LibraryThing: State of the Thing - April

LibraryThing: State of the Thing Dear {NAME}, Welcome to the April State of the Thing! This month we celebrate TinyCat's sixth anniversary, dish out quantities of book world news, and offer 3,915 free books! You can like LibraryThing on [Facebook]( and follow [@LibraryThing]( on Twitter for news and updates. TinyCat Turns Six! Birthday! [TinyCat](—our catalog for tiny libraries—debuted six years ago, and we’re in the mood to celebrate! We are so pleased to be able to offer smaller libraries a sleek, user-friendly, affordable way to manage and share their collections online, and we have taken great pleasure in building relationships with thousands of participating libraries over the years. Come take a look at some of the amazing TinyCat libraries we have recently highlighted through our [Library of the Month]( blog column. Store Sale. In honor of the occasion, we are running a major sale on all of our CueCat scanners, barcode labels, and TinyCat merch in the [LibraryThing Store](. The sale runs until Friday, May 6th, so take advantage of the bargains and stock up now. Be sure to check out our [blog post]( for more information about our TinyCat birthday celebration, [join the conversation]( over in Talk, and [stay tuned]( for a surprise giveaway we will be running for TinyCat subscribers, later on in the month. Keep abreast of the latest developments by following [@TinyCat_Lib]( on Twitter, and be sure to check out [LibraryThing’s Youtube channel]( for a range of TinyCat tutorials. TinyCat Webinars. To learn more about TinyCat, join Kristi for a live demo Wednesdays at 1pm Eastern. Webinars are now on Zoom, so make sure to use our new [link to attend](. You can also check out our playlists of Tiny Tutorials on [LibraryThing's YouTube channel](, where Kristi walks you through various features of TinyCat in 30 seconds or less. If you'd like to schedule a webinar at another time or if you have other questions about TinyCat, you can reach Kristi at tinycat@librarything.com. List of the Month April List of the Month. It’s National Poetry Month, and in honor of the occasion we're devoting our April List of the Month to our favorite recent works of poetry, published between 1980 and 2022. Head over to our [Favorite Recent Poetry: 1980-2022]( list, and add your top five picks. Check out other recent Lists of the Month: - March. [A Ukraine Reading List]( - February. ​​[Favorite Short Fiction]( - December. [Top Five Books of 2021]( - November. [Stories of War and Revolution]( - October. [Scary Stories for the Season]( See our [wiki page]( for a complete List of the Month list, and join us over in our [Talk group]( for further discussion of the project. The Talk of LibraryThing What conversations are going on in our groups? - The April [Books That Became Movies]( thread—a monthly tradition—has begun, over in the [Movie Lovers Plus 2]( group. - In another ongoing project, [Birds of the Week]( continue to be highlighted by the members of the [Birds, Birding & Books]( group. - The books members are [Currently Reading in April 2022](, are being shared over in the [Military History]( group. - The theme of [Technology](, whether in fiction or nonfiction, is being explored by the members of [Reading Through Time](. Speaking of Groups, if you’re new to LibraryThing, there’s a group for that: [Welcome to LibraryThing](21)! Hot on LibraryThing Here are some titles that have been particularly hot on LibraryThing in the last month: - [French Braid]( by [Anne Tyler]( - [The Match]( by [Harlan Coben]( - [Memory's Legion]( by [James S. A. Corey]( - [The Diamond Eye]( by [Kate Quinn]( - [The Kaiju Preservation Society]( by [John Scalzi]( - [Run, Rose, Run]( by [James Patterson]( - [Sea of Tranquility]( by [Emily St. John Mandel]( - [The Cartographers]( by [Peng Shepherd]( - [Nine Lives]( by [Peter Swanson]( - [The Book of Cold Cases]( by [Simone St. James]( - [One Italian Summer]( by [Rebecca Serle]( - [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]( by [J. K. Rowling]( - [Gallant]( by [V. E. Schwab]( - [Hook, Line, and Sinker]( by [Tessa Bailey]( - [The Paris Apartment]( by [Lucy Foley]( - [The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea]( by [Axie Oh]( - [The Verifiers]( by [Jane Pek]( - [How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question]( by [Michael Schur]( - [Diablo Mesa]( by [Douglas Preston]( - [Electric Idol]( by [Katee Robert]( Hot in Libraries Here's what's hot in the last month across [thousands of public libraries]( in the United States: See the full list on the [Syndetics Unbound Blog](. This data was collected by Syndetics Unbound, a LibraryThing/ProQuest project to enrich the library catalog. The search data is fully anonymized the day it is collected. For more information about Syndetics Unbound, please visit [Syndetics.com](?utm_source=LT&utm_medium=sott&utm_id=main). Free Books! Our Early Reviewers program, pairing publishers and authors looking for reviews and book buzz with readers looking for their next great read, now has a useful new feature to offer! Not only can members filter the available titles by genre, but now, by popular demand, they can exclude genres, while searching. Come [read the announcement]( over in Talk, and play around with this new tool on the main [Early Reviewers]( page. This month we’re pleased to feature [Dan Chaon’s]( newest novel, [Sleepwalk](, from [Henry Holt and Company](; a memoir from Maine State Representative [W. Edward Crockett](, from new publisher participant [IslandPort Press](; and—just in time for National Poetry Month!