book reviews for librarians

Marketing to Libraries: Reviews as a Selection Tool

• Reviews as a Selection Tool
• The Library Market in General
• Marketing Resources
• Self-Publishing
• Standards and Tools

ALA Reviews

Booklist /Booklist Online reviews adult books (fiction and nonfiction), books for youth (children and young adults), and reference books and also newly released videos, DVDs, audiobooks, spoken word audios, and children's music CDs.

Booklist is a book-review magazine that has been published by the American Library Association since 1905, and is widely viewed as offering the most reliable reviews to help libraries decide what to buy and to help library patrons and students decide what to read, view, or listen to. It comprises two print magazines, an extensive website and database, e-newsletters, webinars, and other resources that support librarians in collection development and readers' advisory.

Booklist Online is the web version of the Booklist print magazine. The full  Booklist Online  database contains more than 170,000 reviews and thousands of features dating back to 1992 and 8,000 new reviews and related features every year.

A quarterly supplement to Booklist free to Booklist subscribers, Book Links magazine helps teachers, youth librarians, school library media specialists, reading specialists, curriculum coordinators, and others connect children with high-quality literature-based resources.

• Getting Reviewed by Booklist Specific guidelines for submitting materials in various formats and types of materials for review consideration in Booklist or Booklist Online.
• Getting Reviewed by CHOICE Specific guidelines for submitting materials for review consideration in Choice, the premier review journal of new academic titles.

Additional Review Publications

Librarians selecting materials for their collections scan many sources, including local publications and newspapers and consumer publications.  This list, arranged alphabetically, includes the major general sites and publications, with special aspects, such as "indie friendliness" indicated.

• AudioFile AudioFile reviews unabridged and abridged audiobooks, original audio programs, commentary, and dramatizations in the spoken-word format.
• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books is a book review journal for librarians, teachers, parents, and others interested in new children's books. The Bulletin is a selective journal, reviewing approximately 900 of the over 5000 trade books published for children and young adults annually. Books reviewed include both recommended and not-recommended titles. Submissions from small and alternative publishers encouraged.
• Foreword Reviews Foreword Reviews accepts pre-published or new indie books for review. more... less... Two services are offered: Foreword Reviews publishes about 150 objective reviews in a quarterly magazine; Clarion Reviews is fee-for-review service publishing 450-word reviews, with start ratings.
• The Horn Book The Horn Book Guide and The Horn Book Magazine both review children's and young adult books that are published in the United States. The Horn Book Magazine also reviews audiobooks. Books produced by publishers that are not listed in Literary Market Place are not considered.
• Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews reviews adult fiction and nonfiction, titles for children and teens, and iPad Book Apps.
• Kirkus Indie A review service designed for small and independent publishers.
• Library Journal Library Journal reviews books, novel-length romance ebooks, graphic novels, zines, audio, video, and e-reviews (online databases) that have the potential to interest a broad spectrum of libraries.
• New York Times Book Review The New York Times Book Review reviews books published in the United States and available through general-interest bookstores
• Publishers Weekly Adult books reviewed in these categories: Nonfiction, Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror, Romance/Erotica, Poetry, Comics, and Lifestyles (cooking, gardening & home, health & fitness, or parenting). Children's books reviewed in each issue.
• Booklife, by Publishers Weekly BookLife is a website from Publishers Weekly dedicated to indie authors. The site provides a free and easy way to submit self-published books to Publishers Weekly for review.
• School Library Journal School Library Journal reviews new children's and young adult general trade books, original paperbacks, and reference books from established publishers, as well as DVDs & audio recordings, reference products, and online resources.
• Science Books & Films (SB&F) Science Books & Films, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, reviews current science-based books, videos, software, and websites for all age groups (K-College, Teachers, and General Audience)
• SELF-e SELF-e is a discovery platform designed to expose indie ebook(s) to more readers via the public library, locally or nationwide. It is a collaboration between Library Journal and BiblioBoard®
• Video Librarian Video Librarian reviews both theatrical and non-theatrical DVDs, including Blu-ray, that are new to the marketplace for public, school, university, and special libraries.
• Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) VOYA reviews books for and about teenagers, aged 12 through 18. Independent, experienced reviewers who work with teens throughout the nation, write the reviews.
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How do I find reviews?

• Book Reviews

Getting Started

Reviews for a general audience, reviews for a scholarly audience.

• Film Reviews
• Music Reviews
• Theater Reviews

Do you want to know how a book was received by scholars? Are you trying to determine the quality of a particular book? Or, are you just interested in knowing if a book is worth reading? Book reviews are a great place to start. This guide provides guidance on finding two types of book reviews, those for a general audience and those for a scholarly audience.

Literature and popular works (memoirs, travel writing, manuals, etc.) are often reviewed by journalists or fellow authors upon publication in newspapers or magazines. Use the following databases to find reviews in these publications.

• Book Review Index This link opens in a new window & more less... A comprehensive online guide to book reviews with over five million review citations from thousands of publications.
• Book Review Digest Plus This link opens in a new window & more less... Book Review Digest is a reference database that provides review excerpts and book summaries for current English-language fiction and non-fiction books. Limit of 1 simultaneous user.
• Book Review Digest Retrospective This link opens in a new window 1903-1982 & more less... Indexes and abstracts reviews of English language adult and juvenile fiction and non-fiction titles. Reviews are selected from journals in the humanities, sciences, social sciences and library review media.

Other Sources for Book Reviews

Many reviews are published in newspapers and magazines. Use the guides below to find the best databases to search for reviews in these publications.

• How do I find magazines? by Ask a Librarian Updated Jul 29, 2024 738 views this year
• How do I find newspapers? by Ask a Librarian Updated Sep 4, 2024 11765 views this year

Scholarly books are reviewed in academic or peer-reviewed journals and are written by academics. As these reviews place the work in the context of current scholarship, they can take several years to appear after the book was published.

Starting Points

• JSTOR This link opens in a new window Recommended Starting Point . Use Advanced Search and limit to "Reviews". You can also limit by discipline. & more less... A database of back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. All issues of each journal are included in full-text except for the most recent 2-to-5 years.
• IBR Online This link opens in a new window & more less... Multilingual and interdisciplinary index to book reviews, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
• Web of Science This link opens in a new window Conduct your search for book or author, and then limit to "Book Reviews". & more less... Authoritative, multidisciplinary content covers over 10,000 of the highest impact journals worldwide, including Open Access journals and over 110,000 conference proceedings. You'll find current and retrospective coverage in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, with coverage available to 1900. Includes the Science Citation Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Web of Science is especially useful for its citation linking.
• Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new window & more less... Part of Nineteenth Century Index. Indexes the contents of thousands of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences from 1665 to 1995, including many European titles. Includes links to some full-text articles. Dates of full-text coverage vary by title.
• Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window & more less... Database corresponds to International Index, 1907 - March 1965; Social Sciences & Humanities Index, April 1965 March 1974; Humanities Index, April 1974 March 1984; and Social Sciences Index, April 1974 March 1983

Other Databases for Book Reviews

We strongly recommend searching the article database or index that covers the academic literature in a specific field for reviews. Use the Advanced Search option and limit to "Book Reviews" or "Reviews".  Find the best database for book reviews in your field by using our subject guides.

• Library Subject Guides

Book Review Indexes in Print

Below are a few print sources for finding book reviews.

• Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802-1974 & more less... 10 vols. Ed by Evan Ira Farber. Woodbridge: Research Publications, 1982-1984. Covers 150 literature, philosophy, classics, folklore, linguistics & music journals, from England and the US Organized by primary authors or editors and then by book titles.
• Literary and Historical index to American Magazines, 1800-1850 & more less... Ed by Daniel A. Wells & Jonathan Daniel Wells. Westport: Praeger, 2004.

Ask a Librarian

Publications with Book Reviews

• London Review of Books Library has on microfilm 1979 - present.
• New York Review of Books This link opens in a new window & more less... New York Review of Books reviews contemporary books in all subject areas.
• New Yorker Library has in print 1925 - present.
• Publishers Weekly Library has in print and microfilm 1873 - present. Recent issues available online via Find It!
• TLS: Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive This link opens in a new window & more less... Covers 1902-2006. This easy-to-navigate, fully-searchable resource is a witness to the cultural revolutions of the last 100 years and offers unparalleled opportunities for tracking the views of influential opinion-makers, the response of their peers, the controversies of the day and how they developed. --Publisher's website
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• Library Resources

Why Professional Book Reviews Matter to Librarians

Curation specialists and book selectors—great news! Third party book reviews from trusted literary sources like Kirkus Reviews , and our sister companies School Library Journal , Library Journal , and The Horn Book are now available on our website. Maybe you’re a self-selector who doesn’t have the capacity to read every book that passes through your door, or a librarian who needs professional reviews to get approval for the titles on your shelves—whatever the case, we think you are going to love the ease and peace of mind that these book reviews bring you and your collection! Read on to learn more about how professional book reviews can help your library thrive and make sure to check out JLG’s newest membership benefit on our website .

