Allan Gaw on Setting Detective Fiction Before the Advent of DNA Profiling
Allan Gaw, a former pathologist turned novelist, bases his Dr. Jack Cuthbert mystery series in the late 1920s and early 1930s to explore forensic investigation before DNA profiling. He traces the discipline’s roots to William Guy’s 1844 call for scene observation, Hans Gross’s 1893 crime‑scene preservation guidelines, and Edmond Locard’s 1910 exchange principle. By highlighting the limited tools of the interwar period, Gaw shows how meticulous observation and early scientific frameworks shaped modern forensics. The article argues that understanding this evolution enriches both professionals and true‑crime enthusiasts.
Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books for Adults
The article argues that speculative fiction is expanding beyond youthful heroes, highlighting a growing niche for protagonists in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. It showcases titles such as Shannon Chakraborty’s *The Adventures of Amina al‑Sirafi* and Nicholas Eames’s *Kings of...
Reading Full Books in Secondary English Language Arts Classrooms
A spring 2025 American Instructional Resources Survey of K‑12 teachers shows most secondary English teachers assign at least one full book during the 2024‑25 school year, but full‑book reading remains peripheral. Nine percent assign none, and roughly two‑thirds assign only...
Happiness Is Within Reach! And Other Fragments of Ancient Greek Wisdom
The article spotlights Stobaeus, a 5th‑century compiler who rescued fragments from lost plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, preserving ancient Greek wisdom on suffering, happiness and the human condition. It showcases a selection of poetic quotes that illustrate timeless reflections...
What Am I, a Deer? By Polly Barton Review – Shyness, Obsession and the Joy of Karaoke
Polly Barton’s first novel, *What Am I, a Deer?*, follows an unnamed young translator in Frankfurt who becomes fixated on a stranger who returns her lost umbrella. The narrative is driven more by interior monologue than plot, using karaoke sessions...
Lady C by Guy Cuthbertson Review – How Lady Chatterley’s Lover Rocked Britain
Guy Cuthbertson’s *Lady C* revisits D.H. Lawrence’s *Lady Chatterley’s Lover* and shows how the 1960 obscenity trial transformed a once‑banned novel into a cultural phenomenon. The review details the courtroom drama that freed the book, its two‑million‑copy sales surge, and...
Why Read Wollstonecraft Today?
Sandrine Bergès’s new book *Why Read Wollstonecraft Today?* argues that Mary Wollstonecraft’s eighteenth‑century feminist philosophy remains a vital guide for contemporary struggles. The author highlights Wollstonecraft’s advocacy for women’s education, economic independence, and her broader fight against slavery and public‑health...
Sellars Today: How the Universe Discovered Itself
The Cambridge blog post announces the edited volume *Interpreting Sellars*, a collection of essays that re‑examines Wilfrid S. Sellars’s attempt to fuse humanistic values with a naturalistic scientific worldview. The book showcases contributions that link Sellars’s analytic rigor to contemporary issues such...
Stalin, Putin and the History of Poisoned Russian Minds
The article traces Russia’s long‑standing reliance on chemical terror, linking Stalin’s poison campaigns to Vladimir Putin’s contemporary information warfare. It outlines how Soviet‑era toxins were deployed against political opponents and how those tactics have been repurposed as covert influence tools...
Nvidia Can’t Shake Authors’ Claims It Trained AI on Pirated Books
Novelist Brian Keene, Abdi Nazemian and Stewart O’Nan sued Nvidia, alleging the company trained its large language models on pirated copies of their books. A federal judge in California denied most of Nvidia’s motions to dismiss, allowing direct and contributory...
How Author Douglas Stuart's Journey to a Remote Scottish Island Inspired 'John of John'
Douglas Stuart, Booker‑Prize winner of *Shuggie Bain*, releases his second novel *John of John*, set on Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. The story follows Cal, a young man who returns to his remote island home to confront his identity, faith, and a strained...
10 Books We’re Excited About This May
May 2026 sees a curated list of ten new titles that blend hard science with speculative fiction, offering readers fresh perspectives on topics ranging from human sleep evolution to quantum‑inspired life philosophies. The selection, highlighted by Princeton University Press’s *The Sleepless...
A New Three Volume Edition of Leibniz’s Philosophical Papers (1677–1686)
Oxford University Press issued a three‑volume English edition of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s philosophical papers from 1677‑1686, released on April 30. The collection spans roughly 2,000 pages and 314 distinct writings, with 203 texts appearing in English for the first time and...
8 New Books to Read This May
Vulture editors Emma Alpern and Jasmine Vojdani unveil eight new titles for May 2026, mixing fiction and nonfiction across a spectrum of cultural touchstones. Highlights include Dimitry Elias Léger’s historically charged ‘Death of the Soccer God,’ Anna Konkle’s candid memoir‑style novel ‘The Sane One,’...
'Van Halen' Book By ALEX VAN HALEN: More Details Revealed
Genesis Publications has opened pre‑orders for “Van Hallen,” a limited‑edition, hand‑signed book by Alex Van Hallen documenting the band’s rise from Pasadena backyard gigs to the 1984 world tour. Only 1,500 numbered copies will be produced, with deluxe and collector boxed sets...
Pork Pie Pandemonium by Steve Higgs
Steve Higgs’s debut novel *Pork Pie Pandemonium* introduces retired Detective Superintendent Albert Smith and his cantankerous assistance dog Rex Harrison on a culinary sleuthing adventure in Melton Mowbray. The duo uncovers a gruesome clue—a severed thumb—in a pork‑pie‑making class, launching...
May Book Bag: From a Guide on Entering the Art World to a Publication About Artists Influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses
May’s Book Bag highlights four new titles that bridge scholarship and practice in the visual arts. Francesca Cappelletti and Frits Scholten edit *Metamorphoses: Ovid and the Arts* ($50), pairing Ovid’s mythic narratives with works by Cellini, Rodin, Bourgeois and others....
2026 Pulitzer Prize Winners
The 2026 Pulitzer Prizes were announced, naming Daniel Kraus’s novel Angel Down as the Fiction winner and Yiyun Li’s memoir Things in Nature Merely Grow as the Memoir/Autobiography winner. Kraus’s work is praised for its single‑sentence structure that fuses World War I, allegory,...
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Has a New Official Trailer
Christopher Nolan unveiled the official trailer for his upcoming film *The Odyssey*, a modern adaptation of Homer's epic. The teaser showcases a star‑studded lineup including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson, prompting lively commentary online. The release...
Publishers and Authors File Class Action Lawsuit Against Meta and Zuckerberg for Willful Copyright Infringement to Develop Llama AI Models
Five leading publishers—Elsevier, Cengage, Hachette, Macmillan, McGraw‑Hill—along with author Scott Turow have filed a putative class‑action in the Southern District of New York accusing Meta Platforms and CEO Mark Zuckerberg of willfully copying millions of copyrighted books, textbooks, and scholarly...
Joshua Bassett Opens Up About Writing "Rookie," Healing, And Learning To Keep Moving Forward
Joshua Bassett’s memoir *Rookie* hit shelves this week, chronicling his rise from a teen star to an Off‑Broadway actor while confronting public scrutiny, a 2021 heart‑failure hospitalization, and personal doubts. The book, written without a ghostwriter, emerged after Bassett switched...
Publishers Sue Meta Platforms over Alleged AI Training Copyright Infringement
Publishers Elsevier, Cengage, Hachette, Macmillan and McGraw Hill, along with author Scott Turow, have filed a class‑action lawsuit in Manhattan federal court accusing Meta Platforms of illegally using millions of books, journal articles and novels to train its Llama large‑language model. The...
New Children’s Book “Voices in the Box” Empowers Young People to Find Their Voice Through Podcasting
Podcast educator Derek Oxley released "Voices in the Box," a children’s book that introduces podcasting as a tool for self‑expression and skill development. The book blends storytelling, media literacy, and confidence‑building exercises, targeting educators, parents, and youth programs. Oxley draws...
Always Late
The Granta essay “Always Late” explores the author’s chronic tardiness as a coping mechanism that offers a deceptive sense of freedom. Through therapy, the writer confronts the underlying fear of self‑evaluation and discovers that lateness masks deeper anxieties about identity....
Introducing Our Fall 2026 Catalog
Duke University Press released its Fall 2026 catalog, showcasing books slated for publication from June through December 2026. The centennial edition features a nostalgic cover collage and a special message from Director Dean J. Smith. Readers can pre‑order selected titles at a...
Ideas Podcast: Furious Minds
Laura K. Field’s new book *Furious Minds* dissects the intellectual currents that forged the MAGA New Right and fed the second Trump administration. Drawing on Straussian political theory, she charts three overlapping camps—Claremonters, Postliberals and National Conservatives—and shows how their...
Anthony Seldon Found Hope in Auschwitz
Historian and biographer Anthony Seldon has released his latest work, *The Path of Light*, chronicling a 1,300‑kilometre trek to Auschwitz. The book intertwines personal observations with stories of wartime courage, resistance and moral clarity. Seldon uses the pilgrimage to draw...
Siri Hustvedt’s Heartbreaking Memoir Is a Study of Love and Loss
Siri Hustvedt’s new memoir "Ghost Stories" chronicles the first year after the death of her husband, celebrated novelist Paul Auster, in 2024. The book weaves personal reflections, journal excerpts, and Auster’s letters to their grandson Miles into a scholarly meditation...
What Does It Mean to Say You’re ‘Ugly’?
Stephanie Fairyington’s new book *Ugly: A Letter to My Daughter* explores her lifelong struggle with body dysmorphia, the legacy of beauty standards rooted in the white slave trade, and the ways those ideals shape parenting. The memoir blends personal anecdotes—such...
Pen to Paper with Peter Mancall
Peter Mancall’s new volume, *Contested Continent*, opens the Oxford History of the United States series, a flagship project that sets the scholarly tone for the nation’s narrative. The book blends rigorous research with vivid storytelling, emphasizing the agency of Indigenous...
The Books That Won the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes
The 2026 Pulitzer Prizes honored 19 books across fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, biography, and history. Daniel Kraus’s Angel Down captured the Fiction award, a WWI‑set novel written in a single, unbroken sentence. The book earned high praise for its daring...
It's Blockbuster Book Season: Here Are 12 New Titles Coming in May
May has become the publishing industry’s blockbuster month, unveiling a curated dozen titles that span literary fiction, memoir, speculative sci‑fi, and humor. The list features Douglas Stuart’s third novel set on Scotland’s Western Isles, Pemi Aguda’s debut novel about Lagos’s stark...
Generational Recurse
Vigdis Hjorth’s new novel Repetition, a 144‑page work translated into English in 2024, revisits the family‑abuse narrative she first explored in Will and Testament. The story follows a sixty‑year‑old novelist who reconstructs a fabricated diary of her teenage sexual awakening,...
The Thessaloniki International Book Fair Kicks Off This Week, with Its Balkan Neighbor in the Spotlight
The Thessaloniki International Book Fair runs May 7‑10 and, for the first time, welcomes Bulgaria as guest of honor, underscoring the city’s role as a cultural bridge between Western and Southeast Europe. Organized by the Hellenic Foundation for Books and Culture,...
Winners of the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes Announced
The Pulitzer Prize Board announced the 2026 winners across journalism, criticism, photography, drama, music and book categories. Historian Jill Lepore captured the History prize for her constitutional study, while Daniel Kraus earned Fiction for the WWI novel "Angel Down." Brian...
7 Novels About Dysfunctional (But Charming) Families
The article curates seven recent novels that spotlight dysfunctional yet endearing families, ranging from an 86‑year‑old Guatemalan immigrant battling zombies in *Candelaria* to a Penobscot father navigating hidden parentage in *Fire Exit*. Each work blends cultural specificity—Latinx, Nigerian‑American, Palestinian, Indigenous—with...
For Ibram X. Kendi, It’s Nazis All the Way Down
Ibram X. Kendi’s new 600‑page volume, *Chain of Ideas*, argues that the modern Great Replacement conspiracy is a re‑branded form of Nazism, linking far‑right leaders across continents to a single authoritarian agenda. The reviewer contends the book functions more as...
A Must-Read 2026 Literary Thriller Novel
T Kira Madden’s new novel Whidbey redefines the literary thriller by centering a child‑sex‑assault narrative within a contemplative whodunnit. Drawing on her memoir experience, Madden weaves the story of Birdie, a queer biracial survivor, and the ripple effects on a community...
The Four Faces of a True Story
Davin Malasarn’s debut novel, The Outer Country, arrived in May 2026 under One World, Penguin Random House’s literary imprint. The story draws on Malasarn’s own experience with a Thai‑style conversion‑therapy ritual his aunt arranged during his teens. Framed as a...
Why the Star of 'PEN15' Had to Stop Talking to Her Father to Finally Hear Herself
Anna Konkle, co‑creator and star of Hulu’s Emmy‑nominated series PEN15, has released her first memoir, The Sane One, chronicling her fraught relationship with her father, his cancer recurrence, and their eventual estrangement and reconciliation. The book, which will debut as...
Patricia Cornwell on Learning to Write a Memoir as a Lifelong Novelist
Patricia Cornwell, best‑selling forensic thriller author, announced she is writing a memoir. The project emerged after she finished her 29th Scarpetta novel, Sharp Force, five months early in 2024 and while considering a TV series based on her life. Cornwell...
Book Review: ‘The Family Man,’ by James Lasdun
James Lasdun’s nonfiction book *The Family Man* chronicles the collapse of South Carolina’s influential Murdaugh legal dynasty, whose patriarch Alex Murdaugh allegedly embezzled millions and orchestrated the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul to hide his crimes. Drawing...
Book Review: ‘The Hill,’ by Harriet Clark
Harriet Clark’s debut novel “The Hill” follows 8‑year‑old Suzanna, who visits her mother’s life‑sentence prison cell each week, forging a fragile mother‑daughter bond across bars. The story intertwines dreamlike narration with the mother’s violent past as a Weather Underground activist, highlighting...
Book Review: ‘List of All Possible Desires,’ by Dylan Landis
Dylan Landis’s new novel *List of All Possible Desires* is structured as a series of interlinked stories that span from post‑war Paris in 1947 to an AIDS‑era death in 1987. The book follows Howard Royal, an awkward eleven‑year‑old, and later his...
Book Review: ‘Prestige Drama,’ by Seamas O’Reilly
“Prestige Drama,” the new novel by Derry‑born journalist Séamas O’Reilly, skewers the booming wave of Northern Irish post‑Troubles fiction that is being turned into high‑budget television. The story follows the disappearance of American actress Monica Logue while she researches a...
The Given World by Melissa Harrison Review – a Stunning Tale of Rural Life for an Era of Ecological Crisis
Melissa Harrison’s new novel, The Given World, chronicles six months in an English river‑valley village, using a sweeping group portrait to explore rural life amid an ecological crisis. The narrative follows characters ranging from a dying priest‑like woman to a...
The Illuminated Man by Christopher Priest and Nina Allan
The Illuminated Man: Life, Death and the Worlds of J.G. Ballard combines an unfinished biography by Christopher Priest, who died in 2024, with extensive additions by his partner Nina Allan. The hybrid volume is presented as three books in one,...
MLK Was Teen Agnostic Who Rediscovered Faith on a Tobacco Farm, New Book Reveals
Lerone Martin’s new biography, "Young King: The Making of Martin Luther King Jr.," releases May 5 and uncovers little‑known chapters of the civil‑rights leader’s youth. It details King’s 1944 summer as a shade‑tobacco farmhand in Connecticut, his brief agnostic phase after...
Bess Wohl’s Liberation Wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Bess Wohl’s play *Liberation* captured the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, edging out two Off‑Broadway finalists, Talene Monahon’s *Meet the Cartozians* and Nazareth Hassan’s *Bowl EP*. The Pulitzer committee highlighted the work’s striking blend of comedy and sincerity while exploring...
New Imprint: 3AM Books
Transworld, a division of Penguin Random House, has launched 3AM Books, the company’s first imprint dedicated solely to horror. The imprint will be led by publishing director Rachel Winterbottom and editorial director Simon Taylor, supported by a team of editors...