Can you believe July is almost over?! That means we're getting closer to the deadline to vote for the September LibraryReads List. Check out our staff suggestions of titles we think you'll love! Find the entire title list here. Reminder that the deadline to vote for the September LibraryReads List is August 1st.
Happy reading and happy voting!
All our best, The Library Love Fest Team (Virginia, Lainey, & Grace)
ALSO! We are stoked for the ALA conference in Philadelphia. Find the full schedule at the link here, including steps to RSVP to our book buzz on Saturday, June 28th.
Before you go, we have a great opportunity to win a meet-and-greet with Blair Underwood and Joe McClean, the creative partners behindSins of Survivors! Click the image below to find out more:
Congratulations to Willy Vlautin, who has been named a winner of the Joyce Carol Oates Prize!
Named after the legendary author, the annual Joyce Carol Oates Prize honors mid-career authors of fiction who advance the vision and mission to drive social change and unleash artistic power across the generations and the nation. As part of their win, they will take up a brief residence at the University of California, Berkeley and in the Bay Area in early November 2025. In addition to Willy, Jennine Capó Crucet, author of Say Hello to My Little Friend, was named as a recipient.
The press release states that "These prizes stand not only as testament to Crucet’s and Vlautin’s impressive literary accomplishments as mid-career authors, but also as encouragement and support for work to come. Both authors represent the resilience, power, and diversity of our national communities, and both unforgettably give voice, in their resonantly distinctive styles, to the most urgent issues of today."
You will also see comments from Amy Baker, Willy's Editor and VP/Associate Publisher and Editorial Director at HarperCollins, including this beautiful sentence: "Reading his work is an exercise in empathy and a lesson on how to be a better human being."
We are proud to say that we have a new book from Willy coming in April called The Left and Lucky.
Hi, librarians! The Library Love Fest team is beyond excited for the ALA Annual Conference 2025 this year. We're kicking off the conference with books and breakfast! Below, you'll find our full schedule for ALA along with our RSVP link to our World-Famous Book Buzz.
Join us on Saturday, June 28th from 8:30 AM until 10:00 AM in the Philadelphia Convention Center, Terrace Ballroom II!
See a full list of our author signings and programs below. Stop by booth #606 and say hello!
SATURDAY, JUNE 28TH:
8:30 AM — 10:00 AM HarperCollins Adult Book Buzz Pennsylvania Convention Center, Terrace Ballroom II RSVP at the link above!
12:00 PM — 1:00 PM Laurie Gilmore, The Pumpkin Spice Café & The Strawberry Patch Pancake House Vincent Tirado, We Came to Welcome You Joint signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
1:00 PM — 2:00 PM Elizabeth R. Hyman, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
⭐️1:30 PM — 2:20 PM⭐️ Writers to Watch LIVE! Laurie Gilmore, The Gingerbread Bakery Vincent Tirado, We Came to Welcome You Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Family Spirit A Real Page-Turner Stage in the exhibit hall (booth #2435)
2:30 PM — 3:30 PM Kirsten Miller, The Women of Wild Hill Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Family Spirit Joint signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
2:30 PM — 3:30 PM Elizabeth R. Hyman, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto United for Libraries Program: Nonfiction You Can't Put Down Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 121A
3:00 PM — 4:00 PM Laurie Gilmore, The Pumpkin Spice Café & The Strawberry Patch Pancake House Signing in the Baker & Taylor booth (#1137)
4:00 PM — 5:30 PM ALMA/LibraryReads Adult Author Program: Speculative Fiction Kirsten Miller, The Women of Wild Hill Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 112AB
7:00 PM — 10:00 PM Carnegie Awards Sarah Weinman, Without Consent Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Find out more information here
SUNDAY, JUNE 29TH:
8:00 AM — 10:00 AM RUSA, Literary Luminaries* Ari Fliakos, narrator of Horror Movie Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Family Spirit Helen Laser, narrator of All This and More Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 202AB *This event is ticketed; click here for more information
9:00 AM — 10:00 AM Sarah Weinman, Without Consent Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
9:00 AM — 10:00 AM United for Libraries Program: Thrills & Chills Polly Stewart, The Felons' Ball Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 120A
9:15 AM — 10:15 AM Jeannine A. Cook, It's Me They Follow Signing in the Baker & Taylor booth (#1137)
10:30 AM — 11:30 AM Polly Stewart, The Felons' Ball Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
11:30 AM — 12:30 PM Angela Flournoy, The Wilderness Jeannine A. Cook, It's Me They Follow Joint signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
12:30 PM — 1:15 PM Shirley Neal, AfroCentric Style Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606) Featured Speaker at the BCALA Awards*
