Author name: Library Love Fest

 Life, I Swear is a chronicle of transformation and growth by and for modern-day Black women. Some of today’s most influential Black female voices chronicle their private journeys, offering testimonies of living through pain and joy with raw honesty and unapologetic self-love.

In each episode of her podcast, Life, I Swear, emotive storyteller Chloe Dulce Louvouezo explores the nuances of our diverse experiences. In one-on-one interviews and personal prose, the podcast centers on personal stories that offer universal insights into topics relevant to modern women’s lives, from identity and family to trauma and motherhood, told through the lens of Black women. A catalyst for change, this revelatory, stunningly illustrated essay collection builds on the premise of the podcast by diving deeper into themes of mental health, identity and resilience. Life, I Swear is sure to spark lively, thought-provoking, and necessary conversations that encourage Black women to return home to themselves through self-examination and grace.

Today, we are so excited to feature a guest post from Chloe Dulce Louvouezo: 

Stories of Other Worlds

I grew up in Niamey, a small capital city in the heart of West Africa that starkly contrasted the childhood experience I read about in the books of our American library. Those books inspired an exploration of stories far different from my own and were one of the first portals through which I learned just how different people live, speak, and understand the world around them.

At the time, my only window into life in the United States was through the movies I watched and the books I read. Down the red dirt road of the school grounds was our quaint library, a haven and a place where I would lose myself in the thrills of the pages of Judy Blume books. Nestled on the floor I would study the black and white photos bound in the middle of autobiographies of American icons I had only faintly heard about. The schoolgirls and I would huddle around second hand copies of YM magazines, giggling at the honesty and audacity of the young writers’ details about boys and beauty. Line by line, I would read and reread principles of failures and dreams in Chicken Soup for the Soul–written by two white American men–and wonder if they would apply to my own life one day. I would imagine the writers’ contrasts to my own experience, if only I understood them.

Reading became a study of the difference between my life and the lives of others, our realities, and the little intersection they shared. As a brown girl in Niger intrigued by what seemed to be the sophistication of the West, mystic surrounded the idea of Americanness growing up. I was lured in by the books, fascinated with the differences they amplified about myself, and aware that there was lived experience I just didn’t have—because of my tender age, my Blackness, or my place–that created a blind spot in my context to fully understand American ways, which cyclically drove my curiosity.

How we see ourselves through books is reflective of our relationship with the world. Stories of young Black and brown girls didn’t sit on those shelves and weren’t played out on my box television set at home, whether Black in America or Black in other parts of the world. Stories of lives like my own, of being home outside of home, didn’t exist. But thirty years later now in the United States, I return to the library, this time with my son. Since then, I’ve lived to tell my own coming of age stories and survived the adult scenes that I had once only imagined. Pursuing through the aisles, the publications tell a much broader story today that inform how he draws both conclusions and inspiration around living as a young Black person in this world. Book by book the library introduces him to tales of Marley, Basquiat, and others that make the world and stories of his existence more accessible, as do they of my own—a Black girl in Africa, of another time. And when your story isn’t being told, I tell him, that’s when you write it. We sit together flipping through the pages of my first book, Life, I Swear, and imagine the stories he himself will grow up to one day tell.

***

Thank you so much, Chloe! 

Life, I Swear published on November 2, 2021.

On this episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, Patrik Bass, Executive Editor at Amistad, interviews Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, author of A Woman of Endurance. Combining the haunting power of Toni Morrison’s Beloved with the evocative atmosphere of Philippa Gregory’s A Respectable Trade, Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s groundbreaking novel illuminates a little discussed aspect of history—the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade—witnessed through the experiences of Pola, an African captive used as a breeder to bear more slaves.

Listen to the episode below:

Find Dahlma's website here.

A Woman of Endurance is available on April 12, 2022.

