Books

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. HBO Doubles Down on Support of Rowling As HBO prepares to begin production of its planned decade-long Harry Potter reboot TV series, CEO Casey Bloys is doubling down on the network’s partnership with and support

I’ve been feeling a bit behind on my reading, now that we’re nearing the end of the year. There are always reading deadlines looming: books to read for the All the Books podcast, review copies to get to before their publication date, library books to read before they’re due—and, of course, a couple more Read

Anne Hathaway will star in the film adaptation of Verity by Colleen Hoover. The film will be released through Amazon MGM Studios, directed by Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), with a script written by Nick Antosca. Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer hired by Jeremy Crawford to finish books written by his

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until

It might seem simple, sitting on the couch with Netflix on and your belly full, to envision the heroics you’d accomplish if war broke out in your homeland: You’d join the armed forces, or whatever constituted the resistance. You’d break the chains of your oppressors, just like Star Wars, or go rogue, living off your

Augusta Britt was just 16 when she met a 42-year-old Cormac McCarthy at a Tuscon motel pool. At the time, she was in and out of foster care—where she encountered a lot of abuse and inappropriate attention from men—and saw in McCarthy some sense of security. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, she recounts

A memory palace is a memorization technique used by figures as diverse as Cicero, international memory champions and the late, great Sherlock Holmes. Practitioners visualize placing images representing information they want to recollect in a familiar setting that they can revisit whenever their memory needs a nudge. The Memory Palace: True Stories of the Past,

Rachel is a writer from Arkansas, most at home surrounded by forests and animals much like a Disney Princess. She spends most of her time writing stories and playing around in imaginary worlds. You can follow her writing at rachelbrittain.com. Twitter and Instagram: @rachelsbrittain View All posts by Rachel Brittain What’s going on in the

★ The Hostess Handbook According to Maria Zizka (The Newlywed Table), the three pillars of party planning are “the desire to host, some reliably excellent go-to recipes, and a bit of party know-how.” You’ll get a hefty dose of all three in The Hostess Handbook: A Modern Guide to Entertaining. It’s filled with a wide

The Giller Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in Canada, and it has the largest cash prize: $100,000 for the winner and $10,000 for shortlisted authors. It recognizes outstanding fiction by a Canadian author published in the previous year. The 2024 winner has been announced, and it’s Anne Michaels for her historical

I’ll be honest—it took me a moment to understand this book. We are immediately thrown into an opulent “year-turning” party: buffets of food, swirling gowns, a mysterious grandfather clock slowly ticking down the hours until the new year. Our protagonist, Kembral Thorne, is at the party while on maternity leave from her job as a

Katie Moench is a librarian, runner, and lover of baked goods. A school librarian in the Upper Midwest, Katie lives with her husband and dog and spends her free time drinking coffee, trying new recipes, and adding to her TBR. View All posts by Katie Moench These recently released novels in the sci-fi, fantasy, and

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World is the latest offering from botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, one of the great Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes. This slim but powerful volume continues the work of her previous books, including Gathering Moss and the New York Times

Debutiful is a website and podcast focused on helping readers discover debut authors through interviews, excerpts, recommendations, and more. They’ve released a list of their top debuts of the year, including “debut-ish” authors who debuted in a new genre this year but may have published books previously. The full list includes 42 titles. Here are

A hotly anticipated debut novel, complete with a princely advance and a dreamy move to Los Angeles, equals lifelong success, right? Not quite. Books flop, money dries up and the city’s bright lights conceal both its dark underbelly and what those in the limelight will do to stay famous. Pip Drysdale’s marvel of a thriller,

Ann-Marie Cahill will read anything and everything. From novels to trading cards to the inside of CD covers (they’re still a thing, right?). A good day is when her kids bring notes home from school. A bad day is when she has to pry a book from her kids’ hands. And then realizes where they

This reviewer has to wonder why an author as brilliant as Niall Williams, whose latest book is the resplendent, suspenseful Time of the Child, isn’t at the top of every reader’s mind. Few contemporary novelists create worlds and characters so amazingly alive and specific. Williams knows every nook and cranny of his Irish town Faha,

Carolina Ciucci is a teacher, writer and reviewer based in the south of Argentina. She hoards books like they’re going out of style. In case of emergency, you can summon her by talking about Ireland, fictional witches, and the Brontë family. Twitter: @carolinabeci View All posts by Carolina Ciucci ThriftBooks The perfect gift is the

A couple weeks ago, I shared The Best Queer Books of 2024, According to Publishers Weekly: I looked through their overall Best Books of 2024 list and pulled out all the queer books I spotted to share with you. This week, I’m doing the same thing with the Amazon Books Editors’ Best Books of 2024.

Barnes and Noble has announced its winner for the 2024 Book of the Year, and it’s James by Percival Everett. The announcement page says, “We’ve bent your ear about James all year, and for good reason. […] You may think you know Huck Finn, but how well do you know Jim? Flip the script on an American