Know What's Happening in Books
Know What's Happening in Books
George Saunders pulls back the curtain on the making of his new novel Vigil
In a Substack post, Saunders details the drafting workflow, research methods, and revision cycles that shaped Vigil. He shares concrete examples of his writing schedule, the software tools he uses, and the feedback loops that guide his revisions, aiming to demystify the novel‑craft process.
Vogue’s latest fashion spread spotlights the resurgence of paper books, featuring models, chefs and Sarah Jessica Parker as symbols of reading as style. A surprising literary discovery revealed that Don DeLillo penned a 1980 hockey romance under the pseudonym Cleo Birdwell, prompting Scribner to reissue the novel "Amazons" on November 17. The reprint follows a spike in used‑book prices after a New York Times article highlighted the hidden work. Meanwhile, industry data shows 2025 produced an unprecedented volume of new titles, underscoring a broader revival of print culture.
Legendary New York radio veteran Richard Neer has released his 16th book, *The Perfect Beast*, continuing the Riley King detective series. The novel blends classic murder‑mystery intrigue with a timely exploration of artificial‑intelligence encroachment on radio and podcast talent. Neer, whose...
The author published an unpublished interview revealing how dissociative identity disorder (DID) shapes a two‑decade‑long personal blog that chronicles venture‑capital work, autism research, and family life. The piece explains how multiple internal identities dictate writing tools, from bound journals to...
Serena Kutchinsky’s new memoir, *Kutchinsky’s Egg*, recounts how her father’s $11 million, two‑foot‑tall jeweled egg—encrusted with 24,000 pink diamonds—bankrupted the century‑old Kutchinsky Jewelers, shattered his marriage, and vanished after being sold to a Japanese collector. The extravagant piece, completed in 1990,...
Állex Leilla’s novel *Springtime in the Bones*, translated by Amanda Sarasien, was released this month, adding a stark literary voice to Brazil’s escalating fight against gender‑based violence. The story follows Luísa, a professional in Salvador who, after being robbed, beaten, and...
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer might be my book of the year. I know it's only March, but I don't know how that could possibly be topped. I loved it SO much. It was so beautiful and satisfying.
This repost of an old piece I wrote and stand by goes out to Cory Booker. https://lithub.com/shilling-books-while-rome-burns-why-politicians-need-to-focus-on-their-day-jobs/
Attorney Mitch Jackson has released a free online book, "Privacy in America: What Every American Needs to Know," to expose how government policies and technology companies are eroding personal privacy. He argues that everyday devices—from phones to smart speakers—continuously transmit...
Everyone’s talking about shipping but most of the books about commercial ships are dry as dust. Once upon a time I read one that wasn’t. No acronyms. No jargon. Just stories about leadership moments at sea by @GoldenStripesLS, a ship captain...
Chef‑author Ifrah F. Ahmed is gearing up for a national press tour to promote her debut cookbook, *Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration*. The book blends Somali recipes with personal narratives of displacement and cultural identity. Ahmed also runs Milk & Myrrh, a traveling pop‑up...
OpenBook’s January 2026 sales report shows Chinese readers gravitating back to timeless titles while embracing fresh releases. Liu Zhenyun’s new novel *Salty Jokes* captured the top spot on the fiction list, and Liu Cixin’s *Three‑Body* trilogy re‑entered the top ten...
Galaxy Mapper: The Luminous Discoveries of Astrophysicist Hélène Courtois, a hardcover picture book released on Nov. 12, 2025, retails for $18.99 and targets readers aged 5‑9. Written by Allie Summers and illustrated by Sian James, it chronicles Courtois’s journey from...
Norwegian author Vigdis Hjorth’s 2023 novel Repetition returns to the painful terrain first explored in her scandal‑fuelled 2016 book Will and Testament. While the new work is framed as fiction, Hjorth openly acknowledges its autobiographical roots, focusing on a teenage...
The article highlights five essential books for people in their twenties, ranging from Meg Jay’s *The Defining Decade* to the *Almanack of Naval Ravikant*. Each title targets a core pillar of early‑adult life—psychology, habit formation, financial behavior, networking, and wealth leverage....
