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S. Zainab would like to think she bleeds ink but the very idea makes her feel faint. She writes fantasy and horror, and is currently clutching a manuscript while groping in the dark. Find her on Twitter: @szainabwilliams.
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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
The NBA Longlist for Young People’s Literature
It doesn’t truly feel like book awards season has kicked off until we start getting the National Book Awards announcements, and that begins now with the 2025 longlist for Young People’s Literature freshly out. The list includes four past finalists in this category (Derrick Barnes, Kyle Lukoff, Amber McBride, and Ibi Zoboi). Here are the YPL longlist contenders for the 76th National Book Awards:
In Better News…
A Louisville, KY county public school system is seeing a surge in library usage less than a month into a system-wide cell phone ban. It feels like early days and not enough data to make any big pronouncements about the direct impact of cell phone bans on reading, but I’ll take the news as promising especially since other schools are reporting similar trends.
A Podcast to Get You to Well-Read
I think we’d all like to say we’re well-read, but if it’s been an important yet inaccessible goal for you, we’re here to help with a new podcast. Book Riot’s CEO, Jeff, and Chief of Staff, Rebecca, who have been working in books for ages and hosting our main podcast for years, present Zero to Well-Read, a podcast that tells you everything you need to know about the books you wish you’d read. Read all about it here.
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