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Awards & Book News

The Guardian discusses the new covers on Penguin’s “First Impressions” editions of Jane Austen, meant to appeal to young readers, romance fans, and “the BookTok demographic.”

The Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlist is revealed.

Poets & Writers reflects on 20 years of its annual celebration of debut poets.

Spotify adds audiobooks from Crooked Lane and Podium, Publishing Perspectives reports.

Page to Screen

February 11

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, based on the short story “A Little Sacrifice” from Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski. Netflix. Reviews | Trailer

February 13

My Fault: London, based on My Fault by Mercedes Ron. Prime Video. Reviews | Trailer

Reviews

Washington Post reviews The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art, and Machines from Automata to AI by David Hajdu (Norton): “He strives to refute the ages-old criticism that art made with machines is cold, soulless and artificial. In fact, he argues, machines have enabled radical new art forms, empowered marginalized communities and served as instruments of cultural change.”

NYT reviews The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why by Jeff Sebo (Norton) and Animals, Robots, Gods: Adventures in the Moral Imagination by Webb Keane (Princeton Univ.): “In a literary flourish long ago, Shantideva, an eighth-century Indian monastic, divulged what he called the ‘holy secret’ of Buddhism: The key to personal happiness lies in the capacity to reject selfishness and accustom oneself to accepting others. A cornerstone of the Buddhist worldview ever since, Shantideva’s verse finds new, albeit unacknowledged, expression in two recent books: Jeff Sebo’s provocative, if didactic, The Moral Circle and Webb Keane’s captivating Animals, Robots, Gods”; and three new psychological thrillers: Dead Money by Jakob Kerr (Bantam), You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego (Bantam), and We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin (Morrow).

LA Times reviews Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery and the Soul of the Slam Dunk by Mike Sielski (St. Martin’s): “This is the kind of hoops history you didn’t know you craved, and which Sielski’s fast break of a dunk study delivers in abundance. But Magic does more than provide juicy tidbits. In lacing up a lively history of the slam dunk, Sielski, a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer who writes with his profession’s characteristic flavor and flair, digs into the social and racial implications of sports’ most exciting play.”

NPR’s Fresh Air reviews This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir by Kay Sohini (Ten Speed Graphic) and A Town Without Time: Gay Talese’s New York by Gay Talese (Mariner Classics): “Just as Sohini assures us that New York still draws in dreamers, Talese reminds us that New York is already riddled with ghosts, many of them tough-talking and hard-drinking. Eight million stories and counting about the city, but still room for more.”

LitHub gathers the best-reviewed books of the week.

Briefly Noted

Nicola Dinan, author of Disappoint Me (Dial), shares “The Books of My Life” with The Guardian.

LitHub has an interview with Lauren Markham, author of A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging (Riverhead).

Ian McEwan will publish a new novel, What Can We Know, due out from PRH later this year, The Guardian reports.

John Irving will publish a new novel featuring Wilbur Larch, the orphanage director he introduced in The Cider House Rules; Queen Esther is due out from S. & S. on Nov. 4, Kirkus reports.

CBC shares 25 Canadian books to read during Black History Month and beyond.

NYT offers “5 New Books We Recommend This Week” and asks professional organizers to share their favorite books on decluttering.

Reactor gathers “All the New Horror, Romantasy, and Other SFF Crossover Books Arriving in February 2025.”

Authors on Air

NPR’s Fresh Air talks to Brittany Newell, author of Soft Core (Farrar).

There’s a new episode of The LitHub Podcast, this one about reading the works of Patrick O’Brian.

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