LibraryThing: State of the Thing - October

LibraryThing: State of the Thing Dear {NAME}, Welcome to the October State of the Thing! In this issue we invite members to participate in our annual Halloween Hunt, share some LibraryThing updates, give a shout out to all of our wonderful helpers, introduce our new staff members Ganawa and Molly, interview the author Rebecca Renner, and shine a spotlight on our most recent TinyCat Library of the Month. We also serve up lots and lots of book world news, all of our regular columns, and 3,555 free Early Reviewer books! You can like LibraryThing on [Facebook]( and follow [@LibraryThing]( on Twitter, [librarythingofficial]( on Instagram, and [librarythingofficial](librarythingofficial) on Threads for news and updates. Halloween Hunt [HuntBirds]It’s October, and LibraryThing’s [Halloween Treasure Hunt]( has returned! Come trick-or-treat through our website, reading and solving the twelve clues, and finding 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 jack-o-lantern. Everyone who finds at least two jack-o-lanterns receives a [profile badge](, while those who find all twelve will be entered into a drawing for a LibraryThing [prize](. You have until Tuesday October 31st at 11.59 pm Eastern Time to find all the jack-o-lanterns hidden around the site and gather them all together into one troupe. Come brag about your troupe of jack-o-lanterns (and get hints) on [Talk](. LibraryThing Updates New Homepage. LibraryThing’s [homepage](—the page you see when not logged into the site—has been given an update, bringing it into line with our site-wide LT2 redesign project. It now works more smoothly on mobile devices, and includes all of the normal LT2 accessibility features, like font selector, jump to content, and better alt tags. Award Updates. Last month LibraryThing [announced]( that we had made a major update to our [Awards and Honors]( feature. We removed it from Common Knowledge and gave it its own, dedicated system, allowing for greater complexity and much better organization. Since then we have added a new “Add Multiple Works by Magic” feature to the Awards page, which uses AI to find a list of works which can all be added to an award page at the same time. See our [post in Talk]( for more information, and check out our [Youtube tutorial video]( demonstrating how it works. Helpers What is LibraryThing without its members? LibraryThing has some of the best people around, helping to improve the site for themselves and for the larger community—making us the best bookish site out there. From dedicated helper groups like [Combiners!]( and [Spam Fighters!](, to the guidance provided by long-time members when newcomers have questions in [Talk About LibraryThing](, [Frequently Asked Questions]( or [Bug Collectors](, our members are always helping out. They add an enormous amount of valuable information to the site, filling out Common Knowledge fields on author and book work pages, adding cover images and author photographs, and improving features such as [Series](Nseries_controller), [Recommendations]( and [Awards](. Roll of Honor. Each month we're going to call out some of the top contributors from the last month. So… special thanks this month go to [GwynethM]( (work combiners and much else), [SimoneA]( (work combiners), [ptimes]( (edition separators), [moonflowerdragon]( (cover uploading), [DuncanHill]( (author never-ing), [labfs39](, [Carmen.et.Error](, [kleh](, [andyl]( and [davidgn]( (series), [Jazz1987](, [Ghost_Boy]( and [Bookbrained]( (Common Knowledge), [kirstenlund]( (helper voting), [Heather39]( (recommendation voting), [Taphophile13]( (cover flagging), and [anglemark]( (translation). Welcome Ganawa! We are delighted to welcome Ganawa ([Ganawa]() to the LibraryThing team, as our new Systems Administrator! With a wealth of I.T. experience, Ganawa will be working behind the scenes as our systems administrator/reliability engineer, in order to ensure that all of our sites and products—[LibraryThing.com](, [TinyCat](, [Syndetics Unbound](, and [Talpa.ai](—run smoothly. Some of our members may recall Ganawa’s name being mentioned, in the recent crisis involving the DDoS attack on LibraryThing, during which he stepped in ahead of his start date, in order to lend a hand. Ganawa lives in the rural suburbs outside of Dallas with his wife Lauren, his two sons Joel and Miles, and his three dogs Sammi, Sawyer, and Sophie. He enjoys binge-watching old T.V. shows with his wife, staying involved in his local community, spending time outdoors with a very active toddler, and dabbling with technology in his home lab. If you want to learn more about Ganawa, you can read the full announcement on [the blog]( and say [hello on Talk](. Welcome Molly! We are also very pleased to welcome Molly ([mice_elf](), our new Junior Librarian and Developer! A library person who loves working with people and computers, Molly earned a MLIS at Simmons University in Boston, and worked for the Boston Architectural College Library before joining LibraryThing. She will be working across the [LibraryThing.com]( site, providing technical support to our members, working on bugs and development projects, and helping out with social media. Molly lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with her sister. She loves to spend her time cooking, playing guitar, running, biking, rock climbing, birding, and knitting. If you want to learn more about Molly, you can view her profiles [on LibraryThing]( and [Litsy](. You can also read the full announcement on [the blog]( and say [hello on Talk](. The Talk of LibraryThing What conversations are going on in our groups? - A discussion of the newly released [2023 Festive Collection]( is underway amongst our [Folio Society Devotees](. - The tensions between [Online Recipes and Cookbook Reading]( are being discussed by members of the [Cookbookers]( group. - Suggestions for [Simulation Theory Fiction](—stories in which people are living in a simulation—are being provided by our [Science Fiction Fans](. - Members are sharing what they are [Reading and Reviewing]( this month, over in the [Read it, Track it!](21) group. Speaking of Groups, if you’re new to LibraryThing, there’s a group for that: [Welcome to LibraryThing](21)! List of the Month Come join LibraryThing’s List of the Month project, as we create a new thematic book list each month. Like all of our [Lists](, the List of the Month draws upon the knowledge of the LibraryThing community, while also aiming to provoke discussion around each theme. 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. October List of the Month. "Up on their brooms the witches stream, / Crooked and black in the crescent's gleam; / One foot high, and one foot low, / Bearded, cloaked and cowled they go..." —Walter de la Mare, [The Ride-by-Nights]( Many are the images of the witch, and many are the different depictions in our literature. Our List of the Month this October is devoted to collecting some of those depictions, from the pages of [Witchy Fiction](. Head over to our [Witchy Fiction]( list to add your top ten choices. Check out other recent Lists of the Month: - September [Books We’d Want on a Desert Island]( - August [Books With the Most Memorable Titles]( - July [A Smorgasbord of Culinary Fiction]( - June [Books With Our Favorite First Lines]( - May [Best Graphic Novel Nonfiction]( Author Interview: Rebecca Renner LibraryThing is pleased to sit down this month with author and journalist [Rebecca Renner](, a [National Geographic]( contributor whose work has also appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Outside Magazine, Tin House, The Paris Review, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. A former high school English teacher, she earned an MFA in fiction writing from Stetson University, but will make her book debut next month with [Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades](, a nonfiction look at the world of Florida alligator poaching to be published by Flatiron Books. See an excerpt below, and the full interview [here](. Q. Set in the Florida Everglades, [Gator Country]( follows the exploits of a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the world of alligator poachers. How did you discover this story and what drew you to it? Did you meet Jeff Babauta first, or did you come across him in the course of researching the broader topic? Rebecca. The first time I heard the story of Operation Alligator Thief, it came to me as a rumor from one of my high school students. He and I had already been talking about poaching, storytelling, and thornier questions like, “Who owns nature? Is it right for anyone to make that claim?” When this student told me about Operation Alligator Thief, the rumors had blown some facts of the case out of proportion while entirely underplaying others. He described the undercover officer as a shapeshifter who had created a fake alligator farm to catch poachers, like a trap out of a movie. In other words, it all sounded too bizarre to be true. Yet, as Floridians, my student and I knew better: here, the truth is often stranger than fiction. Wanting to know what really happened, we asked around about the story, but neither of us could find a trace of the officer behind it all. He had disappeared before the sting began, and no one without inside information could find him. In my journalism career, I’ve found that challenges, rather than discouraging me, compel me to try harder, to look deeper. So no matter how many challenges I faced with this story, I could never quite let it go. A few years later, after I had quit teaching to write full-time, a former intelligence operative helped me track Jeff down, and I talked to him on the phone several times before he opened up enough to really tell me his story. It’s almost funny to look back on the days when Jeff didn’t trust me yet, because now he’ll text me out of the blue like it’s no big deal—because it isn’t! That’s fresh in my mind, because he texted me right before I sat down to do this interview. Visit the blog to [read the whole conversation](. Hot on LibraryThing Here are some titles that have been particularly hot on LibraryThing in the last month: - [The Running Grave]( by [Robert Galbraith]( - [The Chalice of the Gods]( by [Rick Riordan]( - [The Armor of Light]( by [Ken Follett]( - [Starling House]( by [Alix E. Harrow]( - [The Last Devil to Die]( by [Richard Osman]( - [Judgment Prey]( by [John Sandford]( - [Enough]( by [Cassidy