We’ve got a big round up of library news and links to take you through to the next month: publishing news (which is the same as saying “AI updates” nowadays), censorship updates, stats and trends, award nominees, and more.
Let’s dive in.
Publishing News
- More eBooks and digital audiobooks are featuring interactive AI features.
- An author discovered deepfake videos of himself on YouTube reading chapters of a book published by John Murray Business.
- The Human Artistry Campaign is launching an anti-AI campaign backed by big name celebrities and authors, including Jodi Picoult, Roxane Gay, and Jonathan Franzen.
- AI is coming for your toddler’s bedtime story.
New & Upcoming Titles
- Jeffrey Archer has announced that his next book, Adam and Eve, will also be his last.
- The Millions has posted their Great Winter 2026 preview.
- 24 new and upcoming historical novels to look forward to in 2026.
- Recent Japanese horror novels.
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Censorship Updates
- The book censorship trends of 2025.
- The latest trends in comic censorship.
- Fighting book bans coast to coast.
- We Need Diverse Books launches the Unbanned Book Network to fight book bans in schools.
- The generational impact of book bans on teens.
- Plato has been censored as Texas A&M carries out its course review. They have also instructed English faculty not to teach books with major plot lines involving gay, lesbian, or transgender identities.
- Alamo Heights ISD (TX) canceled a visit by children’s author Chris Barton because his nonfiction book about the history of glitter had the audacity to include a sentence that mentioned the existence of LGBTQ+ people. (I wish I were kidding.)
- Bellbrook-Sugarcreek School District (OH) implemented a policy this year that prohibits so-called “sexuality content” and “gender ideology” from students in kindergarten through grade eight under the guise of “parental rights.”
- Iowa’s law restricting school library books and LGBTQ topics returns to federal court.
- Utah begins 2026 by banning three more books at all public schools across the state. Just weeks later, the state banned yet another one.
- Some Alberta school divisions have removed a handful of titles from library shelves as new school library rules take effect, but they’re not saying which books have been removed.
Numbers & Trends
- Trump books aren’t selling anymore.
- Professors warn that Gen Z’s reading struggles could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates.
- The number of Americans 13 and older who listen to audiobooks has more than doubled since 2016.
- The best book covers of the last decade.
English (US) · 