Author name: Library Love Fest

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/8fH2o6be1S4?si=VSatlVARrTFpRwHw

When I read the first page of The Coast Road, I knew it was all over for me. I was all in. This debut novel is set in County Donegal in 1994 when divorce was not yet legal. The main characters, two women who find themselves in unhappy marriages, are so real and accessible, and their stories—their situations—are unique but in a larger sense, the same. Their voices and their conversations with friends, family, enemies, themselves are all so real. I was reminded of Wally Lamb’s writing in that Alan Murrin has that same sensibility to so fully and respectfully capture the essence, movement, and emotions of women. The Coast Road is a gift to anyone who loves a good story with characters you feel for, root for, and miss when the last page is turned. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
—Virginia, HarperCollins Library Marketing Directer

The Coast Road goes on sale 6/04/2024. Vote for LibraryReads by May 1st! Download an egalley here.

Watch the interview here:

This week, April 7th through 13th, is our favorite week of the year…National Library Week! Libraries are the heart of communities; connecting readers to books, resources, and so much more. Librarians like you make it all possible. From the bottom of our hearts: THANK YOU! 

On top of being vital to communities, librarians have been on the frontlines of the fight against book banning and censorship. The right to read freely is one that should not be infringed upon. We know that it has been incredibly difficult during this time of increased attacks on the freedom to read and access to crucial books. Books change lives and so do you. Thank you for fighting the good fight.

Throughout the years, we've been able to connect with so many librarians and authors through our online programming. From Writers to Watch to Galley Gab Fest to Instagram reels, we love spreading the library love and meeting so many of you. 

Speaking of authors who LOVE libraries…here's a message that Julia Quinn recorded for you a couple years ago! Hear from her below:

For the rest of the week, we'll be sharing more highlights of past programming, so stay tuned. Again, THANK YOU for all that you do! 

Love,
Virginia, Lainey, & Grace

Register on Crowdcast: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/writers-to-watch-2024

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/7625633394166898/

We are excited to see everyone in Columbus, OH for the Public Library Association conference from April 3rd-April 5th. Stop by our booth (#1407) and say hi! We have a great roster of authors joining us. See our full schedule below!

Wednesday, April 3rd

Exhibit hours: 3:00 – 6:00 PM

6:30 – 8:30 PM 
Library Journal Evening of Dialog with Dan Kois

From the author of the Washington Post notable novel Vintage Contemporaries, something completely unexpected: a hair-raising and rollicking adventure set on one night in 1987, when six paperboys must confront a slew of monsters as well as their own personal demons in a haunted Midwestern neighborhood.

RSVP for the event here.

Thursday, April 4th

Exhibit hours: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

9:00 – 10:00 AM
Rainbow Rowell booth signing at HCP booth (#1407)

   
Slow Dance
A bright, beaming power ballad of a novel from Rainbow Rowell—the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Landline, Fangirl, and Eleanor & Park—Slow Dance tells the humorous and heartbreaking love story of best friends Shiloh and Cary from their inseparable teen years to their far-flung adulthoods as they try to figure out what their relationship is, where it went wrong, and how to finally make it right.

9:00 -10:30 AM
ALMA muli-publisher book buzz (part 1)
Show Floor

9:15 – 10:00 AM
Ace Atkins booth signing at the Baker & Taylor booth (#2214)

10:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Ace Atkins booth signing at HCP booth (#1407)
     
Don't Let the Devil Ride
S.A. Cosby meets Don Winslow in the breakout thriller from New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins. A Memphis woman hires a PI to find her missing husband, only to discover that he is involved in a dangerous web of international intrigue—and she and her children are now at risk.

