Book News & Features

The Baddies, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler

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Beware! 'The Baddies' are here to scare your kids — and make them laugh

8:08am November 25, 2023

by Samantha Balaban

From the author and illustrator of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom now comes The Baddies: a witch, a troll and a ghost like being bad so much they compete to see who can be the very worst.

Helen DeWitt's novella 'The English Understand Wool' hits big

5:45pm November 21, 2023

by Andrew Limbong

The 2022 novella The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt is both a psychological thriller AND a satirical critique of the publishing industry. It's also sold out everywhere.

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NPR's Books We Love 2023 launches today

5:14pm November 20, 2023

by Andrew Limbong

Books We Love 2023 launches Monday. Book of the Day host Andrew Limbong talks about our annual, interactive guide to the years' best books.

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Author A.S. Byatt, whose books include the Booker Prize-winning novel "Possession," has died at the age of 87.

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Arts

Author A.S. Byatt, who wrote the best-seller 'Possession,' dies at 87

12:23pm November 18, 2023

by The Associated Press

Byatt wove history, myth and a sharp eye for human foibles into two dozen books that included the Booker Prize-winning novel "Possession."

A wildfire burns south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, near Highway 63 on Saturday, May 7, 2016. A book about an inferno that ravaged a Canadian city and has been called a portent of climate chaos has won Britain's leading nonfiction book prize.

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The story of a devastating wildfire that reads 'like a thriller' wins U.K. book prize

5:07am November 17, 2023

by The Associated Press

John Vaillant's Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World was awarded Britain's leading nonfiction book prize on Thursday in London.

Pink gives away 2,000 banned books at Florida concerts

6:25am November 16, 2023

The pop music icon is taking a stand against the libraries and classrooms around the U.S. that have removed books due to claims of inappropriate content related to sexuality, gender identity and race.

Justin Torres' novel Blackouts won the National Book Award for fiction on Wednesday night.

Justin Torres wins at National Book Awards as authors call for cease-fire in Gaza

11:30pm November 15, 2023

by Andrew Limbong

At one of literature's most prestigious awards ceremonies, nominated authors made a collective call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Scholastic says it will stop offering the controversial collection of race- and gender-related titles at middle school book fairs starting in January.

Scholastic backtracks, saying it will stop separating diverse books for fairs in 2024

11:34am October 25, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Scholastic faced backlash for putting books dealing with race, gender and sexuality in their own optional category for middle school book fairs. It's now apologizing and working to reverse course.

Acclaimed writer Viet Thanh Nguyen reading in 2017. His cancelled reading at 92NY led to staffers at the cultural center resigning.

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Staff at NYC cultural center resign after acclaimed author's event canceled

11:26am October 24, 2023

by Andrew Limbong

After a talk by Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen was "postponed," some authors also pulled out of future events. The writer had signed an open letter criticizing Israel and calling for a ceasefire.

Almost half of all babies born in the U.S. in 2019 were born to unmarried mothers, a dramatic increase since 1960, when only 5% of births were to unmarried mothers.

Why children of married parents do better, but America is moving the other way

9:54am October 22, 2023

by Pallavi Gogoi

Almost half of all babies born in the U.S. are born to unmarried mothers. That's not good for children, says progressive economist Melissa Kearney in her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege.