I'm pretty sure my grandmother had that dress in 1974.

I feel it's my duty as the Last Print Subscriber to let people know this. The staff critics are running in the Book Review, not the weekday paper, which is a big change, and cuts down on the number of reviews. And features like the death of mass market paperbacks also run in the book review.

I know this feels pointless but everyone has to call their congressional reps and say they oppose war with Iran and they oppose Trump illegally starting one without congressional approval — both 5 Calls can help you make the call: 5calls.org/issue/iran-i...

A nationwide book ban bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Here's what you need to know about HR7661, including who is behind it, the history behind such bills, and what you need to do to stop it. bookriot.com/hr7661-book-...

Are you a Heated Rivalry fan who wants to learn more about Rachel Reid's Game Changers series? Jen Prokop and Kirkus are here to help! www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-fea...

In 2003, I had a fellowship at the Columbia Journalism School as part of the National Arts Journalism Program (RIP). The program was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, because—and this is my memory from a long time ago but I think it's pretty accurate—they were looking for a way to support arts...

Besides the splendid @roncharles.bsky.social and @johnwilliams.bsky.social and Becca Rothfeld, I'm thinking about former editors Nina King and Marie Arana and Jabari Asim and Michael Dirda. Book World has long had a unique and often surprising voice. What a terrible loss.

Just saw this interesting association copy in the basement of the Strand. I would have bought it but I already have a copy of the book!

Ugh, how did Kirkus get mixed up in this?

There are so many great publishers in Minneapolis—one thing the rest of us can do is support their books. Here are a few recent novels from Coffee House, Graywolf, and Milkweed sure to give the goons from ICE a stroke: www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-fea...

🎉 Meg is back at Kirkus and acquired @audiofilemagazine.bsky.social Thank for sharing the news @shelf-awareness.com 🎉 www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...

Got phone surveyed about next year's primary by Dan Goldman's team today. He's worried about Brad Lander running. As he should be.

Also, anyone who doesn't know the difference between rent controlled and rent stabilized has no business running for mayor of New York.

Liz Lopatto nails the problem with the NYT. It's been sucking up to the right for years but it's only getting worse.

i keep thinking about how monumental what we are contending with is, as a project. it’s congress & electoral politics; it’s the judiciary; and it’s what passes for mainstream media outlets at the moment. anyway, this is a good thread about the misguided and reactionary policies of the times 👇🏻

It is a sad day, but the Post's Metro section lasted a lot longer than the NYT's did.

Dear friends, we've launch a change to the way we offer grants to underrepresented writers at @pageonem.bsky.social. I hope you'll read and share with your colleagues and writers. Thanks!

Congratulations @langealexandra.bsky.social !!!

When I inadvertently listened to all six Austen novels on audiobook—all praise to Juliet Stevenson!—I was surprised by how many books *about* Austen I had scattered around the house waiting to be read. www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-fea...

It's been a tough few months for the Village Voice since @tromano.bsky.social's book came out, losing Jim Ledbetter, David Schneiderman, Jules Feiffer, and now Karen Durbin.

It's definitely good that the Trump administration is making a list of Jews at Barnard to "protect" them that's sure to end well.

What the absolute fuck. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/n...

Just saw a book description inviting me to "travel back in time to 1997 in this cozy, slow-burn romance." Do you think the writer was thinking that 1997 was just before everything started to go off the rails with Bush v. Gore and Citizens United?

If you hear crickets that’s the antisemitism task force springing into action

Days before masked ICE agents detained Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk to deport her, Dept determined that the admin had not produced any evidence showing she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Here's a surprise! New Pynchon novel SHADOW TICKET coming 10.7 from Penguin Press. In 1932, a Milwaukee PI is hired to find a missing cheese heiress and finds himself in Hungary with no heiress in sight—but lots of Nazis, Soviet and British spies, and more. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316427...

The police clearly have different friends on social media than I do or they would have known that everyone was going to be there.

Military historian teaching in the Army’s most elite officer training school booted to the curb, along with his entire department; the base which houses it, itself historic, to be shuttered.

"they view"

This is just to say

It has been two weeks since a Georgia woman was arrested for her miscarriage, and not one major national outlet has covered the story

As part of our Best Books of the 21st Century package, we highlighted the impact of a few titles. Here's @michaelschaub.bsky.social on THE CORRECTIONS: www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-fea...

As someone who is not Jewish watching this destruction carried out by others who are not Jewish, that part looks intentional. Trump, Musk, et al want these acts of vandalism and sabotage to be in the name of the Jews, to appear to be at their behest. They want to shift the blame to them.

DOGE has just completely gutted the IMLS, firing all staff, closing down their email addresses, and leaving any funding for 2025 in question. bookriot.com/imls-gutted/

Here's a fun thing: We at Kirkus have spent the last few months reading and debating the best books of the 21st century (so far!) in fiction, nonfiction, and young readers' literature. Here's the list of 100 fiction titles: www.kirkusreviews.com/fiction/best...

Wolf Hall as a trilogy is so good that I'm amazed people don't talk about it constantly. I should see posts about it the way I see people post about Moby Dick

Here's a fun thing: We at Kirkus have spent the last few months reading and debating the best books of the 21st century (so far!) in fiction, nonfiction, and young readers' literature. Here's the list of 100 fiction titles: www.kirkusreviews.com/fiction/best...

How do romance readers actually respond when authors make their politics clear? In this week's REBEL EVER AFTER, @joannashupe.bsky.social told me about the backlash she received when she pointed out the connections between the Gilded Age and today. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5RDn...

Now that I've listened to all the Jane Austen audiobooks, plus A JANE AUSTEN EDUCATION by Bill Deresiewicz, I've been trying to decide whether to go on with secondary sources but I just had a brainstorm: It's Brontë time.

The last few weeks have been full of 5-year anniversaries of so many bad things—last day in the office before lockdown, etc.—but I was reminded today that it's the 4th anniversary of my first Covid vaccine, and what a miracle that was. Too bad it seems to have sent so many people around the bend.

So exciting to hear Maxine Hong Kingston speak at the @bookcritics.bsky.social awards ceremony. WOMAN WARRIOR was one of the first nonfiction winners and she's here to celebrate the group's 50th anniversary.

How the hell does New York get all the worst Dems?

I just finished my accidental re-read of all of Jane Austen and I'm feeling a bit adrift. Let me recommend Juliet Stevenson's audiobooks if you're so inclined.

I did just get through and managed to leave a voicemail at the DC office. Let's keep trying!

Schumer's DC voicemail is off, as is the VM at his NYC office. I usually have luck with Melville but that one didn't work either; nor did Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Peekskill, Syracuse, etc. Here are the numbers if you want to tell him to get a spine: www.schumer.senate.gov @schumer.senate.gov

🚨 Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave. Tell them: 1. Vote NO on Cloture AND 2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill. Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it. TODAY is the showdown. 🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121

In case RFK Jr convinced you that he is not anti-vax, but merely "skeptical" & concerned about vaccine safety...look here NIH is terminating awards to obtain reliable data on vaccine hesitancy & ways to improve uptake. This is an explicitly anti-vax policy. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Can someone please make a buddy show with Ted Danson and Harrison Ford?

I like this trend of men wearing sparkly brooches on their lapels.

Hardly the worst thing going on in the world, or even at the New York Times, but this huge typo is right in the middle of the front page. Took me a minute to figure out what "starred in his of '70s and '80s" meant.