Anthropic settles its piracy lawsuit (This week in books)

This week! Books!

I’m running a bit behind this Friday morning, so we’ll have links (mostly) without captions this week. But in the meantime, don’t forget about my second Office Hours on September 4 at 9pm ET / 6pm PT, exclusively for newsletter subscribers!

Anthropic Settles Major AI Copyright Suit Brought by Authors – Annelise Levy and Aruni Soni, Bloomberg Law – Huge news as Anthropic has reached a settlement with authors over pirating e-books to train A.I. Terms haven’t been revealed, but are expected to be made public next week.

Publishing Industry Sales Saw Modest Gains in 2024 – Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly

Simon & Schuster Leader to Step Down – Elizabeth A. Harris, New York Times

Is Your Amazon Book Page Doing Its Job? – Penny Sansevieri, Writers Helping Writers

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Latest Epiphanies – Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker

A Tale of Sex and Intrigue in Imperial Kyoto – Lauren Groff, The Atlantic

Indie Presses Provide a Haven for Midlist Authors – Claire Kirch, Publishers Weekly

Meet the L.A. sisters ushering in a new era of YA literature – Lauren Harvey, Los Angeles Times

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. Quicksilver by Callie Hart
2. The Surrogate Mother by Freida McFadden
3. The End of the World As We Know It by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene
4. Love Arranged by Lauren Asher
5. On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
2. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
3. The Idaho Four by James Patterson and Vicky Ward
4. On Power by Mark R. Levin
5. Black AF History by Michael Harriot

Young adult hardcover:

1. Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd
2. A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid
3. Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
4. Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
5. Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
2. Refugee by Alan Gratz
3. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
4. Odder by Katherine Applegate
5. The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee

This week on the blog

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

• Prime the reader to build anticipation

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally:

Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class – Daniel Currell, New York Times – A really great look at the middle class getting priced out of Disney World, and a much better and well-reported version of what I was trying to say here.

Have a great weekend!

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