Improve Your Collection Development 

Keeping your collection fresh, relevant, and accessible to your community of readers is an ongoing challenge, and that is why worthwhile curation tools like professional book reviews are so important for libraries. While every collection is unique—curated by a librarian’s expertise and judgment— we recognize that not every library worker has the capacity to read upcoming releases in their entirety like JLG’s editorial team does. Professional book reviews, like Kirkus Reviews, can help take away some of that pressure, offering early editorial insight to the library market:

“By giving booksellers, librarians and eventually the film industry an early, honest assessment of books, Kirkus gave buyers more control in the decision-making process, forever changing the balance of power and helping book buyers become more discerning.”— Kirkus Reviews, History

Furthermore, the American Library Association (ALA) provides Resource Guides to librarians to aid their curation and marketing efforts because “Individual libraries are responsible for their own book purchases and collections. There is no agency that chooses and distributes books and other library resources to all libraries…” (ALA) . Realizing how daunting and tedious of a task collection development can be, ALA lists the most trusted literary reviews to help librarians make the best book selections for their readers; included in this list are the four professional book reviewers offered by JLG! You can read more about book review services recommended by the ALA for curation development in the following article: “ Marketing to Libraries: Reviews as a Selection Tool ”.  

Save Time with Informed Selections 

As library resources decrease, it seems that the responsibilities of libraries continue to increase! Like we outlined in our past blog post, Jobs of the Modern School Librarian , curation development is one small piece of the puzzle when you must focus your time and effort on other responsibilities in your library like…

• Finding, learning, and implementing new technologies
• Combating book challenges and book bans
• Completing professional development and continuing education courses
• Budgeting and applying for additional funding  
• Assisting teachers with supervising duties for lunch, detention, and other activities
• Providing and distributing community resources (like at-home Covid-19 testing kits!)
• Cleaning and sanitizing your library

The list goes on and on!

With so little time left for collection development, your library may turn to professional book reviews for reliable and informed selections from editorial experts. Trusted literary reviews offer reader guidance and quality assurance for the books you are considering adding to your collection. Furthermore, reviews can help you identify which titles are a good fit for your library and what content is appropriate for every reading level.

We know your curation time is limited, and that is why JLG put 4 professional book reviews in the same place on our website. There is no need to search multiple sites for book reviews or rely on non-creditable “Bookstagrammers” to help you decide what is best for your collection—we have you and your readers covered!

Build a Robust Collection with ANY Budget 

Securing funding for libraries can be complex , and depending on the level of support from your library system and community, you might have to be creative when allocating your budget. For some years, the majority of your budget will be spent on updating technology, which leaves little money for new books. With that little amount of money left over, which books do you prioritize buying?

Editor-in-Chief at Library Journal, Hallie Rich , offers her expertise and guidance when using book reviews to curate your collection with limited funding:

“Librarians rely on professional reviews to help them scan the breadth of publishing and learn about the titles that will best suit their library's collection needs. With the proliferation of content available today in a variety of formats, professional reviews are particularly important to librarians who need to strategically allocate their budgets to build robust and relevant collections.”

By offering insight and relevance to both the library market and readers, book reviews can help you better understand what your library needs and want your readers want, solving the ongoing dilemma of which titles to purchase with limited access to library funding and resources.

Book Reviews are Available on JLG’s Website!

Here at JLG, we want you and your readers to have access to the BEST books on the library market, and we hope to continue supporting your library by offering new membership benefits like professional book reviews. It’s time for you to try it for yourself by logging in to your JLG account and searching for your favorite titles. The best part? The book reviews offered on our website are FREE for members!

About Kirkus Reviews  

Founded in 1933, Kirkus has been an authoritative voice in book discovery for more than 90 years. They review more than 8,000 books per year and distribute their reviews through Kirkus Reviews magazine online through KirkusReviews.com and their weekly email newsletters. Their magazine, published twice a month, has a large readership of librarians, booksellers, and publishing professionals, while their website and newsletters are dominated by consumers looking for books to buy.

About School Library Journal 

School Library Journal is the premiere publication for librarians and information specialists who work with children and teens. A source of quality journalism and reviews for 70 years, SLJ produces award-winning features and news coverage on: literacy, best practices, technology, education policy and other issues of interest to the school library and greater educator community. We evaluate a broad range of resources, from books and digital content to databases, in 6000+ reviews published annually.

About Library Journal 

In the 140 years since it was created, Library Journal has been inspired by the belief that libraries transform lives, at every stage of life.

We were there to help libraries in the United States begin organizing as a profession, and as the national and global network of libraries took their place in town squares, campus centers, and schools. As libraries have adapted, we have been there all the way--leading the profession forward by identifying trends on the brink of impact, surfacing best practices and innovations to invest in, identifying emerging leaders, sharing important news and perspectives that shape the field, guiding purchasing decisions, acting as an advocate for librarians and libraries--leading the field through the great changes and innovations required to keep libraries strong. Each day we build on this storied tradition by fueling the innovation engine at the center of every community--your library.

We can’t think of a community that doesn't rely on its library, and we can’t think of a better mission than having everyone at those libraries -- town, city, campus, school students--rely on Library Journal and School Library Journal to help them inform learning, inspire kids to read, spark the inquisitive impulse and instill a lifelong love of reading—all the while building the community’s capacity to thrive and spurring economic development

About The Horn Book 

Independent, opinionated, and stylish, The Horn Book Magazine has long been essential for everyone who cares about children’s and young adult literature. Our articles are lively, our reviews are insightful, our editorials are always sharp. We have gathered current and archival material to give you a taste of what we’ve been offering since 1924.

• Banned Books (1)
• Months of Recognition (6)
• Author Interviews (6)
• Editorial (1)
• Library Resources (3)
• JLG Membership Benefits (1)

• Library of Congress
• Research Guides
• Main Reading Room

Finding Book Reviews Online

Introduction.

• Sources for General Book Reviews

General Inquiries : Ask a Librarian

Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help.

Chat with a librarian , Monday through Friday, 12-4pm Eastern Time (except Federal Holidays).

Author: Elizabeth Brown, Reference Librarian, Researcher & Reference Services Division

Created: January 31, 2020

Last Updated: May 13, 2020

Most researchers find book reviews using online tools.. Some resources include full-text reviews, while others provide citations that lead to publications that contain the reviews. The lists below link to some free resources and to databases selected from those available to researchers in Library of Congress reading rooms. The databases generally reference reviews by professional reviewers or subject experts; the free sources are by a mix of professionals and amateur reviewers. For more resources, use the Library of Congress E-Resources Online Catalog to locate databases that concentrate on specific subject areas, including art, business, education, music, religion, science, and many others.

Before you start your search you should know the title and author; the date of publication will sometimes also be required. Some databases offer a search option to limit search results to book reviews. Where not present, adding a keyword search that includes the phrase "book review" should help. Reviews of popular books are typically published close to their publication dates; find them via book-related websites and indexes that cover general interest periodicals. Reviews of scholarly books may take months to appear in scholarly journals.

This guide concentrates on sources for general book reviews available at the Library of Congress. Other libraries provide access to many of the same resources.

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• Last Updated: May 31, 2024 8:50 AM
• URL: https://guides.loc.gov/finding-book-reviews

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Library Journal  is always looking for engaged reviewers in all areas of fiction and nonfiction. If you’re interested in reviewing for  LJ , please read our guidelines below. To apply, fill out the  online application , and be sure to upload two sample reviews in  LJ  style. If you have difficulty uploading these samples to the form or have additional questions about reviewing, contact Neal Wyatt: [email protected] .

Guidelines for Library Journal Reviews

Library Journal Book Review is a selection tool used in both public and academic libraries. Each year it offers signed professional reviews of thousands of current titles in a wide range of disciplines.

Reviewing for LJ is a rewarding activity, one that offers engagement with a wide range of books or with a specific genre; one that allows, over time, insight into publishing trends and authorial interests; and one that yields a good deal of professional satisfaction.

All reviews are assigned; we do not accept unsolicited reviews. We do try to honor our regular reviewers’ requests for specific books or subjects to review (though not, of course, for books written by friends, relatives, or associates). We ask our contributors to agree not to review for other publications the same books they review for LJ and not to send copies of their reviews to publishers or authors. We further ask that reviewers not mention that they are reviewing a book for LJ until the review is published. Once it is, we are happy for reviewers to share a link to our website but ask that they do not repost the review itself in full or in excerpts.

LJ ’s central audience is librarians. Our reviews are designed to help them do their jobs. We strive to specifically support both collection development and readers’ advisory work but hope our reviews are of use to all librarians. Our reviews are also used by readers. With these audiences in mind, fiction reviews are written for fellow readers of the genre. Nonfiction reviews are addressed to the educated generalist. Every review is designed to present the information needed for selection decisions in a highly condensed form.

The following guidelines are offered to help write reviews. Of course, reading past reviews in LJ will help as well.

• Each review should be between 175–200 words. Please don’t write longer or shorter. What you want to say may be lost when we must cut or add dozens of words.

Reviews should include:

• a brief orientation to the thesis or plot of the book,
• an indication of the author’s expertise or writing history,
• a critical appraisal of both substance and execution, information on the experience of reading,
• an indication of what readers would be best served by the book in question,
• and the inclusion of the last book an author wrote and/or the author’s credentials.

Our audience expects an LJ review to be based on a thorough, careful reading and on informed judgment.

Those are the basic requirements. Obviously, there can be no single model for all reviews, nor would we want cookie-cutter reviews. Ideally, the essential elements will be incorporated in a statement that reflects the reviewer’s own mode of thinking and writing as well as the book’s individual character.

At the same time, we ask reviewers to keep a number of points in mind:

• Selection librarians work very quickly. Please craft verdicts that help them make selection decisions. The kind of verdicts we hope to offer are informative and evaluative. For example: "VERDICT There are plenty of birding books but this one stands out for the clarity of its prose, the high quality of its illustrations, and its sheer readability. Plan for this to become a hit in your collection; birders will love it."
• Libraries are working with limited funds. If a book is a marginal purchase in a sea of similar titles, please say so. If a book stands out, please indicate that and briefly explain why. If there are few other existing books on the topic, that fact should be noted.
• A book that makes a significant contribution to literature, to scholarship, or to the understanding of contemporary issues should be identified clearly.
• Fiction requires an indication of the book’s appeal characteristics (pacing, levels and skills of characterization, setting, tone, writing style), of how it understands genre conventions, of the reading experience, and of the book’s likely popularity.

To a large degree, the book’s purpose will determine the reviewing approach. For example, a reference book requires a detailed account of its features and usefulness; a literary translation requires comment on its accuracy and felicity; a social science monograph, discussion of the validity and implications of the findings; an illustrated popular history should not be expected to offer new insights to scholars, but neither should it contain inaccuracies, betray ignorance of current scholarship, or merely duplicate other library holdings. A work of fiction or poetry lends itself to its own terms.

We ask for special attention to accuracy in reviews: spellings of names and places should be double checked, and personal pronouns (of characters, of the author) should be confirmed against publisher/author materials. An assertion that a book is filled with errors should be supported with examples. We ask reviewers to double-check all factual statements they make in a review (e.g., that the book is the first on the topic). Given space limitations, quotes are not ideal in most reviews, with a special exception for poetry. When quotes are used, they should be checked against the text.

Reviews are edited in a multi-step process that begins with your editor but includes editing by the entire LJ Book Review staff. While it is our policy to edit only to the extent needed, reviews may be reorganized or condensed, and text may be added for clarification or to include required elements left out of the review (such as the last book by the author, an indication a fiction work is a debut), plus other changes to accord with LJ ’s house style.

We cannot guarantee that every review submitted will be published. Because we appreciate the time and effort spent on each review, we do our best to exercise this editorial prerogative responsibly.

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Book Reviews: A Finding Guide: Online Resources

• Introduction

Online Resources

• Print Resources
• Resources by Date
• Need Help? Ask A Librarian
• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) Covers 1975 to date with some earlier coverage. Academic Search Premier indexes more than 13,000 journals and magazines with the full text of 4,700 titles. To limit your search to reviews, on the Advanced Search page, under Document Type, you can choose Book Reviews.
• Amazon Free online resource. Date coverage unknown. Primarily a bookselling site, Amazon.com sometimes includes the full text of some published book reviews--"Editorial reviews". Their "Search inside the book" function allows viewing of selected, scanned pages--usually the covers, table of contents, index, and an excerpt from the main text. Also includes user reviews, of highly variable quality and usefulness. Overall, a very useful site for evaluating recent trade and academic books. Access to the scanned table of contents and index is very useful for nonfiction titles.
• America: History & Life Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. Covers 1954 to date. Book reviews in U.S. and Canadian history only. Indexes about 6,000 book and media reviews from over one hundred academic journals. NB: there are no reviews in the sister database, Historical Abstracts. To limit your search to reviews, enter the book title in quotes in the default Advanced Search box.
• Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) (Part of ProQuest One Literature ) Covers 1920 to date. "ABELL, which can be accessed via the Criticism screen in Literature Online's Search: Criticism and Reference, contains more than 860,000 records covering monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews , collections of essays and doctoral dissertations published anywhere in the world; unpublished doctoral dissertations are covered for the period 1920-1999. The bibliography consists of 77 volumes, beginning in 1920 and issued annually; a number of items published between 1892 and 1919 have been indexed retrospectively. All aspects and periods of English literature are covered, from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. British, American and Commonwealth writing are all represented. Coverage is international.
• Articles & Full Text This powerful search engine works across many databases and pulls together a wide variety of resources. Enter a book title in the search box to find reviews.
• ATLA Religion Database [S.l.]: American Theological Library Association. Covers 1949 to date. Book reviews in religion only. Incorporates the printed Index to Book Reviews in Religion (IBRR). Primarily academic titles. Book Review Digest Plus is canceled. For online searching, use Academic Search Premier's Advanced Search and choose Book Reviews under Document Type.
• Bowker's Books in Print New York: R. R. Bowker. Coverage limited to titles in print or recently out of print. A database of bibliographic records for books, audiotapes, and videos from over 44,000 North American publishers. Many records include full-text reviews. Titles with reviews are starred. Click on the book title to open the record, then click on the "Professional reviews" link at left. The full record also may have synopses/annotations, book jacket text, media mentions, and a list of awards.
• caa. reviews (College Art Association) Coverage begins online in September, 1998 . caa.reviews "publishes timely scholarly and critical reviews of studies and projects in all areas and periods of art history, visual studies, and the fine arts, providing peer review for the disciplines served by the College Art Association. Publications and projects reviewed include books, articles, exhibitions, conferences, digital scholarship, and other works as appropriate" [Mission Statement]
• Cairn.info: cherchez, repérer, avance French-language collection of journals and magazines. To find books reviewed, search the title of the book.
• Choice A searchable journal of reliable reviews of academic books for community college, college, and university libraries. Covers 01/01/2011 to date. Older reviews are available in the print version . Published by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL).
• IBR: International Bibliography of Book Reviews. Osnabrück, Germany: F. Dietrich. Online version covers 1984(?) to date. The print version (Library Annex + AI 9 .I612) covers 1971-2011. Print version canceled in 2011. Emphasis on reviews appearing in European social sciences and humanities journals. German or English interface. For coverage of 1911-1943, see Bibliographie der Rezensionen under the print resources section in this guide.
• JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive A large collection of searchable and browseable full-text scholarly journals. Covers from the beginning of the journal (earliest is 1665) up to within two to five years of the present [the "moving wall": https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115004879547-About-the-Moving-Wall ]. To find book reviews, select Advanced Search . In the Advanced Search page, type one or two keywords from the book title in the first search box. Under Narrow Your Search to "These Types," check the Review box. Click Search.
• Latin American Newsstream ProQuest Coverage and format: Mostly mid 2000s to date, some coverage from the late 1990s. Plain text. In English, French, Guarani, Portuguese, and Spanish. 92 titles from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.
• Latino Book Review Covers 2019 to date.
• Library Literature & Information Science Index Covers book reviews in library and information science periodicals published in the United States and elsewhere. Indexing starts in 1981.
• London Review of Books Covers 1979 to date.
• New York Review of Books Covers February 1, 1963 to date.
• New York Times Book Review Covers January 3, 1988 to date . Access via the ProQuest publications list.
• Oxford Bibliographies [Online] Oxford University Press. Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies (essentially thumbnail reviews) of books and journals on specific topics in a growing range of subject areas. There are at least 50 specific topical bibliographies in each subject area. Each of these features an introduction to the topic. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. Contains a "My OBO" function that allows users to create personalized bibliographies of individual citations from different bibliographies.
• Periodicals Index Online [was PCI: Periodical Contents Index] Covers 1770-1993. Searches can be restricted to book reviews only. Click the box under "Scope" on the search page. Provides comprehensive indexing to the contents of 4,250 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues (some as far back as the 18th and 19th centuries) to 1993. The scope is international, including journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other Western languages. Journals that are indexed in PCI which have full text available in JSTOR are linked at article level.
• Project MUSE Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Coverage varies by title, beginning no earlier than 1993, and running through the current issue. Project MUSE covers the full text of over 200 journals in literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and others. To find book reviews, choose Advanced Search and use the pulldown menu under Limit Search and By Type to select Review.
• ProQuest Digitized Newspapers Links to 36 major and regional U.S., Canadian, and UK newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Coverage starts from 1/1/2008 with a three-month embargo on full text.
• ProQuest Historical Newspapers Coverage varies by title but begins with the first year of publication. Full image access to reviews appearing in major U.S. and international newspapers. Useful for access to the drawings and illustrations that sometimes accompany New York Times reviews as well as reviews in Le Monde, the Irish Times, and the Globe and Mail. Searches by document type can only be limited to "reviews." This includes theatrical and musical reviews.
• ProQuest Recent Newspapers: Regional Collections Links to five multi-title regional newspaper collections covering 30 newspapers in all. Coverage starts from either 1/1/2008, 1/1/2009, 1/1/2010, 1/1/2011, or 1/1/2012 with a two-week to three-month embargo on full text.
• ProQuest Research Library Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Coverage varies . Indexes general interest magazines and scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences. Also included are citations and abstracts for some newspapers and selected television and radio programs. The full text of some articles is provided. Under Document type you can click Reviews to limit your search results.
• Reader's Guide Retrospective,1890 to 1982 Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson and Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing. Book reviews appearing in popular magazines. Entries are sometimes labeled Book Review or Review. Beware of alternate spellings of international authors' names.
• Reference Reviews Europe Online Firenze: Casalini Libri. Covers 1994 to 2014 . "Each year Reference Reviews Europe offers around 300 English-language reviews of European reference titles. The journal is published in two forms: the electronic Reference Reviews Europe Online (RREO) and the printed Reference Reviews Europe Annual (RREA) (Uris Z 1002 .R32, 1995-, latest volume in Olin Reference). Much of the content consists of abstracts in English of reviews that originally appeared in the German journal Informationsmittel : IFB (IFB) [previous title Informationsmittel für Bibliotheken ]. IFB, edited by Klaus Schreiber of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart, and formerly published by the Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut in Berlin, currently is available only online. Since its inception in 1993, it has reviewed more than 500 titles per year, covering reference materials in all subjects and formats. Although German-language publications predominate in IFB, titles in other European languages, including French, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish are also covered. The reviewers for IFB are mostly German librarians and academics. The abstractors for Reference Reviews Europe are mainly North American librarians." [adapted from the RREO Website ]
• Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive Covers 1902 to 2014 .
• TLS, the Times Literary Supplement Covers 2010 to date via Exact Editions.
• Web of Science Core Collection Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information. Web of Science Core Collection includes Science Citation Index (1945 to date) , Social Sciences Citation Index (1956 to date) , Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975 to date) , and more. A multi-disciplinary set of databases indexing thousands of titles. To limit your search to book reviews, select Advanced Search and highlight "Book review" in the box under "Restrict search by languages and document types."
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Review of the Day

Envy in politics.

