reviews

The winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards and the shortlists for the British Science Fiction Association Awards are announced. The 2025 Canada Reads winner is A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, written with Mary Louisa Plummer. The Guardian reports how Sarah Wynn-Williams’s Facebook exposé, Careless People, came to top the NYT bestsellers list this week, despite Meta’s attempt to stifle its author. Rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot will publish a memoir in Jan. 2026. President Trump has appointed Keith E. Sonderling as the new acting director of the IMLS. Plus, Page to Screen and booklists from V.E. Schwab and David Szalay.

Sergey Radchenko’s To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power wins the Lionel Gelber Prize for books about international affairs. Harriet Baker’s Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann wins the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award. The shortlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize is revealed. LJ announces the keynote speakers for this year’s Day of Dialog, taking place on Apr. 17: R.F. Kuang, Susan Orlean, and Cory Doctorow. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Phil Hanley, Elon Green, Colum McCann, and Torrey Peters.

The inaugural Climate Fiction Prize shortlist and the Jhalak Prize longlists are announced. The Virginia Festival of the Book kicks off tomorrow. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Plus, interviews with Karin Slaughter, Connie Briscoe, Jason De León, and Emma Donoghue and title suggestions for Women’s History Month.

Finalists for the Publishing Triangle Awards and the shortlist for the Kurd Laßwitz Preis are announced. PEN America’s World Voices Festival and Literary Awards events will return this year after being cancelled in 2024. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer postpones his book tour. Reviews arrive for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. April’s LibraryReads list features top pick The Sirens by Emilia Hart. Eoin Colfer’s best-selling novel Artemis Fowl will be adapted as a stage musical, while Julie Satow’s When Women Ran Fifth Avenue is making its way to TV. Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad has died at the age of 83.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins leads holds this week, with appeal across age levels. Also in demand are titles by John Green, Susan Mallery, Laurie Gilmore, James Patterson and J.D. Barker, and Tess Gerritsen. ALA releases a statement on a Trump administration executive order which calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park by Randall K. Wilson wins the New York Historical’s Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize. Plus, Canada Reads kicks off today.

The shortlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the finalists for the Nebula Awards are announced. After a complaint brought by Meta, an arbiter has blocked former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting Careless People, her recently published tell-all about the company. UK bookseller Waterstones expands its Books of the Month program with YA and additional nonfiction offerings. Plus, Page to Screen, a profile of Cynthia Ozick, and interviews with Silvia Park, Kelly Link, and Athol Fugard.

Rodrigo Fresán’s Melvill wins the Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada. NYT releases its spring books preview. The nonprofit We Need Diverse Books announces its inaugural reading day, April 3. A behind-the-scenes book about the 1984 movie Spinal Tap is in the works. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Curtis Sittenfeld, Karen Russell, Carvell Wallace, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The Joyce Carol Oates Prize finalists are announced. Manya Wilkinson wins the Wingate Literary Prize for Lublin. Oprah selects The Tell by Amy Griffin for her book club. Rebecca Yarros’s bestselling “Empyrean” series will be released as graphic novels. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman. Bloomsbury’s new imprint Bloomsbury Archer will publish Samantha Shannon’s Among the Burning Flowers in September. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns will release The American Revolution: An Intimate History on November 11, ahead of its companion six-part PBS documentary series. Stephen King’s Cujo is headed to Netflix.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards finalists, the Golden Poppy Book Award winners, and the British Book Awards Book of the Year shortlists are announced. Zando acquires Tin House. HarperCollins will publish Lucy Foley’s new Miss Marple novel in September 2026. In May, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle will release the new book We Can Do Hard Things, based on their podcast. Martin Scorsese will adapt, direct, and produce Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead novels for the big screen. Louise Penny cancels U.S. tour dates. Plus, Terry Brooks passes the baton on his Shannara series.