Just four days after President Trump filed a $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times, four of its reporters, and Penguin Random House, a federal judge in Florida has dismissed the case.

Rewind: Trump claimed that reporting published in the Times, which led to a Pulitzer Prize-winning book with a title that must be really tough for his ego, was intended to undermine his 2024 presidential campaign. Penguin Random House called the current suit “meritless,” and the Times identified it as “an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting.”

Judge Steven D. Merryday said the 85-page complaint was "improper and impermissible," noting that it goes on for 80 "florid and enervating" pages before actually lodging a formal complaint of defamation.

Here’s the money quote: "A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective" nor "a protected platform to rage against an adversary.”

The Trump camp has until October 17 to submit a revised complaint of no more than 40 pages. – RS

Double your pleasure this week with highly-anticipated returns from two acclaimed authors whose lives are as interesting as their work.

Patricia Lockwood , subject of what will surely go down as the most bonkers author profile of 2025, is out with Will There Ever Be Another You, a novel about a woman struggling to keep it together during a global pandemic. I know, I know, not another COVID novel…but this is Lockwood we’re talking about, and it’s gloriously weird.

It’s been 19 years since we last heard from Kiran Desai, whose novel The Inheritance of Loss won the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Desai’s new novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny has been announced as a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and is on the longlist for this year’s Booker Prize.

Also out this week:

• A genre-bending literary detective story from Ian McEwan
• Jen Hatmaker’s memoir about remaking her life after the end of her marriage
• The ferociously funny follow-up to Mona Awad’s beloved Bunny

📚 Check out more of the week’s best new releases. – RS

If you’re still paying a small fortune for your glasses, we need to have a talk. Warby Parker offers stylish, high-quality frames for a fraction of the price. And with their genius Home Try-On program, you can test out five frames completely free. Ditch the eye-popping prices and find a pair of glasses you’ll love, because your eyes (and your wallet) deserve a win.

It’s the rare novel that still feels fresh 35 years after its publication, and it’s the subject of the latest episode of Zero to Well-Read.

Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland , a postmodernist response to Reaganite politics, pervasive surveillance, and the encroaching threat of a police state, came out in 1990, and it still hits.

Known for being somewhat inscrutable, Pynchon rewards readers’ attention with delightful zaniness and incisive observations. Vineland has aging potheads, ninjas, radical documentarians, mafia dons, and moments of marvelous clarity. Behold:

About the only thing that’ll get a fascist through’s his charm. The newsfolks love it.

If you’ve been intimidated by the idea of reading Pynchon, we’re here for you.

Over the weekend, Powell’s Books posted about the book trends they’re seeing this fall as part of their Between Two Stacks series on Instagram. Keith Mosman, a book buyer at the storied indie, broke down three things that are going to be all over the shelves as we enter the biggest buying season of the year.

💅 Trend #1: Deluxe Editions

We are used to spredges and stamped covers on TikTok sensations, but Keith says the special edition treatment is spreading to other parts of the books world. “You’ll see beloved classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and Charlotte’s Web and also recent hits like A Little Life,” Mosman says.

🚀 Trend #2: Genre Gets Genre-ier

Genre’s growth over the last 10 years has been tremendous, but Mosman says there is still more to come: “You’re going to see a lot more cross-genre. It’s a really exciting time.” 

🧚‍♀️ Trend #3: Witches and Fae

This is one where Powell’s is seeing something we have seen here at BR over time: readers love witches, and they love the Fae: “There are still vampires; there are still demons, but witches and the Fae seem to be the dominant theme."

🎃 If these trends have you interested, you can find several on Powell’s list of Halloween recommendations.

Add a little fire to your book collection with these US & Canada exclusive reprintings of The Empyrean Series. The striking stenciled edges feature dragons taking flight and create one stunning visual set. Complete your collection today at  ThriftBooks.com  and get FREE US Shipping on orders over $15.

Each year, Barnes & Noble celebrates debut authors with the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. This year’s finalists are:

• Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin
• Kaplan’s Plot by Jason Diamond
• Maggie; or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee
• Tilt by Emma Pattee
• Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu
• The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds

🎧 Hear Jeff’s conversation with Emma Pattee on First Edition, and follow the show to catch an interview with Jason Diamond going live soon.

Nicholas Boggs’s Baldwin: A Love Story was one of my most anticipated books of the fall, and judging by its reception, I was not alone. Boggs says he has been delighted with the literary world’s response to the book, with many telling him that they are rediscovering Baldwin—or giving him a go for the very first time. I spoke with Boggs for an upcoming episode of First Edition and took the opportunity to get his recommendations for folks thinking about giving Baldwin a go. Here are his picks:

For folks looking to start with something short: “If this is somebody who is sort of resistant to length, I would start with ‘Autobiographical Notes,’ which is his introduction to Notes of a Native Son. It talks about his childhood in Harlem. It encapsulates a lot of the themes of his writing, but in a very, very few pages.”

For fiction lovers: "In my experience, at least teaching at the university level in the past, Giovanni’s Room is like an immediate love affair for students. I think they connect with the way that David is on this sort of quest to understand himself, as they are. This whole idea of going abroad, maybe they’re about to do a semester abroad. I think also the fact that it’s a love triangle and a love story, that’s very attractive to people."

For folks unafraid of the deep end: “I also just think you can start The Fire Next Time. I mean, just historically, that’s gotta be read.” – JO

In charge of bringing wine for book club? Don’t panic. Firstleaf is the wine club that uses a quiz to match you with bottles tailored to your taste. It’s the smartest way to discover your next favorite pour without ever having to leave your couch.

Thirty years ago this week, the BBC aired the premier episode in its six-part adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Since then, it has become one of the most beloved adaptations of any kind. What’s hard to remember/understand now is that this wasn’t a case of a series being a cult hit, a slow build, or one just for Austen-heads. This thing was a monster from the jump. 

The episodes averaged more than 10 million viewers in the UK out of a total population of 58 million. The finale reached a 40% share, for more than 23 million viewers. Basically, half of the people in the UK tuned in to see the last episode of an adaptation of a 230-year old book that pretty much everyone knew the ending to.

For comparison, the Super Bowl has seen about a 70% share in the U.S. Imagine a scenario in which more than half the number of people who would watch a Super Bowl dial in for the last episode of like….a Huck Finn adaptation or something. Truly wild.

The BBC knew they had something, too, right from the start: they rushed into production on a two-tape (yes, they were VHS-ing back then) set of the series that went on sale the week before the finale aired. They got the idea right, but the number wrong: the 12,000 copies available sold out in two hours. 

But my favorite stat about the series’ popularity is also about endurance. Lyme Park was the site of Colin Firth’s much-memed watery emergence, and in the years before 1995, saw about 50,000 annual visitors. Last year, nearly three decades after Aquaman Darcy delighted us all, 350,000 people came. – JO

🍂 Dress for decorative gourd season in L.L. Bean’s perfect flannel shirts.**

📉 Chart the industry’s health as book sales dropped in the first half of this year.

📺 Watch your childhood faves with Scholastic’s new streaming service.

🎨 Break through your creative block one hour at a time.

📱Scroll an analysis of the BookTok canon.

_{**This is a product recommendation from the Book Riot team. When you buy through these links, we may earn a commission.}

Written by Rebecca Schinsky and Jeff O’Neal. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

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