamy by Sue Miller and The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager have also been selected for the September LibraryReads List. And that's not all! Tessa Bailey officially joins the LibraryReads Hall of Fame with the selection of Tools of Engagement.

Want to hear how our authors reacted to being selected for the September LibraryReads List? Listen to our newest Library Love Fest Podcast episode below to hear their responses.

Congratulations to all of our wonderful authors!
 
Click here to see the full list.

***

When No One Is Watching
by Alyssa Cole: Rear Window meets 
Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…

"[A] searing indictment of the inseparable evils of racism and gentrification wrapped in an anxiety-inducing thriller with elements of romance and horror… Cole expertly layers plot twists, raising the stakes until the dramatic finale, and readers will cheer when the real heroes are revealed. Cole is a sure-bet suggestion for romance readers, and When No One Is Watching will expand her already enthusiastic audience."
—Booklist  review

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

Join us TOMORROW, Tuesday, August 18th at 2:00pm ET
to watch author Alyssa Cole LIVE!
Click below to sign up for the official Facebook Event.

 

And be sure to catch Alyssa's takeover of our Instagram page on Friday, August 21st.

Follow us on Instagram so you don't miss a thing!

 

 

Monogamy by Sue Miller: A brilliantly insightful novel, engrossing and haunting, about marriage, love, family, happiness and sorrow, from New York Times bestselling author Sue Miller.

"A robust, character-driven examination of the inner workings of a lengthy marriage…. The novel is grounded by vibrant prose, vividly portrayed secondary characters, and the resiliency of everlasting love…A spectacular, powerful return."
—Publishers Weekly  review

Request the egalley and audiobook egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
Request the audiobook egalley from NetGalley

Watch author Sue Miller's guest appearance on Door to Door!

 

 

The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl &
Jeff Schwager: Twenty-three of today's living literary legends, including Donna Tartt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Andrew Sean Greer, Laila Lalami, and Michael Chabon, reveal the books that made them think, brought them joy, and changed their lives in this intimate, moving, and insightful collection from "America's Librarian" Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager that celebrates the power of literature and reading to connect us all.

"Pearl and Schwager bring boundless enthusiasm and curiosity to this eclectic and probing book of interviews. The 22 authors represented are a varied and never boring cohort.... Readers of this delightful compendium will relish the chance to find many of those shared loves, as well as discover new ones."
—Publishers Weekly  review

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

Watch Nancy Pearl's guest appearance on Door to Door!

 

 

Tools of Engagement
by Tessa Bailey: In Tessa Bailey’s rom-com follow-up to Fix Her Up and Love Her or Lose Her, two enemies must team up to flip a house—and the sparks between them will either burn the place down or ignite a passion that neither can ignore!

"Quirky secondary characters, inviting small-town setting, and sensual scenes are highlights of this charming and funny novel.... Fans of Christina ­Lauren and Helena Hunting should add Bailey to their list of go-to rom-com authors."
—Library Journal  review

Previous LibraryReads selections:
Love Her or Lose Her (January 2020)
Fix Her Up (June 2019)

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

***

Thanks to all who participated and submitted votes for the September LibraryReads list! Be sure to submit your votes for the October LibraryReads list by September 1st. Click here to find out what we're recommending!  

Click here to learn more about LibraryReads.

-Chris

Editors Unedited: A Conversation with Sara Nelson, Vice President and Executive Editor at Harper Books

We are back with another podcast episode of Editors Unedited with Sara Nelson, Vice President and Executive Editor at Harper Books. She's got some exciting reads coming up; take a listen to the episode and find a list of the titles discussed below.

Listen to the episode here:

Titles discussed:

• The Wright Sister by Patty Dann, on-sale August 18, 2020
  -Download an egalley on Edelweiss+
  -Download an egalley on NetGalley
  -See Patty's Instagram takeover here.
• Dancing in the Mosque by Homeira Qaderi, on-sale December 1, 2020
  -Download an egalley on Edelweiss+
  -Download an egalley on NetGalley
• The Officer's Daughter by Elle Johnson, on-sale February 16, 2021
• The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames by Justine Cowan, on-sale January 12, 2021
• Land by Simon Winchester, on-sale January 19, 2021
  -Sara also mentioned Simon's previous book, The Perfectionists.

Thanks for coming on the podcast, Sara!

-Lainey