We’re Getting a New George Saunders Novel

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

George Saunders Is Publishing a New Novel Early Next Year

I don’t need to know what it is about. Just that it is coming. And it is coming January 27, 2026. Vigil is what it is called , and like with most George Saunders joints, reading the pitch is both telling and not. I will say that I am especially appreciative of how Saunders is interested in exploration and positing, rather than moralizing or proclaiming:

The novel, he hopes, approaches a political topic without restricting itself to an expression of opinion. “It’s like Chekhov said — art doesn’t have to solve a problem, it just has to formulate it correctly,” Saunders says. “So instead of saying, ‘Here, world, here’s my fully formed opinion,’ you end up taking yourself on a little trip in the direction of more complexity, more ambiguity, a deeper understanding. In this sense, the product is even more political, because it’s charged, not only with opinion (possibly anger), but also with some sympathy.”

Every Publisher Should Do This With Every Adaptation

Last fall, I wondered by there wasn’t an Orivo or Grande narrated version of Wicked ready to rock months before the film came out. Better late than never I suppose. Now we get Orivo narrating the prequel, Elphie. Duh! Here is an idea: do this all the time, for everything. There should be Matthew Goode narrated audiobooks of the Dept Q series available. There should be Chalamet or Isaac or Brolin or Zendaya or Rebecca Ferguson narrated editions of Dune. And do NOT get me started on the Lupita Nyong’o edition of the Odyssey that should exist (though I have to admit the idea of a Bernthal edition would be interesting). Apparently the money is there, even though I don’t understand exactly how.

Hachette Reportedly Acquires Joe Biden’s Memoir for $10 Million

Yes, this is a lot less than Obama and Clinton (both two termers who went out much, much more popular than Biden). And I still think it will struggle to earn out the advance in the short term, but I have much less sense of how these memoirs that are de facto historical documents do over the coming decades. I don’t know anyone champing at the bit for this, but you might have said the same for Jimmy Carter in 1981. Things can change.

Power Ranking the Books of 1995

It’s as far back as we go with these historical rankings–30 years to 1995. Strange year, that sees me (Jeff) pick a single copy of an individual book in his top 10. Christian dystopias, fairy tale retellings, genre-changing memoirs: there are spots for all of them in our top 10s .