LibraryThing: State of the Thing - June

LibraryThing: State of the Thing Dear {NAME}, Welcome to the June State of the Thing! This month we announce that we’ll be attending the upcoming ALA Conference, highlight our newly improved profile page, invite you to participate in our annual Pride Treasure Hunt, celebrate the arrival of our new LibraryThing and TinyCat pins, present an author interview with Delia Owens, reveal our latest Legacy Library, and offer lots and lots of book world news, all of our regular columns, and 3,518 free Early Reviewer books! You can like LibraryThing on [Facebook]( and follow [@LibraryThing]( on Twitter and [librarythingofficial]( on Instagram for news and updates. LibraryThing at ALA Conference The American Library Association's [2022 Annual Conference & Exhibition]( is returning to an in-person event this year for the first time since the pandemic began, and LibraryThing's founder Tim Spalding ([timspalding]() will be there! Tim will be showing off an exciting new "Lists" feature for [Syndetics Unbound](), LibraryThing and ProQuest's (awesome) catalog enrichment product for public and academic libraries. Lists allow libraries to make attractive, custom lists in their catalog, and to share them with other libraries. Tim will also have a limited supply of TinyCat and LibraryThing pins to give out to LibraryThing fans. (See below for more info.) The ALA Conference is being held in Washington, D.C., at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. You can find Tim at the ProQuest/Clarivate booth #2507! (Send him a message on LibraryThing or email tim@librarything.com to make sure to connect with him.) LAST MINUTE UPDATE! LibraryThing members who are attending the conference are arranging a meetup. Please see [this Talk thread]( for more details, and to keep current with fellow members’ plans. New and Improved Profile Pages LibraryThing has recently released an updated profile page, with a more appealing and functional design. A few of the changes: - Everything is mobile-ready and accessible. - We've added a “MDS Spectrum," as a bit of informative eye candy. - The action area at the top is clearer, with buttons for connecting with and messaging other members. - You can now include pronouns, which can be added on the [Edit Profile]( page. - A mini-gallery now appears in your “Profile Picture” area. Our new profile pages are still a work in progress. For more information, and to join the conversation, please come and add your thoughts [over in Talk](, and be sure to check out the new appearance of our profile pages. [Your Profile]( | [Staff Profile]( | [Author Profile]( Pride Month Treasure Hunt We wish our members a very Happy Pride Month, and invite you all to participate in our annual [Pride Month Treasure Hunt](. Read and solve the twelve clues, and find the pages on LibraryThing that match your solutions. When you find each right page, you’ll see a banner at the top of your screen announcing that you’ve found a penguin. Everyone who finds at least two penguins receives a profile badge, with other prizes available the more clues you solve. Come brag about your shower of rainbows (and get hints) over in [Talk](. LibraryThing and TinyCat Pins Looking for some bookish bling? Then our brand new enamel pins might be just the thing! We are very excited to introduce our new [LibraryThing]( and [TinyCat]( pins, over in the [LibraryThing Store](. Available in both a classic and rainbow design, they have the textural feel of soft enamel filling, on an iron-backed pin with a PVC attachment for easy fastening. Grab a set of rainbow pins in time to celebrate Pride, or get a complete set of all four, to add some bookish flair to any bag or article of clothing. Pin Giveaway Winners. Last month we ran a [pin giveaway](, as part of our celebration of [TinyCat’s 6th Birthday](. We are very pleased to announce that the winners of that giveaway have [been chosen](, and that they are: [Kingdom College Library](, [INTEGRIS Health Medical Library](, [Martha L. Shoup Memorial Library](, [St. Thomas the Apostle Religious Education Center](, [Cambridge High School Theatre Library](, and [The Library of St. Timothy's Classical Academy](. Congratulations to all the winners! [Kristi]( will be reaching out to get your shiny new pins to you! Interview: Delia Owens LibraryThing is very pleased to sit down this month with wildlife scientist and bestselling author [Delia Owens](, whose novel, [Where the Crawdads Sing](, has recently been [made into a film]( that will be released this coming July 15th by SONY Pictures. Although Ms. Owens has previously co-authored a number of memoirs about her years working with wildlife in Africa, [Where the Crawdads Sing]( is her fictional debut. Set in the coastal marsh of North Carolina, the book, which spent 32 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, is an exploration of poverty and familial abandonment, a tribute to the beauty and power of the natural world, and