—a variety of intriguing new contemporary poetry collections from [BOA Editions](. Explore the full list and [sign up to request books](. [Sleepwalk: A Novel]( [The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip]( [A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons]( [Maybe It's Me: On Being the Wrong Kind of Woman]( [Field Notes from the Flood Zone]( [Bad Eminence]( [Mer and Her]( [Critical Alliance]( [Fever]( [Droll Tales]( [Seven Brief Lessons on Language]( [The Bar at Twilight: Stories]( [Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be]( [The Model Spy]( [The Ghosts of Walter Crockett]( [When Earth Shall Be No More]( [Distorted Perception]( [My Body Is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church]( [The Devil's Trill]( [Useful Junk]( Our April batch of Early Reviewers has 3,915 copies of 175 books. The deadline to request a book is April 25th, 6pm Eastern time. Did you win a book recently? When you receive your book, make sure you head over to your [Books You've Won]( page to mark it received. After you've read your book, add your review to LibraryThing. First, add the book to your LibraryThing catalog. Then click the pencil-shaped "edit" icon next to the book, or click "edit book" from the work page. Type your review into the Review box, and click "submit" to save it. Reviewing your books gives you a greater chance of winning books in the future, while neglecting to review lowers your odds. For more information, visit the [Early Reviewers Help Page](. Book World News: In Memoriam Celebrated American children’s author [Patricia MacLachlan]( recently [passed away]( at the age of 84. The author of over sixty books for children, beginning with her 1979 debut, [The Sick Day](, MacLachlan is best remembered for her [Sarah, Plain and Tall](, a bestselling work of historical fiction that won the 1986 [Newbery Medal](Medal), and that was made into a [1991 TV film]( starring [Glenn Close]( and [Christopher Walken](. MacLachlan was awarded the [National Humanities Medal]( in 2002, and was a board member of the [National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance](. Another blow to the world of children’s literature came with [the recent death]( of British author and illustrator [David McKee]( at the age of 87. McKee is best known as the creator of [Elmer the Patchwork Elephant](, who debuted in the eponymous 1968 picture book [Elmer](, and who went on to star in more than thirty additional titles, as well as a stage play and animated television show. In addition to his own books, McKee illustrated the work of other authors, including some picture books about [Paddington Bear](. British author Henry Patterson—more commonly known to readers by his pseudonym, [Jack Higgins](—has also [recently died]( at the age of 92. Best known for his bestselling espionage thrillers, including his 1975 [The Eagle Has Landed](, which was made into [a 1976 film]( of the same name, Patterson published 85 novels under various pseudonyms—Jack Higgins, James Graham, Martin Fallon, Hugh Marlowe—selling 250 million copies in 55 languages. Book World News: Ukraine In the [March issue]( of State of the Thing we highlighted some of the ways in which the book world has been responding to the war in Ukraine, from the [statements of solidarity]( from libraries and publishers, to fundraising efforts such as the [Book World Auction for Ukraine](. News of the war continues to dominate the headlines, and the book world is still abuzz. On March 27th, the [Poets for Ukraine Gala](, a poetry reading and fundraiser sponsored by [The Society of Authors](, [The Poetry Society](, [The Poetry School]( and [JW3]( was [held at the JW3 venue]( in London. Attendees included actress [Juliet Stevenson]( and comedian and playwright [Meera Syal](, as well as celebrated poets such as former Scottish Makar [Jackie Kay]( and former National Poet of Wales [Gillian Clarke](. Ukrainian poets from both the frontline and the diaspora appeared via video. Inspired by the [World Congress of Writers]( convened in May, 1939 by journalist [Dorothy Thompson](, in response to the rise of the Nazi movement, [PEN America]( has announced a new “[Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers](,” as part of their annual [World Voices Festival](, to be held in New York City in mid-May. The emergency summit, organized in response to the war in Ukraine, is expected to include more than 100 writers, including [Salman Rushdie](, [Gary