Unshelve With Help from RA For All & The Best Books of 2026, So Far

On Tuesday, Becky Spratford featured The Best Books of 2026, So Far from the New York Times on her blog, RA for All. 

On Tuesday April 28, Becky Spratford featured The Best Books of 2026, So Far from the New York Times on her blog, RA for All. I recommend that you and your colleagues read through Becky’s blog post.  In it, she discusses how the NYT book section is focusing on prioritizing the reader and what would appeal to readers like our patrons.

There is nothing to add to Becky’s analysis. However, I would suggest that you look over the NYT list after you read the blog post. The titles of the various sections will make great titles for book displays. Several examples - I want a lush historical novel about sisterhood, I want a fresh perspective on familiar history, I want a rivals-to-lovers road trip romance, and I love absorbing biographies that bring icons to life – can likely be filled with titles from your collection. Check for read-alikes for the exact titles on their list but don’t worry about expanding your selections far from what the Times has listed; the display is to market your collection, not to mirror the Times article exactly.

I love the idea of just taking “I love” or “I want” and creating a series of displays to run over a month or so in a library. You can see what the Times has listed but then create your own. There are plenty of tropes and plot points that you can select which will draw attention to your backlist. Something like “I want a new twist on vampires” would have plenty of recent examples such as The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, and Nestlings by Nat Cassidy.

 

 

Unshelve Using BookCon 2026

 

BookCon 2026 has ended but it did leave us with some ideas for marketing library collections to readers. (There were also many instances of ARC related poor behavior. See here, here, and here for more information about that.) When a big book related event happens, use it to create displays and online lists.

Take aways? Dystopian fiction and romantasy remain popular. Swag is also something that readers enjoy so keep putting out bookmarks and perhaps investigate making buttons or other items patrons can collect. Adaptations of books were also discussed.

Use the bestselling authors who attracted the most attention to draw attention to hidden gems in your collection by doing read-alike book displays and lists. Find authors, titles, and series that those who enjoyed the very popular titles.

Some news from BookCon includes:

BookCon 2026 Proved There’s an Appetite for More Diversity in Black Romance Reads – From Ebony 
Includes Cannon Reads, ‘90’s Nostalgia, Modern Love, and Upcoming Spring and Summer Releases

New 'Divergent', Dungeon Crawler Carl and dizzying crowds mark BookCon's 2026 return – From USA Today

What is the best book-to-screen adaptation? Authors reveal their favorites. – From USA Today

BookCon Guests and Panelists

New Veronica Roth and R.F. Kuang Novels, Rachel Reid Dishes with Jacob Tierney and Other Biggest BookCon 2026 Bombshells – From People

BookCon Returns After Six-Year Break: Event Organizer on Reservation Rush, Boycott Response and Romantasy Reader Demand – From Variety

r/BookCon – From Reddit

Unshelved Book Review - It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

 My review of Cynthia Pelayo's It Came from Neverland was posted on LibraryJournal.com. 

You can find the review here. My other reviews for Library Journal are available on their site. 

I gave It Came from Neverland a well-deserved star. 

My Goodreads version of the review is below.

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Notes for pending Library Journal Review.

In WWI era London, Wendy Darling struggles to get through each day, residing in her family home and working in the orphanage where she stayed after leaving the hospital. Her parents put here there when she and her brothers returned after being reported missing for three days. The real world horrors of a war which is at its beginning hang over the novel. Kensington Gardens is the center of many missing children. Wendy was not believed and her placement in the orphanage led to her estrangement from her brothers, John and Michael.
The Darling children were told to push their visit to Neverland down and not speak of it. The idea that trauma will go away if ignored is used by Pelayo to demonstrate that this tactic will only lead to the past feeding on hope, promise, and joy. Neverland and Peter are not as they are described in the storybooks as both have a hidden side. While she survived, Wendy lives in the past and in her stories. In Pelayo’s telling, stories are a way to navigate the past and its trauma.
Hints of the past are revealed slowly using alternating timelines. This allows for the perspective of Wendy from her childhood as well as her two brothers to be included. The tension and fear rise slowly in the novel and readers will be compelled to read further even as every shadow and noise in the dark becomes more menacing.

Wendy begins to see signs that Peter is returning and that the children of the orphanage are in danger. She and her brothers reunite to attempt to rescue a girl who has gone missing, like so many before her. However, they may not be strong enough to face their fears and trauma which lay hidden and unexplored for so long.

