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Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/Px7-6lPm5EI?si=ZEJkGC9H_I1PEdyw

I can't believe I'm typing this but…May is right around the corner! Get ready for the May LibraryReads list with these excellent titles. Reminder to get your votes in for the May list by April 1st!

PLUS! If you want even more reading recommendations, tune in to our Galley Gab Fest on March 12th at 2 PM ET. You'll hear about titles that we didn't have time for in our Library Journal webinar on February 25th. You can also catch that replay here!

Happy reading,

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

Watch on : https://youtu.be/eLdwczX5DAs?si=PLWrdNkPC80j-UFr

Spring is…well, six weeks away. BUT that means a little more time indoors with your next read. Find a list of titles to consider for the April LibraryReads list here. Reminder to get your votes in by March 1st for these April titles!

Happy reading,

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

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/-NbPfWqnAF4?si=D0RYndFAU9S-YGyB

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/znzEOQ90i2U?si=bbV3NVH-KnH6kDzQ

The Library Love Fest team is thrilled to share a letter to librarians by Boris Fishman, author of The Unwanted! He tells you a bit about his forthcoming novel, the backstory behind this latest work, and his own love of libraries.

More about The Unwanted (on sale 3/25/2025):
Award-winning, New York Times Notable author of A Replacement Life—“a born storyteller with a tremendous gift for language” (San Francisco Chronicle)— delivers a fierce and staggering new page-turner full of cruelty, tenderness, and heroism, about a young girl and her parents fleeing civil war and the brutal dictatorship that has targeted their family.

More about Boris:
Boris Fishman was born in Minsk, Belarus, and emigrated to the United States in 1988. He is the author of the novels A Replacement Life (which won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Medal) and Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo, both New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Savage Feast, a family memoir told through recipes. His journalism has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, New York magazine, and many other publications. He has taught at Princeton University and the University of Montana, and now teaches at The University of Austin. 

Download an egalley on Edelweiss or NetGalley.

***

Dear librarians,

I’m thrilled to write you about my new novel THE UNWANTED, out on March 25 from HarperCollins. As the proud recipient of the Sophie Brody Medal for my first novel, A Replacement Life, and an immigrant who received a second education in the libraries of his adopted hometown of New York, it’s an honor to talk to you about my newest book.

THE UNWANTED is the story of a family in flight from civil war in an unnamed country, the lies they tell to protect each other, and how those lies slowly destroy them as a family. It’s a novel about refugees, but ultimately, it’s about power – who holds the power, whether they protect the people without, and what the latter will do for dignity and safety. This is why the country in the novel is unnamed – the name doesn’t matter. The story is always the same.

With this novel, I wanted to emphasize that refugees are not saints – and don’t have to be to deserve our understanding and empathy. They’re like you and me – human and imperfect. I would do exactly the same thing in their situations, and then only if I were smart and brave and resourceful enough. Of course, these ideas live in the background of the story – foremost, this is a novel about a family, the humiliations the adults undergo as “minority-sect” members of their country, the mistakes they make to protect their child, and what happens then.

The novel is a little different from my previous books in that it’s full of drama and incident, with lives in the balance – I wrote it to be a page-turner, a literary thriller. One thing that hasn’t changed is my interest in writing the smartest possible book for the broadest possible audience, a book that’s both complex and a page-turner.

It’s also my first novel without the Russian-speaking and Jewish characters who have populated my previous books, though of course, it’s about the same questions: How does a family survive the trauma of immigration? Where do you belong, if your life has been divided between multiple places? How to find dignity after decades of harm in a country that didn’t want you? How to put yourself back together in a new homeland where you are unavoidably “other”?

I thought these questions were particularly important to ask at this time in our nation’s history. And as you know, no medium can ask them as a novel can.

I love discussing these issues with booksellers and book buyers, but it means something special and essential to discuss it with you. Libraries, perhaps in addition to national parks, are some of the last truly democratic places in our country. When I travel with my children, the first place I take them is the local library – it’s how we get to know the place we’re visiting. At home in western New Jersey, we’re regulars at the local branch of the Hunterdon County library system. You are flame-keepers. Your work is noticed, and deeply valued.

Yours,
Boris Fishman

***

Thank you, Boris, for such a thoughtful letter to librarians! We know you're going to love this novel as much as we do. It's a stunning story that is impossible to put down. We aren't the only ones who think so. Check out some of the praise that's been pouring in for The Unwanted: 

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/lVGu9bck4QE?si=P13j3YbZ1AiH4Uls

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/z20Ximx75jE?si=ewwE02R3lv0evFwk

Hello, librarians!

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

Gillian McAllister's Famous Last Words has been selected as a LibraryReads pick for the month of February! And Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey is in the Hall of Fame! See the full announcement here.

And we have a very special audio message from Gillian. Listen here.

Happy New Year! 🎉 We hope you had a lovely holiday season surrounded by family and friends…and books, of course! Find a list of titles to consider for the March LibraryReads list here. Reminder to get your votes in for the March list by February 1st! 

Wishing you a happy start to 2025,

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

Happy New Year, librarians!

We had an absolute blast hosting Writers to Watch last year. In 2024, we interviewed 40 authors! We're back in 2025 with even more fantastic authors.

