News and Views

Midwest Tape is a full service DVD, music CD, and audiobook distributor,conducting business exclusively with public libraries since 1989. Because customer service is our top priority, we’ve launched News and Views, a blog dedicated to presenting you with newsworthy information and updates. You can always access our blog through the Midwest Tape homepage, or you can subscribe to News and Views through our RSS Feed. So stay tuned for upcoming posts. We look forward to your comments!

Monday, March 28, 2022

Hot This Week: March 28

Check out this week's lists!

Movies

The Matrix Resurrections (Blu-ray | 4K)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Blu-ray | 4K)
House of Gucci (Blu-ray)
The King's Man (Blu-ray | 4K)
American Underdog (Blu-ray)
The 355 (Blu-ray)
Marvel's Eternals (Blu-ray)
Clifford the Big Red Dog (Blu-ray)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Blu-ray | 4K)
Old (Blu-ray | 4K)

Music

Ghost, Impera
Encanto Soundtrack
Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
Rex Orange County, Who Cares?
The Weeknd, The Highlights
For King & Country, What Are We Waiting For?
Doja Cat, Planet Her
Olivia Rodrigo, Sour
Nirvana, Nevermind
Lil Baby, My Turn

Fiction

The Match, Harlan Coben (PA | eB24M)
Shadows Reel, C.J. Box (ABP | eB12M | eB24M)
The Paris Apartment, Lucy Foley (ABP | eB26C)
One Italian Summer, Rebecca Serle (AB24M | eB24M)
The Lightning Rod, Brad Meltzer (PA | ABP | eB26C)
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
The Atlas Six, Olivie Blake (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
The Book of Cold Cases, Simone St. James (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
High Stakes, Danielle Steel (PA | ABP | eB12M | eB24M)
The Club, Ellery Lloyd (ABP | eB26C)

Nonfiction

One Damn Thing After Another, William P. Barr (ABP | eB26C)
Lessons from the Edge, Marie Yovanovitch (ABP | eB26C)
The 1619 Project (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
Will, Will Smith (ABP, AB12M, eB12M, eB24M)
Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
In Love, Amy Bloom (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
Red-Handed, Peter Schweizer (ABP | eB26C)*
From Strength to Strength, Arthur C. Brooks (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
Allow Me to Retort, Elie Mystal (ABP)*

Fiction/Nonfiction format key:

PA = Playaway (physical)

ABP = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, perpetual license

AB12M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 12-month license

AB24M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 24-month license

eB12M = hoopla Flex eBook, 12-month license

eB24M = hoopla Flex eBook, 24-month license

eB26C = hoopla Flex eBook, 26-circulation license

* = CD audiobook currently unavailable

Contact your sales rep for more information about hoopla Flex.

Friday, March 25, 2022

King, Chizmar Wrap Up Gwendy Trilogy

Written by Jon Williams

A new novel from Stephen King is on its way. Fairy Tale, due out September 6, promises a tale of dark fantasy, and will be King’s first solo novel since last year’s Billy Summers. But those constant readers (or listeners) looking for something else set in the land of King’s fertile imagination need look only for a recent collaborative release flying somewhat under the radar.

Released in February, Gwendy’s Final Task, written with Richard Chizmar, concludes the tale that began with Gwendy’s Button Box, released in 2017. Set in King’s famous fictional town of Castle Rock, it details the series of events that ensue when young Gwendy Peterson is approached by a mysterious stranger and entrusted with a powerful magical device.

While King collaborated with Richard Chizmar for the first and third installment in the saga, the second, 2019’s Gwendy’s Magic Feather, was written solely by Chizmar. Well known in horror circles as the publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine, he has also edited and contributed to a number of horror anthologies. In 2021, he released the well-received fictional “true crime” novel Chasing the Boogeyman.

King, of course, is no stranger to collaborations. His first was 1984’s The Talisman, written with fellow horror author Peter Straub. They teamed up again for a sequel, Black House, in 2001. He has also written with each of his sons. He and Joe Hill got together for the novellas Throttle, an homage to Richard Matheson, and In the Tall Grass, both published in Hill’s collection Full Throttle. And in 2017, King collaborated with his son Owen for the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties.

And because longtime King fans will want to know: yes, the Gwendy books do have the connections to his other works that he loves to include. Stories set in Castle Rock include The Dead Zone, Cujo, The Body, The Dark Half, The Sun Dog, Needful Things, and Elevation, as well as numerous short stories found in Skeleton Crew, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. The Gwendy stories also tie into his magnum opus, the eight-volume Dark Tower series (which begins with The Gunslinger).

Even with these connections, it’s not necessary to read these stories in any particular order, so readers and listeners can feel free to jump in at any point. The stories on your shelves are sure to provide hours of entertainment for fans old and new—use the links above, or browse around on our website to find other novels and collections, available in physical formats and digitally on hoopla Flex.