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-Lainey

This week on the podcast we featured a conversation between New Yorker staff cartoonist David Sipress and his editor at Mariner Books, Deanne Urmy. What's So Funny? is David's evocative family memoir, a love letter to New York City, and a delightful exploration of the origins of creativity—richly interleaved with the author’s witty, beloved cartoons. David was kind enough to share his cartoon featuring a librarian:

Check out some of the book's praise:

"An affectionate, introspective memoir from the acclaimed cartoonist…. This addictive, witty, David Sedaris–esque story is a hoot."
—Kirkus ⭐️ review

“Draws on his gift for evoking the predicaments of human nature to tell beguiling stories about his life and career…. Weaving in his impeccable wit and wry cartoons, Sipress illustrates his relentless pursuit to produce work that “express[es] what everyone is thinking and feeling,” all while offering amusing insights into his creative process…. The result is a delightful jaunt through an inspiring artist’s mind.”
–Publishers Weekly 

Listen to the episode below:

What's So Funny? goes on sale today, March 8, 2022.

-Lainey

Woman, Eating is Claire Kohda's stellar debut novel about a young, mixed-race vampire who must find a way to balance her deep-seated desire to live amongst humans with her incessant hunger.

Ruth Ozeki, Booker-shortlisted author of A Tale for the Time Being calls it “Absolutely brilliant—tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch. The spell this novel casts is so complete I feel utterly, and happily, bitten.”

Today, we are so excited to feature a guest post from Claire Kohda:

***

I’ve been in a kind of dream state, since writing Woman, Eating. When I wrote it, I barely thought about the fact it would reach the hands of readers one day. I was, at the time in late 2020, living with my cat and my partner, Tom, and not seeing many other people. Lydia, the protagonist, was like a friend I’d somehow conjured. Only very recently have I learned how to talk about her as a character I constructed, as opposed to a person I know. 

A little bit about me…I review books for the TLS, The Guardian, and other publications, and I’m a professional violinist. Woman, Eating is my first book, and I’m currently adapting it for TV with Heyday.

Woman, Eating is about Lydia, an English-Japanese-Malaysian vampire, trying to get into the contemporary art world in London. This is a blurb I wrote for the book with my partner, just after finishing the novel:

    Lydia is hungry. She's always wanted to try sashimi, ramen, onigiri with sour plum stuffed inside—the food her Japanese father liked to eat. And then there is bubble tea, and the vegetables grown by the other young artists at the studio she is secretly squatting in. But Lydia can't eat any of this. The only thing she can digest is blood, and it turns out that sourcing fresh pigs' blood in London—where she is living away from her vampire mother for the first time—is much more difficult than she'd anticipated.

    Then there are the humans: the people at the gallery where she interns, the strange men who follow her after dark, and Ben, a goofy-grinned artist she is developing feelings for. Lydia knows that they are her natural prey, but she can't bring herself to feed on them.

    If Lydia is to find a way to exist in the world, she must reconcile the conflicts within her—between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food and, in turn, humans. Before any of this, however, she must eat.

It maybe sounds odd, but I wasn’t thinking about this being a vampire book when writing. I was just thinking about writing about a person—an artist, struggling to make it in London; a young woman, stuck between girlhood and womanhood; someone who is really, desperately trying to find meaning in life, to understand her ethnic identity and what it is to be human.

Woman, Eating doesn’t really fit into the vampire genre. It isn’t gothic, and isn’t necessarily horror or fantasy. It is literary and grounded in reality, set in contemporary times. Lydia is a very human vampire; she has social anxiety, and binge-watches Buffy and what-I-eat-in-a-day posts on Instagram.

This novel has been said to be for readers of Ottessa Moshfegh, Raven Lailani, and Sally Rooney. I’m aware I’m considered a ‘Millennial novelist’, but I hope that this book will appeal to other generations too. As someone who is Japanese as well as English, I’m of the Heisei generation also. My biggest influences are (as someone who writes on fiction in translation), Murata Sayaka’s Earthlings, Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, Matsuda Aoko’s Where the Wild Ladies Are, Mishima Yukio’s The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and Yu Miri’s Tokyo Ueno Station; as well as the writing of the artist Nina Efimova, the food writer M.F.K. Fisher, and TV series including Euphoria, Buffy, and Ugly Delicious. I’d love to see Woman, Eating sharing a shelf with any books by Marlon James, Han Kang, Kazuo Ishiguro, Jennifer Egan, and Murata Sayaka.

