The best book covers of 2024 (This week in books)

This week! Books!

TikTok has been a somewhat unlikely boon to the publishing industry via its books-obsessed crowd, nicknamed BookTok, which has propelled authors like Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry to mega-bestsellerdom. So it likely sent a chill through the business that a federal court unanimously upheld a law that requires its parent company, ByteDance, to spin off TikTok to a non-Chinese company or be shut down. But is BookTok past its peak anyway?

Even in my beloved California, book bans and threats against librarians are having a chilling effect on the books schools and librarians are buying and shelving, and some schools have stopped buying books entirely. Utter insanity.

A certain healthcare CEO murderer turned Internet folk hero had a Goodreads page with a very “Gen Z podcast guy” vibe, if that’s the sort of thing you find interesting.

Interesting week for the New York Times to also feature an op-ed by David J. Morris on how we might miss literary men when they’re gone. Five years ago this essay might have set the internet ablaze, but I barely saw anyone talking about it.

One of my favorite annual features is here! Behold: Lithub’s very exhaustive list of the best book covers of 2024.

RIP to author and founder of AuthorBuzz M.J. Rose, who was a supportive presence in the publishing industry for many years.

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware has a helpful primer on royalty rate contract language. Know what you sign!!

Ned Blackhawk won the National Book Award for The Rediscovery of America, which I am very much looking forward to reading, and he rounded up some of the best recent books on Native American history.

Giles Harvey at the New York Times Magazine has a deep dive on what legendary short story author Alice Munro knew about her husband’s pedophilia, which I have not yet summoned the stomach to read.

In writing advice news, Lincoln Michel has a terrific post on novel brain vs. TV brain and how to make sure you’re not infecting your writing, and Kate McKean tackles a real phenomenon in traditional publishing: when a publisher wants you to publish a different name because of your shaky sales track.

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. Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson
2. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
3. James by Percival Everett
4. The Women by Kristin Hannah
5. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher
2. Melania by Melania Trump
3. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
4. Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey
5. The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

Young adult hardcover:

1. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
2. To Shatter the Night by Katherine Quinn
3. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
4. If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin
5. Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
2. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
3. The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
4. The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
5. The Bletchey Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

This week on the blog

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

• Will you ever buy mostly e-books? 2024 results!
• Are kids these days reading like they used to?

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky and Threads
• Follow my page on Facebook
• Join the Facebook Group
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally, there are so many problems with our healthcare system it’s hard to feel surprised by a horror story, but you should really make some time to read J. David McSwane’s ProPublica investigation of an out of control Montana oncologist.

Have a great weekend!

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