Our regularly scheduled episode of Beyond the Shelves is a little bit delayed, but we have a special episode for you while you wait! On May 14, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi and The Tapestry of Fate author Shannon Chakraborty took part in our annual Authors Visiting in Des Moines series. This is a recording of that appearance. The program was moderated by author and library employee Linden Thompson.

In this episode of Beyond The Shelves Jes and Sarah host a book club for Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim and discuss some book news ranging from a controversial trademark to AI narrations and a rage bait article coming out of the UK.

What we're reading

Darling Daffodils Farm Brittanée Nicole

Crash Test Amy James

No Friend to this House Natalie Haynes

Take a Chance, Sasha Sinclair Ashley Herring Blake

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter Stephen Graham Jones

Girl's Girl Sonia Feldman

To Be Read (TBR)

The Unicorn Hunters Katherine Arden

Meals You Can't Mess Up Shay Spence

The Disappointment Scott Broker

Under Story Chloe Benjamin

Book Club: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim

What is Sublimation about? When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home. Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral. She doesn't know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life. How far would you go to live the choice you didn't make?

Book Bulletin

Anthony Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ted Lasso Actor, Dies

'Hot Girls Read' Trademark Sparks Intense BookTok Controversy

Romantasy in the UK – Bad Girl books

Two websites restrict reviews of JD Vance's book after savage critiques

Michael Caine's AI-Generated Voice to Narrate 'The Odyssey' Audiobook Ahead of Christopher Nolan's Movie

In this episode of Beyond the Shelves, the hosts talk about city budget cuts, share their latest can't‑put‑down reads, and dive into the wild world of librarians in pop culture. It's equal parts advocacy, book love, and pure millennial nostalgia. Tune in for laughs, library pride, and a reminder of why stories (and librarians) matter.

What we're reading

• Canon by Page Lewis
• We Hexed the Moon by Mollyhall Seeley
• Here we go Again by Alison Cochrun
• Moonrising by Claire Barner

To Be Read (TBR)

• Nerve damage by Annakeara Stinson
• Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
• Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
• One Day, everyone will have always been against this by Omar El Akkad

Pop culture Librarians

• Tammy 2 from Parks and Rec (17:41)
• The Loud Librarian from Nickelodeon's All That (20:01)
• Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (22:20)
• Evelyn Carnahan from The Mummy Series (26:06)
• Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl AKA Oracle. (30:09)
• Flynn Carsen from The Librarians (33:36)

Book Bulletin

• 'Pretty Little Liars' EBook Changes Have the Internet Fuming: 'Should I DNF?'
• Let's Stop Comparing 'Off Campus' & 'Heated Rivalry'
• Deeper reading insights unlocked: Rakuten Kobo and StoryGraph announce integration
• Got an Old Kindle? It Might Not Work Anymore. Here's What to Do.

A lively, book‑packed conversation with special guest Jen from the Franklin Avenue Library as they dive into what they're reading, the hottest upcoming releases, and, most importantly, the inside scoop on this year's Summer Reading Program. From murder mysteries at 30,000 feet to adorable fantasy graphic novels and the power of preventing the summer slide, this episode celebrates stories, community, and the joy of getting books into kids' hands all summer long.

SHOW NOTES

What We're Reading

• Rites of the Starling by Deveny Perry
• The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty
• Famesick by Lena Dunham
• Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein
• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
• Murder at 30,000 Feet by Susan Walter
• Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa
• American Fantasy by Emma Straub

Exciting New Releases

• The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren
• Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle
• Girls Girl by Sonia Feldman
• The Princess Diaries: The Graphic Novel by Meg Cabot
• The Second Life of Snap by Erin Entrada Kelly
• Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister

Read with Me book recommendation:

• Doggy Dance Off by Steve Smallman

Readers Book Recommendation:

• The Spirit Glass by Roshani Chokshi (middle grade)
• The Champions by Kara Thomas (teen)
• Snow Globe by Soyoung Park (teen)

