Author: S. Zainab Williams

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The 2025 National Book Critics Circle Shortlists The NBCC announced the shortlists for the six awards categories: Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. The organization also selected the finalists for their Barrios Book in Translation Prize and the John Leonard Prize. One of the most striking pieces of data about the shortlisted books is that they were published by 30 different presses/imprints…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Series Announced I loved both Niels Arden Oplev’s and David Fincher’s adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, so I can’t help but get excited about the series adaptation I first learned about through Variety. Lisbeth Salander is one of the most compelling characters I’ve encountered in psychological/crime thriller fiction, and Larsson did plan…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. 2026 Must-Watch Book to Screen Adaptations TIL that one of my all-time favorite memoirs, Helen McDonald’s H is for Hawk, heads to the big screen this month (January 23rd). The New York Times rounded up their picks for this year’s most anticipated series and film adaptations. The Wuthering Heights adaptation buzz has been so loud, you likely already know about that Valentine’s Day…

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Barnes & Noble’s Most Anticipated Books in Fiction and More Over the holiday week, the major book retailer released its annual lists of the most anticipated books of 2026 in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Fantasy and YA (not sure why they’re mashed together), and Kids’ Books. There’s much to dig into, but I’ll share my personal highlights. In Fiction, we have Vigil by literary darling George Saunders; Kin by celebrated, award-winning author Tayari Jones; talk-of-the-town Half His Age, Jennette…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The Tournament of Books Shortlist I don’t know what I expected to find when I went to check out the Tournament of Books shortlist, but I was delighted by the selection of books. We’ve got award winners like Flesh by David Szalay, this year’s Booker Prize winner, big names like Angela Flournoy (The Wilderness) and Stephen Graham Jones (The Buffalo Hunter Hunter), and…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. New Reading Rainbow Host Selected as National Library Week Honorary Chair Librarian and new Reading Rainbow host Mychal Threets is a delight and a gift to the reading world, so is it any wonder the American Library Association (ALA) selected him as Honorary Chair of National Library Week for 2026. “Find Your Joy” is the theme of the 68th annual celebration, which may…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The Atlantic‘s Best Books of 2025 Alert alert! We have another major best books list in the ether. The Atlantic released a list of their picks for the 10 best books of the year. Hats off to any outlet able to whittle it down to so small a number. If you’ve been scouring all of the lists, you won’t find any surprises here…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. And the Giller Prize Goes to… Souvankham Thammavongsa for a book I really want to read. Thammavongsa is now a two-time winner of the Giller, Canada’s prestigious literary prize awarding C$100,000 for excellence in Canadian fiction. The author’s most recent win is for her buzzy new novel, Pick a Color, while her 2020 win was for her short story collection, How to Pronounce…

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The Best Audiobooks of the Year Audiobooks have changed my reading life for the better, between surviving long commutes when I lived in L.A. to making sure I got reading done for podcasting without neglecting a million chores. So I anticipate lists of the year’s best audiobooks as much as I do the overall roundups, and Libro.fm and Audible have released those lists!…

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. New Dr. Seuss Book Will Celebrate the U.S.’s 250th Anniversary I’m not in a particularly celebratory mood, but the Cat in the Hat is here for it. A Dr. Seuss manuscript featuring the popular character has surfaced from the Geisel Library at The University California San Diego just in time for the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. Sing the 50 United States, which sets out to teach the names of the states, will be posthumously published…