McClendon, Gwyneth H. Princeton, 2018

• 231p, 9780691178653 $29.95, 9781400889815
• LC Call Number: BF 575
• Buy on Amazon { "dois" : ["10.5860/CHOICE.210001"], "type" : 11, "status" : 1 }

A delightful combination of cross-disciplinary theory, large-N surveys, elite interviews, and a field experiment are used to triangulate how within-group status motivations (envy, spite, and the desire for admiration) explain otherwise puzzling variations in political behavior. Survey data from South Africa and the US illustrate that people will support redistributive policies that hurt their pocketbooks when those policies improve their relative position compared to their neighbors, especially when social ties are weak. Local politicians in South Africa were less likely to spend money on housing that would fail to help all qualified families, thus making some neighbors visibly better off than others, if they thought it would exacerbate existing tensions and jealousies. Supporters of a New Jersey LGBT advocacy group were more likely to participate in a local rally and march when incentivized with the promise of within-group acclaim. “Even though such actions are materially costly, people are more likely to participate if they know that their political participation will be observed and admired by in-group members.” Overall, this excellent, eclectic, and thought-provoking book is sure to inspire intense discussion and significant follow-up research.

Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• Reviewer: M. R. Michelson , Menlo College
• Recommendation: Essential
• Readership Level: Upper-division Undergraduates, Graduate Students, Researchers/Faculty
• Interdisciplinary Subjects:
• Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences - Political Science - Comparative Politics
• Choice Issue: aug 2018 vol. 55 no. 12
• Choice Review #: 55-4646

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23 Greatest Books about Libraries and Librarians

As readers, we love libraries and all the wonderful resources found within so it is natural for us to make a list of books about libraries and librarians.

Libraries are such special places for people of all ages and are often safe places for both adults and kids. If you are “overdue” for a great book, check these out. You will not be disappointed

*Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you. Some books have been gifted. All opinions are our own.

Article Contents

Books about Libraries

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

August 2020 Good Morning America Book Club Pick

This historical fiction novel about the New York public library is a dual timeline mystery about rare books going missing from the library’s collection. Fiona Davis’s signature style had me basking in the vivid descriptions, making me feel as if I were standing inside the famed library.

I adored the Gilded Age book sections but found myself less enthralled by the present-day timeline. Still, the story was a great one for books about books.

The Library Book by Susan Orleans

January 2019 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

I really enjoyed this non-fiction book about the LA library fire, but I could have used less of the general library stats. It focused too little on the library fire and too much on the library itself.

I think it could have been cut down by about 50 pages because towards the end I had an “alright, I get it, enough already” moment. Still, it was interesting to learn about the struggles the library faced after the fire with clean-up, the investigation, and the lasting security measures that came about because of what happened.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

WWII books felt a little been-there, done-that to me recently but this book has me back to loving the sub-genre. And even with so many books set in Paris, this book still felt fresh.

What makes this story different is the setting – The American Library in Paris.⁣ I loved hearing about the librarians and how they tried to help their Jewish subscribers. ⁣

The story sucked me and had me thinking about the war in a new light. I need to add it to our best books about WW2 list for sure.

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick

When librarian Martha Storm finds a book of fairytales on her doorstep she is intrigued.  When she reads the dedication written to her by her grandmother who had died three years before the inscription, she is inspired to find answers. Martha uncovers secrets in her past that will change her life as she knows it.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentil

There are so many things that I loved about this book, I do not even know where to start. This is a book within a book- a mystery inside a mystery. This book needs to be in your list of books for summer.

There is a scream and the Boston Public Library that pulls four strangers into a crazy adventure full of twists and turn. All of them have different reasons for being in that room and one of them is a murderer.

This is the book that is being written by an Australian author and mailed chapter by chapter to Leo, in the United States. He is giving feedback on each chapter. And as you watch both stories unfold, you will never anticipate the next step.

This thriller is one of the best books on our list of ultimate beach reads 2023.

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan

This is a best children’s book of 2019 for a reason. I read this as a read-aloud with both of my children (boys 6-8) even though it’s technically a middle grade book.

The story revolves around Jaime who, after doing something bad at school, is doing community service hours at the library for the summer. Jaime is reluctant to volunteer at first but quickly grows to love the staff and regulars at the library. I adored this charming tale and so did my kids. This is one of the books for 11-year-olds that adults will love too!

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein

Mr. Lemoncello’s library is one of a kind. It’s full of holograms, logic puzzles, and hidden games. To officially open the new library, a few lucky kids get to spend the night inside as they try to win Mr. Lemoncello’s game and be the first team to escape.

Why We Love This Book:  If you are looking for great bedtime stories for kids, this series will hit the mark. It will get your kids engaged with one-of-a-kid puzzles and delightful twists and turns. Appropriate for ages 9-11 Find this book in Audiobooks for Kids / Netflix Book Adaptations / Middle Grade Mysteries / Books for 11-year-olds / Read Aloud Books / Best Puzzle Books

Fantasy Books About Libraries

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

To say that I was excited about Erin Morgenstern‘s new book might be the understatement of the year.  How to describe this book that is an ode to storytelling…..it’s a love story to books, a fantasy within a love story within a fairy tale.

The writing is beautiful- Erin’s signature style of vivid imagery left me completely captivated. I truly loved every minute of this book. It was pointless to predict the story. So, I let it take me away with the lyrical prose.

Find this book in Books Like The Night Circus / Full Cast Audiobooks / Magical Realism Books / Books About Librarians

A Discovery of Witches

Author : Deborah Harkness

Year : 2011

Genre : Fantasy

More info: All Souls Trilogy #1

Spice Rating :💋

Age Range : 18+

Diana Bishop is in Oxford’s Bodleian Library when she accidentally recovers an ancient book, Ashmole 782, that has been missing for hundreds of years. In doing so, she triggers her long-forgotten magic and opens the door for vampires, witches, and demons to search out Diana and the book.

Matthew de Clermont is one of the vampires drawn to Ashmole 782. He has been looking for it for hundreds of years. Soon it is clear that even though relationships between species is forbidden, Matthew is drawn to Diana for more than just the book. The two begin to work together to unravel the mysteries behind the book, the magic and the people looking for the book.

This urban fantasy book about secret societies, witches, vampires, and more is a blend of heart-pounding action, historical fiction, and romance with the perfect mix of fantasy as well.

Trigger Warnings

Blood, torture

Why Jackie loves it

If you love the witch aspect of Harry Potter, Vampires, fantasy books, or time travel books then you will love The All Souls trilogy. This adult fantasy novel explores the history of witches, demons, and vampires. This series reads like a historical fiction and I love it. I thought the series was done at book four and was so excited to learn that there is a new book in the series!

Find this book in : Books Like A Discovery of Witches / Best Fantasy Books for Adults / Books About Witches / Adult Books Similar to Harry Potter / Books About Libraries / Adult Fantasy Romance Books

The Librarian by Christy Sloat

This is perfect for a list of books like Outlander! When Emme’s grandmother dies, she agrees to take over Gram’s library despite plans to head to college abroad.

When she opens a book from Gra’s special collection, she finds herself face to face with Jack Ridgewell in  1892 England.  Emme is part of an elite group of women who can travel to the past through books.  This brings a whole new meaning to book boyfriend. You’ll love this fantasy book about books.

Books about Librarians

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Daphne loved to tell the story of her meet-cute with her fiance, Peter, until he broke up with her to be with his childhood best friend, Petra. She had moved to his hometown, into a house he bought, and she is stranded with nothing but a job as a children’s librarian- a job that she absolutely loves.

With no other options, Daphne moves in with miles, Desperate, she moves in with Miles, Petra’s ex-fiance until she can find a new place to live- preferably in a new city.

As the two spend more time together and begin to heal their hearts, they realize that this can be the start of a new chapter.

Why I Love This : Emily Henry always has unique romances that hit just the right spot. You will fall in love with Daphne and Miles, flaws and all! Find this book in Emily Henry Books / Books About Librarians / Beach Reads 2024 / New Romance Books 2024

Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles

Here’s an unlikely beach read recommendation – a story that takes place during the Great War. We don’t normally recommend historical fiction set during a war for the beach, but Charles crafted a story that was as hopeful as it was interesting. It touched on the darkness while highlighting the helpers of one of the darkest periods of world history.

Unlike The Women (which we do NOT recommend for a summer beach read) this story never got so bogged down in wartime sadness. Instead, we are treated to a front-row seat of the grit and determination of the women working near the front lines of France to bring normalcy and hope to innocent civilians.

Specifically in the form of books – children’s books.

Based on the true story of pioneering children’s librarian, Jessie Carson, it’s a testament to women being innovators and hope-makers. Jessie works tirelessly to train the first French female librarians, turns ambulances into bookmobiles, and uses all the resources she can muster to bring joy to the victims of war.

It’s a dual timeline narrative that also focuses on Wendy, a librarian in 1980’s New York working for the same library where Jessie got her start. She uses her research on Jessie and the American Committee for Devasted France as inspiration in her writing class, and is surprised at how similar she is to her muse.