Book Bulletin

• Amazon pulls support for older Kindles
• New Empyryean book – not book 4
• Beach Read Casting

In this episode of Beyond the Shelves, hosts Sarah and Jes kick things off with a lively conversation about what they've been reading lately and the spring publishing season's standout titles. Along the way they craft thoughtful cookbook–novel pairings built around themes like memory, heritage, legacy, flavor, and identity. Watch this episode on Youtube

What We're Reading

• Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley
• Adult Braces by Lindy West
• Gunk by Saba Sams
• The Children by Melissa Albert

Exciting new releases

• The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty
• By the Bootstraps by Alexa Martin
• American Spirits by Anna Dorn
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
• Yesteryear by Cara Claire Burke

Cookbooks and Novels

• Praisesong for the kitchen ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson
• The Kamogawa food detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
• Butter by Asako Yuzuki
• The Butter Book by Anna Stockwell
• Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
• Cook Once Eat Twice by Nadiya Hussain
• The legendary frybread drive in by Intertribal stories
• Turtle Island: foods and traditions of the indigenous peoples of North America by Sean Sherman
• Maydan by Rose Previte
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
• The particular sadness of lemon cake by Aimee Bender
• Dorie's anytime Cakes by Dorie Greeenspan

Book Bulletin

• Release Dates for Next 2 'ACOTAR' Books Revealed by Sarah J. Maas
• New! Did Not Finish Shelf is On Its Way
• A.I. Is Writing Fiction. Publishers Are Unprepared.

In this lively episode of Beyond the Shelves, the hosts dive deep into Wuthering Heights—the novel, the new film adaptation, and the passionate discourse surrounding both. After a quick roundup of upcoming author events and current reads, the conversation shifts to Emily Brontë's legacy, the novel's complicated publication history, and why this famously chaotic story continues to captivate readers nearly 200 years later.

SHOW NOTES

What We're Reading

• Evil Genius by Claire Ohshetsky (also mentioned Chouette by Claire Ohshetsky)
• Heap Earth Upon It by Chole Michele Howarth
• Tough Guy by Rachel Reid
• The Fine Print by Lauren Asher
• Shield of Sparrows by Deveny Perry

To Be Read

• The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
• The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali
• If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
• You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It by Lisa Rinna
• Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
• Roots of Darkness by Demi Winters
• Dawn of the North by Demi Winters
• This Kingdom will not Kill me by Ilona Andrews

Wuthering Heights Links:

• Emily Brontë in Her Smut Era: The Romance Rebranding of "Wuthering Heights" by Shawna Lipton
• Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights is a Deranged, Half-Assed Bodice-Ripper That Entirely Misses the Point

Book Bulletin

• Spotify Partners With Bookshop.org and Debuts Page Match Feature to Bridge Physical, E-book, and Audio Formats
• Can AI Chatbots Write Emotional Rich Romances?
• Nationwide Book Banning bill introduced
• Iowa Library Association Bill Tracker
• Man breaks up with woman due to library card
• American Girl, Samantha: The Next Chapter

This month on Beyond the Shelves, Sarah and Jes unpack the idea of "third spaces" why we crave them, why they're disappearing, and how libraries have stepped in to fill the gap. Stick around for the Book Bulletin, where they unpack everything from LGBTQ+ publishing setbacks to Shakespearean fan fiction, Bridgerton‑era romance trends, and the wild saga of a possibly‑AI‑written novel.

SHOW NOTES

What We're Reading

• Back after this by Linda Holmes
• Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
• Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

To Be Read

• In the veins of the drowning by Kalie Cassidy
• Big in Sweden by Sally Franson
• Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
• The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss

Books on Third Spaces

• The great good place by Ray Oldenburg
• Palaces of the People by Eric Klinenberg
• The Overlooked Americans by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett
• Meet me at the library by Shamichael Hallman
• Arbitrary Lines by Nolan M. Gray (zoning laws)
• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (redlining)
• Walkable City by Jeff Speck
• Why public space matters by Setha Low
• Finding your third space by Richard Kyte
• The death and life of the great American cities by Jane Jacobs

Book Bulletin

• Publishers are stepping back from LGBTQ books amid bans
• Hamnet = Shakespeare fanfiction?
• Julia Quinn launching romance book subscription service

In this episode of Beyond the Shelves, Sarah and Jes discuss the 2026 reading challenge, recomend books to complete your bingo board, and in the book bulletin, talk about the hit series Heated Rivalry on HBO.