Shteyngart](, [Ayad Akhtar]( and [Jennifer Egan](. A number of publishers and book organizations have created fundraisers to aid Ukrainian refugees, and to offer book aid, in particular, to refugee children. The Ukrainian [Old Lion Publishing]( has begun [collecting donations]( in order to send books to refugee children whose families have fled to nearby countries like Poland and Slovakia, while the [Ukrainian Book Institute]( has [launched a fundraising campaign]( in order to print thousands of books in Ukrainian, for the same purpose. LibraryThing chose to dedicate our March List of the Month to [A Ukraine Reading List](, and we also want to continue to highlight the Ukrainian resources available on our site for readers interested in learning more. - [🇺🇦]( [Books tagged "Ukraine"]( - [🇺🇦](+non-fiction) [Tag mash of "Ukraine" and "Non-Fiction"](+non-fiction) - [🇺🇦]( [LC Classification DK508-508.95]( - [🇺🇦 Dewey 947.7]( - [🇺🇦]( [Dewey 914.77]( Book World News: Freedom of Expression The annual [PEN Freedom to Write Index](, which tracks the imprisonment of writers globally, [has been released](, with China (85), Saudi Arabia (29) and Myanmar (26) jailing the most authors and intellectuals, worldwide. Globally, 277 writers in 36 countries were imprisoned in 2021 as a result of their writing or other free expression. The battle in the United States over school libraries and curricula continues to heat up, with [Congress holding a hearing]( on April 7th to investigate the issue. The [ALA]( (American Library Association) has [released the results]( of a poll they commissioned, indicating that the majority of the American public opposes book banning efforts. Despite this, challenges to books are on the rise, with the ALA’s [Office for Intellectual Freedom]( tracking [729 challenges to library, school and university titles](—a huge increase from 2020’s [273 book challenges](. The ALA’s list of [Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021](, including such titles as [Gender Queer: A Memoir]( and [The Hate U Give](, can now also be found in [this LibraryThing list](. In tandem with this rising rate of book challenges, [School Library Journal]() has [reported]( that school visits have dried up for authors now deemed "controversial." Children's author [Brandy Colbert]( shared that a recent invitation to speak in Texas, although not rescinded, came with a request that she not to discuss her book [Black Birds in the Sky](, on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Writing on the [blog of the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom](, Colbert asked "What, exactly, is controversial about a factually accurate book that details Black American history, which is also American history?" After a public outcry, school-library catalog maker [Follett School Solutions]( backtracked on several proposed new features, including ways of either informing parents of the books their children read, with content warnings, or allowing parents to automatically block their children from taking out specific books. As [reported]( by the Forsyth County News, Follett proposed that "a parent could request that a student not be able to check out a book tagged as LGBTQ in Destiny." Librarians on social media pushed back strongly against this idea, and against the company's initial efforts to diffuse the controversy, and the company [reversed course](. LibraryThing was involved in this story. Although LibraryThing's [TinyCat]( is for "tiny" schools, and Follett for everyone else, we both develop school-library catalogs. Tim, the President of LibraryThing, was active in opposing the technology, calling it "appalling library tech." He [wrote]( "We haven't been asked, but we will NEVER code such a feature, which flies in the face of fundamental library ethics, breaking the sacred trust between kids and their school library and librarian." For this newsletter Tim added "LibraryThing tags have never appeared in any Follett products, and LibraryThing will never allow member tags to be used in such a way." The fallout from the recent [American Booksellers Association]( decision to [remove references to the First Amendment]( from its Ends Policies in favor of language that supports diversity, equity and inclusion—something covered in the [March issue of SOTT]( with [criticism expressed]( by a one-time active board member of the trade association, who has since [left the organization in protest](. In the UK, celebrated children’s author [Philip Pullman]( has [announced his resignation]( as president of the [Society of Authors](, stating that he would not be free to express his opinions, in his current role. The decision came in the wake of the controversy that surrounded his initially supportive comments about [Kate Clanchy’s]( memoir, [Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me](, which has been accused of promoting racial and ableist stereotypes.. Book World News: Awards Awards and Prizes. Irish author [Colm Tóibín]( has [been announced]( as the winner of this year’s [Rathbones