Kate Merlene

Parmy Olson’s Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World is named Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year. Yan F Zhang’s short story “Fleeting Marrow” wins the 4thWrite Prize. The 2024 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant recipients are announced. Best-of-2024 lists arrive from NPR’s Maureen Corrigan, Time, Reactor, CBC, Seattle Times, BookRiot, and CrimeReads. LitHub shares the best-reviewed books of the year. Phaidon Press appoints Bob Miller as new CEO. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane. Sarah J. Maas teases a new ACOTAR book, along with new audiobook recordings for spring. Plus, Clare Mulley’s The Woman Who Saved the Children will be adapted for film.

Poet Nikki Giovanni, a star of the Black Arts Movement, has died at the age of 81. Ariel Lawhon wins the Nero award for The Frozen River. Best-of-2024 lists arrive from CrimeReads, LA Times, and Slate, while The Atlantic’s “Books Briefing” writes in defense of best-of-the-year lists. The Booker Prize judges are announced, including Sarah Jessica Parker and Roddy Doyle. The Goodreads account of the suspect in the United Healthcare CEO shooting is under scrutiny for a review of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski's manifesto. The Golden Globes nominations features several adaptations. Actor Jeremy Renner is finishing up a memoir about his snow-plow accident and recovery. New Jersey becomes the latest state to prohibit bans on books in school and public libraries.

What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane leads holds this week. January’s Indie Next Preview is out, featuring #1 pick Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. Best of 2024 lists arrive from People, Time, ElectricLit, and Vox. USA Today covers librarians’ efforts to stand up for freedom to read in a number of states, while librarian and author Amanda Jones files a new defamation suit. Caleb Azumah Nelson will adapt his novel Open Water for television. Plus, “romantasy” loses out to “brat” as Collins Dictionary’s word of the year.

Oprah selects Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These for her book club and launches a new podcast. Read with Jenna picks Mary Oliver’s Devotions. Joya Chatterji wins the Wolfson History Prize for Shadows at Noon. Best of 2024 booklists arrive from The Atlantic, The Guardian, NYT, LitHub, Bill Gates and ELLE. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson. Netflix nabs film rights to Callie Hart’s fantasy romance Quicksilver, and Alan Moore’s The Great When will be adapted for television.

The NYT announces the 10 best books of 2024. Reese Witherspoon selects City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim for her December book club. The Last One by Rachel Howzell Hall is GMA’s pick. Target’s pick is Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet by Samantha Allen. Liza Minnelli’s forthcoming memoir, due out in 2026, will be adapted for television. Peter Mackay has been named Scotland’s national poet, and Kate Beaton wins the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature. Marian Keyes’s “Walsh Sisters” books will be adapted for TV in Ireland and the UK. Plus, Oxford University Press selects “brain rot” as its word of the year.

Brandon Sanderson’s Wind and Truth leads holds this week. People’s book of the week is Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth About the Case of Barbara Graham by Marcia Clark. Jon Ransom wins the Polari Book Prize. LJ's Best Books 2024 arrives, NYT names 100 Notable Books of 2024, and NPR releases their 2024 Books We Love. Costco announces it will stop selling books year-round in stores. Plus, LJ’s December starred reviews.

Richard Flanagan wins the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction for his memoir Question 7 but refuses the £50,000 cash award over the sponsor’s ties to fossil fuel. Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is named Waterstones Irish Book of the Year. The Christy Award winners are announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Now or Never by Janet Evanovich, the top holds title of the week. Agents and authors react to Harper Collins’s AI deal. Microsoft launches a new publishing imprint. Plus, the winners of the 75th Annual National Book Awards will be announced tonight.

Anne Michaels wins the Giller Prize for her novel Held. Agustín Fernández Mallo wins the Cercador Prize for The Book of All Loves. The Salam Award winners are announced, along with the Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist. Earlyword’s November Galleychat spreadsheet is out now. National Book Network announces its closure next year. B&N sells Union Square Publishing to Hachette, and PGW will distribute McNally Editions starting January 1. Stephen King previews his forthcoming novel, Never Flinch, due out May 27, and Ruth Ware announces a sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10. Legendary guidebook publisher Arthur Frommer has died at the age of 95.

Now or Never by Janet Evanovich leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Nora Roberts, Sophie Cousens, Danielle Steel, and Cher. People’s book of the week is Time of the Child by Niall Williams. Six LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. Percival Everett’s James is named the Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. Earlyword announces that GalleyChat will move platforms from X to BlueSky, starting December 5.