Why I Loved It: While there were sad moments within the story, this book ultimately left me with warmth in my heart. The narrators do an excellent job bringing this story to life. #Gifted by Simon & Schuster Books

Find this book in WWI Novels / Librarian Books / Beach Reads 2024 / Best Historical Fiction 2024

The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong

This dual-timeline story is about both a librarian during WWI and a female cadet in the first class of women at the U.S. Naval Academy. There are so many strong women in our list of books like the Alice Network.

Both women in this story are connected in multiple ways, including being females in a trailblazing role customarily reserved for men.

While I found Librarian, Emmaline’s story to be more engrossing, I found Kathleen Carre’s struggles in the male-dominated school fascinating too. I wouldn’t mind reading a book just about the first few classes of women in various military academies.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murphy

July 2021 Good Morning America Book Club Pick

This fictionalized version of Belle de Costa Greene was wonderful, I’m so glad it was a GMA pick and a Gilded Age book to boot!

Greene was J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian and later the librarian for his heir. She was also a black woman passing as white. She had to keep her roots hidden in order to hold her job, but I’m glad her real truth is being told now.

Find This Book in: Books set in Libraries

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

The good sister is a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes until the very end. Fern and Rose are twins who have always had each other. Rose is the responsible one who has always looked out for Fern.

Fern has trouble reading social situations, doesn’t like loud noises, and makes dangerous mistakes all the time.

Rose’s most important job was protecting Fern from their crazy mother. When Fern decides to have a baby for Rose, secrets start to come out. This is one of the books about sisters that will keep you guessing until the end and even then, you’ll be thinking about this book.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Another addition to this list that features a librarian as the main character! In simple terms, Samantha is a school librarian who joins with the other teachers to try to save their beautiful, creative school from a strict new principal.

Throughout the pages, it also turns into a story about dealing with grief and fear and opening your heart to new ways to love. This novel is ultimately the complete embodiment of joy. I honestly adored it and when I ranked my Top 10 books of 2020, this came in at #2! 

The Midnight Library

Author : Matt Haig

Year : 2020

Genre : Time Travel Fiction

More info: October 2020 GMA Book Club Pick

The story is about a library with books filled with the infinite possibilities of the lives not lived.  Have you ever wondered about a choice, or a path not taken?

When Nora finds herself in the library she is forced to face the choices that she made in her life- relationships, education, profession… The books in the library are endless, each an alternate reality of the endless life choices. Nora has to decide what kind of life she wants to live.

I loved Matt Haig’s last book and was so excited to read this one. This is a magical time travel book and I loved every minute of getting to know Nora’s paths untravelled. Matt Haig is a master of magical realism.

Find this book in : Time Travel Books / Books about Books / Time Loop Books / Magical Realism / Best Books of 2020

With Love from London by Sarah Jio

I loved this book about a librarian who inherits a bookshop from her estranged mother. When Valentina was a teenager, her beloved mother left her to return home to her native London and never returned. Val was left heartbroken with her father.

Now, Val has returned to London to her mothers apartment and bookshop to try and understand her mother, her life and why she would leave. The change could not have come at a better time for Valentina who is going through a divorce of her own. This book was such an easy and wonderful read.

You can check out our other amazing books about bookstores!

Lucy’s Little Village Book Club by Emma Davies

This cute story in a one-sitting read. The story revolves around the six members of a local library book club. Strangers become friends, lovers, and family — and everyone gets a happy ending! This book is a great palate cleanser.

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonia Itrube

It’s hard not to mention this story in a round-up of books about librarians, even if the librarian in this story is a unique case. This is based on the story of Dita Kraus who was a 14-year-old girl when she went to Auschwitz.  She worked as the “librarian” in the children’s block.

The book gives an in-depth look at the day-to-day survival of people in the camp.  The book is difficult to read but is ultimately a book about bravery and real-life heroes.

Books about Traveling Librarians

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander

Jess loses her library job and her grandmother who raised her around the same time. She decides she needs a change. She buys a little cottage in a new town that also comes with an old telephone booth.

Soon, she is making friends with her neighbors and turning her phone booth into a cute community library! I loved watching Jess learn to manage her grief and create a network of people around her. It was such a lovely one-sitting read.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

November 2019 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

I’m not usually a Jojo Moyes reader, but this story about a mobile library was one that caught my eye. I’m so glad I ended up reading it because it was wonderful!

I had no idea that women used to travel by horseback to deliver books in the Appalachian mountains. These librarians were utterly badass as they thumbed their noses at societal norms for the betterment of their community.

Each woman’s story was woven together in a tapestry of love, friendship, and sisterhood. I couldn’t put down this book about books!

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

I can’t mention The Giver of Stars without also including The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. There was a bit of drama surrounding these two books since they feature two very similar stories, were released around the same time, and one is written by an already famous author. 

Read this novel as well to compare and contrast how these two writers tell the story of rural librarians of Kentucky! 

The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

Escape to the western coast of Ireland in this novel about a woman fighting to save her community’s traveling library and find herself along the way.

Hanna is back in her tiny hometown after leaving behind her city lifestyle and cheating husband. As she tries to save her job as the local librarian and restore an old cottage, she comes to realize these people she was happy to leave behind mean more to her than she ever expected.

Books about Libraries and Librarians We Want to Read

If you are looking for more literary stories, check out our list of books about books..

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As a mother of two boys, Kirsten rediscovered her life-long love for reading while choosing appropriate books for her children. She started this website with Jackie to share their passion for literacy with other moms and kids. She uses her years of experience in marketing and public relations to create quarterly magazines, implement social media strategy, and ensure the website content is relevant and beautiful.

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As usual, what a great blog post! This is one of my favorite genres! Great work, ladies!

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Book Reviews

J.p. morgan's personal librarian was a black woman. this is her story..

Karen Grigsby Bates

I have a confession: I am not a fan of the passing trope. From Nella Larsen's 1929 classic, Passing , to the original Imitation of Life (the 1934 movie starred the incomparable Fredi Washington as Peola, the little girl who wanted to be white) to Britt Bennett's 2020 novel The Vanishing Half , the notion of a Black person posing as white to escape her Blackness just felt ... tired.

"Deep down, all Black people want to be white." I heard that in a social psychology class, repeated as if it were a truism. It's not. At several points in childhood and as an adult, I've loved the notion of being rich, but being white? I cannot imagine it. I wouldn't be me.

And that, basically, is at the crux of The Personal Librarian , a new novel by Heather Terrell (writing as Marie Benedict) and Victoria Christopher Murray. Their heroine, Belle Da Costa Greene, was one of the most prominent career women of her time. As the personal librarian to financier J.P.Morgan, she pursued and curated a collection of rare books, manuscripts and art that became world-renowned.

Passing as white causes a family split

You Must Read This

'passing' across the color line in the jazz age.

'The Vanishing Half' Counts The Terrible Costs Of Bigotry And Secrecy

What the world didn't know was that Belle Da Costa Greene was Black. Or, in the parlance of the day, colored. Greene was born into a prominent family of pale Black Washingtonians in 1883. Her parents were intellectuals. Her father, Richard T. Greener, was the first Black graduate of Harvard. He was also an ardent race man, and spent his life pressing for racial equality. Greene's mother, Genevieve Fleet, determined that racial equality wasn't going to happen in her lifetime, and after the family's move to New York, she declared them white in the 1905 NY State Census. That subterfuge became the cause of a huge rift — her parents separated, and Belle's family subsequently lived as white.

Belle Marion Greener became Belle Da Costa Greene — the Da Costa name an allusion to a fabricated Portuguese grandmother, a convenient explanation for Belle's olive complexion. (Contemporary portraits show an attractive woman who many Black people would immediately recognize as kindred; apparently Gilded Age white folks were easier to fool.)

Belle meets J.P.

The family's entire fortunes — where they lived, their occupations, everything — were completely dependent on Belle's white identity, as her mother constantly reminded her. When she became friends with financier J. Pierpont Morgan's nephew when they both worked in the rare books library at Princeton, young Morgan suggested to his uncle that he consider Belle as his personal librarian. In an interview, something about the young woman's intelligence and humor appealed to Morgan: She was hired on the spot.

As the two began to work closely together, Morgan came to trust Belle's vision and expertise. He knew that under her astute eye his collection would be more than an assortment of rarities only one of the world's richest men could acquire. Belle could provide an important missing link: context. And indeed, the Morgan Library became known as a private collection of rare books, manuscripts and art that competed with esteemed public institutions such as the British Museum. As the literal face of the library, Belle became a power in her own right, courted by art dealers, embraced by the socially powerful, profiled as an elegant careerist at a time when working women were rare.

Paying a price for a new life

But as Benedict and Murray show, there was a terrible cost to maintaining that façade. Belle was cut off from her beloved extended family in DC: "Once Mama made the decision that we would live as white," she says. "We could not take the risk." And while she had many lovers (including famed art historian Bernard Berenson), she could marry none:

I've always known that, because of my heritage, a traditional relationship would not be possible for me ... because a marriage means children, and that is something I cannot hazard. Without the fairer skin of my siblings, I could never risk bearing a child whose skin color might reveal my deception.

Benedict, who is white, and Murray, who is African American, do a good job of depicting the tightrope Belle walked, and her internal conflict from both sides — wanting to adhere to her mother's wishes and move through the world as white even as she longed to show her father she was proud of her race. Like Belle and her employer, Benedict and Murray had almost instant chemistry, and as a result, the book's narrative is seamless. And despite my aversion to the passing trope, I became hooked.

Belle Da Costa Greene is not front and center of the Morgan Library's story now. But she will be much more visible when The Morgan celebrates its centennial as a public institution in 2024. Which is fitting, as it was she who persuaded Jack Morgan to donate his father's astonishing library to the city. It's a gift that honors J.P. Morgan, his descendants — and the personal librarian who was critical to the Morgan's success.

