When Among Crows and To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth
Veronica Roth’s first two Curse Bearer novellas, *When Among Crows* (2024) and *To Clutch a Razor* (2025), reimagine Polish folklore within a contemporary urban‑fantasy framework. The books follow Dymitr, a Polish‑American Knight of the Holy Order, as he confronts monsters like strzyga, zmora, and upiór while grappling with his own transformation into a zmora. Roth ties the Knights’ magic to personal pain, creating a morally ambiguous battle between self‑appointed paladins and their prey. The dual settings—Chicago’s diaspora community and rural Poland—highlight cultural clash and family loyalty.
Off the Scales: The Inside Story of Ozempic and the Race to Cure Obesity Reviewed
The review of Aimee Donnellan’s book Off the Scales examines how Ozempic, a GLP‑1 drug originally for type‑2 diabetes, has become a blockbuster obesity treatment. It details the drug’s ability to deliver rapid 20%‑plus weight loss, its side‑effect profile, and...
Life in the Himalaya | Review of Anuradha Roy’s Called by the Hills
Anuradha Roy’s debut memoir *Called by the Hills* chronicles her everyday life in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand, blending garden observations with the stark realities of a warming Himalaya. The 200‑page book eschews sentimental escape narratives, opting for understated humor and vivid metaphors...
10 Love Lessons From Luca Maggiora’s New Book Before You Go
Luca Maggiora, owner of London’s iconic Tramp club, has released *Before You Go: What I Learned About Love – Ten Lessons That Change Everything*. Drawing on personal experience and years of therapy, the book distills ten practical lessons for sustaining...
The Names Author Florence Knapp: ‘I’d Love to Write with Maya Angelou’s Warmth’
Florence Knapp, debut author of "The Names," reflects on the books and writers that shaped her literary sensibility, from childhood favorites like Shirley Hughes to teenage revelations such as Charlotte Brontë. She admires Maya Angelou’s warmth and Claire Keegan’s relational nuance,...
Benjamin Stevenson on the “Gamification” Of Crime Fiction
Author Benjamin Stevenson argues that crime fiction is entering a “gamified” phase, where fair‑play mysteries invite readers to solve the puzzle like a game. He traces the history of genre rebranding—from Nordic Noir to cosy mysteries—and explains how fair‑play has...
10 Kids’ Books for Fans of The Baby-Sitters Club
The article lists ten contemporary children’s books that capture the spirit of Ann M. Martin’s beloved *The Baby‑Sitters Club*. It highlights titles such as *A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting* and *Best Babysitters Ever*, which blend friendship drama with entrepreneurial or supernatural...
Paperback Vs. Hardcover: Which Is Better For Readers (and For Writers)?
The article compares paperback and hardcover formats, noting readers favor paperbacks for price and portability. It argues hardcovers convey publisher commitment, attract more serious reviews, and offer higher royalty rates. Recent industry shifts—mass‑market paperback retirement, Barnes & Noble’s push for...
Chain of Ideas by Ibram X Kendi Review – Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory
Ibram X Kendi’s new 500‑page book *Chain of Ideas* maps the ideological scaffolding of the so‑called great replacement theory, arguing it is a chain of interlocking ideas that fuels today’s authoritarian surge. He traces the concept from its French origin with...
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[Comment] Offline: Intelligence Does Not Prevent Stupidity
Giuliano da Empoli’s 2022 novel *The Wizard of the Kremlin* imagines a former Putin aide recounting the leader’s evolution from intelligence officer to autocrat. Through the fictional advisor Vadim Baranov, the book draws a stark contrast between a West driven...
Shotgun Ornithology
James H. McCommons’s new book *The Feather Wars* chronicles the 19th‑century battle to save America’s songbirds. It reveals how logging, agriculture, fashion, and even scientific collecting decimated bird populations. The narrative highlights the emergence of the first organized conservation movement...
Horror Novel ‘Shy Girl’ Canceled Over Suspected A.I. Use
Hachette Book Group withdrew the upcoming horror novel “Shy Girl” after The New York Times alleged the manuscript was largely AI‑generated. The Orbit imprint halted the U.S. spring release and removed the title from its UK catalog, where only 1,800 print copies...