Hutchinson]( - [The Fragile Threads of Power]( by [V. E. Schwab]( - [Holly]( by [Stephen King]( - [Wildfire]( by [Hannah Grace]( - [12 Months to Live]( by [James Patterson]( - [Starter Villain]( by [John Scalzi]( - [Wellness]( by [Nathan Hill]( - [Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts]( by [Bill O'Reilly]( - [The Spy Coast]( by [Tess Gerritsen]( - [The Exchange: After The Firm]( by [John Grisham]( - [The Unmaking of June Farrow: A Novel]( by [Adrienne Young]( - [The Vaster Wilds]( by [Lauren Groff]( - [Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon]( by [Michael Lewis]( - [Making It So: A Memoir]( by [Patrick Stewart]( 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 [The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes on Trial](, a memoir from Doors drummer [John Densmore](, offered by [Akashic Books](; [Sky of Ashes, Land of Dreams](, a new work of historical fiction from [Erin Jamieson](, offered by [Type Eighteen Books](; and our very first offerings from [Susan Schadt Press](: the picture books [Elephant of Sadness, Butterfly of Joy]( and [Mardi Gras in New Orleans](. Explore the full list and [sign up to request books](. [The Seamstress of Acadie]( [The Divine Proverb of Streusel]( [The Palisades]( [The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes on Trial]( [Sky of Ashes, Land of Dreams]( [Pilgrims of the Upper World]( [The Seaside Corpse]( [We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story]( [Veil of Doubt]( [Second-Chance Horses: True Stories of the Horses We Rescue and the Horses Who Rescue Us]( [West Jerusalem Noir]( [Who to Believe]( [Double Take]( [Wild Grace: Poems]( [East Jerusalem Noir]( [My Life As a Prayer: A Multifaith Memoir]( [The First Invasion]( [Five Wishes]( [Lottery of Secrets]( [The Prism Society]( Our October batch of Early Reviewers has 3,555 copies of 191 books. The deadline to request a book is October 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 Award-winning American poet and essayist [Louise Glück](, who won the [Nobel Prize in Literature]( in 2020, [has died at 80](. Known for the personal nature of her work, Glück is often considered an “autobiographical poet,” exploring themes of loss, trauma and desire. She published her first collection, [Firstborn](, in 1968, but it was with the publication of her second book, [The House on Marshland](, in 1975, that she is considered to have found her own distinctive voice. Glück published fourteen poetry collections in all, winning numerous awards, including the 1993 [Pulitzer Prize]( for [The Wild Iris](, and the 2014 [National Book Award]( for [Faithful and Virtuous Night](. From 2003-2004 she was [U.S. Poet Laureate](, and in 2015 she was presented with the [National Humanities Medal](C3%BCck) by President Obama. In awarding her the Nobel Prize in 2020, the committee praised Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." Acclaimed Syrian novelist, poet and screenwriter [Khaled Khalifa](, whose six novels are all banned in his own country, [has died at 59](. Born in a village near Aleppo, Khalifa’s work was informed by the life of that city. He made his debut in 1993 with [Haris al-Khadi'a]( (The Guard of Deception), but first came to international attention with his third novel, [In Praise of Hatred](, which was a finalist for the [International Prize for Arabic Fiction](. Khalifa won the [Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature]( for his fourth novel, [No Knives in the Kitchens of This City](, and was twice more a finalist for the [International Prize for Arabic Fiction](. Prolific and immensely popular American children’s author [Eve Bunting](, whose output included more than 250 books for young people of all ages, [has died at 94](. Born in Northern Ireland, Bunting immigrated to the United States 1958, and turned to writing as a way to express her heritage. Her first book, [The Two Giants](, published in 1971, is a retelling of a traditional Irish tale concerning the giant Finn McCool. Although she also wrote novels for children, Bunting’s preferred format was the picture book, and she wrote about a diverse array of topics, from the 1992 Los Angeles riots—[Smoky Night]( won illustrator [David Diaz]( the 1995 [Caldecott Medal](—to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ([The Wall](). Bunting received numerous awards, and was named one of the Educational Paperback Association's top 100 authors because her books were so popular with children. Celebrated American artist and children’s book author [Ed Young](, who was awarded the [Caldecott Medal]( and two Caldecott Honors for his work, [has died at 91](. Born in China in 1931, Young immigrated to the United States as a student in 1951, studying art and eventually launching a career in advertising. Seeking a more creative outlet for his talents, he became a children’s book illustrator in 1962 when famed Harper & Row children’s editor [Ursula Nordstrom]( hired him to work on [Janice May Udry’s]( [The Mean Mouse and Other Mean Stories](. Young went on to create more than one hundred other books for children, many written by other authors, but many written by himself as well. He often drew upon his Chinese heritage in his books, retelling traditional