Know What&#x27;s Happening in Books

By The New York Review of Books

‘Dirty Work’

S. Yizhar’s 1949 novella Khirbet Khizeh dramatizes the forced expulsion and burning of a Palestinian village during Israel’s 1948 war, drawing on his own experience as a Givati Brigade officer. The real village, Khirbet al‑Khisas, was identified in 1978, confirming the author’s claim that the story reflected documented orders to clear eight villages near Gaza. The book achieved bestseller status before Israeli denial of the Nakba took hold, prompting early debate about Zionist morality. Its afterword will appear in the new Dutch edition released this month.

By The New York Review of Books

All of Us Yahoos

Dan Sperrin’s State of Ridicule offers an 800‑page, Roman‑to‑2010s survey of English satire, arguing that satire is fundamentally political and serves as a tool for interpreting power. The book adopts a “longue durée” label but actually traces decade‑by‑decade political events, pairing each...

The Darkness From the Darkness

Darcey Steinke’s 2026 memoir *This Is the Door: The Body, Pain, and Faith* examines how chronic physical ailments, especially debilitating back pain, shape spiritual and existential outlooks. Drawing on personal anecdotes, interviews with artists, writers, and scholars, the book maps...

By The Baffler

Social•Mar 5, 2026

Use Principles Over Formulas to Structure Your Story

Try searching for “how to structure a story” and you'll get a panoply of instructions: Hero’s Journey Three-act structure Save the Cat Snowflake method Freytag’s Pyramid Fichtean Curve What do you do with them? Tiffany Yates Martin advises: https://janefriedman.com/base-your-story-structure-on-principles-not-systems/

By Jane Friedman

Podcast•Mar 5, 2026•0 min

Joanna Barker’s A Love Most Daring Is Strong Regency Mystery

Joanna Barker’s third Bow Street novel, A Love Most Daring, launches March 3, 2026 as a paperback in Shadow Mountain’s Proper Romance line. The Regency‑set story follows Beatrice Lacey, a scandal‑tainted society miss, who teams with Bow Street officer Alexander...

By Cracking the Cover

Ron Currie on THE SAVAGE, NOBLE DEATH OF BABS DIONNE

Ron Currie appears on the literary podcast Poured Over to discuss his hard‑boiled crime novel, The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne. The conversation, co‑hosted by Isabelle McConville, delves into Currie’s character‑first writing process, his Franco‑American roots, and the novel’s...

By Poured Over (Barnes & Noble)

On Her Own Terms

The piece revisits Doris Lessing’s unconventional career, from her colonial upbringing and communist activism to her 2007 Nobel Prize, emphasizing how works like “The Golden Notebook” and “The Summer Before the Dark” challenged literary norms and feminist discourse. It intertwines...

By Aeon

By Cambridge University Press – Blog

The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music

The Cambridge University Press has released "The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music," edited by Hillegonda C. Rietveld and Toby Young. The volume assembles interdisciplinary essays that map EDM’s history, production, club design, and cultural politics across continents. It highlights...

Base Your Story Structure on Principles, Not Systems

The article argues that writers should base story structure on underlying principles rather than rigid systems. It outlines three core functions of structure: advancing the plot, reflecting the character’s journey, and shaping the reader’s experience. Real‑world examples—from *White Mulberry* to...

By Jane Friedman (blog)

Review of Kalpana Karunakaran’s A Woman Of No Consequence

Kalpana Karunakaran’s new book *A Woman of No Consequence* weaves her grandmother Pankajam’s life into a broader portrait of India’s early post‑independence era. Drawing on letters, poems, and family archives, the narrative follows three generations of Tamil women confronting caste,...

By The Hindu – Books

2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist ‘Examines the Messy Business of Being Human’

The Women’s Prize for Fiction announced its 2026 longlist on March 4, featuring sixteen titles that grapple with climate change, artificial intelligence, identity and migration. Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard chairs the judging panel, emphasizing fiction’s power to explore the...

By The Hindu – Books

Lyla Lane on the Charm and Challenges of Setting Cozies in Small Towns

Lyla Lane explains how she crafted the small‑town setting of Sarsaparilla Falls for her new cozy mystery, The Best Little Motel in Texas. She emphasizes that the town itself must feel lived‑in, using personal memories of her grandparents’ hometown and...

By CrimeReads

Gloria Don’t Speak by Lucy Apps Review – Tender Portrait of a Woman with a Learning Disability

Lucy Apps’s debut novel *Gloria Don’t Speak* follows 19‑year‑old Gloria, a woman with a learning disability living in east London in the summer of 1999. The narrative captures her sensory‑rich perception, a fraught friendship with a controlling young man named...

Bassma Sheikho’s ‘Scream’

Bassma Sheikho’s poem “Scream,” translated by Maisaa Tanjour and Alice Holttum, appears in the spring 2026 issue *SYRIA: Fall of Eternity*. The piece, written in 2016, portrays a war‑torn Syrian household through stark, fragmented imagery, culminating in a cry for...

