RIP Norman Juster (This week in books)

This week! Books!

Sad news this week as Norman Juster, the author of one of the most beloved and influential children’s books of all time, The Phantom Tollbooth, passed away at the age of 91.

Smithsonian has a fascinating adaptation of Angus Fletcher’s new book, which breaks down eight important literary innovations and the neuroscience that underpins them.

The spot on Mars where the new Perseverence rover landed has been named “Octavia E. Butler Landing” by NASA, in honor of the legendary science fiction writer.

Amazon has become so ubiquitous a fixture in the book world that it’s easy to forget how groundbreaking some of their early innovations were. Publishing industry sage Mike Shatzkin recalls some of the important early decisions about how they chose to sell books, and how these shaped the rest of the industry.

What makes a good audiobook? June Thomas at Slate profiles Abby Craden, who has narrated nearly 400 of them.

Agent Jessica Faust has a good reminder to celebrate every step on the path to publication. This stuff is hard!

And John Self at the BBC delves into the Frankensteins of the 21st Century: the new wave of Artificial Intelligence-inspired fiction.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. Life After Death by Sister Souljah
2. Later by Stephen King
3. Dark Sky by C.J. Box
4. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
5. The Affair by Danielle Steel

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
2. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Think Again by Adam Grant
4. Untamed by Glenon Doyle
5. Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson with Michelle Burford

Young adult hardcover:

1. Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
2. Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
3. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
4. Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
5. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers by Michelle Obama
2. Wow in the World by Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz
3. The Ickabog by J.K. Rowling
4. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure by Jeff Kinney
5. Charlie Thorne and the Lost City by Stuart Gibbs

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• Write for today’s readers
• Clarify the stakes in a query letter (query critique)

Don’t forget that you can nominate your first page and query for a free critique on the blog:

• Nominate Your First Page for a Critique on the Blog
• Nominate Your Query for a Critique on the Blog

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Twitter
• Follow my page on Facebook
• Join the Facebook Group
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally, to my knowledge blockchain technology has not yet hit the publishing industry in a major way, but it is certainly roiling the art world. A digital artwork by the artist known as Beeple set a record by selling a JPEG for $69.3 million, underpinned by the NFT system. Mickey Rapkin at Rolling Stone also wrote a fascinating profile of Beeple.

Have a great weekend!

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