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Ace Atkins speaking at the Mystery Panel with signing to follow
Room GCCC A210-215

RSVP here

12:30 – 1:45 PM 
PLA Luncheon with Rainbow Rowell

   
Slow Dance
A bright, beaming power ballad of a novel from Rainbow Rowell—the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Landline, Fangirl, and Eleanor & Park—Slow Dance tells the humorous and heartbreaking love story of best friends Shiloh and Cary from their inseparable teen years to their far-flung adulthoods as they try to figure out what their relationship is, where it went wrong, and how to finally make it right.

Hilton Columbus Downtown – Aminah Robinson Ballroom C
Signing to follow
Get a ticket here

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Booklist Book Buzz
Room GCCC A110-115
More info on the PLA scheduler

2:00 – 3:00 PM 
Dan Kois booth signing at HCP booth (#1407)

From the author of the Washington Post notable novel Vintage Contemporaries, something completely unexpected: a hair-raising and rollicking adventure set on one night in 1987, when six paperboys must confront a slew of monsters as well as their own personal demons in a haunted Midwestern neighborhood.

5:30 – 6:30 PM
LibraryReads Your Evening is Booked
Room C150-151
Dan Kois
Hampton Heights

RSVP here

Friday, April 5th
Exhibit hours: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

9:00 – 10:00 AM
L.M. Elliott, author of Bea and the New Deal Horse (Scott O'Dell Award Winner) booth signing at HCP booth (#1407)

Hello, librarians!

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

We are thrilled to share that Alyssa Cole's One of Us Knows and Alexandria Bellefleur's Truly, Madly, Deeply have made the LibraryReads Hall of Fame for April! A big congratulations to both! Find out more about each book and download egalleys here.

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

Watch the full episode on :https://youtu.be/D0cYEY99XGs?si=kgQ6HVS4KqtwaVDE

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/W61vjp_Gono?si=r0daOd0ptDENZIa4

Dear librarians, below is a list of all HarperCollins simultaneous hardcover editions releasing in 2024! Find the Edelweiss catalog with these titles here. Have questions? Email us at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.

WINTER 2024

JANUARY

Divine Might by Natalie Haynes (9780063377097, $30.00)

The London Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein (9780063359710, $32.00)

The Bright Spot by Jill Shalvis (9780063235762, $30.00)

FEBRUARY

Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey (9780063308350, $30.00)

MARCH

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski (9780063319875, $30.00)

The Inheritance by Joanna Goodman (9780063329010, $30.00)

In a Not So Perfect World by Neely Tubati-Alexander (9780063377103, $30.00)

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French (9780063298347, $32.00)

Studies at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (9780063359703, $30.00)

APRIL

Orphia and Eurydicius by Elyse John (9781460765241, $29.00)

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole (9780063297135, $30.00)

SUMMER 2024

MAY

The Last Time She Saw Him by Kate White (9780063382626, $30.00)

The Amethyst Kingdom by A.K. Mulford (9780063388482, $30.00)

The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr (9780063382619, $30.00)

JUNE

The Summer Escape by Jill Shalvis (9780063235823, $30.00)

The Phoenix Ballroom by Ruth Hogan (9780063386679, $30.00)

What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris (9780063359734, $30.00)

JULY

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan (9780063386662, $30.00)

The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon (9780063248762, $30.00)

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey (9780063308428, $30.00)

Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi (9780063307308, $30.00)

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas (9780063382633, $30.00)

Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman (9780063386686, $30.00)

AUGUST

Bad Feminist [Tenth Anniversary Edition] by Roxane Gay (9780063388291, $30.00)

The Hidden Book by Kirsty Manning (9780063389182, $30.00)

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling (9780063411166, $30.00)

FALL 2024

SEPTEMBER

A Curse of Blood and Wolves by Melissa McTernan (9780008670795, $30.00)

The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman (9780063396227, $30.00)

Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin (9780063383500, $30.00)

The Highlander's Return by Lynsay Sands (9780063411135, $30.00)

OCTOBER

Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey (9780063330054, $30.00)

No One Will Know by Rose Carlyle (9780063411159, $30.00)

