Today’s Book News Saturday, 6th December 2025 (London date)
Independent bookstores reported uneven Thanksgiving weekend results, with some hit by severe weather while others thrived. Bestsellers include Virginia Evans’s The Correspondent, Mona’s Eyes, Amber V. Nicole’s The Book of Azrael and puzzle titles. Other highlights include a call to support animal and children’s charities, progress on the EUDR delay, new publishers and awards, and conversations on inclusive children’s publishing and cross‑disciplinary poetry.
Publishers Weekly reports that independent bookstores experienced a mixed Thanksgiving weekend. Some shops saw strong turnout from locals, while others suffered steep sales declines due to economic uncertainty and severe Midwestern weather. Nina Barrett of Bookends and Beginnings said a blizzard cut sales by half, and some stores closed under 15 inches of snow. Zenith Bookstore in Duluth boosted sales by 20 percent with a Jólabókaflóðið promotion offering cocoa, cookies and free books.
Virginia Evans’s family drama The Correspondent sold 117,000 print copies and sits at number 12 on the hardcover fiction list. The Barnes & Noble book of the year Mona’s Eyes more than doubled its sales and reached number 11. Amber V. Nicole’s deluxe edition of The Book of Azrael is number 6, while Joel Fagliano’s Puzzle Mania! and G.T. Karber’s Merry Murdle are popular in nonfiction and trade paper categories.
Drag Story Hour co‑founder Jonathan Hamilt told Publishers Weekly that the programme’s 10th anniversary party on 14 December at San Francisco Public Library will feature drag artists, Indigenous Drag Story Hour, dancing, vendors and book giveaways. Special guests include Per Sia, Lil Miss Hot Mess and founder Michelle Tea. Hamilt said the organisation adopted a de‑escalation practice called Shields Up and plans to expand multilingual events and adult programming in 2026.
In the Endnotes column, Chuck Klosterman said he has thought about writing Football for more than forty years. His agent Daniel Greenberg praised the manuscript, and Penguin Press president Scott Moyers said the book examines how football influences American culture. Art director Darren Haggar explained that the cover design pays homage to an 1896 football bible.
Publishers Weekly’s deals report notes that Ballantine preempted Marjon Carlos’s memoir Bougie, exploring class mobility and Black female identity, for a 2028 release. Flatiron acquired Janet Hong’s debut novel When We Swallowed the Sea, a multigenerational Korean family saga slated for May 2027. Bloomsbury bought Simona Foltyn’s Murder in the Shrine City, a political history of a prominent Iraqi activist’s killing, for winter 2028. Hogarth secured Abigail Rowe’s novel Total Depravity about a paralegal investigating a cult.
Wiley reported that revenue slipped one percent to $421.7 million in its second quarter as the learning group’s sales fell 11 percent to $143.2 million, largely because an online retailer reduced inventory. Cost controls boosted operating income by 14 percent to $73 million. CEO Matthew Kissner expects learning declines to moderate as the retailer resumes normal buying patterns. Research revenue grew six percent to $279 million, including $6 million from AI licensing, and Wiley forecasts low single‑digit sales growth with a 25.5–26.5 percent EBITDA margin.
BookBrunch reports that Chatto & Windus won a 14‑way auction for Championess, Anna Kessel’s female‑centred history of sport. The book explores women’s participation in sport over thousands of years.
In the Laugh Out Loud Awards (Lollies) announced by Scholastic UK, Adam Kay and illustrator Laura Ellen Anderson were among the winners at a ceremony hosted by comedian Stephen Mangan.
Author Callie Hart told BookBrunch that she shifted from self‑publishing to traditional publishing. She discussed the inspiration behind her novel Quicksilver and the success of her latest book Brimstone.
BookBrunch notes that former Amazon Publishing Europe chief Eoin Purcell is launching a nonfiction publishing house called Full Set with journalist Blathnaid Healy.
Publishers Lunch reports that attorneys representing authors in the Anthropic copyright case asked for $300 million in legal fees—about 20 percent of the $1.5 billion settlement—arguing that similar cases typically award a comparable percentage.
Publishers Lunch says Turnaround Publishing Services will handle distribution of Two Lines Press titles in the UK and Europe.
The Bookseller’s Maia Snow reports that the EU Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement to delay parts of the EU Deforestation Regulation after negotiations.
Publishing Perspectives recounts a symposium at Manchester Metropolitan University where professionals discussed preparing UK children’s publishing for potential U.S.‑style book bans and anti‑DEI backlash. Director Dylan Calder said they want to plan for possible restrictions; data from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education showed improved overall representation of marginalized communities but a decline in picture‑book representation to 38 percent. Illustrator David Roberts noted that even books like Sofia Valdez, Future Prez and Bathe the Cat were targeted for minor LGBTQ+ content.
Erin L. Cox writes in Publishing Perspectives that the 20th Sheikh Zayed Book Award released longlists for all categories. The award received more than 4,000 submissions from 74 countries; the literature category features 11 titles from eight countries, and the young author category includes eight titles from five countries.
Books Ireland Magazine highlights the Rick O’Shea Book Club’s annual Christmas Appeal, which encourages readers to donate the price of a book to support the ISPCA, My Lovely Horse Rescue and Children’s Books Ireland. The appeal has raised over €250,000 since 2018 and aims to reach €20,000 this year.
A feature in Books Ireland presents a conversation between poets Chris Campanioni and Christodoulos Makris. After years of correspondence they met in New York in January 2025; their dialogue, conducted between late September and early November, explores cross‑disciplinary poetry and the influence of digital culture, pop music and migration on their work.
Books Ireland republishes Des Kenny’s 2014 reflection on his apprenticeship in his family’s bookshop. Kenny recalls his mother’s advice never to prejudge customers and always listen to them, and he emphasises that bookselling involves matching readers with titles that broaden their horizons.