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

THE LIBRARY BOOK

by Susan Orlean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 16, 2018

Bibliophiles will love this fact-filled, bookish journey.

An engaging, casual history of librarians and libraries and a famous one that burned down.

In her latest, New Yorker staff writer Orlean ( Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend , 2011, etc.) seeks to “tell about a place I love that doesn’t belong to me but feels like it is mine.” It’s the story of the Los Angeles Public Library, poet Charles Bukowski’s “wondrous place,” and what happened to it on April 29, 1986: It burned down. The fire raged “for more than seven hours and reached temperatures of 2000 degrees…more than one million books were burned or damaged.” Though nobody was killed, 22 people were injured, and it took more than 3 million gallons of water to put it out. One of the firefighters on the scene said, “We thought we were looking at the bowels of hell….It was surreal.” Besides telling the story of the historic library and its destruction, the author recounts the intense arson investigation and provides an in-depth biography of the troubled young man who was arrested for starting it, actor Harry Peak. Orlean reminds us that library fires have been around since the Library of Alexandria; during World War II, “the Nazis alone destroyed an estimated hundred million books.” She continues, “destroying a culture’s books is sentencing it to something worse than death: It is sentencing it to seem as if it never happened.” The author also examines the library’s important role in the city since 1872 and the construction of the historic Goodhue Building in 1926. Orlean visited the current library and talked to many of the librarians, learning about their jobs and responsibilities, how libraries were a “solace in the Depression,” and the ongoing problems librarians face dealing with the homeless. The author speculates about Peak’s guilt but remains “confounded.” Maybe it was just an accident after all.

Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4767-4018-8

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018

HISTORY | UNITED STATES | GENERAL HISTORY

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BOOK REVIEW

by Susan Orlean

by Susan Orlean & illustrated by G. Brian Karas

More About This Book

PERSPECTIVES

SEEN & HEARD

Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2017

IndieBound Bestseller

National Book Award Finalist

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

The osage murders and the birth of the fbi.

by David Grann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017

Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.

Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.

During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann ( The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession , 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.

Pub Date: April 18, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017

GENERAL HISTORY | TRUE CRIME | UNITED STATES | FIRST/NATIVE NATIONS | HISTORY

More by David Grann

by David Grann

BOOK TO SCREEN

by Elie Wiesel & translated by Marion Wiesel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2006

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...

Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children. 

He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions. 

Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006

ISBN: 0374500010

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Hill & Wang

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | HOLOCAUST | HISTORY | GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL HISTORY

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by Elie Wiesel ; edited by Alan Rosen

by Elie Wiesel ; illustrated by Mark Podwal

by Elie Wiesel ; translated by Marion Wiesel

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Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School, & Academic Libraries

Home | Introduction Why Do I Need a Policy? | Politics and Timing of Policy Creation | Selection Policies for Non-Public Institutions

Basic Components of a Selection Policy Library Mission | Support for Intellectual Freedom | Objectives | Responsibility for Selection | Selection Criteria | Acquisitions Procedures | Special Collections | Selecting Controversial Materials | Gifts and Donations | Collection Maintenance and Weeding | Policy Revision | Reconsideration

Reconsideration Procedure Guiding Principles | Statement of Policy | Informal Complaints | Request for Formal Reconsideration | Sample Reconsideration Form | Sample Letter to Complainant | Reconsideration Committees

Appendix Intellectual Freedom Core Documents | Challenge Support and Reporting Censorship | Bibliography of Additional Selection and Reconsideration Policy Resources

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Independent Book Review

A Celebration of Indie Press and Self-Published Books

30+ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers

Here are 30+ top-notch book review sites for booksellers, librarians, readers, & writers. Learn more about 30 bookish companies helping spread the word about the best & latest books.

Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers

Book reviews are for all of us.

Readers need to know whether books with the best covers are worth the time they’re about to put into it. They find it helpful (and fun!) to check out reviews after reading the books, too, so they can see what other real-life humans had to say about it.

Authors & publishers need to get book reviews to build buzz and credibility for their product. Librarians & booksellers need to hear from trusted sources that the book they are about to buy for their collection has the capability to get picked up & to satisfy. 

Book review sites have transformed the book-recommending landscape.

We can write reviews on product pages, on social media apps, and some of us, for publications that have been around since before the internet. Book reviewing has changed. But maybe it also hasn’t.

What kind of book review sites are you looking for? Chances are, this list has you covered.

Here are 30+ book review sites to read, write, and bookmark. 

1. Independent Book Review

Does this logo look familiar? (Hint: You’re sitting on it).

IBR, the website you’re on RIGHT NOW, is all about indie books . There are so many books in the world right now, but if you feel like you keep seeing the same ones recommended over and over, start reading indie!

Independent presses & self-published authors are doing some incredible work right now. IBR reviews books, curates lists, does indie bookstore round-ups, and uses starred reviews & best-of-the-year lists to show which books are going to blow your mind.

2. Book Marks

Lit Hub rules. You already knew this.

But do you know about Book Marks? They’re a branch of the Lit Hub network, and they are an excellent way for booksellers and librarians to get shorter recaps from multiple sources and voices.

Their staff peruses book review sites and shares pull-quotes from them in book lists & more. By reading all of these sites, they can give the book a rating based on the average: “Rave, Positive, Mixed, or Pan.”

My favorite book-buying platform, Bookshop , uses Book Marks’ scale for their books’ ratings, and I love getting access to that.

3. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly has been around since 1872. By now, they’re a review churning machine. They cover so much of the book industry in so many different ways, reviewing nearly 9,000 books per year and providing publication announcements, agency announcements, industry job listings , bestseller lists, industry stats, a self-publishing partner, and more. 

4. Kirkus Reviews

Another one that’s been around since before the internet! 1933 to be exact. Kirkus is a widely recognized publication that book buyers & librarians follow carefully. I dare you to find a bookstore or library that doesn’t have multiple books with Kirkus Reviews plastered on their front and back covers.

5. Booklist

The American Library Association runs Booklist , a platform dedicated to helping libraries, educators, and booksellers choose books. They’ve got a magazine (since 1905!), book reviews, lists, awards, and one of my favorite bookish podcasts out there: Shelf Care .

6. Library Journal & School Library Journal

As you might be able to guess, Library Journal & School Library Journal focus on librarians too! They review a ton of books, and they write often about library-related news, collection management, technology, programs, and more. If you’re an author hoping to land your book in libraries, these are essential targets.

7. BookPage

You may have seen BookPage in your local library or bookstore. Some shops provide it for free so that patrons can look through it to find which books to buy in-store. Their website is clean and intriguing and always full of the most up-to-date releases and bestsellers.

Speaking of libraries! Have you seen our gifts for librarians ?

8. Foreword

Foreword is such an enthusiastic and dedicated champion of indie books, and they’ve been doing it since the 90s! I love how much attention university presses get here too. Their reviews are well-written & thorough, in both print & digital, and I always find something to speed-purchase once the Foreword Indie winners come out.

9. LoveReading

LoveReading is a top book-recommendation website in the UK. They’ve got starred reviews, lists, staff picks, a LitFest , eBooks, and they even donate 25% of the cover price of their books to schools of your choice. It’s reader-friendly and apparent how much they appreciate the wonder of books. 

10. Washington Independent Review of Books

What’s not to love about The Independent?

Back in 2011, a group of writers & editors were frustrated by newspapers dropping book review sections and decided to do something about it. The Washington Independent Review of Books is quite a lovely something! This nonprofit posts every day: from reviews to interviews to essays and podcasts. They host events too!

11. Book Riot

Try being a reader and not finding something you love on Book Riot. Book lists, podcasts, personalized recommendations, newsletters, book deals—this site is a haven.

It doesn’t post solo book reviews like other sites, but they do share mini-reviews in book lists and talk about reading in unique & passionate ways. The Book Riot Podcast is such a winner too! I love listening to Jeff & Rebecca laugh about the latest in books & reading.

12. Electric Lit

From novel excerpts to original short fiction & poetry, they might not only be a book review site,  but they do offer a lot in the world of book recommendations. Their Recommended Reading lit mag features unique staff picks and short, insightful book reviews.

13. The Millions

The writing in The Millions is something to behold. They are an artful source for all things book reviews & recommendations. They write stunning essays about books & reading and long reviews of new and old books. They’ve got some of my favorite Most Anticip ated lists too.

What are the biggest benefits of reading ? 🧐

14. Bookforum

Did you hear? Bookforum is back ! This book review magazine announced in December 2022 that they were closing, and my heart sank a little bit. This company means so much to the publishing industry and has for 20+ years, so when I saw (last week!) that they are returning, I did more than a few jumps for joy.

Welcome back, Bookforum! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got coming for us in book world coverage.

BOMB is in it for the art. Art, literature, film, music, theater, architecture, and dance. There are reviews and interviews, and the literature section is a real delight. The reviews are like poignant essays, and the author interviews are in-depth and feature some fascinating minds.

16. The Asian Review of Books

The only dedicated pan-Asian book review publication! It’s widely cited and features some of the best in Asian books and art, so booksellers and librarians have a source to trust to stock their collections with high-quality pan-Asian lit.

Have you seen our gifts for book lovers yet?

17. Chicago Review of Books

I love so much of what Chicago Review of Books does. They have a clean & sleek design that features some of the buzziest books as well as plenty of hidden gems from our favorite indie presses. I’m a particularly big fan of the spotlight they put on books in translation .

