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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.
Jeff Hiller to Host National Book Awards with Musical Guest Corinne Bailey Rae
Fresh off of his Emmy win for Somebody, Somewhere (which I loved), Jeff Hiller will host the National Book Awards on November 19th. (Hiller’s recent memoir, Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success, is an absolute riot on audio, I might add). Corinne Bailey Rae will be performing (presumably her song “Put Your Records On,” which her debut picture book is based on).
The Millions Fall Preview
In a time when seasonal look-aheads and best-of lists appear earlier and earlier, I strangely appreciate The Millions releasing their fall preview in mid-October. I always find something to catch my eye, even after spending hours in publishers catalogs (Edelweiss-fatigue is a recognized medical phenomenon). Here are two I added to my list, which is more of an idea of a thought than a real list if I am honest: Sacrament by Susan Straight and Pandora by Ana Paula Pacheco.
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The Center for Fiction’s Emerging Writers Fellows Announced
Speaking of discovering things: this is one of the better “let’s keep our eyes on these folks” awards. I don’t know that there is an explicit “people who have published a book are ineligible” rule for these, but browsing through the new fellows’ bios really does show that these are people in the early stages of their writing career. All new names to me, though I would be surprised if their names are unfamiliar for long. For all you young/early-stage writers out there, this is one program you should aspire to be a part of.
Do Readers Really Care About Genre?
Prof. Laura McGrath joined Rebecca and me on the most recent episode of The Book Riot Podcast to talk about some recent studies about how readers do, and crucially don’t, build their reading lives around genre. The findings largely confirm some things that felt true, but also a few surprises. If you like this newsletter, you will like this conversation.