Welcome to Check Your Shelf. This newsletter is bursting at the seams with anti-racist reading lists, queer pride lists, and upcoming June release lists, so get your ordering carts ready.

Anti-Racism Reading Lists & Resources

• An anti-racist starter kit, including books, TV shows, movies, TED talks, and more.
• What is an anti-racism reading list for?
• General anti-racism reading lists from Amazon, Apartment Therapy, Bustle, The Cut, Esquire, The Guardian, Library Journal, Lifehacker, The Millions, New York Times, New York Magazine, Nylon, Publishers Weekly (nonfiction, poetry), and Town & Country.
• Audiobook anti-racism picks.
• Anti-racism reading lists for all ages from Booklist Reader and USA Today.
• Children’s books to teach about racism. (Buzzfeed, Essence)
• 100+ diverse children’s books. 
• Anti-racism book lists for kids and teens. (The Guardian, Town & Country)
• 17 YA books to teach teens to become better allies. 
• Reading requirements for every white person (Bustle, Pop Sugar)
• Other books that Black booksellers and publishers say you should read.
• 10 nonfiction books about why we need to defund the police.
• How to become a better ally.
• Books about race in Britain.
• Anti-racism graphic novels.
• Books about Black feminism. 
• 100+ books by Black women.
• Fiction by contemporary Black authors about navigating white supremacy.
• 5 books about Black movements and systemic racism.
• Essential movies from black filmmakers that confront systemic racism.
• Readings on racism, white supremacy, and police violence.
• National Museum of African American History & Culture presents resources for talking about race.
• Social justice resources for the book business, plus reasons why it’s time for the book business to change. 
• Black-owned bookstores to support (Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly)

Pride Month Reading Lists

• LGBTQ reads for Pride Month. 
• The best YA picks for Pride Month.
• 101 unapologetically queer authors share the books that changed their lives.
• Queer literary classics. 
• 8 stories by LGBTQ women from around the world.
• LGBTQ-authored cookbooks.
• 5 queer romance series that center found families.
• Must-read LGBTQ+ memoirs.
• 31 queer books with happy endings.

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

• The #PublishingPaidMe hashtag goes viral as authors compare advances they earned for their books.
• Three agents resign from the Red Sofa Literary Agency after its owner called Minneapolis police on potential looters.
• We Need Diverse Books steps up to help the kidlit community.
• Authors take publishing’s diversity issues into their own hands.
• Inclusive independent UK publishers Knights Of and Jacaranda have seen a drastic uptick in donations since the murder of George Floyd.
• Publishers are starting to announce they will not attend the Frankfurt Book Fair.
• BookExpo & BookCon saw strong numbers for their online panels, and will likely include digital options for future conferences.

New & Upcoming Titles

• With all of the postponed publication dates, fall is jam-packed with new releases. The NYT reports on why this could be a problem.
• Rachel Howzell Hall has a new crime novel coming out!
• Michael Punke, author of The Revenant, has a new fiction title coming out in 2021 – the first in almost 20 years.
• 20 new books by Asian American authors to read right now.
• 17 new books by Black YA authors.
• 60 queer and feminist books coming your way in summer 2020.
• Must-read books for June from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bustle, CrimeReads (crime novels & psychological thrillers), Entertainment Weekly, io9, LitHub, The Millions, Pop Sugar, Shondaland, Tor.com (fantasy, science fiction, YA SFF), and Washington Post.
• Summer reading picks from Bustle, Buzzfeed, New York Times, Parade, and Pop Sugar.
• Best books of 2020 so far.

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

• The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett (Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Washington Post)
• A Burning – Megha Majumdar (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, USA Today)
• Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight For a Fair America – Stacey Abrams (New York Times, Washington Post)

RA/Genre Resources

• You can view the Adult and Middle Grade Buzz sessions from BookExpo.
• The Library Journal Day of Dialog is archived for viewing.

On the Riot

• Why publishing needs to pay attention to the nuances within the LGBTQ+ acronym.
• How publishers determine when to release hardcover books in paperback.
• 45 upcoming books by Black authors you can order right now.
• 14 queer books for the summer.
• June 2020 YA releases to TBR.

All Things Comics

• We’ve got the 2020 Eisner Award nominees.

On the Riot

• 18 of the best manhwa you can read. (Unfamiliar with manhwa? Here’s a primer.)

Audiophilia

• AudioFile names their 2020 Golden Voices.
• A look at the explosion in the audiobook industry.
• As the audiobook market grows, narrators of color find their voice.

On the Riot

• The audio version of Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi is available for free on Spotify.
• 6 of the best audiobooks by women for Caribbean Heritage Month.
• 15 compelling historical fiction audiobooks.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

• Books for kids to inspire diversity and change.

Adults

• June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada – here’s a list of 35 recommended titles.
• 9 Meghan Markle-approved books.
• Black-authored cookbooks.
• Top 10 Scottish crime novels.
• 7 true stories about seeking asylum in the US.
• 7 books about confinement and the need to escape.

On the Riot

• 15 middle school books with happy endings.
• 13 hard-hitting YA novels to read ASAP.
• 21 books with happy endings.
• 15 of the best Korean War books ever published.

Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

Stay safe and stay well, everyone. Black Lives Matter.

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.