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OpenAI does not want you to know why it deleted its pirated books database (This week in books)

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This week! Books!

First up, in case you missed it:

Really sad news arrived this week as longtime publishing industry man about town Porter Anderson passed away. I’m sure many of you will remember Porter from the comments section here, his work with Jane Friedman on The Hot Sheet, his work editing Publishing Perspectives, or you may have even run into him at publishing events and conferences, as I did. His energy and spirit were contagious, and he’ll definitely be missed.

Winners of the 2025 National Book Awards Announced – National Book Foundation – Congrats to the winners!

OpenAI desperate to avoid explaining why it deleted pirated book datasets – Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica / OpenAI Loses Key Discovery Battle as It Cedes Ground to Authors in AI Lawsuits – Winston Cho, Hollywood Reporter – A judge ruled this week that OpenAI must turn over communications related to their deletion of pirated book datasets. Theoretically, the communications could prove willful infringement, which would trigger damages of up to $150,000 per work, and/or a judge could direct juries to assume the evidence (or lack thereof) would’ve been unfavorable for OpenAI.

AI Is Coming for Your Toddler’s Bedtime Story – Lily Meyer, Mother Jones – A thoughtful look at the coming risk of AI slop headed for your baby’s brain.

Why Does A.I. Write Like … That? – Sam Kriss, New York Times Magazine – If you find “A.I. voice” strange and grating you are assuredly not alone.

Books as Art Projects – Lincoln Michel, Counter Craft – And as a counterpoint to drowning in A.I. slop, Lincoln Michel has a thoughtful take on books and magazines as tangible art pieces.

Sally Rooney ‘almost certain’ she cannot publish new books in UK due to Palestine Action ban – Melina Spanoudi, The Bookseller – Sally Rooney’s pledge to donate royalties to Palestine Action, which was deemed a terrorist organization by the U.K. government after they spray-painted some fighter jets, means her new books may, unfathomably, be unavailable in the U.K.

NPR Books We Love 2025 / The New Yorker Best Books of 2025 / New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2025 / New York Times 10 Best Books of 2025 – It’s that time of year!

B&N Teams with A24 on Retail Sites, Events – Sam Spratford, Publishers Weekly – Hot independent movie studio A24 is planning to make inroads into bookstores, with dedicated sections, books, merch, and events in partnership with Barnes & Noble.

Fiercely Independent: A Roundtable Chat With Three Indie Booksellers – Alia Hanna Habib, Delivery & Acceptance – Bookmarked for the weekend: agent Alia Hanna Habib’s conversation with indie booksellers on how they operate.

The Man Who Helped Make the American Literary Canon – Kevin Lozano, The New Yorker – It wasn’t simple destiny that resulted in the likes of William Faulkner and Jack Kerouac being cemented in the canon of American literature, there were some key influencers along the way, including Malcolm Cowley.

shocking real-life plot twist – Leigh Stein, Attention Economy – Many authors confront what feels like a chicken and egg problem: how can I build a social media following before I get a book deal, but how can I get a book deal if I don’t have a social media following? False binary! This is a great case study of an author who connected with readers before the book deal.

How I Began to Love Reading Again – Jeff Giles, New York Times – We talk about writing block, but Jeff Giles brushed off his reading block with an assist from Susan Dennard.

Sophie Newman on the craft lessons of Survivor – Sophie Newman, LitHub – For the Survivor fans among us, I really enjoyed this post on what we can learn about craft from my favorite long-running reality show.

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. Brimstone by Callie Hart
  2. The Widow by John Grisham
  3. The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
  4. Alchemised by SenLinYu
  5. Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

  1. 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
  2. How to Test Negative for Stupid by John Kennedy
  3. Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
  4. The Look by Michelle Obama with Meredith Koop
  5. The American Revolution by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns

Young adult hardcover:

  1. Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
  2. If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin
  3. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
  4. The Way Things Work: Newly Revised Edition by David Macaulay
  5. Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Middle grade hardcover:

  1. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
  2. The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
  3. The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
  4. Growing Home by Beth Ferry
  5. The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

This week on the blog

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

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

And finally:

Pop Culture Got Stale. Counterculture Went Right-Wing. – Jennifer Szalai, New York Times – The headline doesn’t quite do this one justice. The evolution of edgy left-coded counterculture into far right reactionary memelord-ism is perhaps the pop culture story of the 21st Century.

Have a great weekend!

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Comments

  1. Petrea Burchard says

    I could totally use $150,000. For good and not evil, of course.

    Also, “The Correspondent” made the NPR list, and I was part of the cast for the audiobook! That makes my day.