Barnes & Noble’s biggest books of fall, a touching library moment from the Obama Presidential Center’s opening ceremony, essential American literature, and more. 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 headlines from last week.
The Biggest Books of Fall, According to Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble has released its lists of the most anticipated books of fall in Fiction, Nonfiction, Fantasy & YA, and Kids‘. Fiction is packed with big names in books like Colson Whitehead (Cool Machine), Barbara Kingsolver (Partitia), R.F. Kuang (Taipei Story), Emily St. John Mandel (Exit Party), and Min Jin Lee (American Hagwon). That’s just the tip of the iceberg that is a season of literary overwhelm. In the Nonfiction, Fantasy & YA, and Kids’ editions, you can find new books from Adam Grant (Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World – Nonfiction), Sabaa Tahir (Empire – YA & Fantasy), Jon Klassen adapting Raffi (I Wonder If I’m Growing – Kids’), and Rick Riordan and Annabelle Oh (The Wild Zone – Kids’).
LeVar Burton, Mychal Threets, and Obama Walk Into a Library
The opening ceremony for The Obama Presidential Center was the talk of the town and I don’t just mean the South Side of Chicago. From almost every living president to Oprah to Quinta Brunson and Stephen Colbert, everyone was in attendance. But the moment poised to capture readers’ hearts can be found in this video recap of storytime for kids in the massive Center’s public library branch, posted to Bluesky from Reading Rainbow host and beloved librarian Mychal Threets’ account. Two Reading Rainbow icons in one storytime? What a moment. The Obama Presidential Center Branch features some of President Obama’s favorite reads, reading rooms, and a maker space.
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Essential American Literature, According to PW
Publishers Weekly came up with a list of 15 essential works of American literature by polling their staff and identifying the top picks. These are books published in the U.S. since 1776 (the year the Declaration of Independence was issued, and the reason for this year’s U.S. semiquincentennial celebration). You’ll find an interesting mix of books on the list, including personal favorite and widely beloved classic Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; the book my sister and fellow nature nut read in high school and still talks about, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson; the book that won Colson Whitehead a Pulitzer and turned me into a forever-fan, The Underground Railroad; and a bestselling work of queer, trans fiction that became an instant classic, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. I’m very into this list.
Who Are Public Libraries For, Anyway?
Earlier this year, I wrote about how public libraries were redefining what YA books were, moving them to adult sections of the collection and further disenfranchising teens from the literature–and public spaces–designated for them. 404 Media adds to this discussion in a piece this week that explores how public libraries are becoming targets not through direct state-level legislation like their school library counterparts but through policies and demands to move books for young readers into the adult sections of the library.
Granta Won’t Publish Winning Lit Prize Entries Due to AI Speculation
Granta announced that the literary magazine is halting external publishing partnerships amid AI controversy around the 2026 Commonwealth prize-winning stories. Granta published the entries of this year’s regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and accusations of AI use, including heightened discourse around “The Serpent in the Grove” by Jamir Nazir, abounded across platforms like X and Bluesky. Meanwhile, the shortlisted writers most of the writers quickly rejected these claims, with Nazir later emailing The Observer’s Erica Wagner about his “unusual” writing process. Whoof. AI stays messy.
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