I just finished Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym, and next up, I'm excited to dive into The Stand-In by Lily Chu and The Undead Truth of Us by Britney Lewis. Must Love Books is about the unglamorous side of publishing, realizing dream jobs are a lie, and figuring out how to be happy. Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less: Must Love Books (Sourcebooks), her debut novel, is about an editorial assistant at a publishing company who starts working for a rival publisher to make ends meet, and falls for an author no one can afford to lose. An introvert at heart, Robinson spends most of her time reading, baking and figuring out the politest way to avoid social interaction. Originally from San Diego, she now lives in Virginia with her husband and their sleepy greyhound.

Shauna Robinson's love of books led her to try a career in publishing before deciding she'd rather write books instead. Shelf Awareness called Infinite Hope 'a striking exhibition of a master artist and national treasure.' Thanks to the uplifting and inspiring body of work Ashley Bryan leaves behind, generations of children will be able to benefit from his everlasting and infectious message of love and joy. His family has established the Ashley Bryan Center to continue his legacy. Through his artwork he preserved his indomitable spirit during a soul-crushing period. When he died on February 4 at the age of 98, Ashley Bryan had lived through nearly a century of challenging times, including enduring World War II with its huge casualties and racist policies, which he wrote about in Infinite Hope. Made of shells and driftwood from the beaches of his beloved Little Cranberry Island (Islesford, Maine), scraps of fabric, stray buttons and bits of yarn, they commanded respect and attention from children everywhere, memorialized in Ashley Bryan's Puppets (Atheneum, $19.99). His handmade puppets took on a regal quality. Sunlight streams through his delicate watercolors, in the pages of Beautiful Blackbird (winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Atheneum, $19.99) and Can't Scare Me (Atheneum, $16.99), whether he was recounting an elegy or a folktale brimming with humor.

Literacy-both textual and visual-was the passion he preached, in the most loving, uplifting way. He loved Shakespeare and Nikki Giovanni and Eloise Greenfield-especially her poem 'Things.' He didn't recite so much as sing the lines of poetry he shared, and with children, he always held out the book-even though he knew every word by heart-so they would make the connection between the phrases he spoke and the words on the page. If you've never heard him recite 'My People' by Langston Hughes, listen here. Beloved children's book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan embodied joy.

Must love books by shauna robinson