books

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Library Director Fired After Book Controversy to Get $700K

Library director in Wyoming reaches settlement with Campbell County

(Newser) - A Wyoming county will pay $700,000 to a former library director to settle a lawsuit after a furor over books with LGBTQ+ and sexual themes. Campbell County agreed to the payout for Terri Lesley, who claims she was fired because she refused to remove certain books deemed offensive...

Debut Novel Among National Book Award Finalists

Awards will be handed out at a ceremony next month

(Newser) - A debut novelist has received quite the honor, named as one of five finalists for the 2025 National Book Award in fiction. Ethan Rutherford's North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther stands in contention alongside works by Karen Russell, Bryan Washington, Megha Majumdar, and Rabih Alameddine, all...

The Most-Banned Books in US Schools This Year

The list includes classics like A Clockwork Orange and The Perks of Being a Wallflower

(Newser) - It's Banned Books Week, that time of year when the American Library Association highlights the risks to our freedom to read. This year's theme, on the dangers of censorship, is inspired by George Orwell's 1984, in which censorship is used to suppress free expression and maintain totalitarian...

Stephen King Is Most-Banned Author in US Schools

And 80% of such book bans are in just 3 states, PEN reports

(Newser) - A new report on book bans in US schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans. PEN America's "Banned in the USA," released Wednesday, tracks more...

Meet Your New Reading Rainbow Host
Meet Your New
Reading Rainbow Host
VIDEO
Oct 1, 2025 7:55 AM CDT

Meet Your New Reading Rainbow Host

Popular kids show once hosted by LeVar Burton is back, with librarian Mychal Threets as host

(Newser) - After nearly 20 years, the beloved, long-running children's series Reading Rainbow is back, this time on the Kidzuko YouTube channel. The first of four episodes hosted by Mychal Threets, a librarian and literacy advocate, will be released Saturday at 10am ET, per the AP . The others will drop on...

How a Florida Mom Became the Author of a Hit-Man Manual

Gayle McCool's how-to book on murder, penned as 'Rex Feral,' changed lives, according to Vanity Fair

(Newser) - Gayle McCool spent decades haunted by a recurring dream, and even longer by the fallout from Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors, a book she wrote as "Rex Feral." It was a how-to guide on contract killing, written in the early 1980s after her boyfriend,...

Retirement Wasn't Easy on Bjorn Borg

'I was close to dying many times,' tennis legend writes in new memoir

(Newser) - Swedish tennis legend Björn Borg is opening up about major life challenges, starting with a bout of "extremely aggressive" prostate cancer. The 11-time Grand Slam champion, who dominated the sport before retiring at just 25, reveals his diagnosis in the final chapter of his upcoming autobiography, Heartbeats,...

Harris Blames Biden's 2024 Run on His 'Ego'

Memoir reveals White House rivalry, her own reservations on speaking out

(Newser) - In her upcoming memoir, Kamala Harris reveals she questioned the wisdom of letting Joe Biden and his wife decide alone whether he should seek reelection, calling the move reckless, according to an excerpt published by the Atlantic . Harris sees it as a collective misstep, writing in 107 Days, "...

Elizabeth Gilbert Returns, and Oprah Loves It

Eat, Pray, Love author's new memoir is the latest in Winfrey's book club

(Newser) - Elizabeth Gilbert has returned with her memoir, All the Way to the River, which has already stirred up an online conversation, and no other than Oprah is taking notice, making it her new book club pick, reports the AP . In Gilbert's book, published this week, the author writes of...

Cormac McCarthy Had a Massive Collection of Books

Scholars uncover secrets of 20K-book library; he also amassed bargain kitchen items, tweed jackets

(Newser) - Just a little over two years after Cormac McCarthy's death , a rare glimpse inside the late novelist's home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, reveals more about the man behind the myth than any interview ever could. The notoriously secretive McCarthy left behind a cluttered adobe packed with...