Folio Prize](20Prize) for his novel, [The Magician](. The judges described the book as “a capacious, generous, ambitious novel, taking in a great sweep of 20th-century history, yet rooted in the intimate detail of one man’s private life.” The 2022 [PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction](20Award) has [been awarded]( to [Rabih Alameddine]( for his [The Wrong End of the Telescope](, described by the committee as a work that “stands as a particular achievement: a novel that cries out to be heard and that teaches us, both intrinsically and extrinsically, what story can do.” The winners of this year’s [Windham-Campbell Prizes](, awarded in multiple categories by Yale University, and recognizing English-language writing globally, [have been announced](. The winners in the Fiction category are [Tsitsi Dangarembga]( (Zimbabwe) and [Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu]( (Zimbabwe), while [Margo Jefferson]( (United States) and [Emmanuel Iduma]( (Nigeria) have won in the Nonfiction category. The Drama winners are [Winsome Pinnock]( (UK) and [Sharon Bridgforth]( (United States), while the winners in the Poetry category are [May Wong]( (Ireland/Singapore) and [Zaffar Kunial]( (UK). [Brandon Taylor]( has [been named as the winner]( of the 2022 [Story Prize](20Story%20Prize), sponsored by the [Chisholm Foundation]( and awarded annually to an outstanding work of short fiction, for his story collection, [Filthy Animals](. The judges praised his attention to "the slightest shift in the emotional weather in his characters," and his "precision," "compassion," and "finely tuned" sentences. The [Academy of American Poets]( has announced that they will be presenting poet [Joy Harjo]( with their [2022 Leadership Award]( on April 28th, during their annual National Poetry Month event, [Poetry & the Creative Mind](. Established in 2018, the award is meant to honor “individuals, organizations, and publishers who have made significant contributions to the art of poetry.” In other news from the [Academy of American Poets](, Gambian author [Kweku Abimbola]( has [been selected]( as the winner of the [First Book Award](, intended to encourage the work of emerging poets. His debut collection, [Saltwater Demands a Psalm](, will be published by [Graywolf Press]( in 2023. In Ireland it [has been announced]( that [Gail McConnell]( has won the 2022 [John Pollard International Poetry Prize](20Pollard%20International%20Poetry%20Prize) for her debut collection, [The Sun Is Open](, which “focuses on the life and death of the poet’s father, who was murdered by the IRA outside their Belfast home in 1984.” First given in 2019, the prize is administered by the John Pollard Foundation and the [Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre]( at Trinity College Dublin, and is intended to recognize “an outstanding debut poetry book collection by a poet, in the English language.” Belarussian poet [Valzhyna Mort]( has [been named the winner]( of the 2022 University of North Texas [Rilke Prize](20Prize) for her [Music for the Dead and Resurrected](, which was described as “a book that makes vivid and palpable the upended history of Belarus,” through its “songs of grieving, memory, and witness.” In the UK, nineteen-year-old Cambridge student Eric Yip [has won]( the [National Poetry Competition]( for his [Fricatives](, praised by judge Fiona Benson as “an immensely ambitious and beautifully achieved poem,” one that offers “an incredibly powerful, vulnerable story of an uneasy assimilation, and of government surveillance.” The 2022 winners of the [Whiting Awards](20Awards), presented annually by the [Whiting Foundation]( to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, [have been announced](. The winners for fiction include [Claire Boyles]( for [Site Fidelity: Stories](, [Rita Bullwinkel]( for [Belly Up: Stories](, [Megha Majumdar]( for [A Burning](, and [Nana Nkweti]( for [Walking on Cowrie Shells](. The nonfiction winners are [Anaïs Duplan]( for [Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture](, [Alexis Pauline Gumbs]( for [Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals](, and [Jesse McCarthy]( for [Who Will Pay Reparations on My Soul?: Essays](. The poetry winners were [Ina Cariño]( for [Feast]( (forthcoming), [Anthony Cody]( for [Borderland Apocrypha](, and [Claire Schwartz]( for [Civil Service: Poems](. The 2022 Lukas Prizes, offered by the [Columbia Journalism School]( and the [Nieman Foundation for Journalism]( at Harvard, [have been awarded]( with the [J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize](20Anthony%20Lukas%20Book%20Prize) going to [Andrea Elliott]( for [Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City](, and the [Mark Lynton History Prize](20Lynton%20History%20Prize) going to [Jane Rogoyska]( for [Surviving Katyń: Stalin’s Polish Massacre and the Search for Truth](. The two winners of the [J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award](Anthony+Lukas+Work-in-Progress+Award) were [Roxanna Asgarian]( for “We Were Once a Family: The Hart Murder-Suicide and the System Failing Our Kids” and [May Jeong]( for “The Life: Sex, Work, and Love in America”—both forthcoming. [Hannah Gold]( has [been named the winner]( of this year’s [Waterstones Children’s Book Prize](s%20Children's%20Book%20Prize) for her middle-grade novel, [The Last Bear](. Illustrated by [Levi Pinfold](, the book was praised by Waterstone’s children’s head, Florentyna Martin, for its “impeccable storytelling,” which “builds immersive landscapes and an inspirational friendship born of bravery and kindness.” Other Book World News COVID-19 Updates Covid-19 continues to be a factor to be considered in the book world, although many book-related events have been returning to in-person attendance, and the outlook has been more hopeful. The [New York Toy Fair](, which traditionally includes a number of publisher participants, and which has been on hiatus for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, has announced that [it will be returning in September 2023](. This departure from their usual schedule—the fair has been held in February since its inception in 1902—has been put down to supply chain issues, rather than direct Covid health concerns. The [London Book Fair]( returned to in-person attendance in early April, with a [great deal of fanfare]( and reports of a [thriving business]( atmosphere. Unfortunately, it has been reported that a [Covid outbreak hit the London book scene]( shortly thereafter, with evidence that some of those who were stricken had attended the fair. A number of other international book fairs and bookish events have recently announced their intention to [return to in-person gatherings](, including the [Buenos Aires Book Fair]( and the [Madrid Book Fair](. In the UK, the [Hay Festival]( has [announced its first in-person event]( in three years, while in Australia, the [Canberra Writers Festival]( has decided [to return to a full roster of live events]( this coming August, after being canceled last year. In the United States, the [Texas Library Association Annual Conference](, scheduled for late April, is [back as a live event]( after two years as a virtual conference. Bookselling & Publishing In an interesting development in American bookselling, [Business Insider]( and [Bloomberg]( have both reported that Millenial and Gen Z nostalgia for the big box chain stores of previous decades, and an uptick of book discussion on social media sites like [TikTok](, has led to a revival of in-person book sales, both at indie bookstores ([whose number are on the rise]() and at larger chains such as [Barnes & Noble](. A recent article from the New York Times discussed [the changing perception of Barnes & Noble]( within the American bookselling world. In more good news for the bookselling world, the European Union's Economic and Financial Affairs Council has announced that they will be [reducing or eliminating VAT]( (Value Added Tax) on books and e-books. The new directive will allow EU member states to [set their own rate of taxation](—between 0% and 5%—on books and a range of other products. The Maryland ebook law, which required publishers to offer digital books that they sell to the public to libraries as well, at a “reasonable cost,” [looks to be dead in the water](, after recently [facing a permanent injunction](. The state’s Attorney General has declared that the state will not offer any new evidence, in response to the legal challenge filed by the [Association of American Publishers](. Library & Literary News [Canada Reads](, the annual “battle of the books” competition hosted by Canadian public broadcaster, the [CBC](, has come to a close, and it looks like the winner this year is [Five Little Indians]( by [Michelle Good](. Championed by Ojibwe fashion writer [Christian Allaire](, the book has been a Canadian bestseller—see our [Globe & Mail bestseller lists]( won the [Governor General’s Literary Award](20General's%20Literary%20Award) in the fiction category. The [New York Public Library]( decided this past October to abolish late fees, and the result has been [a flood of returned items](. Between October 2021 and late February 2022, more than 21,000 overdue items were returned to libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx, 51,000 items were returned in Brooklyn, and more than 16,000 were returned in Queens. This restoration of lost book treasure, and the uptick in library usage that came along with it, has some asking: [should all libraries abolish late fees](? In exciting news for [Charlotte Brontë]( fans, it was recently announced that a rare piece of the author’s juvenilia—a tiny handmade book, lost for over a century—[would be going on sale]( at the upcoming [New York International Antiquarian Book Fair](, with an asking price of $1.25 million. That's all for the Thing this month! Happy reading, Abigail PS: If you'd rather receive a plain-text version, [edit your email preferences](. You can also read it [online](. 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