What if readers like A.I. fiction? (This week in books)

This week! Books!

As we kick off 2026, a quick chat about blog programming. This blog now has… a lot of content. Like, a lot a lot. Over 2,500 posts and counting. I’d like to remind everyone that the “best of” content is available and organized in two master pages, which you can navigate at the top of page in the desktop or via the “hamburger” menu if you’re viewing in mobile:

• Writing advice
• Book publishing advice

Many of the old posts need updating and refreshing, which is going to be my focus in the first part of 2026. If you’re seeing content that feels vaguely familiar, you’re not losing your marbles, it’s probably me sprucing up a past post.

As always, let me know if there’s anything you need help with or want me to cover! And now, on to the weekly roundup.

What If Readers Like A.I.-Generated Fiction? – Vauhini Vara, The New Yorker – Don’t stop at the headline on this one, and make sure to take the “human or A.I.” quiz in the middle. Many writers have a very visceral hatred of A.I., for sound reasons. But this article really opened my eyes that A.I. can already write fiction that’s largely indistinguishable from human writing, as long as it has the right prompts.

Dragons, Sex and the Bible: What Drove the Book Business This Year – Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter, New York Times – A roundup of publishing sales trends in 2025, which was not all doom and gloom, particularly if smutty dragon romance is your persuasion.

Supply Chain Disruptions Hobble Strong Holiday Sales Season – Claire Kirch, Publishers Weekly – If you found it difficult to get your book presents delivered on time this holiday season, you were certainly not alone. Due to all manner of disruptions (including, happily, higher book sales than anticipated), distribution during the holidays was “worse than even the Covid years” according to one bookseller.

Here Are Your Guides Through the Opaque World of Book Publishing – Maris Kreizman, LitHub – Two exciting new guides to the wild world of publishing have dropped by industry veterans who will be familiar to you if you read this blog: Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life by Kate McKean and Take It from Me: An Agent’s Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch by Alia Hannah Habib.

Many schools don’t think students can read full novels any more. That’s a tragedy – Margaret Sullivan, The Guardian – Schoolkids are reading fewer books, and when they read excerpts, it’s often on laptops.

Tricks For Fixing A Sagging Middle – Kristen Weber, Inside an Editor’s Brain – Some excellent advice from editor Kristen Weber about how to keep the plates spinning in the middle of a novel.

What to expect when a book dies on sub – Erin Bowman, From the Desk of Erin Bowman – It’s really tough to make it nearly to the finish line, where an agented book doesn’t find a publisher. Erin Bowman delves into what it’s like.

The Most Surprising Book Trend Right Now: Memory-Sharing – Charlie Jane Anders, Happy Dancing – Along with, yes, romantasy, author Charlie Jane Anders notes that novels involving memories and personal identity are having a moment.

Why You Should Read Gene Wolfe (and Where to Start) – Lincoln Michel, Counter Craft – An appreciation of science fiction legend Gene Wolfe.

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. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
2. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
3. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
4. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
5. The Widow by John Grisham

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
2. Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
3. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
4. The Look by Michelle Obama with Meredith Koop
5. How to Test Negative for Stupid by John Kennedy

Young adult hardcover:

1. Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
2. The Way Things Work: Newly Revised Edition by David Macaulay
3. Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd
4. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
5. Better in Black by Cassandra Clare

Middle grade hardcover:

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

This week on the blog

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

• Tips for getting your creativity on track

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally:

The Enshittifinancial Crisis – Edward Zitron, Where’s Your Ed At? – A very long but very fascinating and revealing article about the financial house of cards underpinning the A.I. boom.

Have a great weekend!

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