The Most Wonderful Time by Jayne Allen (9780063392878, $30.00)

The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes (9780063418301, $30.00)

The Best American Short Stories 2024 edited by Lauren Groff and Heidi Pitlor (9780063275966, $30.00)

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (9780063411142, $30.00)

Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 3 by Yuval Noah Harari (9780063387430, $40.00)

NOVEMBER

Murder Town by Shelley Burr (9780063411173, $30.00)

The Dispossessed [50th Anniversary Edition] by Ursula K. Le Guin (9780063414334, $35.00)

Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler (9780063378933, $30.00)

DECEMBER

Buried Road by Katie Tallo (9780063396234, $30.00)

What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane (9780063352001, $30.00)

The Bride Bet by Tessa Dare (9780063035461, $30.00)

Really hoping that these Spring showers will bring May flowers soon…

Until then, stay dry inside with a good book by your side!

Check out our staff picks for the May LibraryReads list and start downloading! Don't forget to get your votes for the May LibraryReads list in by April 1st!

We also have a lot of great author interviews and book buzzes coming in March. Check out our schedule of events at this link.

Happy reading,

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

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/-VgZvien8P4?si=9IfPvsS2PfgGvV00

Watch on : https://youtu.be/wKKVvdE42vE?si=0QsDg2V4E7lvpjZO

Watch on : https://youtu.be/EAo0we_KQik?si=035KFISkUgbVMWiC

“Joyce Maynard's How the Light Gets In grabbed ahold of me in the first chapter and didn't let go until I'd finished the epilogue. A master storyteller at the top of her game, Maynard populates her story with characters I worried about, rooted for, and related to. I LOVED this book!” 
— Wally Lamb, author of She's Come Undone and 
I Know This Much Is True

New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard's forthcoming novel How the Light Gets In (on sale 6/25/24) is receiving so much love! This follow-up to her beloved novel Count the Ways is a complex story of three generations of a family and its remarkable, resilient, indomitable matriarch, Eleanor. 

If you haven't read Count the Ways yet, have no fear! How the Light Gets In can be read as a standalone novel. But we promise, after reading How the Light Gets In, you'll want to go back and read Joyce's backlist.

We adore this novel and we aren't the only ones. Check out the love:

“Joyce Maynard has stitched together a warm, rich patchwork quilt of a novel that reminds us history is made up simply of our stories; and that even in broken, imperfect things one finds beauty and strength.”
— Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“In turns joyful and heartbreaking, How the Light Gets In is a wise and bittersweet portrait of a complicated family. Joyce Maynard writes the kind of books that readers adore – bighearted, beautifully crafted, propulsively readable, and full of flawed and fickle characters who make difficult decisions and big mistakes, stumbling through life and love, trying to do their best. A word of advice: clear your calendar before you start reading!”
— Adrienne Brodeur, nationally bestselling author of Little Monsters and Wild Game

“How the Light Gets In feels like a conversation with a trusted sister about a wide circle of family members in order to discover their secrets and hopes. The story of Eleanor and her family is told in marvelous loops that fill in the gaps between the past and the present, the personal and the news of the day, difficult challenges and their remedies. Joyce Maynard has given us another generous, satisfying novel: she is a wonder.”
— Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point and In the Gloaming

After reading all the praise, we know you will want to dive into How the Light Gets In. You can download an egalley on Edelweiss+ or NetGalley.

Congratulations to Joyce for writing such a beautiful novel! We can't wait for librarians and their patrons to read How the Light Gets In. 

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/lcP2GzKjAcg?si=2ISpowRD5xiPFydL

Hello, librarians!

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

We are thrilled to share that Cristina Henríquez's The Great Divide has been selected for the March LibraryReads list! A big congratulations to Cristina!

Want to hear how our author reacted to the big news? She stopped everything to record her reaction. Listen to our latest episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast to hear:

The April LibraryReads list is right around the corner. Check out our staff picks for April and start downloading! Don't forget to get your votes for the April LibraryReads list in by March 1st!

