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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
The New York Times Picks Its 10 Best Books of 2024
If there is a list you want to be on at the end of the year as an author, it is this one. Less expansive than the 100 Notable books lists, which is arguably more interesting just for the range, the 10 best list is the NYT’s real stamp of approval. It can sometimes in the course of reading the NYT’s book reviews to have a sense of how good the reviewer themselves thinks the book is, but this list leaves no doubt. Quite humorously, or maddeningly depending on your angle, the list includes a couple of books we confessed to not loving on the Book Riot podcast (All Fours and Good Material), but taste is subjective of course. And I think if there were a single, last-work standing award, it goes to James. Why not go the extra mile, NYT?
Oprah is Launching a Podcast “Anchored” By Author Interviews
First thing in my inbox this morning was a press release announcing The Oprah Podcast, which frankly is surprising didn’t already exist. Here is what it will be, according to the release: “Oprah will welcome today’s foremost thought leaders, global newsmakers, best-selling authors, visionaries and cultural changemakers to explore timely themes including happiness, resilience, consciousness and connection to help listeners on their journey to lead their best life.” The show will be “anchored” by monthly interviews with authors of Oprah Book Club selections, and the whole shebang is sponsored by Starbucks. Seems like the most obvious thing in the world to me. This is not the sort of thing you throw together in a month (or is it?), but if you were going to draft a “Joe Rogan podcast for the left,” this feels pretty ready to wear.
Costco to end book sales in hundreds of stores starting next year
We first heard rumblings of this earlier in the year, but it looks like Costco’s plan to reduce dramatically the real estate it gives to books is upon us. Though, it is not quite as dire as the worst reports made it seem: a hundred or so stores will keep year-round book tables and the rest of the stores will have them in prime holiday season. If you didn’t follow this story the first time around, it was interesting to note that it wasn’t the sales so much that caused Costco to look at this move, but the logistics. Books have to be unpacked one at a time, are bought one at a time, and get switched out all the time. If sales were AMAZING, I am sure they would have kept things as is, but Costco has long favored simplicity. Would be fascinated to know what the actual difference in the gross sales of books Costco sees on the whole. Might be less than you might think.
These are the Most Read Books of the 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge
The sort of people who participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge are somewhat different than the general book buyer. And so it is that the most read books for Goodreads’ Annual Reading Challenge lean a little more literary/indie bookstore than what we will see on the NPD BookScan list for the year.
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