My biggest inspiration for writing is Lorraine Hansberry—just like Lydia, Hansberry painted and drew self-portraits. For Hansberry, her portraits of herself dressed as a clown reminded her to never take herself too seriously; the marriage of art and literature in Hansberry’s life, Hansberry’s characters and their hopes for the world, and so much more will always be a touchstone for me.

Woman, Eating comes out in April in the US and, as of yet, I haven’t held a solid copy of the American edition, so writing to you all here feels not quite real. To think of my book on the shelf of a library in America feels like a strange and surreal dream.

I grew up in a deprived area in England, where the library was run by volunteers dedicated to keeping people’s sense of hope and community alive. It’s really wonderful to be able to write to you all in America directly. Thank you for everything you are doing.

-Claire

***

Thank you so much, Claire! 

Woman, Eating publishes on April 12, 2022.

Download an egalley on Edelweiss+
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The praise just keeps coming in for What Jonah Knew by Barbara Graham!

What Jonah Knew (on sale: 7/5/22) is a psychological thriller about a seven-year-old boy who inexplicably recalls the memories of a missing twenty-two-year-old musician. Beyond that, this is a story about the fierce love that bonds mothers and sons across lifetimes. Barbara Graham has given us a work of gripping suspense, with a supernatural twist, that will mesmerize fans of Chloe Benjamin and Lisa Jewell!

Check out some of the praise below!

"Profoundly entertaining and entertainingly profound. What Jonah Knew is a celebration of the vital and powerful ties that bind us—to our children, to ourselves, and to each other—across space and time."
—Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness

“In this captivating novel, Barbara Graham takes us straight to the heart of devastating human emotion, love, loss, and the mysteries of life and death. What Jonah Knew is a metaphysical journey wrapped up in the breathtaking pages of a psychological thriller.”
—Wendy Walker, bestselling author of All is Not Forgotten

“A spellbinding literary thriller packed with psychological suspense and profound questions about motherhood, trauma, and how death illuminates life.”
—Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and Where the Past Begins

“Barbara Graham is a literary alchemist. What Jonah Knew not only grabs you from the first page, it makes the mystical believable and the human predicament shine with wit, wisdom, and love.”
—Tara Brach, meditation teacher and bestselling author of Radical Acceptance and Radical Compassion

"Both a riveting mystery and a deep dive into the impact of grief, What Jonah Knew offers us not only hope but a fascinating meditation on the nature of love, identity, and reality itself.”
—JoAnne Tompkins, author of the novel What Comes After

“Barbara Graham’s shimmering novel brings new meaning to the concept of inherited family trauma and the very divide between life and death.”
—Mark Epstein MD, author of The Trauma of Everyday Life and the forthcoming The Zen of Therapy

“Barbara Graham writes with clarity, courage, and heart. What Jonah Knew shines light on complicated issues and brings the reader to a new understanding of what it means to be fully human.”
—Molly Giles, author of Rough Translations and Wife with Knife, and winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

"I love What Jonah Knew. As a Buddhist teacher and a reincarnation skeptic I was delighted to find that having read the first page, I read it straight through cheering the book's wit and complexity, and wondering, after all, who knows?”
—Sylvia Boorstein, meditation teacher and author of It’s Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness

“Barbara Graham is a rare talent who blends comic brilliance with psychological and spiritual insight. What Jonah Knew plumbs the depths of the human heart while ingeniously tackling life’s hardest questions.”
—Mark Matousek, bestselling author of Sex Death Enlightenment

Phew! So much praise, so little time. All we can say is the reviews about What Jonah Knew are saying what we've known all along—this book is excellent, and we can't wait for you all to read it!

You can download your copy on Edelweiss or NetGalley!  Happy reading!

—The LLF Team

Hello, librarians!

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

This month, we are thrilled to share that we have THREE authors who made the Hall of Fame list: Kate Quinn's The Diamond Eye, Tessa Bailey's Hook, Line, and Sinker, and Peter Swanson's Nine Lives were all selected.

Want to hear how our authors reacted to the big news? Listen to our latest episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast to hear their responses:

Find out more about the titles selected here.