For those who may not be familiar with Writers to Watch, it is a live monthly author event that takes place in the evening. Authors talk a bit about their books before taking questions from librarians like you! It is truly a night of literary delight. Since our inaugural episode in 2023, we have hosted authors such as R. F. Kuang, Louise Erdrich, Nnedi Okorafor, Lucy Foley, Rainbow Rowell, Gail Tsukiyama, and more. Writers to Watch is available to stream live on Facebook and Crowdcast. However, you can always catch the replay on our YouTube or our archive. 

It's only January, but we already have a lot in store in the next few months! First, we're kicking off the new year with an OUTSTANDING lineup.

On January 9th, 2025 at 7 PM ET, we are hosting Mary Alice Monroe (Where the Rivers Merge), Blair Underwood and Joe McClean (Sins of Survivors), Kevin Wilson (Run for the Hills), Tennessee Hill (Girls with Long Shadows), and Jeffery Self (Self-Sabotage)! You really do not want to miss this episode, so be sure to RSVP on Facebook and/or register on Crowdcast.

But wait—there's more! Here are the authors that will be joining us in February and March…

We weren't kidding…we've got fantastic books by fantastic authors coming your way! To find all of the upcoming Writers to Watch episodes as well as previous episodes, click here. 

Many thanks again for a fantastic 2024, and we can't wait for what's to come in 2025! We hope to see you soon at one of our virtual events. 

Best,
Virginia, Lainey, & Grace (The Library Love Fest Team)

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/ygdUuMUJFJY?si=U2YMLgy3haVBaq5I

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/wlY5HTsf9oM?si=x6G3o_6DEj1JJjOm

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/qRMqUbulNn4?si=P8T1MtYAizsJ4xGk

Hello, librarians!

You voted, they counted, and the winners have finally been announced! Thank you to all who voted.

Edward Underhill's The In-Between Bookstore has been selected as a LibraryReads pick for the month of January! Additionally, Nnedi Okorafor's Death of the Author is in the Hall of Fame, and Colette Shade's Y2K is the Notable Nonfiction pick! Congrats to all. 

Want to hear how our authors reacted to the big news? Listen to the audiograms here and find out more about the selections.

The holiday season is upon us—if you need a new reading recommendation, we have you covered! Find a list of titles to consider for the February LibraryReads list here. Reminder to get your votes in for the February list by January 1st! 

Wishing you the happiest of happy holidays,

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

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/2t4HzL1AHrc?si=CBekthhr91fdAii8

Hello, librarians!

You voted, they counted, and the winners have finally been announced! Thank you to all who voted.

Marianne Cronin's Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love and Thea Guanzon's A Monsoon Rising have been selected as LibraryReads picks for the month of December! Additionally, What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane is in the Hall of Fame!

Find out more about the selections here.

Want to hear how our authors reacted to the big news? Listen to the audiograms below.

It's time to dive back into the TBR book pile! Check out our staff suggestions for the January LibraryReads list below. Reminder to get your votes in for the January list by December 1st! 

Find out more about these and other amazing January reads here.

Until next time,

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

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/dXx2BVvI3oA?si=UV6kqGdfcJb4kda3

Hello, librarians!

You voted, they counted, and the winners have finally been announced! Thank you to all who voted.

Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White's The Author's Guide to Murder has been selected as a LibraryReads pick for the month of November! Additionally, Welcome to Pawnee by Jim O'Heir is a Bonus Pick! 

Find out more about the selections here.

Want to hear how our authors reacted to the big news? Listen to the audiograms below.

Happy Fall, y'all! We're excited for our next round of reading recommendations. It's time to start thinking about the December LibraryReads list. Reminder to get your votes in for the December list by November 1st! 

Find out more about these and other December reads here.

Until next time,

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

Watch the full episode on : https://youtu.be/qPHgKjSjGBA?si=5CVWCHQQYLI_DbTS

Happy book birthday to Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham! We have been so excited for this book to be out in the world, and now it finally is. This is the thrilling, untold story of the librarians and academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of World War II.

Book and Dagger has been included in various roundups and had been getting fantastic praise. Check it out:

“Entertainingly conveyed, with great respect and deep appreciation for their ingenuity and drive, Graham's history is a powerful symphony for these unsung heroes whose professional skills and personal courage brought down the Nazi state. The modern intelligence community owes its existence to their rigor and resourcefulness. Readers fascinated by espionage will be eager to checkout Graham's fresh telling of the surprising story of the OSS.” 
— Booklist ⭐️ review

“Thrilling…with a keen ear for narrative prose, Graham builds suspense and intrigue, and the book is a pulpy delight…Book and Dagger is a necessary reminder of the value of the humanities and of the freedom of information and ideas at a time when both of those things are under threat.”
— BookPage ⭐️ review

“An engaging study of wartime American intelligence…Graham makes a good case for studying the humanities as both an instrument of learning and a weapon of war. Bibliophiles with a taste for cloak-and-dagger work will enjoy this lively book.”
— Kirkus Reviews 

“In her lively Book and Dagger, the historian Elyse Graham rescues a cast of scholar-spies from obscurity.”
— The New York Times

***

In May, we hosted Elyse on Writers to Watch (along with three other phenomenal authors)! She talked about the book and took questions from the audience. Watch the whole video here:

If you're like us and can't get enough of Book and Dagger, read Elyse's essay "We Underfunded Our Libraries Once. It Almost Lost Us World War II." It's a brilliant piece that celebrates libraries and sounds the alarm about the dangers of defunding libraries. 

Congratulations to Elyse on the publication of Book and Dagger!