The Lit Hub Daily roundup opens with a historic note: Virginia and Leonard Woolf bought a hand‑press in 1917, launching the influential Hogarth Press a month later. The newsletter then spotlights a diverse slate of literary content, from translation conversations...
Samuel Alexander’s 2013 eco‑fiction *Entropia* imagined a post‑industrial community born after a 2027 energy shock that crippled global trade. The novel’s second chapter, “The Disintegration of Empire,” describes the Great Disruption—bombings of the Ghawar field, the Suez Canal and the...
KQED reporter Rae Alexandra released "Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area," a book that uncovers the hidden contributions of women from the Gold Rush era to modern times. The project grew from a Women’s History Month pledge...
Miranda Mellis’s new speculative novel Crocosmia imagines a post‑catastrophic world where decapitated heads of state give way to towering skyscraper flowers, symbolizing ecological renewal. The narrative follows Maya and her artist mother Jane as they navigate an anarchist monastic commune,...
In this episode of Radical Futures, host Bhakti Shangarpare talks with author Tariq Baconi about his memoir *Fire in Every Direction*, which intertwines his queer coming‑of‑age story with his Palestinian heritage and family history. Baconi explains how writing the book...
Rhae Lynn Barnes, a Princeton historian, releases *Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment*, a meticulously researched volume that maps the hidden legacy of amateur minstrel shows in the United States. Drawing on two decades of fieldwork in closets, basements...
The blog post spotlights ten common sentence‑level pitfalls that betray a new novelist’s inexperience, such as overwriting, redundant conjunctions, and excessive adverbs. It illustrates each flaw with before‑and‑after examples, showing how a tighter sentence can convey the same meaning more...
Brandon Taylor’s third novel, Minor Black Figures, follows Wyeth, a Black, working‑class painter navigating post‑pandemic New York. The narrative delves into his upbringing in a Virginia trailer park, his struggle to find artistic purpose, and his critique of how Black...
The Daily Nous weekly roundup reports three revised entries in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy—covering the epistemic basing relation, Carl Hempel, and Margaret Fuller. A new 1000‑Word Philosophy article on pragmatic encroachment was published, and the Philosophy Podcast Hub released...
Charlotte McConaghy’s novel *Wild Dark Shore* has been named the Indie Book Awards 2026 Book of the Year, a title voted on by independent booksellers across Australia. Judges highlighted its seamless blend of literary fiction and thriller, as well as its philosophical...
Ilana Masad’s debut novel *Beings* weaves three interlocking narratives—a modern archivist, the 1960s Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction case, and a semi‑epistolary queer coming‑of‑age story of writer Phyllis Egerton—into a single triptych. Each chapter shifts perspective, linking characters through...
Hugo Grotius, the 17th‑century Dutch jurist and prodigy, escaped life imprisonment at Loevestein Castle by hiding in a chest of books his wife regularly sent. The daring escape took place on March 22, 1621 after guards grew lax in inspecting...
Andrea Mara explains the suspense technique behind her new thriller *It Should Have Been You*, which opens with a climactic scene before rewinding to reveal the events leading up to it. She argues that this “future‑prologue” grabs readers instantly, especially...
Rachel Eliza Griffiths, acclaimed poet and novelist, debuted her memoir *The Flower Bearers* on the Memoir Nation podcast. The book intertwines two traumatic events—the death of poet Kamilah Aisha Moon and the stabbing of husband Salman Rushdie—to examine layered grief....
Hooked, Asako Yuzuki’s latest novel, follows the uneasy friendship between Eriko, a high‑achieving Tokyo trader, and Shōko, a lifestyle blogger known as Hallie B. The story intertwines their lives through a deliberately staged encounter, using Eriko’s project to market the invasive...
Tom Wood’s ninth Victor the Assassin novel, *A Quiet Man*, veers toward a Jack Reacher‑style plot, pairing the lone assassin with a local police officer and a bike‑gang showdown. The protagonist abandons his trademark paranoia and strict self‑rules, creating a...
More than 87 public libraries and archives in Gaza have been partially or completely destroyed, including the Islamic University’s collection of 1.5 million books. Palestinians, aided by international observers, are salvaging personal volumes and seeking ways to preserve what remains of...
