Katie’s parents never told her “no” when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she’s not at work, she’s at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves.

Twitter: @kt_librarylady

View All posts by Katie McLain Horner

In this world of rapidly breaking news, it can be hard to find time to reflect on the bigger picture. What do all of these updates mean for the library profession at large? What do they say about the future? Is there actually cause for concern, or are we making mountains out of molehills? Right now, publishing is asking itself a lot of questions, so here are a few questions for library employees to ponder.

We’re putting together a resource guide about reading diversely in 2025, and you can help by taking this survey! Let us know what questions you have about reading diversely, and we’ll answer them in a new series.

What Are the Risks and Rewards of Fast Books on Big News?

This article was written primarily about the “mushroom trial” of Australian woman Erin Patterson, who was accused (and found guilty on July 7th) of poisoning three family members with death-cap mushrooms. Two books about the trial have already been announced, one of which was announced within 24 hours of her guilty verdict. True crime is already a highly sensationalized genre, so these book announcements aren’t surprising, but what’s gained by rushing these books to print (other than money for the publishers)? I’m also reminded of the recent announcement that James Patterson will co-write a book about Luigi Mangione, the United Healthcare assassin, whose case hasn’t even gone to trial yet. I know James Patterson knows a thing or two about churning out books, but even this announcement seems premature. And for me as a reader, I much prefer it when an author has had time to do a deep dive into a subject, a la John Carreyrou writing Bad Blood.

Should Supreme Court Justices Make Money From Book Deals?

This question has been asked a lot, but has been asked most recently after it was announced that Justice Samuel Alito just signed a new book deal with Hachette. Of course, Alito is not the only justice who has made money from book deals, but when over half of the Supreme Court has at least one published book, the appearance of impartiality becomes a lot more clouded. And considering how many hot-topic court cases involve publishers and authors (censorship, AI, etc.), that question of impartiality becomes a much bigger deal.

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What SFF Tropes Need to Be Reworked?

Okay, here’s a fun one to end the post: 17 SFF authors were asked about their favorite tropes, and which ones could be reimagined. I’m not a big SFF reader myself, but I love reading about genres and inner genre workings, even the ones I don’t gravitate towards. So what do you think? What’s working for speculative fiction, and what could use some new life? (And btw, Chuck Tingle’s answer for the reimagined trope is hilarious.)