Book Review: ‘How Flowers Made Our World,’ by David George Haskell
David George Haskell’s new book, *How Flowers Made Our World*, argues that flowering plants are ecological engineers whose rapid diversification reshaped Earth’s ecosystems. He traces the “abominable mystery” of their Cretaceous explosion to genetic duplication and a feedback loop with insects that sparked unprecedented biodiversity. The narrative blends scientific detail with a call to re‑value flowers as active agents rather than decorative backdrop. Haskell also links human sensory pleasure to evolutionary wiring, suggesting deeper cultural and health relevance.
Book Review: ‘The Universal Baseball Association,’ by Robert Coover
Robert Coover’s 1968 novel *The Universal Baseball Association* has been reissued by New York Review Books as a paperback priced at $18.95. The story follows an accountant who runs a tabletop baseball simulation, rolling dice to dictate a perfect game....
Black Bag by Luke Kennard Review – a Campus Comedy for Our End Times
Luke Kennard’s new novel *Black Bag* follows a down‑on‑his‑luck London actor who agrees to sit motionless in a lecture hall for a term, encased in a black leather bag, as part of a 1967‑inspired social experiment. The absurd premise satirizes...
The Writer and the Traitor by Robert Verkaik Review – the Strange Case of Graham Greene and Kim Philby
Robert Verkaik’s new biography, *The Writer and the Traitor*, examines the unlikely friendship between novelist Graham Greene and Soviet double‑agent Kim Philby. It details Greene’s abrupt 1944 resignation from MI6 amid the D‑Day deception and Philby’s covert transmission of Allied intelligence to...
Constantine Cavafy Preferred Mystery, Candlelight, and Shadow. His Biographers Are Still Squinting
New biography of Constantine Cavafy, the elusive Greek poet of Alexandria, reveals his shadowy lifestyle, self‑published broadsheets, and the three poetic strands—historical, philosophical, and homoerotic—that shaped his global reputation. The authors, Gregory Jusdanis and Peter Jeffreys, adopt a thematic, archival...
Long Fact, Literary Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction: The Genre Is Hard to Define, Essential, and Imperiled. Paul Elie Explains
The recent layoff of senior nonfiction editors at Simon & Schuster highlights a broader contraction in the long‑form literary nonfiction market. Sales of nonfiction titles have dropped 8.4% year‑over‑year, double the decline seen in fiction, while reading rates continue to fall,...
“Thomas De Quincey Was Famous First for His Opium Eating, Second for His Prose Style, and in Both He Pressed...
Thomas De Quincey’s 1849 essay “The English Mail‑Coach” intertwines vivid nostalgia for a vanished England with a stark meditation on mortality, using his opium‑fueled, baroque prose to dramatise the peril of speed. The piece portrays the mail coach as both...
Leslie Umberger on Grandma Moses
The Smithsonian American Art Museum has launched a major retrospective, "Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work," spotlighting Anna Mary Robertson Moses as a multifaceted figure in American art. Curator Leslie Umberger explains that the museum spent a decade building a...
Ideas Podcast: Try to Love the Questions
Lara Schwartz’s new book *Try to Love the Questions* tackles the growing challenge of politically charged campus discourse by championing free expression, academic freedom, and genuine dialogue. The text outlines First Amendment protections, campus expression policies, and academic standards while...
Anthropic's AI Piracy Settlement Is Getting Close to Final Approval
Anthropic is nearing final court approval of a landmark settlement that resolves the Bartz v. Anthropic copyright case. The company will pay $1.5 billion, distributing $3,000 to each qualifying author, after nearly 100,000 claims were filed. The agreement requires Anthropic to...
2026 Imadjinn Awards Finalists
The Imaginarium Imadjinn Awards announced its 2026 finalists across 20 categories, ranging from Best Science Fiction Novel to Best Poetry Collection. The list features a mix of traditionally published titles and a notable presence of self‑published works. Publishers such as...
Jessica Brilliant Keener on Fostering Empathy and Connection Through Storytelling
Jessica Brilliant Keener releases her latest novel, Evening Begins the Day, exploring betrayal, family crisis, and the ancient Jewish ritual of Counting the Omer. The story follows two neighboring families whose secrets unravel, using multiple points of view to examine...
Ways to Keep Talking — and Maybe Find Way Forward — Amid Riven Times
Julia Minson’s new book *How to Disagree Better* introduces the H.E.A.R. framework—Hedging, Emphasizing agreement, Acknowledging perspectives, and Reframing positively—to boost conversational receptiveness. The model is built on experiments showing that trained speakers are judged more trustworthy, objective, and collaborative even...
