On the latest episode of Beyond the Shelves, Jes and Sarah discuss Book Chat, a reader's advisory service at the Des Moines Public Library. They talk about how to use it, why it's helpful, how they assign Book Chat requests, and more. Plus, an extra long Book Bulletin where we run through some of the controversies and news in the literary world.

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What Jes and Sarah are Reading

• The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang
• Funny Story, by Emily Henry
• Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
• Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang
• If You'll Have Me, by Eunnie
• The True Love Experiment, by Christian Lauren
• Winter's Orbit, by Everina Maxwell

 

Book Bulletin

• Nora Roberts takes on some of her readers in a blog post
• Readers Take Denver was a disaster
  • Note: In the time since this was recorded, they have canceled the 2025 Readers Take Denver event)
• PEN American cancels 2024 Award Ceremony
• The Freydís Moon author scandal
• 5 major book publishers suing state of Iowa over book banning