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Grandparents Are Giving Their Grandkids Personalized AI-Slop Children’s Books, Driving Parents Nuts

“If the odds are against parents who disapprove of artificial intelligence, it’s because there’s an entire ecosystem of AI services designed to insert real children into books … and some relatives can’t resist their ads for specially curated storybooks.” - Wired

Why Are University Administrators Trying To Get Academics To Get Rid Of Books?

The bureaucrat sent an email to him with a dread warning. The books must go, it decreed. There was nothing healthy nor wise in the practice, for the keeping of books on bookshelves is now “the unnecessary storing of combustible materials.” - The Critic

Why Writing Feels So Difficult

Every time you sit down to write, you’re doing something your brain registers as socially risky. Translating private thoughts into language means exposing yourself to judgment and for most of human history, judgment wasn’t just uncomfortable, it was dangerous. - LitHub

Authors Have Mixed Feeling About Anthropic “Win”

One possible way for authors to get a fairer shake in the age of AI could be through the licensing of their work to AI companies. - NPR

The Return Of “Tamizdat”: Why So Many New Russian Books Are Being Published Abroad

“Freedom Letters … (is) one of a growing number of cultural organizations that have joined forces with bookstores, wholesalers and book-fair organizers to build a literary resistance among the Russian diaspora. Together, they publish, sell and distribute books that can’t get through Russia’s restrictive new censorship laws.” - Bloomberg

Literary Crisis? I Think Not

I don’t want to totally wave away the issues these pieces are gesturing towards, but I’d argue the fear that we’re sliding into a post-literate society rests on a category error that feels endemic at this point. - Becoming Literary

Students Are No Longer Reading Full Books

Before we ask our students to read difficult material, those of us who teach in college owe it to all of them to explain that reading books in their entirety matters. If we won’t, or can’t, then higher education will have a bleak future. - The Conversation

AI Companies Are Buying Up Old Books And Destroying Them As They Scan

Once focused on helping libraries, distributors, and book shops find and sell books, ISBNdb now helps AI companies bulk-buy anywhere between 1,000 to one million books per order, according to 404. - Futurism

From Nearly Forgotten Author To Japanese Literary Hero

“Much of the Japanese fiction translated into English fits into broad categories – cats, crime, coffee shops – but one surprise bestseller stands alone. Sales of books by Osamu Dazai, who killed himself in 1948 aged 38, have rocketed in the last few years.” - The Guardian (UK)

The Perfect Books For A Summer At The Pool, The River, Or The Beach

“It is important to follow a balanced diet on holiday. … You need to be able to chop and change depending on your mood, which means fiction and nonfiction. And finally, you need to be able to throw all of these rules out of the window.” - The Guardian (UK)

How Social Media Has Changed Book Cover Design

“Covers today are expected not only to attract readers in bookstores, but to circulate fluidly through Instagram posts, TikToks, Substack photos, and carefully curated apartment interiors. Books are now asked to function simultaneously as texts and as lifestyle objects.” - LitHub

The Joys Of Reading Ulysses

Reading Joyce “was, and continues to be, one of the most glorious reading experiences of my life. Even your text messages fizz after you’ve been reading Joyce.” - The Guardian (UK)

Why Did This Children’s Lit Festival Remove Comments On Diversity?

Authors said that their comments criticising the festival for its lack of representation under a post on its Instagram page were deleted, with the original post later removed and comments limited on other posts. - The Guardian

Tips From Experts On How To Get Your Book Published

We asked five literary experts – a mix of published authors and publishing professionals – for their top tips on getting published. - The Conversation

Why We Buy Books We Don’t Read

An unread book is a good example. It may remain closed for weeks or months, but the brain has already recognised its potential value, enjoying the prospect before the first page has been turned. - The Conversation

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