Mission-Driven

Amid the disappearance of third spaces, indie booksellers across the U.S. are stepping up as stewards of some of the last remaining community hubs, with some reaching beyond their traditional roles to facilitate mutual aid and other solidarity-building programs. Penguin Random House parent company Bertelsmann saw a modest uptick in its revenue in the first nine months of this year. The Stockholm-based Spotify has launched audiobooks in its home country of Sweden, as well as in Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Two titles were disqualified from New Zealand’s Ockham Book Awards for using AI-generated cover art after a last-minute change to the prize’s guidelines, the Guardian reports. In lexicographical news, Merriam-Webster has put out the first new hardcover Collegiate dictionary in 22 years, reports WBUR, and the Cambridge Dictionary has selected “parasocial” as its word of the year. A new exhibition in the U.K. is shining a light on the contributions of Noel Carrington, an “unsung hero” of 20th-century children’s publishing. On Substack, author, bookseller, and former U.S. congressman Steve Israel opines that going on a book tour is “more brutal than a political campaign.” And the New York Times looks at the impact of romantasy on some readers’ sex lives.