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 described the experience as oddly disorienting, reflecting both nostalgia and the pressure of re‑entering a changed publishing landscape. The piece captures her personal reflections amid a broader conversation about print’s relevance today.
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...
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy Wins Indie Book Awards 2026 Book of the Year
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...
Beings by Ilana Masad
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...
This Week in Literary History: Hugo Grotius Escapes Prison in a Book Chest
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 on Building Suspense
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 on Finding the Poetry in Grief
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....
How the Idea of Human Superiority over Nature Was Invented
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...
Booksellers Predict Upbeat Market
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...
Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams
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...
Sparkling, Stunning New Romance Books
Olivia Waite reviews Cat Sebastian’s new paperback *Star Shipped*, a contemporary romance that pairs a TV actor with an emotional‑support dachshund amid a sci‑fi backdrop. The novel explores the protagonists’ hidden mental‑illness struggles and a reluctant attraction that evolves during a...
SBTB Bestsellers: March 7 – March 20
From March 7‑20, SBTB’s bestseller list highlights a mix of romance, fantasy, and speculative fiction, compiled using affiliate sales data from major retailers. R.F. Kuang’s “Katabasis” leads, followed by Sherry Thomas’s “The Librarians” and Olivia Dade’s “Second Chance Romance.” The list features...
Book Review: ‘Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America,’ by Michael Kimmel
Playmakers by Michael Kimmel chronicles how Jewish immigrants founded and shaped the American toy industry throughout the 20th century. It follows Morris Michtom, a Minsk‑born refugee who created the first American teddy bear and launched Ideal Toy Company, alongside other...
Dorian Rhea Debussy on Women, Queer People, and the National Security State
Author Dorian Rhea Debussy’s new book, The Lavender Bans, chronicles a century of anti‑LGBTQ+ policies in the U.S. military and intelligence community, weaving personal anecdotes with archival research. The narrative spotlights figures such as fashion executive Dorothy Shaver, CIA‑denied contractor...
Seeds of Something Different
MIT historian Kate Brown’s new book “Tiny Gardens Everywhere” traces the rise of urban gardening from 19th‑century Berlin allotments to contemporary community farms worldwide. The work links historic commons‑based cultivation to the 18th‑century enclosure movement that reshaped labor and property...
What to Read This Weekend: Revisiting Project Hail Mary and The Thing on the Doorstep
The weekend roundup spotlights two high‑profile adaptations: Andy Weir’s science‑fiction novel *Project Hail Mary* arrives on the big screen, while Image Comics launches a new miniseries adapting H.P. Lovecraft’s short story *The Thing on the Doorstep*. The article urges readers to revisit the original book for its richer scientific...
Open-Ended Debate
Generative AI is rapidly entering core business functions, promising massive economic gains. Analysts estimate it could add almost $7 trillion to global GDP and boost productivity by 1.5 percentage points over ten years. Adoption is soaring, with over one‑third of firms already...
What a Century-Old Sex Manual Got Right
In 1926 Dutch gynecologist Theodoor van de Velde released *Ideal Marriage*, a 300‑page manual that framed sexual pleasure as essential to a healthy marriage and urged men to ensure their wives’ orgasm. The book became a bestseller, selling at least half a...
The Best Way to Keep Track of New Horror Books
Book Riot’s New Release Index consolidates upcoming horror titles into a searchable, date‑ordered database, letting readers filter by genre and save favorites. The tool replaces manual tracking with an intuitive cover‑scroll interface and detailed synopses. It is bundled with the...
The Best Way to Keep Track of New Romance Books
Book Riot’s New Release Index offers a curated database of upcoming romance titles, organized by release date and filterable by genre. Readers can browse cover images, read descriptions, and add favorites to a personal Watchlist, eliminating the need for manual...
Book Review: ‘Everybody’s Fly,’ by Fab 5 Freddy
Fab 5 Freddy’s memoir *Everybody’s Fly* chronicles his evolution from a Lower East Side scenester to a pivotal visual artist, filmmaker, and hip‑hop tastemaker. The book highlights his early immersion in iconic clubs like CBGB and Paradise Garage and his role in...
