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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
And we have our National Book Awards finalists! The National Book Foundation announced the shortlist yesterday and boy was I surprised to discover that Han Kang’s We Do Not Part fell off the Translated Literature list. I was also pretty confident Angela Flournoy’s The Wilderness would make the Fiction cut. Still, I was jazzed to see One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad make it through in Nonfiction, as well as some of my anticipated reads in Fiction, like The Antidote by Karen Russell, which I’m planning to pick up after I read The Wilderness, and Palaver by Bryan Washington, which isn’t out yet. It’s been fascinating to watch the awards lists roll in and clock which books make some lists but not others, and which books get all the critical acclaim, making multiple lists. Anticipate an analysis once awards season winds down! In the meantime, you can find the full list of NBA finalists here and the winners will be announced November 19th.
This one’s close to home as I’m a North Carolina resident and parent. Carolina Public Press reported on the book banning battle happening in the state after the passage of House Bill 805, which began as a bill to place guidelines protecting people whose explicit content appears on pornography websites, but turned into a bill that, in addition to barring access to gender transition care in prisons, enforced the creation of an infrastructure that allows parents to make lists of books and materials their children are disallowed from accessing and a searchable database of library books available at schools. Moms for Liberty is, of course, involved in creating these obstacles for kids who want access to books, and for teachers and school librarians to do their jobs. In my own county, the database that collects books deemed “inappropriate” lists All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, to name a few of the many excellent works that apparently don’t align with traditional American values (read as conservative, white-centered, Christian values). It’s an expansive, infuriating read that serves as yet another window to what’s happening in schools and libraries across the country.
The largest distributor to libraries in the U.S. is shutting down. This follows the failed acquisition of Baker & Taylor by major distributor ReaderLink. Without the acquisition, B&T’s CEO Aman Kochar said he can’t find a financially viable way forward for the company, which has already laid off more than 500 employees. The news has left many publishers and librarians in a state of confusion. When the deal was still pending, publishers weren’t sure if their outstanding invoices would be paid, and publishers and librarians alike were uncertain about the fate of distribution through B&T. Publishers Weekly reports that there’s been little communication from B&T since the termination of the deal. What a mess.
As more book bans and attacks on the First Amendment rights of American citizens continue, so, too, do the lawsuits aimed at stopping these actions. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina filed a lawsuit against State Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver over unjust book bans due to Regulation 43-170 and a 2025 classroom censorship memo. It was filed on behalf of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians and three public school students under the age of 18. The filing can be read in full here.
What are you reading? Let us know in the comments!