-Lainey

This week's podcast episode brings up a lot of topics for conversation: from women's empowerment during their 40-50's to what strong women can do for the next generation. Rachel Kahan, Executive Editor at William Morrow, interviewed Kirsten Miller to discuss Kirsten's upcoming book The Change. Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick—The Change is a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers—putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town. 

Listen to the episode below:

They also mentioned Julie K. Brown's Perversion of Justice.

The Change is on sale May 3, 2022.

LibraryReads votes are due April 1st!

Request an egalley on Edelweiss+
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-Lainey

Hello, librarians!

The time has come to vote for your favorite April reads! Find our staff reading suggestions for the April LibraryReads List here. Reminder: votes for the April LibraryReads List are due March 1st.

Happy reading!

-The LLF Team (Virginia, Lainey, and Essie)

Ever since I read Jennifer Haigh’s first novel, Mrs. Kimble, a story of three women who marry the same man—an opportunist named  Ken Kimble—I’ve been hooked on her writing. Jennifer Haigh’s storytelling draws you in immediately. Her characters are so perfectly  drawn in all their complexities—so intriguing and compelling—that you almost have no choice but to go on the journey with them and  see what unfolds.

This New York Times bestselling author went on to write six more bestselling books. Her sixth, Mercy Street (on sale NOW!), is a tense and compassionate story about the disparate lives that intersect around a woman’s clinic in Boston. And Boston is as much a character in this book as the main characters in the story—starting with Claudia, a long-time abortion counselor whose clinic is under pressure from protesters. The characters swirling around her—including Claudia's pot dealer and a dangerous anti-abortion activist—all come to life with complexity and nuance. 

Mercy Street is a novel for right now, a story of the polarized American present. Jennifer Haigh, “an expert natural storyteller with a keen sense of her characters’ humanity” (New York Times), has written a groundbreaking novel, a fearless examination of one of the most divisive issues of our time.

Here’s just a sampling of the love for this book:

“Abortion, guns, vigilantism, drug dealing, white supremacy, bitter misogyny and online fetishism all figure in the tableau Haigh expertly details…She’s largely not interested in destruction here: These people have seen enough of it already. She’s interested in what makes them human.”
—Janet Maslin, New York Times

Entertainment Weekly includes in its 10 Must Read Books to Heat up February roundup

“Mercy Street was conceived and written before this year's slow-motion dismantling of Roe v. Wade, making it all the more urgent.”
—EW.com

“Mercy Street is a savvy, keen-eyed, witty, wise, and altogether luminous novel."
—Richard Ford

"Jennifer Haigh is the greatest novelist of our generation."
—Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year

"Mercy Street argues, both in form and content, that compassion is a powerful counterpoint to the conflict-driven stories that dominate our news cycles…"
—San Francisco Chronicle

“I was riveted and transported, and want to hand this book to everyone I know."
—Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Great Believers

"Mercy Street is a bold, important, beautifully written and incredibly timely novel."
—Vendela Vida, author of We Run the Tides

Mercy Street will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. I envy the reader who gets to read this for the first time.

—Virginia Stanley

Don't forget to check out NPR's "Here & Now" interview with Jennifer Haigh!

On this week's episode of the podcast, Jennifer Baker, Senior Editor at Amistad, interviews Clyde W. Ford. They discuss Clyde's upcoming book Of Blood and Sweat—a provocative, timely, and painstakingly researched book that tells the story of how Black labor helped to create and sustain the wealth of the white one percent throughout American history.

Listen to the episode below:

We mentioned a past episode where Clyde spoke about his book Think Black. Listen to that episode here.

Jennifer also made an exciting announcement: Clyde is the Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. library publishing project.

Clyde also gave a shout-out to the King County Library System in Seattle for voting him a Literary Lion for several years. Read more about this honor here.

Of Blood and Sweat is on sale April 5, 2022.

Request an egalley on Edelweiss+
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-Lainey

See our full announcement and find links to egalleys here. 

Thank you for voting!

