This week! Books!
We Need Diverse Books launches Unbanned Book Network to fight school bans – Hillel Italie, Associated Press – The wonderful organization We Need Diverse Books has launched a program to counteract the recent wave of book bans by donating banned books, and designating Author Ambassadors for school districts facing bans.
The deal to secure TikTok’s future in the US has finally closed – Clare Duffy, CNN – The long saga of TikTok’s presence in the US has finally concluded as a consortium of Trump-friendly investors will back a US version of TikTok. Given TikTok’s importance to the publishing industry, this could have serious–though unpredictable–ramifications for the book world.
AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage – Cory Doctorow, The Guardian – A wide-ranging post by sci-author and enshittification expert Cory Doctorow on A.I. I’m a tad less sanguine than him on the incentive structures created by current copyright law, but it’s an engaging read.
What if Editors Don’t Want <Your Kind of Book> Anymore? Part Deux – Kate McKean, Agents + Books – Agent and author Kate McKean expanded on her previous post on what authors should do when their category/genre/topic falls out of favor, with a particular eye on middle grade.
Alia Hanna Habib Offers a Guide to Finding an Agent – Lit Hub – Some very good tips on finding an agent from literary agent Alia Hanna Habib, whose new book is out!
Should Unpublished Writers Enter Writing Contests? – Sangheeta Mehta, Jane Friedman – Some really helpful advice on entering writing contests on Jane Friedman’s newsletter The Bottom Line, which is worth subscribing to.
Ranking 2025’s Bestselling Adult Publishers – Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly – The Big 5 reigned supreme over book sales per usual, but upstarts Entangled and Zando had their share of bestsellers as well.
The Gospel According to Emily Henry – Lauren Boersma Harris, The New Yorker – A profile of Beach Read author Emily Henry, who loves writing about book people. I’m a fan!
The Best Book Covers of the Last Decade – Emily Temple, Lit Hub – Lit Hub busy giving the people what they want.
2026 Edgar Award Nominations announced – Mystery Writers of America – Congrats to the Edgar nominees!
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:
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
- The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
- Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
- Woman Down by Colleen Hoover
Adult print and e-book nonfiction:
- Strangers by Belle Burden
- 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
- The Other Side of Change by Maya Shankar
Young adult hardcover:
- Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
- Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova
- If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin
- Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
- Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
Middle grade hardcover:
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
- The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
- The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
- Growing Home by Beth Ferry
This week on the blog
In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:
- N/A
And keep up with the discussion in all the places!
- Follow me on Bluesky
- Check out the Bransforums
And finally:
On ‘The Pitt,’ E.R. Doctors Try to Fix This Broken World (gift link) – Sam Anderson, New York Times Magazine – If, like me, you have been enjoying The Pitt on HBO, this is a terrific profile of the show and Noah Wyle.
Have a great weekend!
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!
Photo: Wild parrots in Pasadena, CA. Follow me on Instagram!
){kind=link}
Leave a Reply