Cardinal (The Storyteller’s Death) deftly blurs the boundaries between literary and relationship fiction, crafting a novel full of magical realism that unfolds with leisurely grace as it traces a plot that is deeply engaging. Swift yet reflective, intimate yet universal, this is a novel of deep rewards.

On September 4, the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a March 2023 ruling that the Internet Archive’s (IA) program of scanning print books and distributing digital copies on a one print-book, one-ebook, one-user basis for free is not protected by fair use doctrine. The ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House in June 2020.

The longlist for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year is announced. Poets & Writers releases its seventh annual selection of the best new memoirs and essay collections. “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R.S.A. Garcia wins the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction story. Acclaimed Cree novelist Darrel J. McLeod, author of A Season in Chezgh’un, has died at age 67, and Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, has died at age 66. Plus, interviews with Ketanji Brown Jackson, Gillian Anderson, and Cynthia Zarin.

I realize that genealogical research has long been associated with the retiree demographic, something one’s grandparents might do in their free time, and not what today’s students would gravitate toward on their own initiative. But that is where the wonder of the required assignment comes in, and where budding amateur genealogists are made. As the great American novelist William Faulkner once said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” And that’s what I try to instill in the students I teach about the wonders and magic of genealogical research.

The Cundill History Prize and the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime fiction shortlists and the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction and the Giller Prize for Canadian fiction longlists are released. Danielle Treweek’s The Meaning of Singleness wins Australian Christian Book of the Year. W. Paul Coates, founder of Black Classic Press, wins National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award. An appeals court upholds the ruling that Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library program is in violation of copyright law. Little Free Library partners with ALA and PEN America on a book ban map.

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Erdrich (The Sentence) yet again displays her storytelling skills.

The setting, characters, and structure of the novel are compelling, and, as the title suggests, there are secrets and lies aplenty. For fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins.

Reese Witherspoon selects The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl as her 100th book club pick. Read with Jenna’s September pick is Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. Winners of the Anthony Awards are announced, including All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby and A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan. Sisters in Crime’s Davitt Awards winners are announced, and the Washington State Book Award finalists are announced. LitHub reports on NaNoWriMo’s AI controversy. Nightbitch, based on the book by Rachel Yoder, gets a trailer. Plus, LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Matt Haig’s buzzy book The Life Impossible.

This must-have anthology is a treasure trove not to be missed.