Digital Leviathan
Jacob Siegel’s new book *The Information State* argues that the United States has evolved into a “digital leviathan” that governs by controlling the codes, algorithms, and attention of the public. Drawing on intellectual history from Bacon to modern technocrats, Siegel...
2026 Carnegie Medals Shortlists
On March 10, 2026, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals announced the shortlists for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Writing and Illustration, honoring outstanding UK children’s and young‑adult books. The writing list features titles such as Katya Balen’s...
The Case of the Petrified Potter by Cathy Ace
Cathy Ace’s thirteenth WISE Enquiries Agency novel, *The Case of the Petrated Potter*, follows four women investigators as they help a terminally ill potter uncover the truth behind her sister’s 1984 death in a Welsh mining village. The story intertwines...
Matt Goodwin’s Intellectual Suicide
Matt Goodwin, a former academic turned Reform MP, self‑published the book *Suicide of a Nation* in December 2025. Critics argue the work is riddled with fabricated quotes, mis‑interpreted data and a thin anti‑immigration narrative that frames Britain’s demographic changes as...
A Musical Version of ‘Trainspotting’ Is Coming to London’s West End This Summer
Irvine Welsh’s cult novel ‘Trainspotting’ is being transformed into a West End musical that will run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from July 15 to September 5, 2026. Welsh himself is co‑writing the score with Steve McGuinness, adding new characters...
At Sweden’s Book Industry Day, Print, Audio, and Pricing Collide
Sweden’s 2025 book market showed a rare reversal, with print sales climbing 7% to capture roughly 68% of total revenue, while the overall market exceeded SEK 5 billion (about $535 million). Government subsidies of SEK 304 million (≈$32.5 million) for school book access helped fuel the...
Adrian Tchaikovsky: 'I Try and Do Interesting Aliens'
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s latest installment, Children of Strife, hit shelves on 26 March 2026, continuing his award‑winning Children of Time saga that blends speculative evolution with hard science fiction. The novel centers on a human‑sized mantis shrimp, a species he researched through...
Scoop: Bob Woodward's Memoir, "Secrets," To Reveal Stories About Deceased "Forever Sources"
Bob Woodward’s long‑awaited memoir, "Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir," hits shelves on September 29, 2024. The 83‑year‑old journalist uses decades‑old notes, transcripts and interviews to recount his most pivotal reporting relationships, many with sources now deceased. The book promises vivid detail...
The Murder Pool by Stella Blómkvist
Stella Blómkvist’s fourth novel, *The Murder Pool*, arrives in English translation, extending the Icelandic lawyer‑hero’s saga for a growing UK audience. The story intertwines a #MeToo scandal, a suspected serial rapist, a wrongful‑conviction claim, and the murder of a famed...
5 Powerful Books that Transformed the Course of History
Throughout history, five seminal books have reshaped societies, politics, science, and culture. The Communist Manifesto ignited global socialist movements, while Darwin’s On the Origin of Species revolutionized biology and sparked enduring science‑religion debates. The Bible has underpinned Western legal and...
How Seventies-Era Shows Inspired a Modern-Day Crime Hero
Mercury Carter, the freelance courier‑turned‑hero of author Michael K. Miller’s new thriller *The Delivery*, is heavily inspired by 1970s television action dramas. The writer cites iconic roles such as Billy Jack, the Six Million Dollar Man, and Kwai‑Chang Caine from *Kung Fu* as templates for Carter’s quiet,...
Metro Murder: Andrew Reid on Writing a Thriller Set in New York City’s Subway
Andrew Reid’s thriller *The Survivor* is set on New York’s 1 train, a choice he made without ever stepping foot in the city. He relied on crowdsourced videos, field guides, and extensive online research to render the subway’s atmosphere authentically....
Olesya Salnikova Gilmore on Crafting Feminist Agency in Historical Gothic Mysteries
Olesya Salnikova Gilmore examines how historical gothic mysteries can grant feminist agency by embedding female protagonists in business ventures and spiritualist practices. She highlights tea shops, tearooms, and séance enterprises as plot‑driving assets that move women from passive victims to...
