Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Here are the biggest stories from the week that was…

Barnes & Noble has Announced Their Picks for the Best Books of 2025

You’re reading the calendar right: we’re only halfway through October, but the Best Books of the Year list season is upon us, starting with Barnes & Noble. They’ve named their picks for the best books of 2025 in 19 categories: Fiction, Gift Books, Mystery & Thriller Books, Biographies & Memoirs, Picture Books, Young Reader (Middle Grade) Books, Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, History Books, Horror, Romance, Cookbooks, Business Books, Sports Books, Personal Development, Science & Technology, eBook Series, Audiobooks, and libros en español.

Jeff Hiller to Host National Book Awards with Musical Guest Corinne Bailey Rae

Fresh off of his Emmy win for Somebody, Somewhere (which I loved), Jeff Hiller will host the National Book Awards on November 19th. (Hiller’s recent memoir, Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success, is an absolute riot on audio, I might add). Corinne Bailey Rae will be performing (presumably her song “Put Your Records On,” which her debut picture book is based on).

A “Grand Tour” of Literary Burglary

I do not want to spoil this story of a mult-city biblio-heist that took place throughout Europe in 2023. I do not want to comment on its devious simplicity (replacing the stolen library books with high quality imitations) or the thieves’ deep knowledge of these repositories (that older books in some libraries do not have anti-theft magnetic strips in them because they can damage the books). Look, I have said enough already. Bookmark, save to PDF, email to yourself, whatever. Fun and dastardly reading.

A Guardian and a Thief is Becoming the It Book of the Fall

I thought it might be the new Lockwood. Or the new Flournoy. Or the new Desai. But it is looking like Megan Majumdar’s A Guardian and a Thief has the inside track on being the book of the fall. An Oprah pick and finalist spots for the National Book Award and Kirkus Prizes are about as much as you can ask of a literary title. It was a late pick-up by one Rebecca Schinsky in our 2025 Fantasy Book League and could well be the difference. I am happy for everyone involved. No for real, I am. At least I included it in our It Books of October showdown.

The Economics of Independent Media are Just Really Tough

n+1 did one of the most necessary and thankless tasks in media: post about a job opening and include the actual salary range. The number is above the median U.S. salary of $49,500, but the gig is in Brooklyn, which I can report from personal experience is considerably more expensive than the median place to live (whichapparently is Cleveland?).

The strongest negative reactions were as predictable as they were understandable: this just doesn’t seem like enough for the responsibilities, n+1’s reputation, and the realities of trying to build a professional life and career in New York. The loudest defender of n+l responded to these criticisms with perhaps unadvised (and largely deleted) as far as I can tell) vitriol. (side note: I am not going to link to individual X posts here. If you are interested, you can search for n+1 and see the terrain quickly).