1:00 PM — 3:00 PM Now Showing at ALA: Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 102A
2:15 PM — 3:15 PM Angela Flournoy, The Wilderness Signing in the Baker & Taylor booth, booth #1137
2:30 PM — 3:30 PM United for Libraries Program: First Novels Jeannine A. Cook, It's Me They Follow Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 121A
4:00 PM — 5:00 PM Joy-Ann Reid, Medgar & Myrlie Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606) Featured Speaker at the BCALA Awards*
5:30 PM — 7:30 PM United for Libraries Program: The Laugh's On Us* Elyse Myers, That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You Marriott Courtyard, Trumbauer Ballroom, 3rd Floor 1412 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 *This event is ticketed; click here for more information or purchase tickets here
7:15 PM *Black Caucus of the American Library Association Awards Joy-Ann Reid, Medgar & Myrlie Shirley Neal, AfroCentric Style Philadelphia Marriott Hotel Room 12 & 13
MONDAY, JUNE 30TH:
8:30 AM — 10:00 AM ALMA/LibraryReads Adult Author Panel: Your Morning Is Booked Angela Flournoy, The Wilderness Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 123
9:00 AM — 10:00 AM Ellen Jovin, Rebel with a Clause Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
10:30 AM — 11:30 AM Catherine Newman, Wreck Signing in the HarperCollins booth (#606)
10:30 AM — 11:30 AM Joe Hill, King Sorrow Interviewed by Becky Siegel Spratford ALA Main Stage Pennsylvania Convention Center Terrace Ballroom IV
10:40 AM — 12:15 PM Now Showing: Ellen Jovin's Rebel with a Clause Pennsylvania Convention Center, room 102A
2:00 PM — 3:30 PM United for Libraries Program: GALA Author Tea* Catherine Newman, Wreck Marriott Courtyard, Trumbauer Ballroom, 3rd Floor 1412 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 *This event is ticketed; click here for more information
The HarperCollins booth will be abuzz with information on our 14(!) authors attending. The LLF team will be in the booth to LIVE chat. Stop and say hi! Don't miss our amazing line up:
9:30 – 10:00 AM ET | Morning Keynote with R.F. Kuang, Katabasis
10:05 – 10:55 AM ET |Books about Books: Jeannine A. Cook, It's Me They Follow
10:05 – 10:55 AM ET | More Novels to Note: Jade Chang, What a Time to Be Alive and Angela Flournoy, The Wilderness
10:05 – 10:55 AM ET | Into the Wild World: Neil Shea, Frostlines
12:55 – 1:45 PM ET | Food for the Soul: Pyet DeSpain, Rooted in Fire
12:55 – 1:45 PM ET | Beyond the Panels: Alison Bechdel, Spent
12:55 – 1:45 PM ET | Switching It Up: Laura Lippman, Murder Takes a Vacation
2:25 – 3:15 PM ET | First Impressions: Allison King, The Phoenix Pencil Company
2:25 – 3:15 PM ET | Nightmares Unleashed: Sam Rebelein, Galloway's Gospel
2:25 – 3:15 PM ET | Love and Magic: Akwaeke Emezi, Son of the Morning and Brigid Kemmerer, Warrior Princess Assassin
The Library Love Fest team has a treat for you! We're excited to share a letter to librarians from Laney Katz Becker, author of In the Family Way! Hear directly from Laney about her forthcoming novel, the background behind the book, and her own connection to libraries.
More about In the Family Way (on sale 6/3/25): Set in the 1960s before Roe, a poignant and powerful novel in the vein of Lessons in Chemistry and Big Little Lies, about the friendship between a group of suburban housewives who help one another navigate through their personal challenges, marriages, and their pregnancies—both wanted and unwanted.
More about Laney Katz Becker: Laney Katz Becker is an award-winning author, writer, and a former literary agent. Her books include the debut novel, Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend, and the nonfiction anthology, Three Times Chai, a collection of rabbis’ favorite stories. When she’s not writing, Laney enjoys drawing, sewing, reading, long walks, playing tennis, and canasta. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, raised her two children in Westchester County, New York, and currently lives on the east coast of Florida with her husband and their Havanese.
I’m so thankful for this opportunity to tell you about my novel In the Family Way, which will be available from HarperCollins on June 3, 2025.
Set in the mid-1960s, In the Family Way is, at its heart, a story about the friendship between a group of suburban housewives who must rely on each other to navigate through life’s challenges, marital issues, and pregnancies—both wanted and unwanted—during a time when abortion is illegal and the women’s movement is not much more than a fledgling idea. It’s a cross between Big Little Lies (the friendship angle) Lessons in Chemistry, (the feminist bent) and Looking for Jane (an exploration of reproductive rights).
I was inspired to write this novel days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision—which overturned Roe and took away a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. I was watching the evening news and saw video of a protest. There was an old(er) woman holding up a sign that said “I Can’t Believe I Have to Protest This Sh*t Again.” Next to her was a younger woman, probably in her 20s. Her sign said “We Cannot Go Back.”