Book Review: ‘A Treacherous Secret Agent,’ by Marjorie Garber
Marjorie Garber’s new book *A Treacherous Secret Agent* examines how literature functioned as a covert form of resistance during the second Red Scare. By juxtaposing congressional hearings of Hallie Flanagan in 1938 and Joseph Papp in 1958 with the works of Shakespeare,...
Enough Said by Alan Bennett Review – a Man for All Seasons
Alan Bennett’s new diary volume, covering 2016‑2024, revisits his pandemic entries and long‑standing reflections on aging, military service, and literary rivalries. The collection shows how his COVID‑era observations acquire fresh meaning now that the crisis has receded. Bennett also highlights...
‘Lonesome Dove,’ ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and the Power of the Book Review in the Age Before Algorithms
The New York Times essay highlights how The Washington Post’s now‑defunct Book World once acted as a cultural engine, catapulting authors like Larry McMurtry and Annie Proulx into mainstream success. By delivering thoughtful, serendipitous criticism, the section shaped literary reputations long before algorithmic feeds...
Book Review: ‘Open Space,’ by David Ariosto
David Ariosto’s new book *Open Space* offers a front‑row view of the modern space race, featuring interviews with a host of private‑sector engineers, scientists and billionaires—though not the marquee figures Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. The narrative celebrates humanity’s engineering...
The News From Dublin by Colm Tóibín Review – Subtle Short Stories About Being Far From Home
Irish author Colm Tóibín’s new short‑story collection, *The News from Dublin*, delves into themes of displacement and liminality. Set across locations from early‑20th‑century Europe to contemporary Argentina, the stories present grief and moral ambiguity through a cool, abstract prose style....
Geoff Bennett Explores Black Comedy's History and Cultural Impact in 'Black Out Loud'
Geoff Bennett’s new book, *Black Out Loud*, chronicles the long‑standing history of Black comedy in America, zeroing in on the 1990s boom of sitcoms and sketch shows such as *In Living Color* and *Living Single*. The work blends oral histories...
Weekly Bestsellers, 23 March 2026
The latest weekly bestseller data shows three new fantasy titles breaking into top ranks. Briar Boleyn’s The Wings That Bind climbed to #2 on both The New York Times and Publishers Weekly lists, while Jasmine Mas’s Psycho Beasts peaked at #14 on...
What’s It Like to Be Back in Print After 20 Years? A Bit Odd.
Nancy Lemann, who published her debut novel at 28, resurfaced in the literary spotlight after a 20‑year hiatus from print. She attended a Michael Lewis‑hosted gathering in New Orleans, mingling with veteran writers such as Walter Isaacson and Joshua Steiner. Lemann...
Liberal Arts
Becca Rothfield’s essay “Listless Liberalism” critiques the aesthetic vacuum in contemporary liberal societies, using Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s *Abundance* and Cass Sunstein’s *Liberalism* as reference points. She argues that while policy debates flourish, the visual and cultural symbols of...
Brian Doherty, 57, Dies; Chronicled Libertarians and Other Outsiders
Brian Doherty, a veteran journalist and author, died at 57 after a fall in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He spent three decades chronicling libertarians, underground comics, Burning Man and seasteading, most notably with his book *Radicals for Capitalism*. His...
Book Review: ‘Almost Life,’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s new novel *Almost Life* follows Erica, a British aspiring writer, and Laure, a French left‑wing artist, who meet as university students in Paris in 1978 and embark on a passionate summer affair. Over the ensuing decades the...
We’re in the Midst of a Horror Comedy Renaissance — Why Now?
Horror‑comedy is enjoying a pronounced renaissance, highlighted by the Oscar‑winning "Sinners" and a string of sequels such as "Ready or Not 2" and tech‑thrillers like "Companion" and "M3gan 2.0." The genre’s roots stretch back to early silent cinema and the...
The HEATED RIVALRY Precursor Coming Back to Print
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,...
NYC Radio Icon Richard Neer Publishes 16th Book
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...
How a $11M, 2-Foot-Tall Jeweled Egg Ruined a Business, a Marriage, and a Family
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,...
Ifrah F. Ahmed Has the Spice Plug
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...
China Bestsellers, January 2026: The Future with AI and a Resurgence of Classics
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...
Finding Words for the Worst Kind of Misbehavior
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...
Lit Hub Daily: March 23, 2026
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...
Unsung Heroines: Rebel Girls of the Bay Area
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...
Future Flowers
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,...
Book Review: ‘Darkology,’ by Rhae Lynn Barnes
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...
Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor Review – Portrait of a Working-Class Artist in New York
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...
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
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...