Calling all Reprobates—meet me immediately at Lapis Lazuli House for an important announcement!

The ebooks of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower are now available in Marketplace and ready to add to your library’s collection!

Now, if you’re confused by this talk you’ve been hearing of Reprobates and Whereabouts Lane or the neighborhood of St. Crispian’s, this is the moment for you to embrace the delightful phenomenon that is Emma M. Lion. Started as a self-published series in 2019 by Beth Brower, this series, now up to 8 books with a 9^th announced for February 23, has sold over one million copies. Dreamscape Audio released the entire series so far on audio last year, and they proved to be a huge hit with library patrons. Well, now Penguin Random House has acquired the paperback and ebooks rights to the series, which means Volumes 1-8 are available for purchase in Marketplace, and Volume 9 is available for preorder.

But what’s the big deal? Why are folks going so crazy for this series? It’s hard to explain, and the short answer is that these are the most charming books I’ve ever read. The straightforward answer is Emma Lion is a plucky Victorian orphan who is just coming into her inheritance, and she is surrounded by a most amusing group of friends. But neither of those explanations quite capture the Jane Austen-y, Bridget Jones-ish, Dickens at his funniest delight of these novels written as journal entries.

So, if you love books with a strong narrative voice and supremely likable characters, these are the books for you. If you like novels with a quirky style, these are perfect. If you embrace found families, laughing out loud, and rooting for good people, pick these up. And if you adore books that love books, overflowing with references to Jane Eyre, Julius Caesar, and Latin Phrases for the Unrepentant (that last one might not be real), then you can do no better than to start The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion today!

• Shop the Emma M. Lion ebooks in Marketplace
• Preorder the Volume 9 ebook in Marketplace
• Shop the Emma M. Lion audiobooks in Marketplace
• Shop the If You Love Emma M. Lion list in Marketplace

About the author

Shelia did everything from answering questions at the Reference Desk to tech training to running a classic lit book club in her 17 years in public libraries. Now she helps other public libraries make the most of their OverDrive collections. In her spare time, she’s either writing or reading, usually with an opera playing in the background. If you ever run into her, ask Shelia about #WITMonth.