a murder mystery complete with courtroom drama. Now, with the movie due out next month, we asked her a few questions about her book, the movie, and her own reading. See an excerpt below, and the full interview [here](. Q. [Where the Crawdads Sing]( evokes a powerful sense of place, and contains many vivid depictions of the natural world. Do you feel that visual imagery is an important part of your storytelling process, and did you have any specific images in mind, before starting to set it down? Delia: I did visualize this story set in this particular environment in the marsh. I did play it out in my mind how it would unfold, and I think it was a good environment. It was lush and yet it was a challenge to survive there, but it was possible. It was very real that you could survive there and so it was the perfect environment for that. I just could see it vividly in my mind because I knew it and I wanted the reader to see it. I wanted the reader to be able to smell the sea, and to see the still waters versus the rough waters in the sea. And I wanted the reader to experience the marsh. Visit the blog to [read the entire conversation](. List of the Month June List of the Month. In honor of Pride Month, our June List of the Month is dedicated to LGBTQ Literature written and/or published before 1969. Given the wealth of Pride reading lists that highlight some of the great books of today, we wanted to draw attention to LGBTQ books from an earlier period. Head over to our list, [Pre-1969 LGBTQ Literature](, and add your top ten picks. Check out other recent Lists of the Month: - May. [EU Fiction: 1950-2022]( - April. [Favorite Recent Poetry: 1980-2022]( - March. [A Ukraine Reading List]( - February. ​​[Favorite Short Fiction]( - December. [Top Five Books of 2021]( 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. A New Legacy Library: Flannery O’Connor We are very pleased to announce American author [Flannery O'Connor]( as the most recent addition to our [Legacy Libraries]( project! Our volunteers have just recently completed cataloging [her personal library](, now held by the [Flannery O'Connor Collection]( at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. The library is also documented, with annotations, in Arthur F. Kinney’s [Flannery O'Connor's Library: Resources of Being](. Please take a moment to look through the [Flannery O’Connor Legacy Library](. Do you share any books with the author? Are there any books in her collection that stand out to you? The Legacy Libraries project is spearheaded by former LibraryThing staffer [Jeremy Dibbell](. If you are interested in getting involved, please join us in the [Legacy Libraries group](. The Talk of LibraryThing What conversations are going on in our groups? - Members are wishing one another [Happy Bloomsday]( over in the [Fine Press Forum](, marking the day (June 16) on which [James Joyce’s]( [Ulysses]( took place. - A project to examine the [Paintings Used as Cover Art]( for the green Virago Modern Classics, begun in November of 2021, is ongoing in the [Virago Modern Classics]( group. - The recent news that a [Shakespeare First Folio]( has come up for sale is under discussion by our [Folio Society Devotees](. - Members are sharing their current [June 2022 Reads]( over in the [Literary Snobs]( group. 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: - [Sparring Partners]( by [John Grisham]( - [The Stardust Thief]( by [Chelsea Abdullah]( - [River of the Gods]( by [Candice Millard]( - [This Time Tomorrow]( by [Emma Straub]( - [The Woman in the Library]( by [Sulari Gentill]( - [The Summer Place]( by [Jennifer Weiner]( - [The Lioness]( by [Chris Bohjalian]( - [22 Seconds]( by [James Patterson]( - [Trust]( by [Hernan Diaz]( - [Book Lovers]( by [Emily Henry]( - [When Women Were Dragons]( by [Kelly Barnhill]( - [Bloomsbury Girls]( by [Natalie Jenner]( - [Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan]( by [Liz Michalski]( - [The Book Woman's Daughter]( by [Kim Michele Richardson]( - [Book of Night]( by [Holly Black]( - [Elektra]( by [Jennifer Saint]( - [City on Fire]( by [Don Winslow]( - [Companion Piece]( by [Ali Smith]( - [I Kissed Shara Wheeler]( by [Casey McQuiston]( - [Portrait of a Thief]( by [Grace D. Li]( Hot in Libraries Here's what's hot across [thousands of public libraries]( in the United States: - [Sparring Partners]( by [John Grisham]( - [Nightwork: A Novel]( by [Nora Roberts]( - [Where the Crawdads Sing]( by [Delia Owens]( - [The Hotel Nantucket]( by [Elin Hilderbrand]( - [It Ends with Us]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [Meant to Be: A Novel]( by [Emily Giffin]( - [The Summer Place]( by [Jennifer Weiner]( - [Book Lovers]( by [Emily Henry]( - [The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]( by [Taylor Jenkins Reid]( - [Verity]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [This Time Tomorrow]( by [Emma Straub]( - [22 Seconds]( by [James Patterson]( - [Dream Town]( by [David Baldacci]( - [The Paris Apartment]( by [Lucy Foley]( - [The Midnight Library]( by [Matt Haig]( - [The Last Thing He Told Me]( by [Laura Dave]( - [The Summer I Turned Pretty]( by [Jenny Han]( - [The Homewreckers]( by [Mary Kay Andrews]( - [The Boardwalk Bookshop]( by [Susan Mallery]( - [Run, Rose, Run]( by [James Patterson]( - [Lessons in Chemistry]( by [Bonnie Garmus]( - [Reminders of Him]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [Two Nights in Lisbon]( by [Chris Pavone]( - [One Italian Summer]( by [Rebecca Serle]( - [The Lincoln Highway]( by [Amor Towles]( The data above is from so far this June. Visit the [Syndetics Unbound Blog to see what was popular in May](. 