TikTok Expands #BookTok Bestseller Lists Across Europe and the UK
TikTok is extending its #BookTok bestseller rankings to six additional European markets, including Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The new lists will combine TikTok’s engagement data with NielsenIQ BookData sales figures to produce monthly trend reports. The...
Jacinda Ardern to Headline 40th Melbourne Writers Festival
The Melbourne Writers Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary with a four‑day program from 7‑10 May 2026, featuring more than 150 artists across the city. The festival’s theme, Visions & Revisions, invites writers and thinkers to explore imagined futures, personal narratives,...
The United Kingdom Opportunity: Print, Distribute, & Grow with IngramSpark
The United Kingdom remains a powerhouse publishing market, with roughly 195 million print books sold in 2024 and a £1.82 bn retail value. Success in the UK often serves as a springboard to the U.S. library system and broader North American retail...
Collective of Tamil Creators, Readers, and Social Activists Demands Withdrawal of Jnanpith Award to Vairamuthu
A coalition of 230 Tamil writers, readers, and activists has called for the immediate withdrawal of the Jnanpith Award granted to poet‑lyricist Vairamuthu. The petition argues his work fails to reflect core Tamil cultural values and cites 18 women’s #MeToo...
New Biography of Ethel Kennedy, Written by Her Daughter Kerry, to Debut This Fall
Author Kerry Kennedy announced a new biography of her mother, Ethel Kennedy, titled *Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy*, slated for release on October 13, 2026. The book draws on Kerry’s firsthand memories and exclusive access to Ethel’s...
Caller Unknown by Oliver Johnson
Oliver Johnson’s debut, Caller Unknown, is a sprawling crime thriller that taps the current fascination with conspiracy theories amplified by the internet, surveillance culture, and post‑pandemic anxieties. The plot follows seven amnesiac children discovered in Maine, focusing on Ed as...
Books Our Editors Love This Week
The New York Times Book Review releases a weekly roundup of standout titles across literary fiction, nonfiction, thrillers, romance, and mystery. Editors curate the list, highlighting diverse voices and niche subjects such as culinary history. Readers can add favorites to a personal...
2026 HWA Specialty Awards
The Horror Writers Association announced its 2026 Specialty Awards, highlighting Bad Hand Books as the Specialty Press Award recipient for outstanding horror publishing. Marc L Abbott earned the Richard Laymon President’s Award for exemplary volunteer service, while Sarah Read received...
2026 PEN America Finalists
PEN America released the finalists for its 2026 literary awards on Jan 29, naming works across fiction, poetry, essay, and translation. The ten awards will distribute nearly $350,000, with the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award offering $75,000 to the winner. Notable finalists...
Winnie-the-Pooh at 100: This Much-Loved Classic Illustrates How Books Can Boost Our Wellbeing
The centenary of A.A. Milne’s Winnie‑the‑Pooh highlights the book’s role as an early example of bibliotherapy, a practice that began in the 19th century and gained traction after World I. Milne’s wartime experience shaped the gentle, comforting narrative that has soothed readers for...
Victor LaValle Adaptation The Terror: Devil in Silver Arrives on AMC+ and Shudder in May
AMC announced that the next entry in its horror anthology, The Terror: Devil in Silver, will debut on May 7, 2026, on both AMC+ and Shudder. The series adapts Victor LaValle’s novel The Devil in Silver, with LaValle co‑writing and...
Here’s the Shortlist for the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize.
The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, a £20,000 award for writers 39 or younger, has released its 2026 shortlist. Six works—four novels and two poetry collections—by authors from the UK and the US were selected. The judging panel, chaired by...
Virginia Woolf Envisioned Female Intellectuals with the Time and Space to Write. Hers Was an Enduring Vision — but Also...
Virginia Woolf’s *A Room of One’s Own* argues that women need both financial security and a private space to write, framing money as a concrete catalyst for creative freedom. She illustrates this through the fictional Mary Beton, whose modest inheritance...
