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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.
Vox’s Best Books of the Year So Far
It’s almost refreshing to see a Best of So Far release this late, when every other list seems to creep earlier and earlier in the year (one day I’m going to see a Best of So Far in February). Vox released their list and it includes a few titles I haven’t seen on other lists, like A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst and Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe. My colleague and fellow Today in Books writer, Rebecca, loved Elmhirst’s tale of a couple surviving marriage while stranded at sea and it’s on my shelf and TBR. The harrowing nonfiction read is certainly gaining traction. Vox‘s is also one of the shorter lists with only nine books, so you can make quick work of checking out the rest of the titles here.
What Does Publishing Have to Say About the PBS and NPR Defunding?
Over on the Publishing Confidential Substack, Kathleen Schmidt points out the silence of publishing as NPR and PBS face major cuts very recently approved by the Senate. I know I’ve personally looked to these orgs for book recommendations and conversations, and I might be part of the literary media landscape but just think about the PBS/NPR demographic and I’d bet you’re envisioning some bookish folks. More pointedly, these major outlets create spaces online, through podcasts and other media, specifically for book promotion and discussion. They do the work of marketing books organically and otherwise. So why is the book industry silent when PBS and NPR need all the support they can get? Schmidt is concerned that it has to do with the Big Five’s conservative publishing arms. Whatever the reason, I hope the publishing industry steps up and speaks out because PBS and NPR are important sources of information within and beyond the book world.
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Results of the “Where Did You Get That Book?” Survey Series
The 2025 Freckle Report is out! The Report comes from the Freckle Project, which has been asking American readers “Where did you get that book?” via survey since 2019. The report has offered annual insights about American reading habits and how they’ve changed since the project’s inception, which, effectively, illustrates how the pandemic impacted reading habits. Library Journal’s infoDOCKET shares some key insights from this year’s report, including that books and reading make up 76% of library use, and library in-person visits have not recovered post-COVID. One insight I fully expected is that digital library usage continues to gain traction, with ebook and audiobook usage increasing from 8% in 2015 to 45% in 2025. Fascinating stuff.
These Are The Books on the Most “Best Books of 2025 So Far” Lists
If you listened to the most recent episode of the Book Riot Patreon podcast, The Wheelhouse, and have been following along with Jeff, Rebecca, Laura McGrath, and my 2025 book fantasy leagues, you’ll know that this is the list I used to give myself a leg up when it came time to swap a few of my drafts. What better resource to figure out which books will most likely land on final Best Of lists, have viral moments and authors profiled by big outlets, and even win major literary awards? These are the titles I have my eye on, and if you’re looking for some big, buzzy releases available to read right now, you’ve come to the right list.
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