The British Science Fiction Association Awards winners are announced. Dorian McNamara wins the CBC Short Story Prize. Publishing Perspectives recaps Circana’s Q1 US Print Report, with romance and romantasy leading adult genres. Joan Didion’s Notes to John gets reviewed. Netflix’s Ransom Canyon, based on the novels by Jodi Thomas, gets buzz. Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor today, concerning LGBTQIA+ books in Maryland's largest school district.
The British Science Fiction Association Awards winners are announced. Locus has details.
Dorian McNamara wins the CBC Short Story Prize.
Publishing Perspectives recaps Circana’s Q1 US Print Report, with romance and romantasy leading adult genres. Infodocket shares the press release.
The US.. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor today, concerning LGBTQIA+ storybooks in Maryland’s largest school district. The Baltimore Banner previews the case. Read the docket here.
Shelf Awareness shares last week’s top-selling self-published titles.
The Bookseller explores the blurring line between influencer and creator.
NPR reviews Notes to John by Joan Didion (Knopf): “As it stands, Notes to John offers readers a key to Didion's persona and her work”; Vogue also reviews: “In short, Notes to John is a lot of personal material, from a writer who wasn’t afraid to treat herself as a subject (famously, in The White Album), but who also knew how to stay beyond reach”; as does The Atlantic: “Joan Didion’s books should have been enough.” Plus, USA Today shares a clip of Julianne Moore’s audiobook narration.
NPR also has a paired review of The Everyman Library’s new edition of Dorothy Parker: Poems and The Usual Desire To Kill by Camilla Barnes (Scribner): “The sharpest humor is always grounded in some pain: Parker and Barnes both affirm that familiar truth. Reading these very different, very funny books boosted my spirits and lowered my tight shoulders.”
NYT reviews Fair Play by Louise Hegarty (Harper): “It’s a witty, knowing homage to classic detective fiction, but also a deeply sensitive examination of the loneliness and confusion of grief—and a reminder that every sudden death is a mystery that can’t be fully explained”; Gabriële by Anne Berest & Claire Berest, tr. by Tina Kover (Europa Editions): “Like Gabriële herself, this book takes on big ideas about modern art and modern life—without losing sight of the people caught and crushed in those turning gears”; and Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson by Claire Hoffman (Farrar): “In Sister, Sinner, an engrossing new biography of McPherson, the journalist Claire Hoffman traces the spectacular life and career of a preacher who started a Christian movement that has spread across the globe and arguably shapes United States politics today.”
Washington Post reviews The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong (Mariner): “Lynn Steger Strong’s exquisitely written fourth novel, The Float Test, is a piercing portrait of the Kenner clan, whose many conflicts recall that famous line from Anna Karenina: ‘Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’”
LitHub highlights 25 new books for the week.
People suggests 10 books to read after Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Berkley; LJ starred review). Henry talks with USA Today about the inspiration behind her latest novel. NYT shares a guide to Henry’s books.
T&C puts Jodi Thomas’s “Ransom Canyon” books in order. The Netflix adaptation is streaming now.
BookRiot shares the best cozy books of 2025.
ElectricLit previews 11 small press books and shares “7 Books That Turn the Workplace Into a Nightmare.”
Suleika Jaouad, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life (Random), and William McRaven, Conquering Crisis: Ten Lessons To Learn Before You Need Them (Grand Central), visit CBS Mornings.
Kristen Kish, Accidentally on Purpose (Little, Brown); José Andrés, Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs (Ecco); and Amity Gaige, Heartwood (S. & S.), stop by Today.
Eden Grinshpan, Tahini Baby: Bright, Everyday Recipes That Happen Ro Be Vegetarian (Avery), is on GMA today.
I am baffled by the apparent belief that any of these "tasks" are of sufficient merit to overcome the massive environmental, legal, ethical, educational and quality drawbacks of LLM "AI". Anyone who thinks that students would draw benefit from having a machine spit out a mediocre and potentially error-raddled summary or outline instead of creating their own; or that a workplace would be improved by context-free workflow; or thinks that they would save time or effort by letting an algorithm concoct their "low-stakes" presentation or artwork which will need extensive double-checking and correcting for hallucinations, is probably already cool with the idea that they are stealing words and images created by real live humans without compensation, and melting the planet we all have to share to do it.
But sure, let's have a flagship association for librarians promote and cheerlead this destructive and pointless technology. We're so desperate to appear hip and trendy that we're happy to give up the expertise and judgment that makes our profession valuable.
while I do think your concerns are valid, I believe there is also potential for AI to enhance library services when implemented thoughtfully and ethically. The key is to strike a balance, leveraging AI's strengths while maintaining the core values and expertise that define the library profession.
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