Learn more about the reading challenge here

Watch the video on Youtube

SHOW NOTES

What We're Reading

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Discontent by Beatriz Serrano

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Game Changer by Rachel Reid

The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk

Big Reads of 2026

American Fantasy by Emma Straub

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

No Friend To This House by Natalie Haynes

Reading Challenge

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

Exiles by Mason Coile

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

The Colony by Annika Norlin

Always Never by Jordi Lafebre

The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

All Of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles

In this episode, Sarah and Jes discuss the best books of the year, great books to give as gifts, the most checked out items at DMPL, and the librarians personal favorite books they read in 2025. Learn more below:

Show Notes

What we are reading

Jes:

On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Sarah:

Just Our Luck by Denise Williams,

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Best Bets (good gifts)

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz,

The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad,

The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy―and Why it Failed by Brad Meltzer and Joel Mensch,

How to Be a Saint: An Extremely Weird and Mildly Sacrilegious History of the Catholic Church's Biggest Names by Kate Sidley

Best of the Year Lists Books

1. Heart the Lover by Lily King

2. Audition by Katie Kitamura

3. Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

4. Katabasis by R.F Kuang

5. Mother Mary Comes to me by Arundhati Roy

6. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

7. A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland

8. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

9. Baldwin by Nicolas Boggs

10. Flesh by David Szalay

Top Checked Out

1. The Wedding People by Alison Espach

2. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

3. Strangers in Time by Baldacci by David Baldacci

4. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

5. Great, Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

6. James by Percival Everett

7. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

8. Dog Man: Big Jim Begins and Dog Man: The Scarlet Shredder by Dav Pilkey

9. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Top DVDs

1. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
2. Wicked
3. Conclave

Jes' Top Ten

1. Woodworking by Emily St. James

2. Poet's Square by Courtney Gustafson

3. Heart the Lover by Lily King

4. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

5. Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

6. Audition by Katie Kitamura

7. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

8. Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan

9. Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

10. Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Sarah's Top Ten

1. A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

2. Who is Government edited by Michael Lewis and Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

3. The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

4. The Shots you Take by Rachel Reid

5. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

6. Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

7. Muted by Miranda Mundt

8. The River has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

9. Everyone Who is Gone is Here by Jonathan Blitzer

10. Heir by Sabaa Tahir

Random Books

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Links

No Lovers on These Covers https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/books/review/831-stories-romance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E8.jA9U.hHjLV3tspEo8&smid=url-share&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

It's Time To Put The "Where Are All The Male Novelists?" Debate To Bed https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/vanishing-young-male-novelists-debate

The Guardian view on the Booker prize winner: putting masculinity back at the centre of literary fiction https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/14/the-guardian-view-on-the-booker-prize-winner-putting-masculinity-back-at-the-centre-of-literary-fiction

Join us for our first video episode as we explore books celebrating nature and the environment! From Mary Oliver's contemplative essays to fungi's hidden intelligence, we discuss how the natural world intersects with our lives. Plus: library neighborhoods explained, garlic-scented books (!), and Reading Rainbow's triumphant return with a new host.

• Upstream by Mary Oliver
• The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlinger
• Fuzz by Mary Roach
• Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
• Leave Only Footprints by Connor Knighton
• Something in the Woods Loves You by Jared K. Anderson

• Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
• Bog Queen by Anna North
• Flip by Ngozi Ukazu
• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Heart the Lover by Lily King

• Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Keefer
• Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor
• All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles
• Little Woodchucks by Nick Offerman
• Soul Searching by Lila Sage