Los Angeles is a sprawling city with a range of geographic, economic, and social variables, and the wildfires that affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area in January were a demonstration of that diversity, with the area’s three main library systems—Los Angeles Public Library, LA County Library, and Altadena Library District—impacted by the fires to very different degrees.
Stan Sakai is the creator of “Usagi Yojimbo,” a graphic novel series featuring a samurai rabbit named Miyamoto Usagi living in 17th-century Japan; the new installment, Space Usagi: White Star Rising, is due out from Dark Horse in May. LJ talks with Sakai about samurai warriors, blending genres, and his enduring career.
Biker mice from Mars, a mysterious manuscript that can control the world, and a space-traveling samurai rabbit all play out in the creatively vibrant pages of graphic works this season, filling collections with innovation and engagement.
Caitlin Starling is the bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence, Last To Leave the Room, and the Bram Stoker–nominated The Luminous Dead. Her upcoming novels The Starving Saints and The Graceview Patient epitomize her love of genre-hopping horror, like her other works spanning besieged castles, alien caves, and haunted hospitals. Here, Starling discusses her latest book, medieval horror, and complicated women protagonists.
As the needs of employers are constantly changing, job seekers and current professionals need upskilling resources that can keep pace with these rapid changes. With Gale Presents: Udemy, libraries can provide access to thousands of high-quality, on-demand online courses for in cutting-edge skills related to business, technology, leadership, and personal development.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by James Patterson and Candice Fox, Marie Bostwick, Nancy Thayer, and Sarah Damoff. People’s book of the week is Atavists: Stories by Lydia Millet. Brenda Peynado wins the Philip K. Dick Award for her novel Time’s Agent; a special citation was given to Adrian Tchaikovsky for his novel Alien Clay. infoDOCKET shares details on OCLC’s lawsuit against Baker & Taylor. Isaac Marion is adapting his forthcoming novel The Overnoise as a feature film. Remembrances pour in for Pope Francis, who has died at the age of 88.
“We are able to pivot and switch so quickly to support our communities.”
Winners of the Publishing Triangle Awards for LGBTQIA+ books are revealed. NYPL announces the finalists for the Young Lions Fiction Award. A lawsuit filed against the Rutherford County Board of Education by the ACLU of Tennessee aims to stop book bans in the county’s school libraries. Mystery writer Peter Lovesey has died at age 88. Plus, Page to Screen and new books from Dolly Parton and Scorsese collaborator Robbie Robertson.
Last year, John Wilkin shared his essay Lyrasis in a Landscape of Radical Interdependence where he discussed the interdependence of libraries, archives and museums, and how Lyrasis is uniquely positioned to provide the connective tissue between them.
Nominees for the Aurora Awards, for SFF and horror works by Canadian authors, are revealed. A number of authors are named to TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2025. The Libertarian Futurist Society announces the finalists for the Best Novel category of the Prometheus Awards. The 2025 Writers’ Trust of Canada Rising Stars are announced. Publishers Weekly talks to IMLS staffers who are worried about the cuts to the agency. Book subscription services are moving into publishing their own titles as well. Plus new title bestsellers and forthcoming books from Priscilla Presley and Zosia Mamet.
“The Great Spring Preview” arrives from The Millions. May’s LibraryReads list is out, featuring top pick The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers, with Alex Kiester. The Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellows are announced. The Aurealis Awards shortlist and finalists for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards are announced. U.S. Army libraries are ordered to remove books with a focus on DEI. Seven Stories Press has acquired Two Dollar Radio. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for this week’s top holds title, Strangers in Time by David Baldacci. Plus, adaptations are in the works for Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan books, Will Leitch’s Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride, and Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House.
The Havana Syndrome, by Jeffrey James Higgins, is a starred mystery. "Higgins’s (The Forever Game) pulse-pounding political thriller is a must-read for fans of Vince Flynn and Lee Child. Based on events in the news, it is thought-provoking, scary, and hugely entertaining." Roll for Romance, by Lenora Woods, is a starred romance. "This lighthearted romance has just enough D&D to delight role-players and also welcome unfamiliar readers. Romance fans will be drawn to the growing friendships and blossoming love interest that will keep them engaged from start to finish. A natural 20 on both story and sizzle." And in horror, Caitlin Starling's The Starving Saints is a starred selection. "A brilliantly constructed and thoroughly unnerving fever dream that Starling’s fans will gulp down. It will also appeal to readers nestled in the space where Brom’s Slewfoot, Agustina Bazterrica’s The Unworthy, and Nick Cutter’s The Queen overlap."
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