A Missouri Circuit Court overturned a state law that criminalized public and private school teachers and librarians for providing students books with what the state considered “sexually explicit material.” The judge called the law “unconstitutionally vague vague… and overbroad.” The law, which was enacted in 2022, resulted in hundreds of books being removed from school libraries. School staff members who were in violation could be fined $2000 or jailed for up to a year. “This is a real victory for all library professionals who are trained to select age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate material for students in both public and private schools,” […]
December Library Reads
New Books Publishing November 18
This week’s fiction releases include new novels by Solvej Balle, Ayana Gray, and Kathy Reichs, plus stories by Joy Williams. New nonfiction includes work from Tracy K. Smith, Vanessa Bryant, Walter Isaacson, and a collection of Bob Dylan’s artwork. 23 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-november-18 13 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-november-18 Also publishing this week is Haven’t Killed in Years by Amy K. Green, excerpted in our Buzz Books 2025: Fall/Winter anthology. We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming months […]
Sourcebooks Cracks the Big Five
For the first time in decades, there’s a challenge to the hegemony of the biggest trade publishers in the US. As Sourcebooks continues to grow, it is now the fifth largest publisher in the country by print units sold, breaking the longstanding Big Five, and pushing Macmillan into sixth place, according to publishers’ internal analysis of data from Circana Bookscan (which does not itself publish market data that excludes distribution clients). While Macmillan is still considerably larger overall, with far higher ebook unit sales and an established, successful audiobook division, this is the first time an independently-run house has challenged […]
Sarah Ferguson, Former Duchess of York, Children’s Book Pulled
Sarah Ferguson’s forthcoming children’s book, Flora and Fern: Kindness Along the Way, has been withdrawn from publication. The picture book was first slated to come out from UK publisher New Frontier Publishing on October 9, then was rescheduled to November 20, the BBC reports. The book does not appear to have had a US publisher. No reason was given from the publisher or author for the withdrawal. Ferguson was previously married to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who recently lost his title as Prince Andrew, Duke of York, due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Ferguson was also dropped from various philanthropic endeavors after […]