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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.
Would You Join an Audiobook Walking Club?
When I was out for my own early-morning walk earlier this spring, I passed a group of people wearing headphones and dance-walking. They seemed to be being led by one individual, but were otherwise mostly in their own sonic-worlds, but loosely travelling together in the same direction. I thought huh humans sure do like things and not all of them the same things. I am of a similar, though slightly more sympathetic, mind when it comes to the idea of an audiobook walking club. I can imagine people that want do a) listen to more stuff b) walk more and c) interact (albeit muffledly) with new people might find this a compelling three birds with one activity idea. (Perhaps the thing I will take away more from this story is the phrase “bookstagram entrepreneurs” which captures the array of bussiness angles the modern book “influencer” gets that paper.)
The Center For Fiction Releases the Longlist for 2025 First Fiction Prize
You read that correctly. A longlist for a 2025 prize (that is books published in 2025) is out there here in mid-July. Why do this? I am not sure. Possibly to drum up interest going into the fall buying season and give these titles some additional oompf going into best-of season? To avoid the cluttered awards-list announcement season later in the year? I will tell you this: it is not because there is a lot of extra book-attention to go around in the height of summer. Of the 29 titles (some longlist discipline please), Sky Daddy and Great Black Hope are the two that I have heard the most chatter about. One quite cool thing, shortlisted authors get $1000, with that winnowing process happening in early fall.
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Two Feel-Good Stories For You
First: you have no reason to care what books Dan Pelzer read over the course of his life. Until now.
Second: the bookish world can feel vast and sprawling, but in some ways it is pretty small. And that means sometimes a big-time author can appreciate an individual bookseller for many years of advocacy in a personal, charming way.