The Biggest Book News of the Week

Pretty hefty week of news in the world of books. Here’s what topped the list:

2024 National Book Award Finalists Announced

The 25 Finalists for the 2024 National Book Awards were announced this morning, with five finalists in each of the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature. The fiction category includes three headline releases from 2024 in James, All Fours, and Martyr!. James, I think, was the front-runner from the moment it came out (and maybe from the moment it was announced), and I don’t think that changes here. I find myself pulling for Knife in nonfiction because of the endowment effect (it is the one I have read) and because I think, weirdly, Rushdie is now underrated and underappreciated.

The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books

This observation, namely that current college students are having notable and unprecedented difficulty with sustained reading, has been floating around for the last couple of years. This piece in The Atlantic admits, of course, that bemoaning the abilities of the younger generation is a time-honored tradition, but also cannot help but consider that maybe this time it really is different. I have a little experience directly here — I taught the course that is the lead example here, Literature Humanities at Columbia University, a couple of times more than a decade ago. I can say that back then, the students were admirably prepared, game, and capable. Nick Dames, who has taught many more times than I did, seems to think that, indeed, there really is something different afoot.

Reese Witherspoon Announces First Novel, Co-Written With Harlen Coben

I have long wondered why Witherspoon didn’t have her own imprint…or house. But after the spate of high profile celebrity thriller collaborations (Viola Davis, both Clintons, etc), I should have seen something like this coming. (I know you will be shocked to hear that this will be a thriller.) I am surprised that she didn’t choose to team up with a woman, since most of her book club selections are by women and she has stated clearly that her bookish enterprises are geared toward women. I also would pay folding money to see the terms of the deal (advance, royalty split, etc etc). Vegas is not taking bets that one of the main characters will be a 40ish blond woman.

Lionsgate TV Options ‘Yellowface’ by R.F. Kuang, Karyn Kusama Attached to Direct

Prediction: 6 episodes on Hulu.

The Millions’ Great Fall Book Preview

There aren’t too many things on the bookish internet that I wish I made, but the seasonal previews at The Millions are one of them. In-depth, wide-ranging, and well-written, the preview should serve as the reading menu of choice for most readers of literary work, both fiction and otherwise. I think I do a pretty good job catalog diving, but there are things here that I myself missed: Lydia Davis translating Proust for one, and a collection of actually great Amazon reviews. This one is for the real ones. 

Meryl Streep to Star in Series Adaptation of ‘The Corrections’ From Jonathan Franzen, CBS Studios

I had to check the calendar when I saw this news over the weekend. And no it was not April 1st, so this is legit. Meryl Streep is “attached” to star in a series adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s 2001 novel, The Corrections. For those of you who don’t know, there are several pieces of this that are surprising. First of all, Franzen’s star has faded in the intervening years since Time did this. Second, there was already an attempt a decade ago to adapt the book as a series that even saw a pilot shot, which starred a truly wild cast (Chris Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Ewan McGregor, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans and Greta Gerwig!). Third, big budget adaptations have been on the wane, and The Corrections doesn’t have a murder/mystery plot that maps neatly onto some of the more popular mid-budget literary adaptations we have seen do well, somehow all starring Nicole Kidman. I could not be more interested in how this is going to go. Still, I give it less than a 50/50 shot of becoming a thing, but with Streep willing to do it, some producer somewhere is going to kick the tires.

Meet the 2024 MacArthur Fellows

Whoever shadow-coined the MacArthur a “genius” grant should themselves get one. Secretive, wide-ranging, lucrative, and the at this point the you-cant-buy-it adjective, coveted: the MacArthur is probably only the second most prestigious award thinker/writer/scientist/artist can get behind the Nobel. This year’s crop is as fascinating and envy-inducing as ever (here is a pro-tip: if you can’t get yourself off social media, add as many of these people as you can find to your follows. thank me later). We did a little literary sub-roundup of the honorees on Book Riot as well.

Over 30 Years, 40% of Publishing Jobs Disappeared. What Happened?

Good look at labor data and the publishing industry from Thad McIlroy and Jim Millot that considers the whole board. The top line is pretty striking–almost half of the book gigs that existed when I was in high school don’t exist. This is bad, right? Right? Well, productivity improvements happen. Consolidation happens. Self-publishing might account for half of all dollars that go toward buying books, and that activity isn’t captured here. And what of Audible originals etc? Sub-groups of tech companies that produce books much like a traditional publisher. Layoffs continue, this year faster than in any year that I have paid close attention to the industry, even as profits rise. Welcome to capitalism, kids.