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 from Early Reviewers! Our Early Reviewers program pairs publishers and authors looking for reviews and book buzz with readers looking for their next great read. This month we’re pleased to feature historian [John Wood Sweet’s]( examination of the first public rape trial in American history, [The Sewing Girl’s Tale](, from [Henry Holt and Company](; actor/author [David Duchovny’s]( haunting new coronavirus quarantine novel, [The Reservoir](, from [Akashic Books](, and Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction-winning author [Jessica Treadway’s]( new collection, [Infinite Dimensons: Stories](, from [Delphinium Books](. Explore the full list and [sign up to request books](. [The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America]( [Dangerous Beauty]( [A Quilt for Christmas: A Christmas Novella]( [Beneath the Bending Skies]( [The Reservoir]( [Creatures of Passage]( [Smells Like Tween Spirit]( [Voices in the Dead House]( [The Face of the Waters]( [Scarecrow Has a Gun]( [Honor Bound]( [Infinite Dimensions: Stories]( [Nein, Nein, Nein!: One Man's Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust](21-One-Mans-Tale-of-Depression-Psychic-Torment-and-a-Bus-Tour-of-the-Holocaust) [Beyond the Desert Sands]( [Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America's Misguided Wars]( [Now Lila Knows]( [The City Beneath the Hidden Stars]( [The Resentment]( [The Twilight Vow]( [Standalone]( Our June batch of Early Reviewers has 3,518 copies of 179 books. The deadline to request a book is June 27th, 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 Internationally acclaimed Israeli novelist [A.B. Yehoshua](, the author of eleven novels, three short story collections, and four plays, has [died at the age of 85](. Once described by the New York Times as “the Israeli Faulkner,” he was the recipient of many prizes, both at home and abroad, including the 1995 [Israel Prize for Hebrew Literature]( and the 2012 [Prix Médicis étranger](20M%C3%A9dicis) for his novel, [The Retrospective](. In the United States, he won the 1990 [National Jewish Book Award](Jewish+Book+Award) for his [Five Seasons](, and the 2006 [Los Angeles Times Book Prize](Angeles+Times+Book+Prize) for his [A Woman in Jerusalem](. [Jim Murphy](, the award-winning American author of over thirty-five books for young people, has [passed away at the age of 74](. Addressing a variety of dramatic historical topics in his work, Murphy was particularly known for his use of primary sources, and won a [Newbery Honor](Honor) twice—in 1996 for [The Great Fire](, and in 2004 for [An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793](, which also won the [Robert F. Sibert Medal](Medal). These two books, along with three others, were cited by the committee which named him the 2010 recipient of the [Margaret A. Edwards Award](, given to a writer whose body of work has made a "significant lasting contribution to young-adult literature." British lawyer and self-taught historian [Liza Picard](, who is celebrated for her social histories of London, [has died at the age of 94](. Picard took to writing as a hobby, after her retirement from a career in the civil service, publishing her first book—[Restoration London: Everyday Life in London 1660-1670](—in 1997. She went on to write three additional volumes, chronicling everyday life in [Elizabethan](, [18th-Century](, and [Victorian]( London, before publishing her final book—[Chaucer's People: Everyday Lives in Medieval England](—in 2017. Inspirational Irish explorer and travel writer [Dervla Murphy](, perhaps most famous for her 1963 solo bicycle journey from her homeland to India—a six-month trip chronicled in her [Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle](—has [died at the age of 90](. Following her initial adventure, Murphy set out to explore the world, traveling to and writing about countries ranging from [Ethiopia]( to [Peru](, and regions from [Siberia]( to the [Balkans](. She won the 1979 [Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize](Ewart-Biggs+Memorial+Prize), given biennially to a work “that promotes and encourages peace and reconciliation in Ireland,” for her [A Place Apart: Northern Ireland in the 1970s](. Beloved American comic book artist [Tim Sale](, whose work on the [Batman Saga](25252FSale-Batman-saga)—created together with author [Jeff Loeb](—is considered an influence on big-screen depictions of the superhero, has [passed away at the age of 66](. Sale and Loeb’s [Superman for All Seasons]( series is another fan favorite, although it is their [Batman: The Long Halloween]( which netted them an [Eisner Award](Award), in the “Best Graphic Album: Reprint” category. Book World News: Freedom of Expression The ongoing crackdown on independent media and publishing in Belarus has recently intensified, according to [Radio Free Europe](, with the arrest of publisher Andrey Yanushkevich and his associate, Nasta Karnatskaya. Yanushkevich is the director of the Knihavka publishing house, which specializes in books in the Belarussian language, and which recently opened a bookshop in the capital city of Minsk. On May 16—the bookshop’s first day of operation—Yanushkevich and Karnatskaya, a saleswoman at the shop, were detained, and approximately two hundred books were confiscated. A [report from Nasha Niva](, one of the country’s oldest newspapers, indicates that the sale of [George Orwell’s]( classic anti-totalitarian novel, [1984](—which is banned in the country—was one of a number of points of contention. The EIBF (European and International Booksellers Federation) has [issued a statement]( condemning the pair’s arrest. This latest action on the part of the Belarussian authorities follows upon the recent suspension of several of the country’s publishing houses—Limaryus, Knihazbor, Haliyafy, and Medysont—in the last months. In [a recent article for Al Jazeera](, Belarussian American journalist and documentary maker [Olga Loginova]( has tied these recent developments to a longer history of anti-Belarussian suppression. The [IPA]( (International Publishers Association) [recently released the shortlist]( for the 2022 Prix Voltaire, which recognizes “publishers – individuals, groups or organizations – who stand firm on freedom to publish.” The nominees include individuals and publishers from India, Thailand, Guatemala, Afghanistan/Canada, and Ukraine. As reported in our [December 2021 issue]( of SOTT, the Guatemalan nominee, [F&G Editores](, won the 2021 [Association of American Publishers International Freedom to Publish | Jeri Laber Award](. The winner of the Prix Voltaire will be announced this coming November. Canadian novelist [Margaret Atwood]( has [responded to the rising level of book challenges]( in schools across the United States by creating an [“unburnable” edition]( of her controversial novel, [The Handmaid’s Tale](, itself often the victim of censorship. The special fireproof edition, which Atwood attempts to set ablaze with a flamethrower in a promotional [Youtube video]( was [auctioned off at Sotheby’s]( for $130,000, with all proceeds going to [PEN America]( for its “work in support of free expression.” Meanwhile, in the United States, conflicts over school libraries and curricula are ongoing, as [Congress held a second hearing]( in late May, moving from a focus on the recent spate of challenges to books in school libraries to a concentration on potential censorship in the classroom. Presented at that hearing was [a letter from more than 1,300 children’s authors](, including [Judy Blume](, [Jason Reynolds](, [Rick Riordan](, and [Jacqueline Woodson](, asking Congress “to protect the rights of all young people to access the books they need and deserve.” The full text of the letter, as well as the complete list of signatories, [can be read here](. A recent legal action in Virginia [has alarmed proponents of freedom of expression](, as an obscure state law has been used to make the claim that two books for sale in the Virginia Beach Barnes & Noble—[Gender Queer: A Memoir]( by [Maia Kobabe]( and [A Court of Mist and Fury]( by [Sarah J. Maas](—are “obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors.” The authors and their publishers will now be required to defend their books in court. Book World News: Awards Awards and Prizes. The 2022 [International Booker Prize](Booker+International+Prize) has gone to author [Geetanjali Shree]( and translator [Daisy Rockwell]( for [Tomb of Sand](. The [first work translated from Hindi to win the prize](, the novel itself was praised by panel chairman [Frank Wynne]( as “enormously engaging and charming and funny and light, despite the various subjects it’s dealing with,” while the translation was described as “stunningly realised, the more so because so much of the original depends on wordplay, on the sounds and cadences of Hindi.” French author [Alice Zeniter]( and Irish translator [Frank Wynne](—the same Frank Wynne who served as panel chairman for the [International Book Prize](Booker+International+Prize) this year—have [been announced]( as the winners of the [International Dublin Literary Award](20IMPAC%20Dublin%20Literary%20Award%20Winner) for [The Art of Losing](. Originally published in French as “L’art de perdre,” the book has already