The Book News We Covered This Week

It was a lighter, holiday week, but there are always things cooking in the world of books. Here is what we wrote about:

Supreme Court Says Parents Can “Opt Out” Of Positively-Affirming LGBTQ+ Public School Lessons

Ten years after the Supreme Court rules that gay marriage was legal in the United States, the court passed an opinion that learning about LGBTQ+ people in an affirming way in the public school classroom requires parental notification and the opportunity for parents to opt their students out of such lessons in Mahmoud v. Taylor. The parents in the case were granted a preliminary injunction, overturning the decision in the Fourth Circuit. The majority opinion , issued by Justice Alito, notes that the government burdens the parents’ religious beliefs and that such positive lessons on LGBTQ+ people pose a “very real threat of undermining the religious beliefs and practices the parents wish to instill.”

The Most Popular Summer Releases, According to Libby

This week, we’re looking at reader behavior as it pertains to the new books of summer. Our friends over at Libby shared with us the most commonly checked out books that just came out this June. There are bestselling thrillers among them, as well as elemental romantasy, lesbian vampires, and the 1980s Space Shuttle program.

650+ New Queer Books Out in 2025 (So Far)

Even outside of that, I’m constantly hearing about upcoming queer books: from my fellow Book Rioters, from authors, from Netgalley and Edelweiss listings. And despite the resurgence of book bans and the anti-queer, anti-trans backlash in recent years, we’re living in the golden age of queer lit: there are more new LGBTQ books coming out every month than ever before. All of that adds up to a sprawling spreadsheet with hundreds and hundreds of new queer books in every conceivable genre.

Lunar Chronicles & Levithan Animated Adaptations and More: The Latest YA Book News

If you’re reading this the week it publishes and live in Canada or the United States, you’re either just coming off or entering into a long weekend. Rather than put together something think-y, it seemed a better use of all our efforts to roundup the latest in YA book news from the past month or so.

The Most Read Books on Goodreads in June 2025

Here are the five books of the summer (so far)! They include dystopia, thrillers, romance, and historical fiction. One interesting development is that #5 didn’t show up on any of the previous “Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week” lists in June; it has been in the top ten, but this is the first time it’s cracked the top five.

The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists

There aren’t any new additions to this list from last week, but I am happy to see that two of the biggest bestsellers of the moment are both by and about queer women. In fact, the top three hardcovers on the Indie Bestsellers list this week are Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab, The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong: all queer books by queer authors.

One Court Case Could Determine the Future of Book Banning in the US, and Other Library Updates

Well, friends, it’s that time again: time to round up what’s been happening in the World of Libraries. We’re jumping into the difficult stuff, including some significant censorship updates from across the country and around the world, and then finishing with a bit of a palate cleanser (aka literally anything else happening right now).