Memoir of Late Epstein Accuser Is Getting a New Edit

Publisher Knopf agrees to tweak draft of Virginia Giuffre's posthumous book at family's request

(Newser) - The publisher of a posthumous memoir by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre says it has agreed on a final draft with family members after they publicly raised questions about the book's release. Surviving relatives of Giuffre had worried that Nobody's Girl presented an outdated, unduly positive portrait of...

He'll Teach You to Draw a 'Really Good Portrait' of Trump

Illustrator John Hutton's book shows you how to accurately draw presidents and first ladies

(Newser) - John Hutton starts every White House portrait with an egg-shaped frame. He adds a nose, mouth, eyes and eyebrows, then outlines the face, guided by a series of horizontal and vertical lines through the oval. Hair comes next, followed by the neck and shoulders to add definition and make his...

Edward and Bella Are Headed Back to the Big Screen

All 5 Twilight movies are being rereleased this fall to celebrate original book's 20th anniversary

(Newser) - If you've missed getting your Edward/Bella/Jacob love triangle fix, prepare those vampire veins. All five of the movies in the Twilight franchise are headed back to theaters this fall, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the hit book by Stephenie Meyer that started it all, reports Variety . Lionsgate...

There's Been a Huge Slump in Reading for Fun
Reading for Fun
Is Apparently
Not Too Popular
NEW STUDY
Aug 21, 2025 8:11 AM CDT

Reading for Fun Is Apparently Not Too Popular

Number of Americans who read daily has dropped 40% over the last 2 decades

(Newser) - Americans are putting down books in record numbers, with a new study revealing that daily reading for pleasure has dropped by 40% over the past two decades. As technology vies for attention, only 16% of Americans now make time for leisure reading each day (including magazines and newspapers), down...

Sally Rooney Could Be Arrested Over Her Donations

Popular author says she won't stop donating to Palestine Action

(Newser) - Irish novelist Sally Rooney faces possible arrest under the UK's Terrorism Act after pledging to donate her book royalties to Palestine Action, a group recently listed as a terrorist organization in the country. Rooney, known for bestsellers like Normal People, said she will continue to support the organization...

Rare Manuscripts Swapped for Fakes at UCLA Library

Suspect allegedly used aliases when accessing the texts

(Newser) - A library patron is accused of pulling off a rare-books switcheroo at UCLA, according to the Justice Department. Authorities say Jeffrey Ying, 38, used a number of aliases while accessing valuable Chinese manuscripts—some more than six centuries old—then swapped them out for fakes. The real texts, reportedly...

James Patterson Turns His Pen to Luigi Mangione

Best-selling author is teaming up with reporter Vicky Ward to tackle UnitedHealthcare CEO's murder

(Newser) - After teaming up on a bestseller about the murder of four University of Idaho students, James Patterson and Vicky Ward are collaborating on a book about the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the hunt for his alleged killer, Luigi Mangione. Little, Brown and Company announced the book,...

Kamala Harris Is Out With a Book in September

107 Days will give a behind-the-scenes look at her very brief presidential run

(Newser) - Former Vice President Kamala Harris will have a memoir out in September on her historic presidential run. The book is called 107 Days, the length of her abbreviated campaign, and will be published by Simon & Schuster on Sept. 23. "Just over a year ago, I launched my campaign...

10 Most Frequently Taught Books in US Schools

Today's list is pretty similar to one from 1989

(Newser) - A survey of middle and high school instructors by the National Council of Teachers of English shows that the list of books most frequently taught in the classroom hasn't changed much since 1989. In all, six of the same books are on both lists. The modern top 10:
  1. Romeo
...

New Book Turns Sacagawea's Story on Its Head
New Book Upends
the Story of Sacagawea
longform
Jul 27, 2025 8:25 AM CDT

New Book Upends the Story of Sacagawea

Tribal historians say she lived to an old age and wasn't kidnapped as a child

(Newser) - A New York Times Magazine story on one of the most famous Native Americans in the history books raises a provocative question: "What if everything we know about Sacagawea was wrong?" reads the headline on the piece by Christopher Cox. For members of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara...

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