Shortlist for 2026 PublisHer Excellence Awards Announced
PublisHer unveiled the 2026 Excellence Awards shortlist, highlighting women’s leadership across three categories—Lifetime Achievement, Innovation, and Emerging Leader. The call attracted over 100 nominations from 34 countries, with 53 entries (half the total) in the Innovation category. Nominees span continents,...
Upstart Publisher Full Set Partners with ‘Global Newsroom’ Fuller to Publish Original Essays
Full Set, an independent nonfiction publisher, has partnered with the award‑winning global newsroom Fuller to repurpose three of Fuller’s original essays as ebook, audiobook and print‑on‑demand titles, launching in spring 2026. The pilot, announced at the London Book Fair, will...
Crowds and Lovers
The forthcoming NYRB edition of John Berger’s novel G. opens with an essay that revisits a 1915 scene in Trieste, where the protagonist G. and Slovenian immigrant Nuša discuss a forged passport amid wartime intrigue. A butterfly landing nearby suspends...
Deciphering Dame Muriel
Frances Wilson’s latest biography, "Deciphering Dame Muriel: Electric Spark," offers a fresh examination of Muriel Spark’s formative years, education, and personal relationships. Wilson traces Spark’s Scottish‑Jewish heritage, her celebrated school days at Gillespie’s, and her marriage to math teacher Sydney...
Sotheby’s and Gagosian Veteran Publishes a History of the Art Market, From the Renaissance to Today
Valentina Castellani, former Sotheby’s deputy director and Gagosian senior director, is releasing *Trading Beauty*, the first book to chronicle the art market from the Renaissance to the present. Published by Gagosian’s shop for $40 on May 1 and later distributed by...
Mother Daughter Sister Wife
Ottilie Mulzet’s new anthology, *Under a Pannonian Sky*, gathers poems by ten Hungarian women born between 1922 and 1972, foregrounding a “Pannonian” identity that stretches beyond modern Hungary. The collection, translated by Mulzet and six collaborators, challenges the perception that...
Jerry Pinto’s Tribute to R. Parthasarathy and How This Poet’s Influential Voice Receded From Literary Memory
R. Parthasarathy, a pioneering Indian poet and scholar, died on March 7, 2026, in Saratoga Springs, New York. He is best remembered for his book‑length poem “Rough Passage” (1977) and for editing the landmark anthology Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets, which helped define the early...
“On Liberty” Now Officially Has Two Authors
John Stuart Mill’s 1859 treatise *On Liberty* has long been a cornerstone of liberal political theory, influencing debates from free speech to individual autonomy. The March 31 2026 Hackett Classics release marks the first time the work is presented with Harriet Taylor...
Exclusive Cover Reveal of “Nanny Nanny” By K Chiucarello
Electric Literature unveiled the cover of K Chiucarello’s debut novel Nanny Nanny, slated for publication by Ecco on November 17, 2026. The story follows a veteran nanny confronting trauma and baby fever, exploring gendered violence, queer motherhood, and the politics of domestic labor. The cover,...
The Era of Florence Price
The Cambridge Companion to Florence B. Price, edited by Samantha Ege and Alexandra Kori Hill, fills a long‑standing gap by offering the first dedicated volume on the pioneering Black composer. It assembles a chorus of expert voices, including a posthumous,...
Our Spring Book Recommendations
The New York Times Book Review editors released a spring‑time video roundup recommending the season’s most anticipated new releases. The series features short clips discussing Toni Morrison, Wuthering Heights, romance genre insights, the decline of pocket‑size paperbacks, and two interviews with George Saunders. By...
T. Kingfisher on Her Favorite Books and Her Disgusting New Novel
In an email interview, author T. Kingfisher reveals she still reads while multitasking, even after a childhood concussion. She cites "The Swiss Family Robinson" and the "Clan of the Cave Bear" series as formative childhood reads. The interview highlights a surprising...
The Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers: Nonfiction
The Independent Publishers Caucus released its weekly Top 40 nonfiction bestsellers, compiled from sales data supplied by the American Booksellers Association across hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide. The list spotlights titles such as John U. Bacon’s *The Gales of November*, Robin...
Ajanta’s Ancient Murals Decoded in a New Children’s Book
Ashwin Prabhu’s new children’s book, *Magnificent Murals – Buddhist Art of Ajanta*, decodes the 2,200‑year‑old Buddhist paintings of India’s Ajanta Caves. The volume blends high‑resolution photographs with line‑drawn reconstructions, highlighting pigments such as lapis lazuli imported from Central Asia. Written...
Vibha Batra on Her Latest Book, Spotless, a Novel in Verse
Vibha Batra’s newest release, *Spotless*, is a young‑adult novel in verse published by Hachette India. Initially planned as a graphic novel, the project shifted to poetry after her illustrator retired, prompting Batra to draw on her love of verse. The...
How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin
Sophie Irwin’s review of HarperCollins’ historical romance *How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days* criticizes the novel’s reliance on a rom‑com formula and its erratic protagonist. The reviewer highlights shallow character arcs, a rushed and confusing ending, and a...
When Diversity Is Stressful, Focus on Building Trust
Claude Steele’s new book *Churn* extends his seminal work on stereotype threat by naming the anxiety that arises when diverse identities intersect in high‑stakes situations. He argues that this "churn" hampers performance and flow, but can be mitigated through explicit...
The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent
Liz Nugent’s new novel *The Truth About Ruby Cooper* follows the split‑screen lives of Boston‑raised Ruby and her sister Erin after a traumatic incident shatters their privileged family. The narrative jumps between Boston and Dublin, exposing a web of secrets,...
What to Read This Week: Katrina Manson's Terrifying Project Maven
Katrina Manson’s new book, *Project Maven*, chronicles the U.S. military’s decade‑long push to embed artificial intelligence in drone surveillance, beginning with the 2017 initiative that automated video analysis. Drawing on more than 200 interviews, the work reveals a hidden ecosystem...
The Healthy Advisor: Turning Loss Into Purpose with Jamie Hopkins
Jamie Hopkins, CEO of Bryn Mawr Trust and co‑author of "Your Retirement Sketchbook," shares how his father’s death shaped his approach to retirement planning and wealth mindset. He highlights the lack of financial‑advice access for trade workers and small‑business owners,...
Our ‘Frankenstein’ Fixation
Harvard professor Deidre Lynch explains why Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel “Frankenstein” remains a cultural touchstone. She highlights the work’s intricate framing—letters, Victor’s narrative, and the monster’s own voice—as a vehicle for themes of justice, equality, and scientific responsibility. Lynch traces...
You Are What You Eat: Stephen Graham Jones’ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (Part 3)
The Reactor Magazine column “Reading the Weird” reviews chapters 5‑6 of Stephen Graham Jones’s 2025 novel *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter*, focusing on the protagonist Good Stab’s transformation into a blood‑drinking, shape‑shifting creature. The piece details his cursed existence—photosensitivity, an insatiable...
We Must Love WH Auden or Die
Peter Ackroyd’s new biography of W.H. Auden blends meticulous research with vivid literary commentary, tracing the poet’s journey from a Yorkshire childhood obsessed with industrial desolation to his later years in Vienna. The book highlights Auden’s shifting political stance, his...
'Nonesuch' Author Francis Spufford Explains the 'Blitz Spirit' Of 1940s London
Francis Spufford’s new novel *Nonesuch* reimagines wartime London during the Blitz, mixing gritty historical detail with magical elements like time‑traveling fascists and angels. The story follows Iris Hawkins, a resourceful woman who defies 1940s gender and class expectations while navigating...
Book Review: ‘Paradiso 17,’ by Hannah Lillith Assadi
“Paradiso 17,” Hannah Lillith Assadi’s third novel follows Sufien, a Palestinian born before the 1948 Nakba, as he drifts from Mandatory Palestine to Italy, New York, and Arizona. Drawing on the author’s family history, the book intertwines personal nostalgia with the collective...