won the 2017 [Prix Goncourt des lycéens](Goncourt+des+lyc%C3%A9ens), [Prix Landerneau](Landerneau) and [Prix littéraire Le Monde](20litt%C3%A9raire%20Le%20Monde) in its native tongue. [Stephan Malinowski]( has been named as the winner of this year’s [Deutscher Sachbuchpreis](Sachbuchpreis) (German Nonfiction Book Prize) for his [Die Hohenzollern und die Nazis: Geschichte einer Kollaboration]( (The Hohenzollerns and the Nazis: History of a Collaboration). Established in 2019, the prize is awarded annually by the [Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung]( (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading) to recognize “outstanding non-fiction books written in German that inspire social debate.” The jury praised Malinowski, writing that his book “combines social and political contemporary history with a family portrait and is at the same time a brilliant milieu study of conservative and right-wing hostility to the republic.” It [has been announced]( that this year’s [RSL Christopher Bland Prize](20Christopher%20Bland%20Prize), which recognizes a “debut novelist or nonfiction writer first published aged 50 or over,” has gone to [Julia Parry]( for her [The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth Bowen](. The [Women’s Prize for Fiction](Women%27s+Prize+for+Fiction), awarded annually to the best novel by a female author of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK in the preceding year, [has been awarded]( to American Canadian author, film-maker and Buddhist priest [Ruth Ozeki]( for her [The Book of Form and Emptiness](. Panel chairwoman [Mary Ann Sieghart]( described the book as “a joy to read”—a work that was a “celebration of the power of books and reading,” tackling “big issues of life and death.” The winner of this year’s [Donner Prize](20Prize), given out by the [Donner Canadian Foundation]( to the best Canadian work addressing issues of public policy, [has been announced]( as [Dan Breznitz](, for his [Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World](. In Australia, the winners of the [New South Wales Premier’s Awards](20South%20Wales%20Premier's%20Literary%20Award) have been announced in a variety of categories. [Still Alive: Notes from Australia’s Immigration Detention System]( by [Safdar Ahmed]( has been named Book of the Year, while the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction has gone to [Tony Birch]( for [Dark As Last Night](. The Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction has gone to [Kate Holden]( for [The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek](, while the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry has been awarded to [Dan Disney]( for his [accelerations & inertias](. [Peter Carnavas]( has won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature for [My Brother Ben](, and [Leanne Hall]( has won the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature for her [The Gaps](. For the complete list of winners, [please see this article](. The 2022 [PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story](~:text=Awarded%20annually%20to%20writers%20who,for%20the%20short%20story%20form.), named for celebrated American writer [Bernard Malamud](, has gone to Chinese author [Yiyun Li](, who is currently serving as a professor at Princeton University. The award panel praised Li’s short fiction as “a series of exquisitely crafted windows into hidden lives that, taken together, form an indelible artistic bridge between her native and adopted lands. She has the gift of making every story feel like a discovery, freshly unearthed.” The winners of the 2022 [Nebula Awards](, recognizing the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the United States, [have been announced](. [P. Djèlí Clark]( has won in the Novel category for his [A Master of Djinn](, while [Premee Mohamed]( has won in the Novella category for [And What We Offer You Tonight](. The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction has gone to [Darcie Little Badger]( for [A Snake Falls to Earth](, while the award for Game Writing has gone to [April Kit Walsh](, [Whitney Delagio](, [Dominique Dickey](, [Jonaya Kemper](, [Alexis Sara](, and [Rae Nedjadi]( for [Thirsty Sword Lesbians](. See the [complete list of winners here](. The 2022 [Lambda Literary Award](20Literary%20Award) winners have recently [been announced]( in a variety of categories. [Skye Falling]( by [Mia McKenzie]( has won in the Lesbian Fiction category, while [100 Boyfriends]( by [Brontez Purnell]( has won in the Gay Fiction category. The winner in the Bisexual Fiction category is [We Want What We Want: Stories]( by [Alix Ohlin](, while the winner in the Transgender Fiction category is [Summer Fun]( by [Jeanne Thornton](. The winner in the LGBTQ Nonfiction category is [Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993]( by [Sarah Schulman](, while the winner in the LGBTQ Anthology category is [Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought](, edited