By ArabLit

By The Creative Independent

Writer and Entrepreneur Glory Edim on Cultivating Talent in Yourself and Others

Glory Edim founded the Well‑Read Black Girl platform while working at Kickstarter, using a modest Kickstarter campaign to launch a book club that evolved into a literary conference, publishing imprint, and three authored books. After leaving Kickstarter in 2018, she...

Tales of the Suburbs by John Grindrod Review – Queer Goings on Behind the Curtains

John Grindrod’s *Tales of the Suburbs* offers a tragicomic social history of LGBTQ life across Britain’s suburbs, from commuter belts to rural villages. Drawing on archives, newsletters, and original interviews, the book intertwines political, architectural, and cultural analysis with witty...

Empathy (2025), by Bryan Walpert

Bryan Walpert’s novel *Empathy*, longlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards, follows marketing executive Alison Morris and game‑developer husband Jim as they attempt to commercialise empathy through a perfume and a video‑game called *EmPath*. The story intertwines their idealistic ambitions...

By ANZLitLovers

Across the Vanishing Sky by Catherine Cowles

Catherine Cowles’s debut novel *Across the Vanishing Sky* follows single mother Braedyn Winslow as she returns to the Oregon town of Starlight Grove to investigate her best friend’s disappearance. The story intertwines a slow‑burn romance with Dex Archer, a tech‑savvy...

By The Bookishelf

Social•Mar 5, 2026

Kundera Explores Life’s Ambivalence and Love’s Uncertainty

How do we know what we want – Milan Kundera on the central ambivalences of life and love https://t.co/YiTk12J73j

By Maria Popova

Albert Camus on the Source of Strength and How to Save Our Sanity in Trying Times

Albert Camus, Nobel laureate in literature, penned the 1940 essay “The Almond Trees,” famously declaring that an “invincible summer” lies within us even in the deepest winter. The piece urges readers to reject despair, cultivate virtues such as strength of...

By The Marginalian

Kim Fu’s Book Notes Music Playlist for Their Novel The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts

Kim Fu has joined Largehearted Boy’s Book Notes series by publishing a curated music playlist that mirrors the mood of their 2025 novel The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts. The novel, described by Publishers Weekly as an "alluring" portrait of mental...

By Largehearted Boy

By The New Yorker – Culture/Books

Yuval Sharon Reimagines the Canon

Yuval Sharon, famed for reimagining classic operas, will debut his production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Met next week, casting the mythic lovers as a contemporary couple. His two‑decade career includes staging “Götterdämmerung” in a Detroit parking garage...

2025 Clarkesworld Readers’ Poll Winners

The 2025 Clarkesworld Readers’ Poll results were released on March 4, 2026. Tia Tashiro’s “Missing Helen” won Best Short Story, H.H. Pak’s “Never Eaten Vegetables” took Best Novelette/Novella, and Alex Rommel’s “Landscape Painter” secured Best Cover. The poll reflects readers’...

By Locus Magazine

Social•Mar 4, 2026

Greek Tragedy Meets Australian Outback in Stedman's Novel

M.L. Stedman’s new novel feels like a Greek tragedy transplanted to the Australian outback. My review of “A Far-Flung Life”: https://roncharles.substack.com/p/ml-stedman-is-back-with-another-impossible

By Ron Charles

By Association of American Publishers – News

2025 USTR Notorious Markets List Issued

The U.S. Trade Representative released its 2025 Notorious Markets List, spotlighting online and physical venues that facilitate large‑scale piracy and counterfeiting. The Association of American Publishers praised the report, emphasizing its role in protecting authors and publishers. The list again...

Mundane, Magic, Maybe Both — a New Book Explores 'The Writer's Room'

Katie da Cunha Lewin’s new book, *The Writer’s Room*, investigates the fascination with writers’ personal spaces, from Lucille Clifton’s Baltimore home to Virginia Woolf’s Monk’s House. By touring preserved rooms and interviewing authors, Lewin reveals that the allure often masks a myth:...

By NPR – Books

Agencies Partner up to Represent Authors of Romance and More

The Gernert Company and Bookcase Literary Agency announced a partnership to jointly represent self‑published and debut authors of commercial fiction aimed at women, including romance. The collaboration pools the agencies’ editorial, sales, and rights expertise to broaden market reach. By...

By Jane Friedman (blog)

New Literary Agency: Lingua Nova

Jaidree Braddix, former head of publishing at ARC Collective, has founded Lingua Nova, a new literary agency dedicated to nonfiction. The agency aims to represent a mix of emerging and established nonfiction writers, leveraging Braddix’s industry contacts. Lingua Nova enters...

