This week's news in Venn diagrams.
Fridays, the week’s mullet: business in the front, and leisure in the back. Hope you have a great weekend, with your loved ones and your community, and I’ll see you back here on Monday. Read more >
The Hub
News, Notes, Talk
Here's what's making us happy this week.
The first nice thing this week is an institutional birthday. Thanks to the attentive ministrations of our dear Drew Broussard, it’s officially been one year since we launched The Lit Hub Podcast! (“And I didn’t acknowledge it at all in Read more >
By Brittany Allen
Here’s the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction.
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction. Then ten titles were selected from a pool of 434 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Fiction are Rumaan Read more >
By Literary Hub
Why you should get (back) into RSS curation.
Right after college, I moved to San Francisco, a city where I knew one person. I had a lonely time at first, and in particular I struggled to stay connected to the friends I no longer shared a campus with. Read more >
By James Folta
Here’s the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Then ten titles were selected from a pool of 652 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Nonfiction are Heather Read more >
By Literary Hub
Here’s the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry.
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry. Then ten titles were selected from a pool of 285 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Poetry are Kate Read more >
By Literary Hub
No one’s reading for fun, apparently. Here’s a reading list to fix that.
Researchers recently found that “reading for fun in the US has fallen by 40%,” which sucks. The study shows “a sustained, steady decline” over about twenty years, which I agree with the scientists is “deeply concerning.” If you’re a Lit Read more >
By James Folta
Here’s the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature.
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature. Then ten titles were selected from a pool of 139 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Translated Literature Read more >
By Literary Hub
Everything you need to know about the Powell's AI slop snafu—and what we can all learn from it.
Another day, another duel with AI slop. Unfortunately a recent deep fake has come in the guise of a friend. Last Friday, Powell’s Books of Portland, Oregon—one of the country’s best loved bookstores and the largest indie in the world—found Read more >
By Brittany Allen
Here’s the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Then ten titles were selected from a pool of 325 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Young Read more >
By Literary Hub
Elizabeth Gilbert! Mick Herron! Sarah Moss! 24 new books out today.
A new season has officially begun: there’s slightly more chill in the air, a bit more yellow in the trees overhead, and a lot more books pouring out every week. The dam has been released. The books we have been Read more >
By Julia Hass
Here's the shortlist for the 2025 British Academy Book Prize.
Today, the British Academy announced the 2025 shortlist for the British Academy Book Prize, which awards £25,000 annually to a work of nonfiction, and seeks to recognize books “based on exceptional research and written for the general reader, that deepen Read more >
By Literary Hub
My high school English syllabus, ranked.
Fall is in the air, which means millions of American teenagers are sailing into English class. Stakes are high. Will the syllabus plant a life-long love of literature? Or simply send everyone running to ChatGPT? The season shift has me Read more >
By Brittany Allen
Never thought $1.5 billion was a small amount of money until this AI settlement.
The New York Times is reporting some new details about the settlement agreement between the AI company Anthropic and the authors whose work the company stole. The class action settlement, it was announced today, will award writers $1.5 billion, the Read more >
By James Folta
How Ms. Rachel is using her platform to school American grown-ups.
In at least decent media news, the children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel has been using her huge platform for good. Ms. Rachel—whose government name is Rachel Griffin Accurso—has worked in children’s education for years, getting her start as a teacher for Read more >
By Brittany Allen
This week's news in Venn diagrams
As a guy who is simply not built for summer (sweaty, burns easily, refuses to wear shorts), the turning of the calendar to September adds a little lead to my tread, with visions of cider and sweaters dancing in my Read more >
By James Folta
Here's what's making us happy this week.
We’ve a lot of little offerings today, happy-hunters. This week, we gave our ears to scathing gossips and baritone outlaws. Like Warren Zevon, we enjoyed every sandwich, snacking heartily from coast to coast. We applauded spectacles and big swings, and Read more >
By Brittany Allen
Some phrases I wish Democrats would actually stop using.
The radical centrists at Third Way recently circulated this weird word policing memo that lists words and phrases they think Democrats should stop using. The objectionable verbiage is sorted into categories, with explanations and descriptions. For example, “Therapy-Speak” like “privilege” Read more >
By James Folta
James Patterson, please award me one of your $50K author grants.
Okay, so ostensibly the reason we’re all here is to talk about author James Patterson’s new initiative to help emerging authors finish their books with grants of $50,000 called “Go Finish Your Book!”, but I’d like to use this space Read more >
By James Folta
Arundhati Roy! Helen Garner! Joan Silber! 20 new books out today.
September is back to school season: a busy time of fresh starts, remembering how to work hard, trying to multitask, and generally getting the old chestnut back in action. In the world of publishing, this feeling is no different. September Read more >