A Smorgasbord of Book News

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

Fall publishing season is basically here, and it’s evident in the volume of interesting book-adjacent stories that crossed my desk and popped up in my group chats this week. Here’s a smorgasbord to carry you into the long weekend.

😬 Jeannette McCurdy has announced her debut novel, Half His Age, coming in January. It’s a "dramedy thriller" about a 17-year-old girl’s relationship with her creative writing teacher. Ohhhhhh dear.

🎨 These are the 14 best book covers of August. Ruth is terrific and is only about sheep in the metaphorical sense.

🤞 Ted Gioia predicts "the glorious future of the book" will arrive when people tire of AI slop, addictive algorithms, and tech companies controlling their access to reading material. I wish I felt so optimistic.

💖 Entertainment Weekly names the 6 hottest romance novels of summer 2025.

📚 To Kill a Mockingbird is still atop the list of books readers say shaped them in high school. I’m counting on Gen Z to kill this trend just as soon as they get done taking down fast casual dining.

🏕️ Here’s a summer camp for adults where you hang out and read all day.

📚 Dan Brown’s new novel The Secret of Secrets is out September 9, and you can read the prologue here. A neuroscientist comes to in Prague after a near-death experience and muses about the nature of consciousness. Put it in my veins.

👀 Laura Miller did not like Katabasis. I thought the book was fun, but I don’t totally disagree that Kuang’s writing "seldom feels as if it were written for grown-ups." Should we try to make New Adult happen again?

🖼️ Librarians pick the best new kids’ books for fall.

🎬 Rami Malek and Russell Crowe star in Nuremberg, based on Jack El-Hai’s The Nazi and the Psychiatrist. The trailer had me at John Slattery.

📉 Penguin Random House profits fell 12% in the first half of 2025, mostly due to rising costs. Tariffs and China, folks.

🧛 The Twilight Saga will be back in theaters this fall. Here are the dates.

🏆 Geraldine Brooks has won the 2025 Library of Congress Prize of American Fiction.

🍿 These are the major differences between the Thursday Murder Club book and movie.