By Jane Friedman (blog)

2026 Must Read Books Award Winners

The 2026 Must Read Books Award, formerly the Dell Magazines Award, recognized Sophia Aki Kawamura’s short story “From Upstream” as the winner, granting her a $500 prize, a plaque, and publication in Asimov’s. Runner‑up honors went to Emma Kerkman, Jadyn...

By Locus Magazine

By Terribleminds (Chuck Wendig)

Ruth Knafo Setton: Five Things I Learned Writing Zigzag Girl

Ruth Knafo Setton reflects on five pivotal lessons learned while writing her thriller Zigzag Girl, from a harrowing real‑life straitjacket escape to the unique flavor of Atlantic City’s historic underbelly. She describes how the city’s layered past fuels the novel’s...

By Duke University Press – Blog

Save on New Titles in Literature and Literary Studies

Duke University Press is promoting its literature and literary studies titles at the AWP 2026 conference in Baltimore. Attendees can use coupon code AWP26 for a 40% discount on all books and journal issues purchased online through February 29, 2026....

By Publishing Perspectives

New Audible Feature Supports the Immersion Reading Trend

Audible introduced the Read & Listen feature, letting users see synchronized text while listening to audiobooks within the Audible app. The tool differs from Whispersync by keeping both formats in a single interface, though users must purchase both the ebook and audiobook....

Social•Mar 4, 2026

Book Publicist Scams Exposed: $1800, Zero ROI

This case study in hiring a book publicity firm is both laugh-out-loud funny and highly informative. As author Kirsten Bell points out, few people share these poor experiences due to shame and embarrassment. So I couldn't be more grateful to her...

By Jane Friedman

Jasmine Warga’s Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan Is Moving Tale of Friendship

Jasmine Warga’s new hardcover, The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan, released March 3, 2026 by Balzer + Bray, follows a rescue dog and an orphaned cheetah cub as they help each other overcome trauma and perform in a zoo...

By Cracking the Cover

Kristin Dwyer’s In Time with You Is Time Slip YA Romance

Kristin Dwyer’s new YA novel In Time with You follows Nieve Monroe, who after her boyfriend Carter dies, is thrust back a year to prevent the tragedy, only to find herself drawn to his best friend Max. The story blends...

By Cracking the Cover

A Key to the Lock of the Book

The author announces only four tickets remain for a backyard reading with Lauren Groff and will appear on a New Orleans Book Festival panel discussing the pros and cons of writing on Substack on March 14. A one‑hour, $75 Zoom workshop titled...

By CRAFT TALK

Choose A Popular Novel Per Decade And We'll Guess Your Best Personality Trait

BuzzFeed has launched a new interactive quiz titled “Choose A Popular Novel Per Decade And We’ll Guess Your Best Personality Trait.” The quiz asks users to select a well‑known book from each decade, then matches those choices to a personality...

By BuzzFeed – Books

The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood

Robert Thorogood’s fifth Marlow Murder Club novel, *The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts*, opens moments after *Murder on the Marlow Belle* and pits the elderly sleuth Judith against accusations of a decades‑old murder in Cyprus. A new celebrity killing—footballer Gary...

By Crime Fiction Lover

Chasing Freedom by Simukai Chigudu Review – a Powerful Memoir of Postcolonial Unease

Simukai Chigudu’s memoir *Chasing Freedom* intertwines Zimbabwe’s war of independence with his own quest for belonging across continents. He shows how political liberation after 1980 did not guarantee personal freedom, exposing lingering colonial mentalities in elite schools and diaspora life....

Podcast•Mar 4, 2026•0 min

Your Author Toolbox: Part 2

The latest release of the Author Toolbox adds dozens of AI‑driven utilities for writers, ranging from PR automation to legal, tax, and editing assistants. All tools are hosted on PatronToolbox.com and organized into categories such as PR, "Not a Professional"...

By Novel Marketing

The Quantity Theory of Morality by Will Self Review – Raucously Inventive State-of-the-Nation Satire

Will Self’s latest novel, The Quantity Theory of Morality, revisits his 1991 debut’s Busner character to argue that societies possess a finite “morality quotient” that can be exhausted, leading to collective decay. The book unfolds through five near‑identical set‑pieces—a dinner...

Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions by Ahmad Saber

Ahmad Saber's debut novel, Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions, follows Ramin Noor Abbas, a gay Pakistani‑Canadian teen in a conservative Toronto Muslim high school as he wrestles with faith, family expectations, and his emerging sexuality. Drawing on Saber's own immigrant...

By The Bookishelf

‘One Piece’ Creator Eiichiro Oda Hides Series’ Biggest Secret Under the Ocean as Manga Hits 600 Million Copies

The legendary manga One Piece has topped 600 million copies in global circulation with the release of Volume 114, marking a historic publishing milestone. To commemorate, creator Eiichiro Oda recorded the answer to the series' central mystery—the nature of the One Piece...

By The Hindu – Books