The best villains in literature (This week in books)

This week! Books! (A bit delayed and abbreviated because I’m on the road).

LitHub’s annual counter-programming to the March Madness basketball tournament is here, and this year it’s a villainous one: who is the best villain in literature? Cast your votes! I, for one, feel Long John Silver as a 15 seed is an upset waiting to happen, with all apologies to Frankenstein’s monster, who I hope won’t chase me to the North Pole if he loses.

Tariff madness affects everyone, but spare some extra concern for the publishing industry, which imports a wide range of products, some of which are currently difficult or impossible to produce domestically.

Jane Friedman’s indispensable industry newsletter The Hot Sheet has rebranded to the equally indispensable The Bottom Line, with some additional welcome changes, such as moving to a weekly frequency. Highly recommend a subscription.

Alix Strauss at the New York Times interviewed Sally Kim, the publisher of Little, Brown and the first Asian American woman to hold the role of president and publisher at Hachette.

For those who are struggling to share their work, Dan Blank has some tips for making it easier.

And Sally Rooney writing about snooker master Ronnie O’Sullivan? Yes, please. Now I just want her to watch Steph Curry play basketball.

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. Battle Mountain by C.J. Box
2. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
4. The Charlie Method by Elle Kennedy
5. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
2. I’ll Have What She’s Having by Chelsea Handler
3. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
4. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
5. The Technological Republic by Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska

Young adult hardcover:

1. Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli
2. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
3. The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay with Neil Ardley
4. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
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. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
4. Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz
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:

• There was s*** going on before you got here

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally, there’s a fast rising podcast that claims to show that nonspeaking people with autism are capable of ESP. As Daniel Engber writes, the more likely scientific truth is no less remarkable.

Have a great weekend! The blog will take a break on Monday and will be back as usual next Friday.

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Photo: The Huntington, San Marino, CA