18. Rain Taxi

I love Rain Taxi ’s style! They champion unique books, publish their own fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and put a real emphasis on art for their magazine covers . It’s a beautiful print magazine to subscribe to, but they also share free online editions & digital archives. They even run the Rain Taxi Reading Series & Twin Cities Book Festival if you’re a real-lifer in Minnesota!

19. The Rumpus

Oh, The Rumpus ! This mostly volunteer-run online magazine publishes reviews, interviews, essays, fiction, and poetry. The reviews are in-depth and personal and heart-melting, and in addition to the site, they’ve got cool perks like the Poetry Book Club  and Letters in the Mail . The book club is where you get a pre-release book and meet the poet via Slack with other club members at the end of the month, and Letters in the Mail are actual postcards sent in the mail to you twice a month from your favorite authors.

20. Book Reporter

The selection in Book Reporter is carefully curated & enticing: hot new releases, forthcoming books, major presses, & indies. And there are plenty of unique ways to learn about them, like video interviews and monthly lists & picks. It launched in 1996 and is in The Book Report Network, which includes Reading Group Guides , a super useful resource for book clubs.

21. BookTrib .

BookTrib does such a great job of making their site browsable. The different ways you can enjoy what they offer—from book lists to giveaways to ebook deals —are difficult to keep your purchase finger off of.

23. Lit Reactor

Writers & readers—where bookish people meet! LitReactor’s book reviews are in the magazine portion of their website, and they’ve got plenty of them! Reviews, interviews, lists, introspectives, writing tips, and reading discussions. I’ve found some really unique content on Lit Reactor, like this ranking of literary parents . The website is a haven for writers especially, as there are workshops, writing blog posts, and even a forum to participate in.

24. Crime Fiction Lover

Dark alleys. Stray bullets. Hard-boiled detectives. Runaway thrills. If you’re a mystery-thriller reader, you’ve got to know about Crime Fiction Lover. They’ve got a passionate group of readers and writers talking about the best books in the genre and the ones that are soon to come out too.

25. SF Book Reviews

Speculative fiction fans unite! SF Book Reviews has been reviewing sci-fi and fantasy books since 1999, and while they’re a relatively small staff, they publish regularly, feature books of the month, and work wonders for their fantastical community.

26. Historical Novel Society

For all you historical fiction fans out there, the Historical Novel Society has reviewed more than 20,000 books in its twenty years. This one works like a membership for “writers and readers who love exploring the past.” You get a quarterly print magazine as a member, and if you’re a writer, you can join critique groups and ask for book reviews.

27. The Poetry Question

The Poetry Question writes about poetry published by indie presses and indie authors. They are a small passionate team dedicated to showing the world why indie presses continue to be a leading source for award-winning poetry.

28. Goodreads

Did you know that there are over 125 million members on Goodreads? When users review books, they can have conversations with fellow readers and follow reviewers too. If you’re looking for the biggest community, there’s no doubt Goodreads is the one. I like using sites like this because it helps you catalog books, one of my favorite ways to build a strong reading habit . 

29. The Storygraph

A big community of active users that’s Amazon free! Come review books, use half & quarter stars (!), and complete reading challenges. You got this.

29. Bookwyrm

Bookwyrm is small (around 5,000 members at the time of this writing), but doesn’t that sound kind of nice? There are active members and a genuine collective goal in talking books. Grow with it. I think you’ll be comfy here. There are other communities within the Bookwyrm umbrella too, like Bookrastinating .

30. Reedsy Discovery

I hold a special place in my heart for book review sites dedicated to helping writers! I got into this business as a book marketer, and I experienced first-hand, through hundreds of books, how hard it was to get exposure & validation for small press and self-published authors. 

Reedsy Discovery is a branch of Reedsy (the author resource company) that connects authors & reviewers so that people can read free books, sometimes receive tips for it, and authors can get more reviews in the process. Readers can choose from the latest books as well as the ones that are getting the best reviews.

31. Netgalley

Netgalley is a book review site for pre-released books. Reviewers sign up for a free account, request galleys from publishers and indie authors, and get to read them before they’re published so that they can leave reviews for the book, preferably on Amazon, Goodreads, or their blog. They also run Bookish , the editorial arm of Netgalley, which has book recommendations, interviews, and more.

32. Online Book Club

This review site combines a bunch of cool things! The 4-million member community gives me a lot of Goodreads vibes, especially with the Bookshelves app . But Online Book Club is a place for you to get eBook deals and talk about books in reviews and forums.

What are your favorite book review sites to follow? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for reading “ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers !” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Check out http://www.literaryvault.com for best book reviews and author interviews. The literary Vault is a blog run and owned by a 13-year-old passionate reader who loves to share her passion and recommendations with others.

Thank you for the information!

Book review sites serve as invaluable resources for both readers and writers, offering insightful critiques, recommendations, and discussions on a wide range of literary works. Whether you’re seeking your next captivating read or looking to promote your own book, these platforms provide a wealth of information and opportunities for engagement. https://ghostwritersplanet.com/

I think BookBrowse.com definitely deserves to be on this list!

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Your current subscription allows you to be actively logged in on up to three (3) devices simultaneously. click on continue below to log out of other sessions and log in on this device., 3 professional reading resources to help librarians understand book bans.

These titles include the background for the current state of book banning, as well as ideas to help librarians respond proactively and reactively. Turn to these titles for information and inspiration for the fight.

These titles include the background for the current state of book banning, as well as ideas to help librarians respond proactively and reactively. But the heart of these books is the personal stories they contain. Censorship isn't just a hashtag or a trending topic—it's a devastating reality that impacts individuals across the country. Turn to these titles for information and inspiration for the fight.

That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones. Bloomsbury. Aug. 2024. 288p. Tr $29.99. ISBN 9781639733538.  A taste of the emotional toll librarians, teachers, and library staff have been subject to thanks to the coordinated movement to challenge and ban books in recent years. Amanda Jones became a target after speaking out against book banning during a board meeting of her town's public library branch. In this memoir, she relates her experiences since then, including her decision to sue her harassers for defamation. She also offers advice for what readers can do in their communities.  VERDICT A template for how to stand up for intellectual freedom.

Trouble in Censorville: The Far Right’s Assault on Public Education and the Teachers Who Are Fighting Back . Nadine M. Kalin & Rebekah Modrak, eds. Disobedience Pr. ISBN 9781964098005.  First-hand accounts from librarians and teachers who battled censorship. The final chapter is a “Call to Action,” in which the editors share what readers can do to resist attacks on public education and specific tips for various groups, including teachers, administrators, students, and parents.  VERDICT Highly recommended for all public school librarians, teachers, and school administrators.

The Fight Against Book Bans: Perspectives from the Field . Shannon M. Oltmann, ed.  Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 9781440879760.  A helpful book for libraries to add to their tool kit as they face an unprecedented number of book challenges. Each chapter provides specific examples of what different states across the U.S. are dealing with, giving equal measure to school libraries and public libraries.  VERDICT An important overview of book bans that provides crucial information every librarian needs to know. Recommended, especially in large municipal systems.

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50 Best Books About Libraries or Librarians

After reading The Midnight Library , it got me thinking about all the great books about libraries or librarians, or stories that are set largely in libraries.

I’m sure most book lovers have fond memories of their own local libraries. The first library I loved was Schimelpfenig Plano Library in my hometown of Plano, Texas. I used to just wander the shelves and randomly pick out books. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I didn’t need to read books reviews or anything like that because I could rely on the librarians’ curation to lead me to good books. It wasn’t until later that I really appreciated what a gift it was to have such wonderfully curated books laid out for me.

So, this is a list of the Best Books about Libraries and Librarians . If you have a suggestion for something to add to this list, please feel free to drop a comment. Or I’d love to hear your stories about your own favorite library!

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Middle of the Night

The Housemaid is Watching

She’s Not Sorry

The Seven Year Slip

Darling Girls

It Finally Happened + Summer Romances

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This is an awesome booklist and I may need to come back and read through it again if I’m in search of a book about libraries or librarians! A few of these I have read already, but the majority I have not so I’m excited to see what I can find here when the mood next strikes me.

glad you liked it and happy reading! :)

I’ve heard a lot of great things about The Midnight Library so that’s definitely going on my TBR list. I also love following Matt Haig on Instagram so feel like I know the story so well already. The Library of Babel sounds like such an interesting book – very happy you’ve introduced me to that :)

Great list! The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee is a chick lit series that features a librarian as the main character.

What a fun idea for a book list! I’ve found so many I want to add to my TBR list.

Thanks heaps for composing this list. I’m going to chase down a copy of In the Name of the Rose. The Library Book by Susan Orlean is the standout for me – such a terrifically written book and a lovely celebration of public libraries. To wave the flag for short story collections, In the Stacks : Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians is pretty enjoyable (it includes Borges’s The Library of Babel) and I also really liked the very strange Two Sets of Books by Ruairi Murphy.