-Lainey

This week on the podcast, we feature a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Lorraine Heath. She is interviewed by May Chen, Executive Editor at William Morrow. They've worked together for 13 years!! This is a really special relationship and it was very cool to listen in as they discuss Lorraine's writing process and research, writing in a new genre, and her first romance read. She didn't grow up on romance novels or have a typical journey when it comes to writing romance, but I'll let you listen in to find out more!

Her upcoming book, Girls of Flight City, is a breathtaking WWII historical novel about the brave American women who trained the British Royal Air Force, inspired by true events. Aimie K. Runyan, bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky and Across the Winding River says: "…Heath delivers a touching tale of the WWII home front. The story of the women who trained RAF pilots in Texas before the US entry into the war shows the sacrifice and dedication of the brave women called to serve their cause. With vibrant characters and gripping action sequences, Girls of Flight City is sure to be a favorite with fans of WWII fiction. A well-researched pleasure to read.”

Hello, librarians!

With every new year, comes new books. We cannot wait to tell you about upcoming books from the 2022 Summer/Fall seasons at our upcoming buzz on January 13th from 1-3 PM ET. Be sure to RSVP here.

You will also find our staff reading suggestions for the March LibraryReads List below. Reminder: votes for the March LibraryReads List are due February 1st.

Happy new year!

-The LLF Team (Virginia, Lainey, and Essie)

Her Last Affair by John Searles

“John Searles brings the misfits among us to life with the clarity of Carson McCullers—and then scares us with the brilliance of Stephen King. Her Last Affair is a perfect, page-turning example of the heart and horror that makes me love his work so very, very much."
—Chris Bohjalian, #1 Bestselling Author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch

Request the egalley on Edelweiss+
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Request the ALC on NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: February 1, 2022

Watch Adele Myers on Door to Door:

***

We hope you enjoy the books! For more information about LibraryReads, visit their website. Remember: Vote early! Vote often!

-Lainey

The LLF team has some exciting things coming up. Get the scoop below!

• Be sure to sign up for our next WORLD-FAMOUS book buzz on January 13th from 1-3 PM ET!
  RSVP here: https://bit.ly/LLFJanBuzz

In other news…

• Molly Shannon is Theater Speaker at ALA! She will be discussing her upcoming memoir, Hello, Molly! Find out more about the event here. You can also download an egalley on Edelweiss+ and NetGalley.
• We have revamped our YouTube page to include our Door to Door, podcast, and (new) Book-a-Minute episodes. Subscribe to our channel here.

On this week's podcast episode, Tessa Woodward, Executive Editor at William Morrow, Avon, and Harper Voyager, interviews Jessie Mihalik, author of Hunt the Stars—the first in a new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.

“The heat is on in Mihalik’s addictive Starlight’s Shadow series launch. Mihalik artfully juggles palpable romantic tension and fun action to create an epic page turner. This is sure to excite anyone who likes their space opera with a bit of spice.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Fans of Nalini Singh will swoon for this stoic psychic space warrior hero, and fall in love with a badass mercenary captain heroine who will go to any lengths to protect her wounded-squad-turned-found-family. Compelling, steamy, and impossible to put down—Mihalik has created a world I want to visit again and again for years to come. Give me more sexy hot psychic space aliens!”
—Kit Rocha, New York Times bestselling author

Listen to the episode below:

Check out Jessie's website for more info.

Hunt the Stars is on sale February 1, 2022.

Request an egalley on Edelweiss+
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-Lainey

Woohoo! Congratulations to the AMAZING Audio team! 

* for all the librarians out there! 

Note that you can listen to excerpts from all of them here! 

Apple

HOW TO BE SAD by Helen Russell

Read by Helen Russell

Produced by Caitlin Garing

9780063115385 / HarperOne

THE MATZAH BALL by Jean Meltzer

Read by Dara Rosenberg

Produced by Jennifer Lopes

9781488212505 / MIRA

THE WRECKAGE OF MY PRESENCE by Casey Wilson

Read by Casey Wilson

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062960603 / Harper

Audible

CECE RIOS AND THE DESERT OF SOULS by Kaela Rivera

Read by Almarie Guerra

Produced by Almeda Beynon

9780063059283 / HarperCollins Children’s

CLASS ACT by Jerry Craft

Read by Nile Bullock, Jesus Del Orden, Guy Lockard, Marc Thompson, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner,