tales in picture book form. Young was the recipient of many awards, winning the Caldecott Medal in 1990 for his [Lon Po Po](, a Red Riding Hood story from China. Other recent losses in the book world: - [Echo Brown](, American performer and young adult novelist, [has died at 39](. - [Keith Giffen](, American comic book artist and author, [has died at 70](. - [Evelyn Fox Keller](, American physicist, feminist and author, [has died at 87](. - [Maurice Leitch](, Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter, [has died at 90](. - [Janet Taylor Lisle](, American children’s author, [has died at 76](. - [Robert Klane](, American screenwriter, novelist and filmmaker, [has died at 81](. - [Lara Parker](, American actress and novelist, [has died at 84](. - [Jeremy Silman](, American chess player and writer, [has died at 69](. Book World News: Freedom of Expression [National Banned Books Week](, an annual period of events meant to celebrate the freedom to read, and sponsored by an [alliance of different organizations](—the [ALA]( (American Library Association), [Amnesty International USA](, the [National Book Foundation](, and many more—occurred this year from October 1st-7th. In its forty-first year, the week saw [a host of events]( across a range of different venues, from libraries to bookstores. Actor [Levar Burton](, who hosted the long-running [Reading Rainbow](5BPBS%5D) children’s television program promoting a love of books and reading in the young, was [named as the honorary chair]( of Banned Books Week for 2023, and conducted a live conversation with the youth honorary chair on Instagram. The ALA, which adopted the theme of [Let Freedom Read]( this year, [hosted a number of programs](, including a panel discussion on fighting book bans that featured authors [John Green]( and [Mike Curato](. Three “Banned Book Buses” intended to promote awareness about the freedom to read [are touring the country during October](, sponsored by MoveOn.org, Penguin Random House and the New Republic and House of SpeakEasy, respectively. In honor of the week, [NPR interviewed a group of children]( about the subject of book bans. PEN America’s [Banned Books Week program]( included nineteen panel discussions they have and will be hosting throughout the month. In other PEN America news, the organization [issued a new report]( just ahead of Banned Books Week, [Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor](, which found that there were 3,362 cases of banned books in the 2022-23 school year—a 33% increase from the previous year. ALA, in the meantime, [has also shared new data](, with their Office for Intellectual Freedom reporting [695 attempts to censor library materials]( between January 1st and August 31st, 2023, a slight increase from the 681 attempts during the same period last year. In the [September issue]( of State of the Thing we reported that the recent Texas book-rating law, HB 900, which would have required book vendors to rate the titles that they sell for sexual content, with those being marked as explicit to be excluded from school libraries, [had been blocked](. It has subsequently transpired that [the law will remain in effect](, while an expedited appeal process ([since delayed]() takes place. The Texas Tribune, in the meantime, has been [chronicling the effects of the new law](. In the international arena, tensions have recently arisen between publishers and governmental bodies in [São Paulo, Brazil](, the [Dominican Republic](, and [Mexico](, over the issue of government involvement in textbook publishing. In India, the novelist [Arundhati Roy]( is facing [prosecution on sedition charges](, for comments made by the author on Kashmir, while attending a 2010 panel. Uyghur academic and anthropologist Rahile Dawut, currently serving a life sentence in a Chinese prison for “endangering state security by promoting ‘splittism’,” [has been named 2023 International Writer of Courage]( by [Michael Rosen](. The award is given annually to a writer who has been persecuted for expressing their beliefs, with the winner chosen by that year’s [PEN Pinter Prize]( winner. Book World News: Awards Awards and Prizes. The [2023 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded]( to Norwegian author, translator and playwright [Jon Fosse](, who was praised by the Nobel committee “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.” Committee chair [Anders Olsson]( mentioned Fosse’s “huge oeuvre, spanning a variety of genres, comprises about 40 plays and a wealth of novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations,” and the way he “blends a rootedness in the language and nature of his Norwegian background with artistic techniques in the wake of modernism.” Fosse writes in Nynorsk, or New Norwegian, and is the second-most performed Norwegian playwright, after [Henrik Ibsen](. He is known for his minimalist, introspective style. Fosse’s published work includes over seventy novels, poems, children’s books, essays and plays, and has been translated into more than fifty languages. In other Nobel Prize news, Iranian human rights activist [Narges Mohammadi](, currently being held in Evin Prison in Tehran, has been [awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize](. Mohammadi