by [Briona Simone Jones](. For the complete list of winners, [see this announcement](. [Kalani Pickhart]( has [been announced as the winner]( of the 2022 [Young Lions Fiction Award](Lions+Fiction+Award), given out annually by the [New York Public Library]( to a writer under thirty-five years of age, for her [I Will Die in a Foreign Land](. Judge [Catherine Lacey]( praised the book as a “refutation” of the “ongoing disaster of greed and domination and war." The winner of the 2022 [Four Quartets Prize](20Quartets%20Prize), presented annually by the [Poetry Society of America]( and the [T.S. Eliot Foundation](, has [been announced]( with [Muriel Leung]( taking home the honor for her [Imagine Us, The Swarm](. Named for [T.S. Eliot’s]( [Four Quartets](, the prize recognizes “a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book.” The winners of this year’s [Carnegie Medal](20Medal) and [Greenaway Medal](20Greenaway%20Medal)—the UK’s most prestigious children’s literature awards—[have been announced](. The winner of the Carnegie, given annually to an outstanding children’s book written in English and first published in the UK, is [October, October]( by [Katya Balen](, praised by panel chairwoman Jennifer Horan as “a captivating story featuring exquisite descriptions of the natural world and relationships that develop and heal. It is an expertly written, beautiful and lyrical novel alive with wonder and curiosity.” The winner of the Greenaway, awarded annually for distinguished illustration in a book for children, is [Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel](, an adaptation of [Jason Reynold’s]( [Long Way Down](. It is the first graphic novel to receive the medal, with illustrator and adaptor [Danica Novgorodoff]( winning praise for her use of “stunning watercolour to powerfully portray the tragedy of gun violence and the emotional impact it has on young people’s lives.” In Ireland, the winners of the 2022 [KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards](20Children%E2%80%99s%20Books%20Ireland%20Awards), which are administered by [Children’s Books Ireland](, and which “identify, honour and promote excellence in books for young people by Irish authors and illustrators,” [have been revealed](. Book of the Year has gone to [Gut Feelings]( by [C.G. Moore](, while the Judge’s Special Award has gone to [The Henna Wars]( by [Adiba Jaigirdar](. The Honour Award for Fiction has gone to [The Shadows of Rookhaven]( by [Pádraig Kenny](, while the Honour Award for Illustration has gone to [Frindleswylde](, written by [Natalie O’Hara]( and illustrated by [Lauren O’Hara](. The Eilís Dillon Award, named in honor of the revered Irish children’s author [Eilís Dillon](, and given out in recognition of an outstanding first book for children and young people, has gone to [Rescuing Titanic: A True Story of Quiet Bravery in the North Atlantic]( by [Flora Delargy](. The winners of the 2022 [Tir na n-Og Children’s Literature Awards](20na%20n-Og%20Award), given out by [Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru]( (the Book Council of Wales), [have been announced](. In the Welsh Language Primary category, the winner is [Gwag y Nos]( by [Sioned Wyn Roberts](, and in the Welsh Language Secondary category, the winner is [Y Pump](coverredo=44403585) by [Elgan Rhys](. The English-language winner is [The Valley of Lost Secrets](, by [Lesley Parr](. CORRECTION: In [last month’s issue]( of State of the Thing, we reported that [A.N. Wilson]( had won this year’s [Plutarch Award](20Award) for his [The Mystery of Charles Dickens](. This was incorrect—Wilson won the award in 2021—and we apologize for our mistake. The winner of the 2022 Plutarch Award [has been announced](, and is in fact [Frances Wilson](, for her [Burning Man: The Trials of D.H. Lawrence](. In other biography prize news, [Andrew Roberts]( has [been named as the winner]( of the 2022 [Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography](20Longford%20Prize) for his [George III: The Life and Reign of Britain’s Most Misunderstood Monarch]( (published in the US as “The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III”), which was praised for its “its combination of archival research, historical acumen, psychological insight and unfailing readability: the keynotes of historical biography as practised by [Elizabeth Longford](.” Other Book World News Ukraine Updates Efforts to assist Ukrainian publishers, and to supply Ukrainian refugee children with book aid have intensified, according to [a report in Publishers Weekly](, shifting from “from an emergency operation to a long-term initiative involving multiple partners.” Poland’s [Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania]( (Universal Reading Foundation), which has been deeply involved in efforts to provide Ukrainian children with books, [recently announced]( that it had given small grants to 51 Ukrainian publishers. The UK-based charity, [Book Aid International](, has [collected more than 10,000 children’s books](, to be sent to the Universal Reading Foundation in Poland, for distribution to the refugees. The [American Library Association]( has set up the [Ukraine Library Relief Fund]( in order to raise money for their Ukrainian counterparts at the [Ukrainian Library Association](, with funds intended to replace and repair library infrastructure, and assist librarians. In Norway, the University of Stavanger’s [International Collective of Research and Design in Digital Children’s Books]( program has established [a digital library]( for Ukrainian refugee children, with a selection of books translated into Ukrainian. 