January LaVoy, Phoebe Strole, Jordan Cobb, A.J Beckles, Robin Miles, and Ron Butler

Produced by Caitlin Garing

9780063032057 / Quill Tree Books

CONCRETE ROSE by Angie Thomas

Read by Dion Graham

Produced by Caitlin Garing

9780063043817 / Balzer + Bray

FEEDING THE SOUL (BECAUSE IT'S MY BUSINESS) by Tabitha Brown

Read by Tabitha Brown

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063080300 / William Morrow

JUST AS I AM by Cicely Tyson

Read by Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis, and Robin Miles

Produced by Iris McElroy

9780062931351 / Amistad

THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DU BOIS by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Read by Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton, and Prentice Onayemi

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062942975 / Harper

THE STORYTELLER by Dave Grohl

Read by Dave Grohl

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063076129 / Dey Street

YOU GOT ANYTHING STRONGER? by Gabrielle Union

Read by Gabrielle Union

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062979964 / Dey Street

AudioFile

THE BOYS by Ron Howard and Clint Howard

Read by Ron Howard, Clint Howard, and Bryce Dallas Howard

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063065277 / William Morrow

CONCRETE ROSE by Angie Thomas

Read by Dion Graham

Produced by Caitlin Garing

9780063043817 / Balzer + Bray

JUST AS I AM by Cicely Tyson

Read by Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis, and Robin Miles

Produced by Iris McElroy

9780062931351 / Amistad

THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DU BOIS by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Read by Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton, and Prentice Onayemi

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062942975 / Harper

*Booklist

A FAREWELL TO GABO AND MERCEDES by Rodrigo Garcia

Read by Rodrigo Garcia

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063158344 / HarperVia

ISLAND QUEEN by Vanessa Riley

Read by Adjoa Andoh

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063002876 / William Morrow

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD by Quentin Tarantino

Read by Jennifer Jason Leigh

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063112544 / Harper Perennial

THE REMOVED by Brandon Hobson

Read by Gary Farmer, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, DeLanna Studi, Katie Rich, and Christopher Salazar

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062997579 / Ecco

SISTERS IN ARMS by Kaia Alderson

Read by Shayna Small

Produced by Iris McElroy

9780063096837 / William Morrow Paperbacks

THE STORYTELLER by Dave Grohl

Read by Dave Grohl

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063076129 / Dey Street

AN EMOTION OF GREAT DELIGHT by Tahereh Mafi

Read by Lanna Joffrey

Produced by Caitlin Garing

9780063061361 / HarperCollins Children’s

Cosmopolitan

CAUL BABY by Morgan Jerkins

Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063070431 / Harper

FEEDING THE SOUL (BECAUSE IT'S MY BUSINESS) by Tabitha Brown

Read by Tabitha Brown

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063080300 / William Morrow

VANDERBILT by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

Read by Anderson Cooper

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063076129 / Dey Street

YOU GOT ANYTHING STRONGER? by Gabrielle Union

Read by Gabrielle Union

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062979964 / Dey Street

*Library Journal

CAUL BABY by Morgan Jerkins

Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063070431 / Harper

LOVE IN COLOR by Bolu Babalola

Read by Ajjaz Awad, Nneka Okoye, Bolu Babalola, and Olukemi Babalola

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780063078543 / William Morrow

Marie Claire

CONCRETE ROSE by Angie Thomas

Read by Dion Graham

Produced by Caitlin Garing

9780063043817 / Balzer + Bray

JUST AS I AM by Cicely Tyson

Read by Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis, and Robin Miles

Produced by Iris McElroy

9780062931351 / Amistad

THE LOST APOTHECARY by Sarah Penner

Read by Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, and Lauren Irwin

Produced by Jennifer Lopes

9781488210761 / Park Row

YOU GOT ANYTHING STRONGER? by Gabrielle Union

Read by Gabrielle Union

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062979964 / Dey Street

The Washington Post

THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DU BOIS by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Read by Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton, and Prentice Onayemi

Produced by Suzanne Mitchell

9780062942975 / Harper

We mourn the loss of bell hooks, New York Times best-selling author, cherished teacher, cultural critic, feminist, activist, and visionary.

