For this library roundup, I’ve pulled together a list of reader’s advisory updates, award news, bookish trends to be aware of, and a curated collection of book lists to help spruce up your displays. Let’s dive in.

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RA & Genre Resources

• Horror fiction is having a renaissance.
• A romantasy starter pack.
• How Chuck Tingle became one of the best mainstream horror authors.
• On the rise of domestic suspense.
• A complete guide to Elin Hilderbrand’s books (in chronological order).
• The seafaring mysteries of Agatha Christie.
• Give comic novels their due.

All Things Comics

• 44 YA graphic novels you need to read right now.
• The best crime comics.
• Please donate more comics to Little Free Libraries.
• 8 comics about video games.

Audiophilia

• Spotify is expanding its audiobook access, but in the most confusing way possible.
• Stephen King is narrating the audio version of his picture book retelling of Hansel & Gretel.
• Audiobooks as builders of community.
• The best new audiobooks of 2025.
• Trend alert: audiobook walking clubs take reading outside.
• A playlist of romance audiobooks for Christmas in July.

Award News

• The CWA Dagger Awards have been announced.
• The Shirley Jackson Award winners have been announced.
• The Center for Fiction has released the longlist for its 2025 First Novel Prize.
• Lucy Steeds has won the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for The Artist.
• Get to know the Schneider Family Book Awards.

Numbers & Trends

• Is there really a literacy crisis amongst children?
• One-third of teens are as “satisfied” talking to a chatbot as they are to a real person. This is alarming for a number of reasons, not least of which is how dangerous ChatGPT can be for vulnerable users. (TW at the link for mentions of suicide and self-harm.)
• Why Gen Z is going wild for Dostoyevsky. 
• Books and TV shows about Jeffrey Epstein have exploded in popularity amid the Trump administration’s refusal to address literally anything about the Epstein files.
• Meanwhile, books about Donald Trump are drawing lackluster sales during his second term.
• Goodreads is undergoing a brand redesign fit for BookTok’s aesthetic.
• The most-taught books in American classrooms have barely changed in 30 years.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

• This year’s trendiest vacation? A reading retreat.
• The steamy, subversive rise of the summer novel.
• Ohio resident Dan Pelzer died in July at 92, leaving behind a 109-page handwritten list of all the books he’s read since 1962. His family has since made the list public on a new website called “What Dan Read.”
• The cutest bookstore pets across the country. Bunnies! Tortoises! Kitties! Chinchillas!

Display Ideas & Book Lists

One of the fun things about doing this newsletter is that I get to see common themes pop up in the book list links I collect every week. I used these book lists extensively when I was in charge of managing displays at my library, so hopefully this section will give you a little boost with your own displays!

Disability Pride Month

• Picture books to help kids understand physical disabilities and differences.
• Books for all ages for Disability Pride Month.
• 10 fabulous picture books celebrating neurodivergent kids.
• 4 excellent anthologies for Disability Pride Month.

Environmentalism & Climate Fiction

• 8 books about the healing power of nature.
• Jeff VanderMeer’s favorite climate fiction novels.
• 8 important books about climate activists.
• 9 books to inspire budding environmentalists.

Hyper-Specific Mysteries & Thrillers

• 5 literary mysteries set in coastal Massachusetts.
• 6 mysteries featuring linguistic puzzles.
• Essential reading for the Bigfoot-curious.
• 9 must-read space-faring mysteries.
• 6 thrillers set on planes and trains.
• 8 influencer thrillers that show not all glitters is gold.
• 6 thrilling spy romances.
• Mysteries and true crime books that feature museums.