At the link, the best of The Marginalian this week in a single place – where love goes when it goes, roots and the meaning of life, and introducing a new labor of love: https://t.co/DF2CLpngXc https://t.co/Uz9olmZrHi
"It’s a mercy that time runs in one direction only, that we see the past but darkly and the future not at all." Beautiful, beautiful read: https://t.co/b8dsnp3Jfs
Dan Simmons, the award‑winning author of the Hyperion Cantos and The Terror, has died at 77. His death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from authors, critics, and fans who cite his genre‑spanning influence on speculative fiction, horror, and historical...
Michael Bond’s new book *Animate* argues that the belief in human superiority over nature is a relatively recent cultural invention, rooted in classical philosophy, Christian theology and Enlightenment rationalism. The narrative traces how this notion justified the exploitation of animals for...
Nick Wignall’s Winter 2026 Reader Mailbag delivers concise answers to dozens of mental‑health questions, ranging from book recommendations for depression to practical tips for social anxiety, boundaries, and couples therapy. He repeatedly stresses clear thinking over diagnostic labels, advocates metacognitive therapy,...
The Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand projects a 5‑8% growth for the domestic book market this year, modestly lower than the pre‑conflict 5‑10% range. Despite rising energy and logistics costs from the Middle East war, fixed production expenses and...
My mom and I are releasing a new children’s book this May titled “Let’s Soar with Cor Cor”. It’s all about a kid in a wheelchair that is trying to overcome his fear of flying. Our book is now available...
Pop icon Lady Gaga has publicly condemned a fictional Met Gala incident portrayed in a self‑published novel by former Vogue editor [Name withheld]. The dispute raises questions about defamation risk, artistic license, and the influence of celebrity portrayals on publishing.
Taylor Adams’ new thriller *Her Last Breath* follows two friends, cautious Tess and adrenaline‑junkie Allie, on a perilous caving expedition in Washington’s Devil’s Staircase. A hostile stranger forces them deeper into the maze, resulting in a deadly shootout and one...
As an astrophysicist who LOVED Project Hail Mary, book and movie, here are my other sci-fi recs (I am very picky): -The Martian -The original Star Trek series -The 2008 Star Trek movie -Interstellar
Chatted with USA Today about selling books, navigating platform, consolidation, and how it isn’t all about who you know. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2026/03/22/how-to-be-a-novelist-author/89199046007/
Mexican novelist Brenda Navarro’s debut English novel *Eating Ashes* is highlighted for its musical prose, rhythmic dialogue, and deep engagement with trauma, immigration, and inequality. The post argues that AI writing threatens the human imperfections that give literature its soul,...
Grabbing Alice Cooper's memoir 'Devil on My Shoulder'? 📖🤘 Stage king vs. the gentleman: that duality is legendary. https://t.co/9YHsctF4IZ
I read three books yesterday. One about founder mental health, one by hiking monks, one about quitting the default path. All three are about the same thing. https://t.co/WBnSqSVEnD
Andy Weir's bestseller 'Project Hail Mary' debuted with an $80.5 million domestic opening, the second‑largest for a non‑franchise film in a decade. The success fuels a broader conversation about how sci‑fi novels translate to screen, especially as Weir weighs the merits...
What are we reading? Title: “My View of the Data World - Fresh Perspectives for Driving Strategic Transformation” Author: Liz Henderson - Data Queen Publisher: Marquis Price Publishing #Books #Data #Leadership #DataLiteracy #SocialSelling https://t.co/xCf5Djwmmr https://t.co/Ivcfqev6nz
Heading out today to spend a week in studio recording the audio for my new book - "20 Times I Almost Died: Life Lessons from the Edge of Survival." From jungles of Panama to the battlefields of Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza,...
Thoroughly enjoyed talking to @michaelpollan last night at the Royal Institution all about consciousness and his brilliant new book A World Appears https://t.co/9bdiamD1S1
This Wednesday: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein @platobooktour discusses The Mattering Instinct at the Cato Institute with @AdamOmaryPhD: https://t.co/StQ0LIgwxa #CatoEvents via @CatoInstitute