Happy reading,

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

We are so excited! ALA has announced their 2024 award winners.

Chlorine by Jade Song received the Alex award. The Young Adult Library Services Association selected 10 adult books with special appeal to teen readers to receive the 2024 Alex Awards.

See the full list of winners here.

Side Notes from the Archivist by Anastacia-Renee, named one of three titles as a Notable Book in the Poetry category. The Notable Books List is an annual best-of-list comprised of twenty six titles written for adult readers and published in the US including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Click here for the complete list of Notable Books List.

The Reading List is an annual best-of list comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers. There is also a shortlist of honor titles, up to 4 per genre:

Going Zero by Anthony McCarten were selected as a shortlist title for the Adrenaline list.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty was selected as a shortlist title for the Fantasy list.

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon was selected as a shortlist title for the Mystery list.

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian was selected as a shortlist title for the Romance list.

Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes was selected as a shortlist title for the Science Fiction list.

Congratulations to all of our winners!

See the full list of winners, read-alikes, and short list here.

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/mP1wLQF-dM0?si=7oaCxmA1eTiL2PhG

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/-VgZvien8P4?si=9IfPvsS2PfgGvV00

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/hu0L-n62GEI?si=9OzYQJ5pZJ2FUCZf

Happy book birthday to True North by Andrew J. Graff! We LOVED his previous novel, Raft of Stars, and this one set our hearts aflutter just the same. True North is a heartfelt novel of marriage and whitewater rafting, following one couple as they navigate the changing currents of family, community, and the river itself. 

Love has been pouring in! Check it out:

“Graff (Raft of Stars, 2021) charts the path of a marriage in crisis, with small slights and missteps threatening to send either party overboard. Sam and Swami echo the stubborn, resilient couples found in works by Matthew Norman, Sarah Dunn, and Meg Wolitzer, and True North will appeal to anyone who can relate to giving everything you’ve got to one last plan.”
—Booklist ⭐️ review 

“True North is an engaging, character-driven portrait of a marriage under pressure from financial deception and conflicting desires. Graff writes about the outdoors, particularly rivers and river rafting, with an immersive blend of knowledge and passion.”
—Charles Frazier, author of The Trackers and Cold Mountain

“If you’ve ever loved a special place in the woods, True North will flood you with all the feels. Andrew Graff’s clear-eyed, sensitive examination of marriage, family, and community weaves through a delightful story of whitewater adventure and small-town tension that’s impossible to put down. I loved it!”
—Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

“I adored Andrew J. Graff’s Raft of Stars, and his second novel does not disappoint. I couldn’t help but root for Sam and Swami and their family, as well as everyone else in their ragtag crew of river rafters. True North rolls seamlessly from humor to despair, from beauty to destruction—but in the end is a gorgeous story of family, community, and grace. I absolutely loved it.”
—Kimi Cunningham Grant, USA Today bestselling author of These Silent Woods

Hello, librarians!

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

We are thrilled to share that Gareth Brown’s The Book of Doors has been selected for the February LibraryReads list! Additionally, we have four Hall of Fame selections: Olivia Dade's At First Spite, Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Simply the Best, Janie Chang and Kate Quinn's The Phoenix Crown, and Tessa Bailey's Fangirl Down. Congratulations to all of our authors!

Find out more about these books and download egalleys here.

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

Ann Patchett heard that two of her books—Bel Canto and The Patron Saint Of Liars—are banned in the Orange County, Florida school system. She quickly made a video in response to this news. Hear her legendary response below:

Round of applause for Ann! Add both books to your cart here. And head over to the PEN America site for more information on book banning.

Happy New Year!! Let's kick the year off strong with some exciting reads!

Here you will find a list of titles eligible for the March LibraryReads list. Don't forget to get your votes for the March LibraryReads list in by February 1st!

Happy reading,

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