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]( COVID-19 Updates The [China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair](, originally scheduled to open on November 19th, 2021, has now been [postponed for the third time](, due to continued concerns about Covid rates in that city. We reported on the initial postponement in our [November 2021 issue]( of SOTT, at which time the fair had been rescheduled for March. In our [March 2022 issue]( we reported on the fair’s second postponement, and its rescheduling for this coming July. Now it has been put off again, and is expected to run from November 18th-20th. Despite this triple postponement in Shanghai, a number of other important book-related fairs and conferences have returned to in-person events. As mentioned above, the upcoming [ALA]( (American Library Association) [2022 Annual Conference & Exhibition]( is returning as a live event this year, for the first time since the pandemic began. LibraryThing will be in attendance, so be sure to seek [Tim Spalding]( out at booth #2507! Other book world events that have recently returned to in-person gatherings for the first time since the lockdowns began include the 2022 [Australian Booksellers Association Conference and Trade Exhibition]( (June 12th-13th), the [Taipei International Book Exhibition]( (June 2nd-7th), the [Licensing Expo]( (May 24th-26th), and the [Jerusalem International Book Forum]( (May 15th). Although attendance at these events was, in some cases, smaller than in previous years, many attendees expressed appreciation for being able to meet in person once again. Unfortunately, the situation for American comics conventions has been more of a mixed bag, [according to Publishers Weekly](, with a number of festivals returning, but others either maintaining a seemingly indefinite postponement, or possibly desisting altogether. The [Edinburgh International Book Festival](, in the meantime, which is slated to occur in August, is returning to a full in-person event, but has announced that [they will maintain many of their digital offerings]( in the long run, in order to increase accessibility. If retained, this hybrid format would mark a permanent change made by the Covid pandemic. Library & Literary News The Platinum Jubilee, marking the 70th year since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne of the United Kingdom, was recently celebrated in that country, and around the British Commonwealth. As part of the festivities, [BBC Arts]( and [The Reading Agency]( created the [Big Jubilee Read](, a list of 70 books to commemorate the 70 years of the queen’s reign. The list contains ten titles each from the seven decades of the queen’s rule, and includes books from across the Commonwealth. It has been added to our site as a [LibraryThing list](, thanks to the hard work of member [gypsysmom](. [Richard Osman’s]( bestselling mystery, [The Thursday Murder Club](, has recently been revealed as [the most borrowed library book in the UK](, according to statistics from 2020-21, while author [James Patterson]( is the most borrowed author. The [New York Public Library]( has announced that they will be [giving away 500,000 books]( to children and teens during the course of the summer, with the intention of helping New York City’s young people build up their own personal libraries. Library branches in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island began giving out the free volumes on June 9th. In exciting news for lovers of the Bard, a copy of [William Shakespeare’s First Folio](—one of fewer than twenty original copies known to exist—will be [going up for auction]( at Sotheby’s in New York City next month, and is estimated to fetch up to $2.5 million. TinyCat [TinyCat]( is the online catalog for small libraries, created by LibraryThing. It turns your existing LibraryThing account into a simple, professional, web-based catalog. Follow [@TinyCat_Lib]( on Twitter for the latest TinyCat news, and be sure to check out [LibraryThing’s Youtube channel]( for a range of TinyCat tutorials. Live Demo. 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. On that note, that's all I have 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](. This message was sent to {NAME}. Click to [edit your email preferences or unsubscribe from future emails](.