We’ve got a big round up of library news and links to take you through to the next month: publishing news (which is the same as saying “AI updates” nowadays), censorship updates, stats and trends, award nominees, and more.

Let’s dive in.

Publishing News

• More eBooks and digital audiobooks are featuring interactive AI features.
• An author discovered deepfake videos of himself on YouTube reading chapters of a book published by John Murray Business.
• The Human Artistry Campaign is launching an anti-AI campaign backed by big name celebrities and authors, including Jodi Picoult, Roxane Gay, and Jonathan Franzen.
• AI is coming for your toddler’s bedtime story.

New & Upcoming Titles

• Jeffrey Archer has announced that his next book, Adam and Eve, will also be his last.
• The Millions has posted their Great Winter 2026 preview.
• 24 new and upcoming historical novels to look forward to in 2026.
• Recent Japanese horror novels.

Censorship Updates

• The book censorship trends of 2025.
• The latest trends in comic censorship.
• Fighting book bans coast to coast.
• We Need Diverse Books launches the Unbanned Book Network to fight book bans in schools.
• The generational impact of book bans on teens.
• Plato has been censored as Texas A&M carries out its course review. They have also instructed English faculty not to teach books with major plot lines involving gay, lesbian, or transgender identities.
• Alamo Heights ISD (TX) canceled a visit by children’s author Chris Barton because his nonfiction book about the history of glitter had the audacity to include a sentence that mentioned the existence of LGBTQ+ people. (I wish I were kidding.)
• Bellbrook-Sugarcreek School District (OH) implemented a policy this year that prohibits so-called “sexuality content” and “gender ideology” from students in kindergarten through grade eight under the guise of “parental rights.” 
• Iowa’s law restricting school library books and LGBTQ topics returns to federal court.
• Utah begins 2026 by banning three more books at all public schools across the state. Just weeks later, the state banned yet another one.
• Some Alberta school divisions have removed a handful of titles from library shelves as new school library rules take effect, but they’re not saying which books have been removed.

Numbers & Trends

• Trump books aren’t selling anymore.
• Professors warn that Gen Z’s reading struggles could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates.
• The number of Americans 13 and older who listen to audiobooks has more than doubled since 2016.
• The best book covers of the last decade.

Award News

• The Philip K. Dick Award nominees have been announced.
• Donna Andrews and Lee Child have been announced as the latest Grand Masters for Mystery Writers of America.
• The National Book Critics Circle Award finalists have been announced.
• The Edgar Award nominees have been announced.
• The Splatterpunk Award nominees have been announced.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

• 13 YA historical fiction novels by Black authors.
• Books for tweens who loved Stranger Things.
• 32 YA thrillers perfect for fans of true crime podcasts.
• 12 must-read feminist books by Icelandic women writers.
• A reading list for people who are really, really into hockey right now (for some reason).
• Also queer hockey romances to read if you loved Heated Rivalry.
• 7 novels that grapple with the gig economy.
• 10 long books for long winter nights.
• If you loved The People We Meet on Vacation.
• 6 thrillers about the dark side of fame.
• 8 historical mysteries with pirates and smugglers.
• 5 horror novels set in inescapable towns.
• 6 thrillers about secrets and lies.
• Horror retellings that will scare you all over again.
• The best fantasy books of the century (so far).
• 8 memoirs exploring the damage of purity culture.
• 5 SFF books about time.

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