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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.
Is the World Bad Because Men Aren’t Reading Fiction?
I know we’re all grasping at straws to explain how we arrived here, a world that seems hellbent on hurtling backwards, but I reserve real side-eye for “the world sucks because men aren’t reading fiction” discourse that’s been cropping up. Which is why the brunt of Constance Grady’s essay on the subject over at Vox deeply resonated. Grady attempted to sleuth out the data behind the persistent claim that women account for 80% of the fiction market while men only account for 20%. Tl;dr, she couldn’t find the source for this stat that’s been repeated by journalists, authors, and the like and has been stoking this particular conversation. She also stacks the conversation about the “extremely online guy” superseding the lit bro against men’s representation in awards and publishing. I’ve already said my piece about why books won’t save us, and I remain steadfast in my belief that there are more direct and productive ways to move forward than fixating on the magical power of reading.
What is Copyright Infringement and What is Trope? A Romantasy Story
Oh buddy, I guess romantasy is still the name of the game in 2025–we’re kicking off the year with a New Yorker deep dive into a copyright infringement lawsuit from the world of romantasy. What the piece really speaks to is the difficulty of parsing true theft of creative work from the proliferation and use of tropes that has become a mainstay of some of the most popular books and successful publishers of romantasy and other genres and categories. The piece in part argues that romantasy has become so derivative that the genre exacerbates this existing challenge. It also gets into the thorny territory of mass producing books at breakneck speed to capitalize on trends. It’s a real doozy and worth a lunch break read.
The Resurrection of Zora Neale Hurston’s Posthumous Novel
I have a copy of The Life of Herod the Great, Zora Neale Hurston’s posthumous novel (out today!), on my shelf. One of my daughters is named after Hurston, so you know I was all eyes when I stumbled upon the story of how her new novel was saved from a fire and transferred into the care of the Hurston scholar who edited the book. You can read or listen to a short interview with said scholar, Deborah G. Plant, here.
Our Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Check out our list of the most anticipated books of 2025 and gird your reading lists! My pick is Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson, the author of Black Cake, and honestly there are so many great books publishing this year it was hard to choose. You’ll find some big names and some under the radar reads chosen by our staff and contributors–happy perusing!
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