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Welcome to Today in Books, our round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Here are the biggest stories from the last week.
The New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century is Moving Units
I have gotten emails from booksellers and librarians (and regular book buyers and borrowers too) that The New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century list is bringing people into stores and libraries in a significant way. And I have seen quite a few social posts like this one that make me think this isn’t just a BR-audience effect.
Well, now I have some data for you to back these reports up. According to Circana, the top 10 books on the list saw an average sales boost of 113% last week. Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald saw a sales boost of more than 600%, likely as it was one of the most under-known books at the top of the list. Pretty impressive.
Kamala Harris Book Sales Soaring
A 60,000% increase in book sales means (at least) two things are true: enormous surge in interest and a low starting point. If Harris were selling 1000 copies a week, say, before Biden dropped out and she became the presumptive nominee, a 600x increase (60,000%) would mean 600,000 unit sales per week after. I am going to go out on a limb and guess that is not the rate she is selling at—probably something more like 100-200 copies a week before the surge. (Remember, most books don’t sell that many copies, especially ones that have been out for a while).
The God of the Woods is the Book of the Summer
Yesterday, Erica wrote about the cluster of high-profile book clubs have picked Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods as one of their summer selections, and after reading it last week, I can see why. It is zippy, creepy, smart, with a real sense of place. A compelling cast of characters and enough red herrings to keep even the most experienced plot queens round out what is a total summer read package. And Hollywood has been paying attention, as The God of the Woods (and one her previous novels have been picked up for adaptation. Get on board and welcome to the woods. Hope you brought comfy shoes…and an alibi.
Someone Tried to Cast Fraudulent Votes in the Hugo Award, Was Very Bad At It
The Hugos have had their fair share of problems, but the latest headache isn’t their fault. After noticing odd voting patterns, the Hugos decided to throw out more than 300 votes for a single author. The patterns? The kind of things my kids wouldn’t expect to get away with: “These included voters with almost identical surnames, with just one letter changed and placed in alphabetical order, and some whose names were ‘translations of consecutive numbers’.” The author being voted for has not been disqualified, as there is not evidence they were involved. That sounds right to me unless the author’s name is Cheater McFraudFace, which is the level of sophistication we are dealing with here.
The 2024 TikTok Award Winners
Since the biggest TikTok books sell hundreds of thousands of copies, one could argue that the cash is the prize of being a BookTok favorite. But apparently you can get a trophy too, as Rebecca Yarros did after Fourth Wing was named International Book of the Year (yes it was a 2023 release, book awards we need to speed things up). A panel came up with the finalists for the 82,000 voters to revert to the mean. The most interesting categories to me were for breakthrough author and the two creator awards.
Project 2025’s Plan to Eliminate Public Schools Has Already Started
I have tried to avoid looking directly at Project 2025. In fact, I haven’t even squinted at it through my fingers, but rather have relied on others reading and digested what all that is in this diabolical document of moonwalking into the worst parts of the past. Perhaps more frightening than the plan are the efforts already underway to undermine, weaken, or straight up disembowel that critical pillar of civic life: the public school. It is the natural extension of banning books that say that you can love who you want: let’s just do away with the whole idea of kids learning about things that don’t have the stamp of approval from the most bigoted among us. Please vote, folks.