The 100 Best Novels of All Time... Supposedly

In today’s round-up of literary headlines, we look at The Guardian’s picks for the best 100 novels of all time, the Barnes & Noble CEO’s stance on selling AI-written books, and more.

The Guardian’s 100 Best Novels of All Time

The Guardian has been rolling out its picks for the 100 best novels of all time, and now you can check out the full list . They polled 172 authors and experts on their top ten nominations and then combined them. Don’t take away my reader card, but I’ve only read 18 of the books on this list... and only one of them would be in my personal top ten: Beloved by Toni Morrison, which took the #2 spot overall.

In its write-up of the process, The Guardian notes the increase in women writers as opposed to earlier versions: a whopping 36 of 100! I can’t say I find that too impressive, personally. They also mention some of the notable books missing, like The Lord of the Rings and To Kill a Mockingbird. There are also no children’s books and no graphic novels.

If you’d like to dig deeper, you can click "See all the votes" to see individual people’s top ten, like Roxane Gay, RF Kuang, Stephen King, and Salman Rushdie. You can also submit your own nominations for a follow-up list.

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The CEO of Barnes & Noble has "No Problem" Stocking AI-Written Books

In a recent interview, James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, said he has "no problem" selling AI-written books in B&N stores:

“Yes, I have actually no problem selling any book, as long as it doesn’t masquerade or pretend to be something that it isn’t. And that it has an essential quality to it, and that the customer, the reader, wants it.

So as long as an AI-written book says it’s an AI-written book and doesn’t pretend to be something else and isn’t ripping off somebody else, as long as that’s clearly stated and the customer wants to buy it, then we will stock them.”

The general sentiment doesn’t surprise me, but I do wonder what "essential quality" all books in Barnes & Noble stores share. It’s also optimistic to imagine AI-written books are going to be clearly labelled—that’s certainly not how it’s trending so far.

While selling AI-written books could theoretically make the company money, I think it’s short-sighted: no one wants to sift through AI slop on bookstore shelves, and some—like AI-written mushroom identification guides—are dangerous. It’s likely impossible to guarantee that no book in stores has been touched by AI, but embracing AI-written books could hurt the in-store experience and the brand.

Sally Rooney is Publishing a Hebrew Translation of Intermezzo with a BDS-Compliant Publisher

Irish author Sally Rooney has had her books published in over 40 languages, including—when it came to her first two novels—Hebrew. Conversations with Friends and Normal People were both translated into Hebrew by the Israeli publisher Modan. When Rooney learned that the company had ties to the Israeli military, she turned down the translation offers for her subsequent books. Now, her latest novel, Intermezzo, is being translated into Hebrew by November Books, which meets the conditions of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

We Have a Lot to Learn from Plants

On the new episode of Zero to Well-Read, Jeff and Rebecca trace the Braiding Sweetgrass phenomenon and reflect on the ways Kimmerer blends Indigenous philosophy and practice with scientific knowledge to imagine new ways of living together and responding to environmental crises. Check out the companion newsletter for even more!