Amazon bricks old Kindles (This week in books)

This week! Books!

I’m between trips at the moment and popping up with a few links that caught my eye while I was away. Please keep reaching out if you need editing, and my blog will properly return at the end of this month!

For the first time ever, Amazon is cutting old Kindles off from the Kindle Store – Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica

The rise of the ‘Adderall novel’: How our attention spans are changing the way authors write – Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times

The Brave New World of Penguin Random House – Kenneth Whyte, SHuSH

The Publishing Mystery That No One Wants to Talk About – Daniel Engber, The Atlantic

Bookshop.org’s Sales Grew 55% in 2025, Sparked by Romance and E-books – Ed Nawotka, Publishers Weekly

Little, Brown BFYR Raises the Curtain on Alvina Ling Imprint – Shannon Maughan, Publishers Weekly

What Do Stephen King and Shakespeare Have in Common? – Kevin Lincoln, Bloomberg

What Was Lost: A Queer Accounting of the NY Times Book Review, 2013-2022 – Sandy Ernest Allen, Lit Hub

TikTok releases first monthly BookTok bestseller list – Maia Snow, The Bookseller

What Literature Did Agents Build? – Laura B. McGrath, Public Books

Does Publishing Have to Be This Hard? – Kate McKean, Agents + Books

Let Your Characters Teach Us About their World – Charlie Jane Anders, Happy Dancing

How Some Crime Writers Are Finding a New Path to Publishing – Keith Roysdon, CrimeReads

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. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
3. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
4. Purple State by Dana Perino
5. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Strangers by Belle Burden
2. When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-Polin
3. Famesick by Lena Dunham
4. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
5. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Young adult hardcover:

1. Release Me by Tahereh Mafi
2. The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss
3. The Thorn Queen by Sasha Peyton Smith
4. Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
5. The Way Things Work: Newly Revised Edition by David MacCaulay

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
2. KPop Demon Hunters by Jessica Yoon
3. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
4. Forbidden Mountain by Brandon Mull
5. Unsettling Salad! by Aaron Reynolds

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 and Threads
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally:

Exclusive: The Jay-Z Interview – Frazier Tharpe, GQ

Have a great weekend!

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