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Read 's Guide to Graphic Novels in Libraries, 2024 The latest edition of is live and, as always, the digital version is free to all readers! As with previous years, you’ll read our latest thoughts about comic bans and the growth of manga, but you’ll also learn how to slow down while reading this unique format, its many subgenres, and its potential in higher education. And don’t miss this year’s original comics either, of course! ! Booklist Review of the Day by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Deena So’Oteh ​Fleming adds to her oeuvre of picture books introducing distinctive animals with this lyrical paean to the world’s smallest whale. Reviews in This Issue Current Features by Julia Smith Whether attacking boats, swallowing kayakers, deploying defensive poop clouds, or having their speech decoded by AI, odds are whales have swum into your news or social media feeds recently. But what do you really know about these marine giants? Here are some books to satiate those curious about cetaceans. by Tracy D. F. Resonance Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial cartoonist Darrin Bell’s graphic novel, , appeared on numerous “best of the year” lists and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. The audiobook is also outstanding, with an exciting cast and a cinematic soundscape. Bell spoke with reviewer Tracy D. F. Resonance. ​By John Charles Rainbow Rowell is the #1   bestselling author of   and the Simon Snow Trilogy, as well as several other award-winning novels, short stories, and comics. Rainbow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, just like most of her characters.  By John Charles Sophie Sullivan (she/her) is a Canadian author as well as a cookie-eating, Diet Pepsi–drinking, Disney enthusiast who loves reading and writing romance in almost equal measure. She writes around her day job as a teacher and spends her spare time with her sweet family watching reruns of . by Angela Carstensen ​Steve Sheinkin and Ruta Sepetys are known for suspenseful storytelling that seamlessly integrates rigorous historical research. Together, they are at the top of their game in , a middle-grade novel set in WWII England. by Sara Paretsky Mammoths still roamed the tundra when Sumerian tax collectors and poets figured out how to make the spoken word visible. This visible word has enlightened and encouraged our spirits but also enflamed them ever since, leading to stonings, knifings, and immolations, both of the books and of their writers.​ Digital Editions Current Issue Past Issues Booklist Online Exclusives Booklist Reader Search Archive Database Sign Up for Newsletters Booklist Online Exclusives Archives All Things Audio Archives Corner Shelf Reference Booklist Reader Updates Upcoming Webinars Webinar Archive Shelf Care Podcast Full Episodes The Shelf Care Podcast Author Interviews Advisory Board & Staff Write for Us Get Reviewed Customer Service Book Reviews City library blog. Foxlight, by Katya Balen A tale of strong emotional bonds exploring concepts of family, identity and belonging. Siblings Fen and Rey have been brought up in foster care after being found in the woods as babies, seemingly protected by foxes. Times are sometimes tough, and though their home is a happy one, warmed with love and laughter, a void dwells in them both. They know nothing of their past and long to find their mother. Fen and Rey reside in a liminal space, neither fully connected to their past or present, a feeling enabled by this constant need to know where they came from. To make peace with their sense of loss and abandonment they tell each other elaborate stories, adventures of their mother, rationalizing why they were left and why she remains outside their lives. As questions increasingly fracture their stories, Fen begins to see moments of orange, a fox perhaps, which the children sense as a messenger from their mother. Fen and Rey eventually follow the shape, risking all, in the hope it will lead them to her and to the many answers they seek. Their plight takes them on a cryptic and often dangerous journey marked by doubts, disappointments, and fragments of hope. Katya Balen has written a beautiful, always moving, often heartbreaking story of hope, love, and acceptance. Her lyrical writing style imbues depth, sensitivity and wonder into the narrative, creating a remarkable, emotional, and immersive reading experience. Highly recommended for readers aged 9+. Katya Balen’s book October, October won the 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal. Foxlight can be found in the Children’s area in the Animals – Fiction collection. Clever Crow by Chris Butterworth Illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill An exquisite book on a most intriguing family of birds. From the brief blurb I read about ‘Clever Crow’, I sensed the book held all the promise of being a fascinating addition to the library’s Children’s collection. And I was not disappointed. Short snippets provide curious, and perhaps little-known, facts about crows. Among other wonders, we learn of their intelligence, aerobatics (or lack of), habitat, playfulness, and song, or again, lack of as they tend to ‘caw’ rather than sing. We are left in no doubt that they are astonishing creatures. These wonderful insights are all set within the stunning mixed-media artwork of Olivia Lomenech Gill, who also illustrated J. K. Rowling’s ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ . Together the text and illustrations celebrate the crow, illuminating the subject beyond what either could do alone. This is an exquisite book on a most intriguing family of birds that will captivate young and old. This book can be found in the Children’s area in the Picture Book collection. Content Development Librarian: Children’s and Young Adult You May Also Like Share full article Advertisement Supported by From School Librarian to Activist: ‘The Hate Level and the Vitriol Is Unreal’ Amid a surge in book bans nationwide, the librarian Amanda Jones was targeted by vicious threats. So she decided to fight back. By Alexandra Alter One Sunday morning two years ago, Amanda Jones, a middle school librarian in Watson, La., woke up and saw an email on her phone that left her shaking and breathless. Listen to this article with reporter commentary The expletive-laced message from a stranger accused her of being a pedophile and a groomer, and concluded with a threat: “You can’t hide. We know where you work + live. You have a LARGE target on your back,” it said. “Click … Click … see you soon!” It was part of a deluge of online threats and harassment that Jones has faced since the summer of 2022, when she was one of around 20 people to speak out against book banning during a July meeting at her local public library. A fight broke out over whether the library should remove books with content that some deemed inappropriate for children. Like many librarians across the country, Jones found herself caught in a vicious battle over which books belong in libraries — a debate that has divided communities and school boards as book bans have surged in the United States. But the attacks on Jones have been particularly intense, and unrelenting, because of her response: She fought back. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . Bismarck Library discusses how it has adapted to the state book review law one year later BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - During the last legislative session, two book ban bills were passed. Shortly after the session, Governor Doug Burgum vetoed one but signed House Bill 1205 into law, which requires public libraries to remove explicit materials in the children’s section. It’s been a year since this law went into effect. Library Director Christine Kujawa shelves books, while also working on her computer awaiting any book complaints that may come in. She said since the law went into effect, nothing has changed. “We have a collection development policy that has been approved by the Library Board of Directors and mirrors what’s in state law,” said Kujawa. If the library receives a complaint for a certain book, Kujawa said they have a review committee made up of all the librarians to look at it. She said they take all complaints very seriously. “We have a whole process that we go through, we follow our policy. We research the item, take time to review it, and provide a response to the patron,” said Kujawa. The Bismarck Library said they have only received one complaint so far about a book, and it was a children’s book called Abolition is Love. “It usually is taken off the shelf because the librarians want to read it in order to make a good decision about it,” said Kujawa. And in this case, the book remained in circulation. If a member of the public wants to complain about a certain book, Kujawa said, as part of their collection and development policy, they have a “request for reconsideration” form. “Both in print and on our website, so individuals can fill that out, and then it goes to our review committee,” said Kujawa. As far as what the cost is to the library to conduct this kind of book review, Kujawa said the only cost involved is staff time. Kujawa said, per their collection development policy, the library strives to have information and material from all viewpoints to meet the needs of everyone in the community, but if someone finds something that they disagree with, she said they are welcome to fill out the complaint form. Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved. 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Their Tween (ages 9-12) and Teen (13+) sections are very helpful for middle and high school librarians. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FROM LIBRARIANS Book Reviews By Librarian/Teacher Bloggers. A number of School Librarians have created online book reviews for students and fellow librarians to learn about "good reads." THE LIBRARY BOOK 18. Our Verdict. GET IT. New York Times Bestseller. An engaging, casual history of librarians and libraries and a famous one that burned down. In her latest, New Yorker staff writer Orlean (Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, 2011, etc.) seeks to "tell about a place I love that doesn't belong to me but feels like it is mine.". It's ... Review Resources Review Resources. Every library — academic, public, and school (public, private, charter, independent, and international) — should have a comprehensive written policy that guides the selection, deselection or weeding, and reconsideration of library resources. The most valuable selection policy is current; it is reviewed and revised on a ... 30+ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers 15. BOMB. BOMB is in it for the art. Art, literature, film, music, theater, architecture, and dance. There are reviews and interviews, and the literature section is a real delight. The reviews are like poignant essays, and the author interviews are in-depth and feature some fascinating minds. BOMB. 3 Professional Reading Resources to Help Librarians Understand Book That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones. Bloomsbury. Aug. 2024. 288p. Tr $29.99. ISBN 9781639733538. A taste of the emotional toll librarians, teachers, and library staff have been subject to thanks to the coordinated movement to challenge and ban books in recent years. 50 Best Books About Libraries or Librarians Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library #1) Chris Grabenstein What It's About: A New York Times Bestseller. Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. Book Review Site for Librarians in Public Libraries and School Booklist Online: The best book reviews for public libraries and school libraries, and the best books to read for your book club, brought to you by the ALA Unfortunately, your access has now expired. But there's good news—by subscribing today, you will receive 22 issues of Booklist magazine, 4 issues of Book Links, and single-login access to ... Book review of That Librarian by Amanda Jones Read our interview with Amanda Jones, author of 'That Librarian.'. Jones is a compelling narrator with a nearly unbelievable story that is a parable for our divided times. In this nightmarish tale of a small-town battle gone viral, she shows immense courage by standing up to her tormentors and refusing to be silenced. Review: The librarian who fought back against book banning ... Review: The librarian who fought back against book banning and bullying tells her story. "That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America" by Amanda Jones. In 2022, School Library Journal Librarian of the Year Amanda Jones was living what she considered to be her best life. At 44, she was happily married, had a teenage daughter ... Book Reviews An exquisite book on a most intriguing family of birds. From the brief blurb I read about 'Clever Crow', I sensed the book held all the promise of being a fascinating addition to the library's Children's collection. And I was not disappointed. Short snippets provide curious, and perhaps little-known, facts about crows. From School Librarian to Activist: 'The Hate Level and the Vitriol Is As books about L.G.B.T.Q. issues, sexual health and race and racism have been targeted for removal, libraries have become a new battleground in a bitter culture war.Sweeping laws that impose ... Bismarck Library discusses how it has adapted to the state book review If the library receives a complaint for a certain book, Kujawa said they have a review committee made up of all the librarians to look at it. She said they take all complaints very seriously. assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis