14 Book Censorship Posts to Revisit: Book Censorship News, April 24, 2026
The April 24, 2026 roundup revisits earlier Literary Activism columns while spotlighting fresh censorship battles. Highlights include a Tennessee bill widening school‑librarian certification requirements, a North Smithfield, RI library attacked for flying an LGBTQ+ flag, and a South Carolina district debating removal of the children’s book *Sunny Side Up*. The piece also notes cross‑border effects of Alberta’s bans on Ontario libraries, a Florida push to drop the free *BookPage* magazine, and an Ohio teacher’s appeal that birthed the Rainbow Classroom Advocacy Fund.
Does Your Library Have Its Own Annual Book Lists?
Public libraries are increasingly publishing annual, niche booklists that reflect their communities, exemplified by Detroit Public Library’s African American Booklist and Pima County Public Library’s Southwest Books of the Year. The Detroit list showcases over 50 titles by Black authors,...
30% of People Think Reading Regularly Makes Them Better Than Others
An informal roundup from Today in Books highlights several cultural trends. A Headway app survey finds 30% of respondents believe regular reading makes them superior, with 24% refusing to date non‑readers and 82% seeing non‑readers as intellectually lacking. The 2026...
Books Marrying Memoir and Nonfiction with Nature
The article spotlights a growing niche of books that fuse nature writing with memoir, showcasing Helen Macdonald’s *H Is for Hawk* and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s *Braiding Sweetgrass*. Both titles intertwine personal narrative with ecological insight, attracting readers who crave emotional depth...
Is Bob Dylan Hawking AI Historical Fiction Now?
Bob Dylan’s new Patreon channel delivers a series of audio essays and short stories that many suspect are generated or voiced by artificial intelligence. While neither Dylan nor his team has confirmed the use of AI, the stylistic hallmarks—excessive similes...
A Feminist Tale of Vengeance and Redemption
Xiran Jay Zhao’s YA novel Iron Widow follows Zetian, a rebellious concubine who pilots a giant mecha to avenge her sister’s death in a patriarchal, god‑ruled future. The story mixes Chinese historical motifs, alien threats, and high‑octane action while spotlighting...
Books to Read With Your Book Club to Stay in the Know
A new roundup highlights the most buzzed‑about titles for book clubs, featuring Tayari Jones' novel "Kin," Xochitl Gonzalez's "Last Night in Brooklyn," and a groundbreaking memoir by a debut author who is the first nonverbal autistic graduate of UCLA’s English...
Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content, and More Library News
Wikipedia has officially banned AI‑generated content, joining a wave of platform crackdowns on synthetic text. The publishing sector is grappling with AI’s encroachment, from the New York Times’ internal AI usage to high‑profile lawsuits against Anthropic, backed by an amicus brief from...
Are We in the Age of the Indie Bookstore?
Independent bookstores are experiencing a resurgence, with the American Booksellers Association reporting 422 new indie shops opened in 2025—a 31% rise over the previous year. The nonprofit platform Bookshop.org amplified this trend, posting $70 million in revenue for 2025, a 55%...
Veronica Roth Announces New Books Set in the World of DIVERGENT. Sort Of.
Veronica Roth revealed at BookCon that she will launch two new titles set in an alternate version of the Divergent universe, beginning with *The Sixth Faction* slated for fall 2026. The books are not sequels, prequels or interquels; they explore...
The Book News We Covered This Week
This week’s Book Riot roundup highlighted several notable developments in the literary world. Spotify announced a partnership with Bookshop.org to sell physical books in the US and UK via its app, marking a new entry of a streaming platform into...
The Best Way to Keep Track of New and Upcoming Queer Books
Book Riot’s New Release Index offers a searchable database of upcoming LGBTQ titles, organized by release date and genre. Curators, including the article’s author, add dozens of queer books each month, allowing readers to filter for niche combos like queer...
The Best Way to Keep Track of New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
Book Riot’s New Release Index is a curated database that lists upcoming science‑fiction and fantasy titles by release date. Readers can filter by genre, view cover art and descriptions, and add favorites to a personal Watchlist. The tool is bundled...
Rhode Island Bill Would Mandate More School Librarians
Rhode Island lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require every public school with 250 or more students to employ a full‑time librarian, and schools with fewer than 250 students to have a half‑time librarian. The measure estimates a statewide...
10 Years of Dog Man
This year marks the 10‑year anniversary of Dav Pilkey’s debut Dog Man graphic novel, a series that has grown to 14 titles and sold over 70 million copies in 50 languages. The twelfth book, Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder, topped global bestseller lists in...