“She’s too young to even know what that means,” I yelled at the TV.
Someone really needs to write a novel about what times were like back then, I thought. That’s when it hit me. During all the years it mattered to me, Roe was the law of the land. Even I didn’t have a full picture of what things were like for women (like my mother) who married and had babies before the women’s movement took flight. I was motivated to find out. First stop was, naturally, the library, where I consulted with the research librarian and began working my way through non-fiction books to better understand exactly what women could and couldn’t do “back then.” Once again I found myself thinking Someone really needs to write a novel about all this. Obviously, I decided that someone was me!
In anticipation of the release of In the Family Way I’ve tried—I’ve really tried—to be better about posting book-related news on social media. And I’m fortunate because there’s been a lot of exciting things to share. But, perhaps because I’m a woman of a certain age, I must confess: Instagram and Facebook just don’t do it for me. You know what does?
Hoopla! Libby! CloudLibrary! Whenever I get a notification that a book I’ve put on hold is now available to download to my e-reader, or listen to on my phone… now that is an adrenaline rush! I remember the days “back then” when there were no apps. Instead, I’d visit the Chappaqua library, run toward the “Rapid Read” shelf and hope to get lucky. I also remember how, when we moved from NY to Florida, I grabbed two pieces of mail with my new address so I could get a library card from the Palm Beach Gardens Library. Only once I had that card in my hand did I feel like a true resident in my new hometown.
Nowadays, I do most of my browsing, downloading, and listening through the apps. (I swear I felt a surge of dopamine just typing those words!) However, that doesn’t mean I no longer visit the physical library. I still go for bookclub meetings and to get help from the reference librarian (mostly for my next novel). I also make it a point to be there during the last week of September for Banned Books Week, because seeing all those wonderful covers on display, enticing young adults to pick the forbidden fruit—well, that brings me so much joy.
That said, my most favorite time to visit the library happened just last week when my grandchildren were visiting from Illinois. We had a morning of horrible weather and after baking cookies I asked the six-year-old what he wanted to do next. Without hesitation he asked, “Is the library awake yet?”
On that note, let me send out a gigantic thanks to all of you librarians for all you do, all the readers you inspire, all the writers and authors you assist, for all the lives you touch in ways big and small, and for giving moms like me traditions we can pass along to our children and grandchildren.
***
Thank you, Laney, for taking the time to write such a heartfelt letter and a touching novel. Check out this praise from Catherine Newman, who shares the same sentiment as us:
“In the Family Way bursts with the complexity, drama, and warmth of Call the Midwife, but set at the canasta and kitchen tables of 1960s suburban America. This timely, timeless novel captures not only the reproductive horrors of that era but also political awakening and a kind of nostalgic hope: it's a changing world, and Roe, behind us now, was glimmering on the horizon then. Laney Katz Becker so beautifully reveals that where there are women's hardships, there is consolation to be found, then and still, in each other's company and care.” — Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich
All of our thanks again to Laney! Keep your eye out for In the Family Way, on sale 6/3/25.
HELD TOGETHER: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love (HarperOne; on sale 4/8/25), by renowned primary care physician Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, is a deeply moving narrative that celebrates the resilience of women as they navigate the diverse and complex journeys of building and sustaining families.
Through deeply personal storytelling, Dr. Thompson shares her own life-threatening pregnancy complications alongside the diverse experiences of twenty-one women she has encountered as a doctor, friend, and colleague. This moving memoir shines a light on the strength found in life’s messiest, most vulnerable moments.
In an early review Library Journal wrote, “This touching, beautifully written work will help many people who have endured loss or complicated paths to parenthood. They are sure to find experiences that resonate with them.”
Held Together addresses:
Infertility: Grappling with the heartbreak of reproductive challenges and finding strength in perseverance.
Adoption, fostering, and surrogacy: Showcasing intentional paths to parenthood that redefine traditional family structures.
Loss: Navigating grief and rediscovering hope after tragic losses of a child, spouse, or parent.
Complex family dynamics: Celebrating the resilience found in non-traditional and chosen families.
Healing the healer: Sharing lessons from a physician’s own experience as a patient and advocate for holistic care.
Warm, inclusive, and profoundly inspiring, Held Together is an invitation to connect, reflect, and honor the many ways we define love, family, and motherhood.
As Jodi Picoult writes, “Rebecca Thompson’s moving book proves that there are as many different ways of becoming a family as there are mothers—a personal, compelling reminder of why women’s reproductive health care matters, and why one size does not fit all.”
We wanted this touching memoir to be on your radar, so be sure to download an egalley from Edelweiss or NetGalley.
This Spring season isn't feeling very rejuvenating, friends. We're thinking of you. Thank goodness for the comfort of a good read. Stay well and look forward to these June reads. Find out more about them here.Reminder that June LibraryReads votes are due by May 1st!
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