She was born Gloria Watkins on September 25, 1952. In 1978, she published her first book of poems, And There We Wept, under the pen name bell hooks, honoring her great-grandmother. Throughout her accomplished and celebrated career, bell published more than 40 works. She joined William Morrow in 1999 with the publication of All About Love, followed by Salvation in 2001, and Communion in 2002. All About Love is one of bell’s most awe-inspiring gifts of literature, translated in more than 15 languages, admired and respected internationally. It hit the New York Times bestseller list last year for the first time since originally published. 

Read the New York Times obituary here.

On the podcast this week, Nicole Fischer, Editor at Avon Books, interviews Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur to discuss her new book Count Your Lucky Stars. Alexandria has penned another steamy queer rom-com about former best friends who might be each other's second chance at love, following the two previous books in the series: Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon.

Listen to the episode below:

They talked about several romance novels that helped shape their love for romance and a book that is great for helping to plot stories:

• Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren
• Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren
• Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes

Count Your Lucky Stars is on sale February 1, 2022.

Request an egalley on Edelweiss+
Request an egalley on NetGalley

-Lainey

Request the egalley on Edelweiss+
Request the egalley on NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: January 1, 2022

***

We hope you enjoy the books! For more information about LibraryReads, visit their website. Remember: Vote early! Vote often!

On this week's podcast episode, Julie Will, Vice President/Editorial Director at Harper Wave, interviews Matt Rodbard and Daniel Holzman, the authors of Food IQ—an informative, entertaining, and essential guide to taking your kitchen smarts to a higher level—from two food world professionals (a chef and a writer).

This was a super fun interview that not only included the background of this book and an overview of the authors' writing/editing process, but Julie finished the episode with a lightning round of over-hyped/under-hyped food/kitchen tools. Find out what you should utilize or leave behind when cooking from the pros!

Listen to the episode below:

Food IQ goes on sale February 22, 2022.

Request an egalley on Edelweiss+
Request an egalley on NetGalley

-Lainey

See our full announcement of all HarperCollins titles that made the list and find links to egalleys here. 

Thank you for voting!

-Lainey

This week on the podcast, we feature a conversation between LLF's Lainey Mays and author Danya Kukafka. Danya's Notes on an Execution is a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life. It's our Lead Read title for the Winter 2022 season!

Check out some of the rave reviews coming in:

Listen to the episode below:

Danya mentioned Savage Appetites by Rachel Monroe and The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich as books of Crime/True Crime she is loving right now. She also mentioned the following podcasts: One Click and Missing on 9/11. 

Also discussed: Tori Telfer's Lady Killers and Confident Women.

Check out the article about her love for pickles here.

Notes on an Execution is on sale January 25, 2022.
LibraryReads votes are due December 1, 2021!

Request an egalley or ALC on Edelweiss+
Request an egalley on NetGalley
Request the ALC on NetGalley

-Lainey

The Library Love Fest Podcast hit a milestone this week—we have over 50,000 listens! We started this podcast as a way to dive deeper into our books in a digestible audio format that you could listen to while on the way to work each day, while shelving books, or sitting behind the reference desk. That vision has grown to include many different formats that show off our phenomenal books. Whether that be through editor conversations where we hear an author's 'behind-the-scenes' relationship with their editor or hearing about upcoming audiobooks where we play a short clip to intrigue; we love curating this archive of book-related information that will be sure to cater to every kind of reader.

Thank you again for listening! Now, share it with a friend!

-Lainey

I've highlighted a few of our most popular episodes—including each of our series—below:

LibraryReads Announcements (monthly):

Editors Unedited:

Updates from Imprints and other departments at HarperCollins:

Author interviews conducted by the LLF team:

Thank you for 50K! If you don't already, subscribe anywhere you download podcasts for the weekly episodes to directly download to your feed.

Hello, librarians!

We are back for another round of LibraryReads suggestions for the January LibraryReads list. Reminder: votes for the January LibraryReads List are due December 1st.

Happy reading!

-The LLF Team (Virginia, Lainey, and Essie)

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