is the vice president of the [Defenders of Human Rights Center](, headed by her fellow Nobel laureate, [Shirin Ebadi](. She has campaigned against the hijab requirements in her country, and against many other oppressive policies aimed at women. She is currently serving a sixteen-year prison sentence for her role in a movement opposing the death penalty. Mohammadi is the author of [White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners](, published last year. The winner of this year’s [Deutscher Buchpreis]( (“German Book Prize”), which recognizes the best German-language novel of the year, [has been announced]( as [Tonio Schachinger](, for his [Echtzeitalter]( (“Real Age”). Schachinger’s book, set at an elite Viennese boarding school, was praised for reflecting “the political and social conditions of the present with subtle irony,” with a text that “deals with the question of the social place of literature in a narratively outstanding and contemporary way.” This year’s [National Book Award Finalists]( have [been announced]( by the [National Book Foundation](. In the Fiction category, the finalists include: [Chain Gang All-Stars]( by [Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah](, [Temple Folk]( by [Aaliyah Bilal](, [This Other Eden]( by [Paul Harding](, [The End of Drum-Time]( by [Hanna Pylväinen](, and [Blackouts]( by [Justin Torres](. The Nonfiction category finalists are: [The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History]( by [Ned Blackhawk](, [Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice]( by [Cristina Rivera Garza](, [Ordinary Notes]( by [Christina Sharpe](, [We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir]( by [Raja Shehadeh](, and [Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World]( by [John Vaillant](. The list of finalists for the other three categories recognized by the foundation—Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature—[are available as well](. The winners of the 2023 [Kirkus Prize](, awarded in multiple categories by the book review magazine, [have recently been announced](. In the Fiction category, the winner was [James McBride]( for his [The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store](, while the winner in the Nonfiction category was [Héctor Tobar]( for his [Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”](. The winner in the Young Readers’ Literature category was [Ariel Aberg-Riger]( for [America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History](. This year’s [George Washington Book Prize](, given annually by George Washington’s [Mount Vernon](, the [Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History](, and [Washington College]( in recognition of the best book on the nation’s founding, [has been awarded]( to [Maurizio Valsania]( for his [First Among Men: George Washington and the Myth of American Masculinity](. [Philip Pullman]( has been [named as the winner]( of the 2023 [Bodley Medal](, given out by Oxford University’s [Bodleian Libraries]( to “individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the worlds of books and literature, libraries, media and communications, science and philanthropy.” The [Booker Prize Shortlist]( for 2023 [has been announced](, with six finalists emerging from the initial field of thirteen [Longlist]( contenders for the UK’s most prestigious literary award. They include: [Study for Obedience]( by [Sarah Bernstein](, [If I Survive You]( by [Jonathan Escoffery](, [This Other Eden]( by [Paul Harding](, [Prophet Song]( by [Paul Lynch](, [Western Lane]( by [Chetna Maroo](, and [The Bee Sting]( by [Paul Murray](. The winner will be named in November. The 2023 winners of the [Forward Prizes for Poetry](, given annually by the UK’s [Forward Arts Foundation]( in multiple categories, [have been announced](. The Forward Prize for Best Collection has gone to [Jason Allen-Paisant]( for his [Self Portrait as Othello](, praised as an “exhilarating and propulsive read,” with poems that “experiment with the myth of Othello, mourn absent fathers, and offer us a refreshing mash-up of languages that regenerate poetry so that it feels freshly minted.” The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection has been awarded to [Momtaza Mehri]( for her [Bad Diaspora Poems](, and the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem has gone to [Malika Booker]( for her poem ‘[Libation](,’ published in [The Poetry Review, Winter 2022](. A fourth category, the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem - Performed, was added for the first time this year, with the honor going to Polish-born Bohdan Piasecki for his ‘[Almost Certainly]( In Canada, the winners of this year’s [BC and Yukon Book Prizes](, given out by the West Coast Book Prize Society, [have been announced](. The winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize was [Billy-Ray Belcourt]( for [A Minor Chorus](, while the winner of Hubert Evans Nonfiction Prize was [Karen Bakker]( for [The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants](. The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize went to [Otoniya J. Okot Bitek]( for [A is for Acholi](, while the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize went to [Cole Pauls]( for [Kwändǖr](. The winner of Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize was [Rachel Hartman]( for [In the Serpent’s Wake](, while the winner of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize was [Jessika Von Innerebner]( for [That’s My Sweater!]