Beautifully written, terrifying, and filled with horrors both fairytale and real.

View all my reviews

Some of what we are unshelving at my library

Here are some of the book displays we have featured in my library! I hope you can find some inspiration for your own displays. We use a schedule and have a wide variety of staff volunteering to set up a display. 

Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare:

Now Trending: BookTok Made Me Read it

Cli-Fi Books For Earth Day

Cookbooks (This is easy for anyone to fill in when they see a gap and different staff will select different titles.)

Movie Night (Movies for kids in the main aisle of our library)

Don't Judge a Book By The Movie

Let Them Eat Cake: Cookbooks for Those With A Sweet Tooth

Unshelved Book Review - Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison

Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rachel Harrison has once again used her magic to create a book with terror and humor while also being very rooted in the human experience, particularly that of young women. Willa has broken up with her long-term fiancé, Ravi. She is questioning herself about whether or not she did the right thing while bracing herself for seeing him again at their college friends' wedding. She makes it upstate to the wedding only to have it end in death and misery when a slasher crashes the wedding. Willa wakes up and repeats the day, over and over, with different but still horrifying endings.

What could be a wedding horror story with the clever twist of a time loop becomes an examination of uncertainty, anxiety, and the need to replay the past in our heads, wondering if we could have changed it. Doubting ourselves and taking the easiest path can lead to as much disaster as taking a risk and maybe making a mistake. In the midst of all of the emotion and horror, is a reminder that life is worth living.

The book is fast paced and suspenseful as Willa and her friends face increasingly high stakes. The characters are well-developed and bring their own joy, love, insecurities, and fears to what should be the happiest day in a young couple's life. As with all of Rachel Harrison's books, you will miss them when the book ends.

View all my reviews

Unshelve Your Collection - Using Celebrity Picks

One constant is that readers enjoy celebrity reading picks. We can see this every time someone like Taylor Swift is seen with a book under her arm. I have had great success with celebrity reading focused book displays. Bill Gates and President Obama are two people who come out with annual lists. When Gates recommended a book on the history of shipping containers I put it on a displays and it was checked out the first day.

You can find lists by searching for [celebrity name] reading list , favorite books, or reading recommendations. For a different take on this idea, you can create a display inspired by a particular album, artist, movie, or song. Use the title "Reading with [celebrity name] and put up those books along with titles you have that feature that actor, musician, or author. 

Here are some lists to get you started! If you create a display, I would love to see it. Tag me on social media or email me!

Billy Porter Shares His 6 Favorite Reads — Including This Viral Self-Help Book

Radical Reads: Celebrity Book Recommendations

Celeb Book Recs

celebrities with great reading lists?

20 Great Celebrity Book Recommendations

Amazon Book Review - Celebrity Picks

Listopia > books taylor swift has mentioned

What books do we know Taylor has read and liked?

Bad Bunny Reading List

 Listopia > Beyoncé Cowboy Carter Reading List

Pedro Pascal's Favorite Books Just Proves This Man Has Impeccable Taste

12 Celebrity Book Recommendations

Celebrities Who Read Diversely and The Books They Recommend

The Shameless Book Club: Jacob Elordi 

Pop Star Picks: Books, TV & Films Recommended By Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Zendaya & More

Book Recommendations from Celebrities

Unshelve Your Collection - Using Upcoming Books to Draw Attention to Your Backlist

 Book Riot sends out a newsletter devoted to horror called The Fright Stuff. The Friday, April 3 edition was titled "Scream-Worthy New Horror Books Coming Out in April 2026." Included were titles like: 

• Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman (Titan, April 7) You can see my starred review here.
• Morsel by Carter Keane (Tor Nightfire, April 14)
• The Take by Kelly Yang (Berkley, April 14) 
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Hanover Square, April 14) 
• May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky (Little, Brown Books, April 21)
• The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer (Atria, April 21)
• Molka by Monika Kim (Erewhon, April 28) You can see my starred review here

Take a page from Concord, NH’s great indie bookstore, Gibson’s! Set up a display or bulletin board with covers from upcoming titles. Add a QR code with a link to your catalog where the patron can place a hold. Add read-alikes from your collection to the display. 

Never assume that all of your patrons know about even basic library services like placing a hold. You can mirror this display online and include a link to the catalog. 

Borrow ideas from newsletters and publisher’s marketing emails and use them to help market your backlist.