Book Review: ‘The Feather Wars,’ by James H. McCommons
James H. McCommons’s new book *The Feather Wars* chronicles the late‑19th‑century American craze for collecting bird eggs and skins, a hobby that drove several species toward extinction. The work details how a rag‑tag coalition of naturalists, sportsmen, artists and politicians...
‘I’ve Learned First-Hand How Evil Is Tolerated’: Colm Tóibín on Living in the US Under Trump
Colm Tóibín reflects on how a fleeting image sparked a series of stories, from an imagined illegal Irish plumber in San Francisco to his longer work “The Catalan Girls.” He ties his fictional narrative to real‑world immigration anxieties amplified by Donald...
The Month’s Best New Mystery Books
Frances Crawford’s debut mystery, A Bad, Bad Place, is highlighted as a standout in the month’s new‑book roundup. Set in 1979 working‑class Glasgow, the story follows twelve‑year‑old Janey Devine who discovers a corpse and struggles with fragmented memories. The novel...
Exiled Iranian Writer Shahrnush Parsipur on Her International Booker Prize-Nominated Novella
Iranian novelist Shahrnush Parsipur’s 1989 novella Women Without Men, a magic‑realist critique of gender and political repression, has been longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. The work, banned and censored in Iran, circulated underground and later gained worldwide attention after...
10 Unsettling Sci-Fi Books About Humanity Existing in a Simulation
The article lists ten science‑fiction titles that dramatize humanity’s possible existence inside a simulation, from Daniel F. Galouye’s early classic *Simulacron‑3* to John Scalzi’s meta‑narrative *Redshirts*. Each work examines how simulated environments can erode identity, agency, and reality, often portraying corporate...
Don DeLillo’s Hockey Novel, ‘Amazons,’ Will Return to Stores
Don DeLillo’s long‑forgotten 1980 novel “Amazons,” a satirical memoir about the first woman to play in the NHL, will be reissued on Nov. 17, 2026, just before his 90th birthday. The book, originally published under the pseudonym Cleo Birdwell, was omitted...
Hachette Yanks Horror Novel Shy Girl From Shelves After Accusations of AI Use
Hachette Book Group has pulled the horror novel *Shy Girl* from UK shelves and cancelled its US release after an internal probe concluded large sections were generated by artificial intelligence. The book, originally self‑published by Mia Ballard and later picked up...
The Burton Book Review: ‘Lawless’ by Leah Litman
Leah Litman’s 2025 book *Lawless* argues that the current U.S. Supreme Court is weaponizing originalist and fringe legal theories to advance a Republican‑driven conservative agenda. She details how the Court has dismantled abortion rights, chipped away at LGBT protections, restricted...
Kafka’s Misdiagnosis
In a 1922 diary entry Kafka describes a self‑imposed failing that shields him from madness while also stalling any progress, framing his creative paralysis as a bargain with insanity. The essay argues that Kafka’s oeuvre reflects a neurotic rather than...
Your Complete Guide to Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series blends classic cosy crime with humor and deep character work, following four retired professionals who solve real murders in a Kent retirement village. The books have sold millions worldwide, been translated into dozens of...
Remembering Calvin Tomkins, a Master of the Profile
Calvin Tomkins, the legendary New Yorker staff writer who pioneered the modern artist profile, died at 100 on March 20, 2026. Over nearly seven decades he produced more than 80 in‑depth profiles, from Marcel Duchamp to contemporary figures like Tala Madani, many of which...
Reem Bassiouney on the Importance of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, ‘It Is Literature that Bridges Differences and Times.’
Reem Bassiouney, a linguistics professor and prolific novelist, won the 2024 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for her historical novel al‑Halwani. The prize facilitated an English translation, a Frankfurt Book Fair appearance, and broader exposure beyond the Arab world. Bassiouney highlights...
A Network of Networks to Empower the Younger Generation
The Young Voices Network was launched at the London Book Fair, uniting the International Publishers Association, PEN International, and the World Expression Forum to connect fragmented youth initiatives in publishing. Created by John Steinmark and activist Ege Dündar, the network...
Whose Stories Shape Tomorrow? Introducing the Young Voices Network
At the London Book Fair, PEN International’s youngest board member, Ege Dündar, unveiled the Young Voices Network, an umbrella initiative linking the Tomorrow Club and Young Writers Committee. The network already unites 62 writers under 35 from more than 60...