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This week’s news in Venn diagrams.

The end of February always feels like struggling to fold and force the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube, but with energy and emotions. Plus Mercury is doing something wild up there and going back into Pisces, I’m Read more >

By James Folta

Karen Russell, Wendell Berry, Writers on Freud, and 26 more paperback books out today.

It’s March, and with that comes a new season in a year that has already felt like more than one season has passed by. But even amidst so much bewildering bleakness, there are moments of beauty to be found in Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Congressional Republicans have introduced a nationwide book banning bill.

A group of right-wing Congressional Representatives introduced a federal book banning bill in Congress this week that would give book censors wide latitude to remove books from schools and libraries. The bill also explicitly targets trans people. House Resolution 7661, Read more >

By James Folta

This week, the stock market lost $200 billion over a short story.

It’s not quite a War of the Worlds freak out, but this week, once again, a piece of eerie speculative fiction made a big, real world impact. On Monday, a blog post imagining an 2028 economy choked by AI agents Read more >

By James Folta

Florida is now claiming school libraries are “government speech.”

A challenge to a monstrously regressive Florida state law that makes it easier for books to be pulled from school libraries is making its way through a federal circuit court in Atlanta. The appeal was brought by a group of Read more >

By James Folta

The indie publisher Tyrant Books is returning, under new ownership.

Independent publishing great Tyrant Books—which has been dormant since its founder Giancarlo DiTrapano’s death in 2021—is coming back. As Publisher’s Marketplace reports, author and screenwriter Luke Goebel has acquired 50% of the company with an eye toward relaunching; the other Read more >

By James Folta

Tom Hanks will play Abe Lincoln in his adaptation of George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo.

Looks like President Lincoln’s distinctive stovepipe top hat is about to become a stovepipe Tom hat. According to Variety, Nice Guy Actor Tom Hanks is set to play the mourning President Lincoln in the film adaptation of Nice Guy Author Read more >

By James Folta

Here’s your very first glimpse of the new Pride and Prejudice adaptation.

Today, Netflix released the first teaser trailer for their upcoming six-part adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, written by bestselling author and screenwriter Dolly Alderton (Good Material) and directed by Euros Lyn (Heartstopper). Emma Corrin appears as Elizabeth Bennet Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here’s the longlist for the 2026 International Booker Prize.

image © India Hobson for Booker Prize Foundation Today, the Booker Foundation announced the 2026 longlist for the International Booker Prize, which recognizes international literature in translation. The shortlist of 13, whittled down from 128 novels and short story collections Read more >

By Literary Hub

Lauren Groff, Michael Pollan, Tayari Jones, and more: 22 new books out today!

A surefire way to escape the winter doldrums lies in store: today marks the release date of not only a collection of Lauren Groff stories, but a novel by Tayari Jones, and a new, eye-opening journey through self-expansion by Michael Read more >

By Julia Hass

Five great episodes of Michael Silverblatt’s Bookworm, in honor of the late host.

Michael Silverblatt, the dedicated host of KCRW’s Bookworm, died last Friday at 73. Bookworm ran from 1989-2022, and was nationally syndicated. Over his thirty years on the airwaves, Silverblatt interviewed almost all your favorite authors. Everyone from William Vollmann to Read more >

By Brittany Allen

New York Mayor Mamdani is breaking his promise on library funding.

Fitting that a few days after Valentine’s Day, New Yorkers may be reaching the end of their Mamdani honeymoon. Earlier this week, the Mayor released his preliminary budget for the 2027 fiscal year, and New Yorkers and library advocates were Read more >

By James Folta

Find your next read in this dataset of international bestsellers.

In most situations when I say “I need the data,” I’m referring to gossip, and it’s less of a “need” than what some would call a “messy curiosity.” But recently, I came across a Substack post analyzing a set of Read more >

By James Folta

Not-so-happy 100th birthday to Ireland’s Committee of Evil Literature.

One hundred Februarys back, the Irish justice minister Kevin O’Higgins took it upon himself to “stem the tide of filth” coming into his newly free state. O’Higgins assembled the Committee of Evil Literature, which is unfortunately just what it sounds Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Gisèle Pelicot, Namwali Serpell, Jon Meacham, and more: 21 new books out today!

I hope everyone enjoyed a hard-earned three day weekend amidst the relentless winter. At the very least temperatures were not dancing around the -15 range, and for this we must celebrate. This Tuesday we welcome a long-awaited biography of Toni Read more >

By Julia Hass

This week’s news in Venn diagrams.

Happy Friday the 13th (Ahh!) and Valentine’s Day Eve (Ohh!), dear readers. I wrote a little poem for you all, the Venn fans. Roses are cherry, And violets are blue, If these jokes make you merry, I love you, it’s Read more >

By James Folta

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