Personally, the last thing I want from a restaurant is the “experiential.” 😆 Waiter, can’t you see we’re talking here? The fewer interruptions, the better.

What ‘The Pitt’ Gets Right (and Wrong) About ‘Pittsburghese’ Star Katherine LaNasa might not be a born-and-bred Yinzer, but she gets much of that unique accent right. It's not easy.

Today’s welcome giggles came from going down the rabbit hole of fans having fun with LaNesa’s immortal “baby jane doe.” Honestly, do a search of Reels, TikTok, Instagram, wherever.

www.indiewire.com/features/int...

“It’s the kind of book, down with which, readers will not put!” 😆

quoteinvestigator.com/2012/07/04/c...

Very much the same over-reliance is happening is contemporary fiction, too. It’s losing all freshness. I know these techniques have their fans/comforts, but if editors are INSISTING on this (!?) then they really need to step back and let artists explore other approaches.

Show Up for Our Libraries Join us and Show Up #ForOurLibraries.

Tell your Senators to sign on to hashtag #FundLibraries in next year's federal budget. Your voice can make a difference: We need every advocate to speak out!
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/show-up-for-our-libraries

There ought to be a form of leave one could take. A Federal Readers Leave Act? (FRLA)?

The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody

We are honored to announce the 2026 #ALA_Carnegie winners:

🥇#Nonfiction: Yiyun Li, THINGS IN NATURE MERLY GROW

🥇#Fiction: Megha Majumdar, A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF

Congratulations to our winners and publishers, @macmillanlib.bsky.social and @prhlibrary.bsky.social🎉

Read more: https://bit.ly/46gpBfU

Level Up Your Cooking with RUSA's 2026 CODES Essential Cookbooks List released today at rusaupdate.org/2026/01/essential-cookbo...

2026 Notable Books List Announced: Year’s Best in Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry CHICAGO- The Notable Books Council, first established in 1944, has released the 2026 selections of the Notable Books List, an annual best-of list comprised of twenty six titles written for adult re…

Notable Books is another great awards list: congratulations to all!

rusaupdate.org/2026/01/2026...

Some of my very favorite book awards get announced today. The Reading List is a great resource for genre fiction. Congratulations to the authors and to the librarians who did SO much reading! 📚

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

This is so lovely to see. Becky is a powerful - and effective - advocate for reading. Hooray! 🎉

Sometimes a novel just pulls me in with its pure, immersive storytelling and WOODWORKING by Emily St. James (Crooked Media Reads) was like that. I loved the characters and their relationships like a TV show I wanted to keep going. I got the best responses from recommending this.

#LibFaves25 Day 10

THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), with its shocking story of personal loss, is one of the bravest memoirs - make that books - I have ever read. I savored the way she eviscerates the cliches of grief. Her dedication to truth is beautiful.

#LibFaves25 Day 9

Book cover of Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

RAISING HARE: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton (Pantheon) is a touching story about rescuing a wild leveret, and the level of craft to the writing really stuns. Dalton is incredibly careful and humane and insightful. I would read anything (fiction or non) she chooses to write about next.

#LibFaves25 Day 8

Shout-out for the beautiful audio production narrated by the great J. Smith-Cameron.

Book cover of PERFECTION by Vincenzo Latronico

PERFECTION by Vincenzo Latronico (New York Review Books), a retelling of G. Perec’s Things, is a fascinating portrait of an ex-pat young couple working in web design and pursuing all the cool things in lifestyle yet somehow never having a life. It’s almost horror w/o being horror.

#LibFaves25 Day 7

FLESH by David Szalay (Scribner) is disturbing but gripping. I have been haunted since I read it by the enigmatic nature of the central character who rarely says more than “OK.” I love the way it leans into fiction’s unique ambiguities. (Adapting it for the screen would ruin it.)

#LibFaves25 Day 6

I’ve been a fan of Daniel Kehlmann for years but I wasn’t prepared for how much THE DIRECTOR (S&S/Summit Books) speaks to our times. It’s uncanny. Plus the novel is so inventive and satisfying. It’s been fun watching readers slowly come around to it at last.

#LibFaves25 Day 5

I didn’t know if I would like it but it was very satisfying.

(This is why you don’t put your titles in alphabetical order (😂) but I am so glad I just realized this was missing from my reading log.)

I took a chance on BAD BAD GIRL by Gish Jen (Knopf), never having read the author before, and this book became an instant favorite. Totally by chance, mother/daughter relationships were a big theme in my reading this year. It also tells a classic immigration story. It’s wonderful!

#LibFaves25 Day 4

Matthew, I can’t wait to see your final 10. I always look forward to your reviews!

DARK RENAISSANCE by Stephen Greenblatt (W. W. Norton & Co.) is a fascinating bio of Christopher Marlowe and a memorable portrait of the Elizabethan era. I was once again blown away by what Greenblatt can accomplish with the fragmentary historical record.

#LibFaves25 Day 3

I had sworn off dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction but AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom) tempted me through my love of robot characters and grew on me the more I read it. I have had a lot of success recommending this one. Yes, you will want noodles when you are done.

#LibFaves25 Day 2

I picked up ACTRESS OF A CERTAIN AGE / Jeff Hiller (Simon & Schuster) because I adore Jeff’s work on TV’s Somebody Somewhere. His memoir is clever, funny, self-mocking and just delightful.

#LibFaves25 Day 1

The annual LibFaves countdown is going on where librarians share their favorite reads of the year, and I have some catching up to do. Will post my top 10 in alphabetical order by title, but I am not done reading 2025 books and there were many more I wanted to include! #LibFaves25

Attention library staff everywhere! We’re nearing the end of the year, so you know what time it is: Library faves kicks off in ONE WEEK, December 8th!! Count down your 📚 10 favorite books 📚 published in 2025, 1 per day, through 12/17. TITLE in caps, tag #LibFaves25. Can’t wait to see your picks!

It's that special time of the year... CPL's 2025 Best of Best lists are here! Best of Best compiles 2025's top reads for kids, teens and adults.

Check the thread below to see CPL staff's top 10 favorite books. #CPLBest📚🏆

View the rest of the lists: chipublib.org/bestofthebest