Our friends at Verso have prepared this ultra thorough ABOLISH ICE reading list, featuring a number of excellent titles that can help explain how we got here. Histories of American immigration, or the origins of the Department of Homeland Security, Read more >
Greg Ketter of DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis never intended to be a face of the movement. But after he was photographed walking through a cloud of tear gas to a protest following Alex Pretti’s murder, he and his store became Read more >
This week marks the 40th birthday of the Baby-Sitters Club, that ragtag team of business-minded eighth graders, who first appeared on our doorsteps in Ann M. Martin’s Kristy’s Great Idea (1986). Publisher Scholastic is launching three new books to celebrate. Read more >
A new George Saunders out today: what more could anyone possibly want? And yet, that’s just the beginning of our week’s delivery of thrilling new titles: there’s another rigorous and deeply investigated work about the Bernie Goetz subway shootings, a Read more >
Over here at Lit Hub, we’re so in awe of the strike today in Minneapolis, and all the organizations, communities, and individuals who are mobilizing collectively to oppose state occupation and violence. If you’re looking to support the fight against Read more >
Given: it’s another tough one out there, people. In the Northeast, there’s talk of a world-historical blizzard. Meanwhile actual ICE is hunting our neighbors—or they will be, very soon. I still think it’s crucial to lift up the light in Read more >
Reports from the Twin Cities indicate that citizens are helping neighbors every way they can. Today has been dubbed a Day of Truth and Freedom, in light of ICE’s craven siege on the area’s residents. Stores are closed, and people Read more >
Patience and Fortitude have a new, freaky playmate. Tom Verlaine, the late livewire best known as frontman for the proto-punk band Television, has left his remaining archive to the NYPL. According to Fine Books & Collections, six decades of Verlaine Read more >
Today, the Sundance Film Festival starts in Utah, kicking off the domestic season for indie film. This year’s line-up is (happily!) full of original scripts. And new work from the likes of Rachel Lambert, Stephanie Ahn, and writer-directors Maryam Ataei Read more >
A new program called The Unbanned Book Network is stepping in to counter the increased threat of book bans in schools across America. The new initiative was launched this week by the team at We Need Diverse Books, and aims Read more >
Today, the National Book Critics Circle announced their finalists for the best books published in 2025—30 books in six categories—as well as the finalists for the John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, and the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Read more >
As ICE agents continue to terrorize the Twin Cities, indie bookstores are stepping up. As Claire Kirch reported in Publishers Weekly last Friday, booksellers in Minneapolis and St. Paul have joined community efforts to fight the feds. As the cities Read more >
Three big J-names have new books this week, each one more coveted and anticipated than the last. Julian Barnes is releasing his 28th (!) book, a mix of memoir and fiction about mortality, memory, and love. Jeanette Winterson’s new work Read more >
People are really down on January, but I have to say, it’s not as bad as everyone says. There’s a good week and a half where people pretend they still don’t know what email is, you get to stunt around Read more >
Welcome, readers, to the first happy list of 2026! It’s already shaping up to be another year where easy joy goes thin on the ground, so celebrating the little things feels more important than ever. Here’s what’s making your friendly Read more >
Welcome to the second installment of this year’s awards season reading list. Here you’ll find bespoke recommendations tailored to your favorite movie of last year. After last week’s Marty Supreme list, I bring you another pairing from mid-century New York. Read more >
This week, Eugene Lim (Search History, Dear Cyborgs) was named the winner of the 44th John Dos Passos Prize, given every year by Longwood University “to a talented American writer who experiments with form, explores a range of voices and Read more >
January 1st is not just an involuntary national celebration of hangovers, it’s also Public Domain Day, when a tranche of old copyrights automatically expire. This year, thousands of works from 1930 entered the public domain, along with sound recordings published Read more >
For as long as I can remember, a bestseller in the world of books has only referred to the Times’s list of top sellers, the reigning measuring stick of publishing success. But a new bestseller list put together by two Read more >
Today, Chicago-based arts organization United States Artists announced their 2026 USA Fellows, a group of 50 artists, including five Writing Fellows, each of whom will receive a cash award of $50,000. Recipients are encouraged to use this unrestricted grant “for any Read more >