( The Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes went to [Michael J. Hathaway]( for [What a Mushroom Lives For: Matsutake and the Worlds They Make](, and the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award went to [Robert Joseph](, [Namwayut: We Are All One: A Pathway to Reconciliation](. The winners of the 2023 [British Fantasy Awards](, given out annually by the [British Fantasy Society]( at FantasyCon, [have been announced](. [Hiron Ennes]( has won the Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer for [Leech](, while [Simon Jimenez]( has won the Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel for [The Spear Cuts Through Water](. The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel has gone to [Sarah Gailey]( for [Just Like Home](, while [Rhiannon A. Grist]( has won in the Best Novella category for [The Queen of the High Fields](. Best Collection has gone to [E.M. Faulds]( for [Under the Moon: Collected Speculative Fiction](, while Best Anthology has gone to [Jonathan Strahan](, editor of [Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance](. [James Bennett]( has won in the Best Short Fiction category for his story ‘Morta,’ published in the anthology, [The Book of Queer Saints](, edited by [Mae Murray](. The Best Nonfiction category has gone to [Eugen Bacon]( for her [An Earnest Blackness](. For a complete list of winners, see [this announcement](. The [Dayton Literary Peace Prizes](, an offshoot of the Dayton Peace Prize that recognizes "the power of the written word to promote peace," [have been awarded]( in the Fiction category to [Geraldine Brooks]( for her [Horse](, and in the Nonfiction category to [Robert Samuels]( and [Toluse Olorunnipa]( for [His Name Was George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice](. Poet [Sandra Cisneros]( was the recipient of the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, which honors authors whose work helps promote “understanding between and among people.” Additional Award News This Month (now on their new LibraryThing award pages!): Winners. [The Ackerley Prize]( | [The BBC Short Story Award]( | [The Caine Prize for African Writing]( | [The Ditmar Awards]( | [The Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award]( | [The Laurel Prize]( | [The MacArthur Awards]( | [The Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award]( | [The Maya Angelou Book Award]( | [The New England Book Awards]( | [The PANZ Book Design Awards]( | [The Pattis Family Foundation Global Cities Book Award]( Shortlists / Finalists. [The ARA Historical Novel Prize]( | [The Australian Political Book of the Year Award]( | [The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction]( | [The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction]( | [The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards]( | [The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize]( | [The Cercador Prize for Literature in Translation]( | [The Cundill History Prize]( | [The Diverse Book Awards]( | [The Financial Times Business Book of the Year]( | [The Goldsmiths Prize]( | [The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction]( | [The Kindle Storyteller Award]( | [The National Translation Award]( | [The Polari Book Prize]( | [The ReLit Awards]( | [The Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize]( | [The T. S. Eliot Prize]( 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 and [tinycat_lib](tinycat_lib) on Threads for the latest TinyCat news, and be sure to check out [LibraryThing’s Youtube channel]( for a range of TinyCat tutorials. of the Month. TinyCat’s featured library this past month is part of the [DANK Haus German American Cultural Center](, based out of Chicago. Cultural Director Sarah Matthews sat down with Kristi this past month to answer her questions about [the library]( and their work. Q. Who are you, and what is your mission—your “raison d’être”?: The DANK Haus German American Cultural Center’s mission “is to preserve and promote German culture, heritage, and language through maintaining a center consisting of a museum, art gallery, library, and language school, and organizing educational and social programming focusing on and emphasizing the history, traditions, and contributions of Germans and German Americans.” The DANK Haus library is one important element of our center, and features a variety of German literature, both fiction and nonfiction. The books in our library are written in German and accommodate young adult and adult readers. You can find the [full interview on our blog](. 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. Wait, That's It? That's all I have for the Thing this month! If you have any suggestions, or ideas for improving State of the Thing, please reach out to me at abigailadams@librarything.com. Past issues of State of the Thing are available in our [SOTT Archive](. 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](.