Oprah’s Book Club has just announced its 125th reading selection, and for fans of literary news, this one is a milestone moment. On June 16, , Oprah Winfrey revealed that Little Wonder, the new novel by Sophie Chen Keller, would join a canon that has shaped American reading habits for three full decades. I have … Read more
The 2026 National Book Award shortlist for Young People’s Literature is officially here, and it is one of the most format-diverse lineups the category has seen in years. The National Book Foundation announced the five finalists today, narrowing the ten-title longlist for Young People’s Literature down to its final contenders. Each finalist receives a $1,000 … Read more
The 2026 National Book Award shortlist for Nonfiction is here, and it is one of the most politically charged and memoir-heavy lineups the National Book Foundation has announced in years. Book lovers, librarians, and industry insiders now have just five titles to argue about until the winners are revealed on November 18. Often called the … Read more
I have covered Paris Fashion Week for years, and I have never seen a front row arrive carrying a tote full of paperbacks. That is exactly what happened at Valentino’s Literary Fashion Show in Paris. Alessandro Michele asked every guest to bring a book to the Spring/Summer 2027 presentation, and the donated titles went straight … Read more
The 2026 National Book Award Shortlist for Translated Literature is here. The National Book Foundation narrowed a record international field down to ten finalists, and the lineup shows just how wide the conversation around translated fiction and nonfiction has become in . If you have been following the longlists we covered earlier this season, this … Read more
The 2026 National Book Award Poetry Shortlist has arrived, and our team is here to walk you through every collection, every poet, and every reason this year’s list is sparking conversation across the literary world. Announced by the National Book Foundation in early October, the shortlist narrows ten longlisted titles down to five finalists competing … Read more
If you’ve been begging Goodreads for half star ratings since roughly forever, your wish just landed. Goodreads has officially added half and quarter star ratings, finally giving readers a way to say “this book was a solid 3.75” instead of rounding up or down and losing the nuance. The news dropped via a video on … Read more
Every year the publishing calendar dumps hundreds of new novels into a handful of busy months, and readers end up with the same problem: too many choices and no way to sort the noise from the ones worth your time. We solved it by cross-referencing the independent curated best-books lists that publishers and readers both … Read more
The Center for Fiction announced its First Novel Prize shortlist on September 30, naming seven debut novels from a field of 180 eligible submissions: A Real Animal by Emeline Atwood, Carrying by Samantha Josephs, Whidbey by T Kira Madden, Ruins, Child by Giada Scodellaro, Offseason by Avigayl Sharp, Blow Yourself Up by Ankur Thakkar, and … Read more
Zero to Well-Read, the Book Riot podcast hosted by Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky, is a finalist in the Signal Awards in two categories: Best Arts & Culture Podcast and Best New Podcast. The nominations cover the show’s first year of weekly episodes, in which the two hosts worked through the books people argue about … Read more