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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 Lists Keep Coming and They Don’t Stop Coming
Gone are the days when a publication could release one best-of-the-year list to rule them all. Algorithms and the increasingly fragmented media landscape they’ve wrought mean that bookish media outlets, including this one, need to try multiple avenues to reach readers. In best-of season, this results in not just The Best Books of the Year, but longlists that get whittled down to shortlists, big lists that get broken down into smaller genre-specific lists, and myriad attempts to package, theme, and spin a best-books list into something that looks new and interesting enough to compel some clicks. This year, the Washington Post started with the genre lists and worked up to the big best-of, while the New York Times has taken the opposite tack. After revealing the 10 best books of 2024, the Old Gray Lady is now offering the best thrillers, crime novels, and audiobooks of the year. I expect next week will bring sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and who knows what else.
If you’d told me when I started working in book media 16 years ago that the internet would result in the NYT not just acknowledging genre fiction but covering it enthusiastically, I would have been elated, but I wouldn’t have been able to imagine what it would look like. A silver lining to the ever-increasing challenges of today’s media environment.
KidLit Catch-Up
Among my favorite year-end lists are the many varieties of “the ones that got away.” Under-the-radar reads, hidden gems, and word-of-mouth slow burns can be such a delight, and they make great gifts because they’re so much less likely to be repeats than titles chosen from the best-of collections. While you’re making your list and checking it twice this holiday season, don’t miss Lit Hub‘s look at ten kids’ books you might have missed this year.
Let’s Go to the Movies
December may be slow on new releases, but it’s a big season for adaptations. The big-screen spins on Nightbitch and Nickel Boys are high atop my list for the month, and you better believe I’ll be lining up to see Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus in The Return. If a couch party is more your vibe, you’ll have no shortage of options, either, including Netflix’s take on One Hundred Years of Solitude and Parmount+’s The Road Trip, a rom-com by Beth O’Leary.
Book Censorship Trends to Watch for in 2025
As we round out another year and look ahead to the next, one thing is for certain: book censorship will continue to evolve and look different as we move into a new administration. Book Riot’s Kelly Jensen zeroes in on some of the biggest censorship trends to watch for in the new year.
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