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Digital audiobook platform Libro.fm will
branch into e-books this fall, starting with a beta version of e-book access for its more than 5,000 independent bookstore partners. Barbra Streisand will
publish her debut picture book with Penguin Young Readers’ Flamingo Books imprint in March 2027. After nearly a year of litigation, Diamond Comic Distributors has reached a settlement to
return the inventory of its client publishers. And spending on college course materials
declined again last year, as cheaper digital offerings become the norm. In other news, the recent cancellation of a Nigerian novelist’s debut is stirring debate over whether BIPOC writers may be
more likely to face accusations of AI use, per the
Bookseller. A
new feature on Instagram will allow users to share the book they’re currently reading on their profile, according to the
Independent. The
Atlantic’s Alex Reisner investigates whether AI companies are solely responsible for the recent wave of
bulk purchases of used and rare books. For the
Walrus, Thea Lim argues that we should do away with
ranked book lists. And in the
New Yorker, Leo Lasdun critiques Ryan Murphy’s
“sanded-down” TV adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s
The Shards, while Richard Brody weighs in on the debate over
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

Libro.fm to Expand into E-booksDigital audiobook platform Libro.fm will unveil a beta version of e-book access to its independent bookstore partners, librarians, and influencers this fall, then launch e-book content for subscribers in 2027. CEO and cofounder Mark Pearson called e-books “a natural next step” for the company.
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Spending on College Course Materials Falls AgainAs the use of digital course materials and Affordable Access programs grow, student spending on materials has declined 44% in the last decade. In the 2025–2026 school year, college students spent an average of $338 on all course materials, compared to $441 the year before.
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SCBWI Panel Takes a Deep Dive into CensorshipOn July 30, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators kicked off its annual Virtual Summer Conference with a discussion dedicated to a timely topic: “What the Industry Really Thinks About Book Banning.”
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Awards News
- Poets Laureate Receive $1.1 Million: The Academy of American Poets has granted $50,000 each to 22 poets serving as poets laureate in cities, counties, states, and Tribal communities across the U.S.
- Poetry Foundation Names Fellows: Xochi Quetzali Cartland, Fatima Jafar, Noel Munguia-Moreno, Shaina Phenix, and Tariq Thompson are this year’s Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows, reserved for poets aged 21–31, and will each receive $27,000.
Bookstore News
- North Dakota Shop Relocates: Fantasy bookstore Emrys Cove has moved to a larger storefront in downtown Fargo.
- Colorado Store Eyes New Space: Lafayette’s Read Queen Bookstore & Cafe is negotiating with the city to move into the former Chase Bank building on Public Road.
- California’s New Bookseller: Judging By the Cover is able to afford a storefront in Fresno thanks to the efforts of the South Tower Community Land Trust.
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Review of the Day:
‘Venus, Vanishing’ by Rebecca Birrell“Birrell’s magnificent debut centers on a young German Jewish seamstress and aspiring artist whose life is changed and complicated by her wealthy patron.... It’s a hard-hitting portrait of the challenges faced by Jewish and queer artists amid the rise of fascism in interwar Germany.”
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Picture of the Day
Johanna Peyton read from her picture book All Brains Welcome: Embracing ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, and More (Sourcebooks Explore), illustrated by Olga Popov, at Birdhouse Books in Austin, Tex., on July 25. The storytime presentation included a plush brain, as seen in the book.
Courtesy of the author