People’s book of the week, Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle, leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by James Patterson and Nancy Allen, Percival Everett, Chris Bohjalian, and Steve Cavanagh. The 2024 Future Worlds Prize shortlist is announced. The April LibraryReads list arrives, featuring top pick The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. People highlights Dua Lipa’s book club. Christine Blasey Ford discusses her new memoir, One Way Back. Plus, author Jo Nesbø will adapt his Harry Hole series for Netflix.
On March 14, the American Library Association (ALA) released its most recent book challenge data for 2023. According to ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF), which tracks challenges and acts of censorship in public schools and libraries across the United States, the number of targeted titles rose 65 percent from 2022—once again, the highest levels ever documented by ALA. In public libraries, numbers increased 92 percent over the previous year; school libraries saw an 11 percent increase. Challenged titles featuring the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47 percent of those targeted in censorship attempts.
Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting is named the Nero Gold Prize Book of the Year. The shortlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, the longlist for Jhalak Prize for British writers of color, and the longlist for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction are announced. PEN International is among signatories of a joint statement on freedom of expression and the freedoms to read and publish. Zando has launched a romance imprint called Slowburn. Dan Wakefield, “multifaceted writer on a spiritual journey,” has died at 91.
The winners of the Writers’ Prize are announced: Book of the Year The Home Child by Liz Berry, The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright, and Thunderclap: A Memoir of Life and Art and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming. Elizabeth McCracken wins the Wingate Literary Prize for The Hero of this Book. The finalists are announced for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards for small-press books. Tanith Lee is the recipient of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association’s Infinity Award, a posthumous lifetime achievement award. The Atlantic launches “The Great American Novels” project. Book ban efforts continued to surge last year, reaching the highest levels ever recorded by the American Library Association.
The Inaugural Libby Award winners are announced, as are the Edgar Award finalists. The 2024 Tournament of Books opening round is underway. The 2024 LA Times Festival of Books kicks off on April 20. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner. Tennis star Björn Borg will publish a memoir in 2025. Plus, interviews arrive with Debbie Urbanski, Zefyr Lisowski, Cameron Russell, Emmeline Clein, Mark Kurlansky, Roxane Gay, Tommy Orange, and Tamron Hall.
Large library gatherings usually share city space with at least one other special interest group—who could forget the young dancers shivering in their spangled leotards during January’s LibLearnX Conference in sub-zero Baltimore? This year, those attending the Public Library Association (PLA) biennial conference, held April 3–5 in Columbus, OH, will be overlapping with a crowd of umbraphiles—eclipse chasers—getting a jump on the first visible total solar eclipse in the United States since 2017, occurring April 8. Columbus lies just south of the path of totality.
The literary NAACP Image Awards are announced, ahead of the televised awards show on March 16. The International Booker Prize 2024 longlist is announced. Kylie Needham wins the 2024 MUD Literary Prize. Al Pacino will release his memoir, Sonny Boy, in October. Zando launches the new romance imprint Slowburn. ALA Cancels LibLearnX 2026. Author and actor Malachy McCourt dies at 92.
Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are new titles by Lynn Painter, Scarlett St. Clair, Deanna Raybourn, and Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles. Kai Bird, author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, wins the 2024 BIO Award. Oppenheimer and Poor Things, both based on books, win big at the Academy Awards. People’s book of the week is Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. The April Indie Next List is out, featuring #1 pick James by Percival Everett.
Catherine Leroux’s The Future is selected as the 2024 Canada Reads book. Kathryn Scanlan wins the Gordon Burn Prize for Kick the Latch. Shortlists are announced for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the British Book Awards 2024 Book of the Year, and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. The longlist is announced for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. Akira Toriyama, creator of manga including the “Dragon Ball” series, dies at 68.
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