Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Audible Testing AI-Generated Recommendations
Audible announced today that it is testing a new feature that will offer users AI-generated recommendations based on specific search queries. “Maven” is being rolled out in beta to about half of U.S. users, who will see a new search bar and prompt to “ask for recommendations” on the Discover tab of the Audible app in iOS and Android. Looking for a cozy mystery to listen to while you bake, a queer romantasy that’s at least 14 hours long for your upcoming roadtrip, or a thriller without any violence against women? Maven, which is currently limited to a subset of the Audible library, should theoretically be able to help. Quality is still highly variable with AI search tools, but if this is good, it could be great.
Bramble Bets Big on Romantasy
Macmillan imprint Bramble Books has signed a four-book deal with J.R. Ward for a romantasy series called Kingdoms of the Compass, which will combine “the star-crossed love of Wuthering Heights” with “the high-stakes intrigue of Game of Thrones.” Ward, best known for the 24-book Black Dagger Brotherhood series, about vampire warriors fighting to defend their race, is no stranger to an epic genre trend. No word yet on the financials, but we can probably assume Bramble is paying big money.
This is a serious gamble even with Ward’s track record. It’s already been more than a year since Fourth Wing ignited the romantasy fad, and publishers have pumped millions of dollars into chasing it, but none of the follow-on series have caught fire. Not to mention that the first book in Ward’s series won’t be out until 2026 (!). TikTok trends move fast, and attention spans are a lot shorter than they were when the vampire craze hit in 2005. Bramble and Ward seem a lot more confident than I am that readers will still care about romantasy enough to make this investment pay off in two, three, or four more years.
Project 2025 Architect Delays Book Until After the Election
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025, has announced plans to delay publication of his forthcoming book Dawn’s Early Light until after the election. The book, which features a foreword written by none other than Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance, was originally slated for release on September 24. It will now hit shelves November 12. In a written statement to Real Clear Politics, Roberts explained the choice: “There’s a time for writing, reading, and book tours – and a time to put down the books and go fight like hell to take back our country…That’s why I’ve chosen to move my book’s publication and promotion to after the election.”
Sure. Or maybe it’s that Project 2025 and Vance’s undeniable connection to it have turned out to be huge liabilities for the Trump campaign, which has repeatedly tried and failed to distance itself from the extreme right-wing “presidential transition plan” that proposes to do things like shutter the department of education and the only source of federal funding for public and state libraries, decrease Title I support for poor schools, and incarcerate librarians and educators who teach banned books. Voters are smart, and they see through attempts to couch authoritarian policy in the language of rights and freedom. I’ll put my money on the table now: if Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win on November 5th, Dawn’s Early Light will never see the light of day.
Power Ranking the Bookish Movies of 1999
1999 was stacked with big screen adaptations, and a surprising number of them are straight bangers. On today’s Book Riot Podcast, Jeff O’Neal and I power ranked our top 10, and I won’t lie, it was a great time. Find us in your podcatcher of choice.
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