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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.
Octavia E. Butler’s Lost Novel, Survivor, is Being Republished
Survivor by Octavia E. Butler was originally published in 1978 as the third book in the Patternist series. Later, Butler derided the book as rushed and undeveloped—she wrote it on a tight deadline to fund a research trip to write Kindred. After 40 years out of print, it’s now being republished.
I was initially skeptical about this, but Malia Mendez puts together good points to support the reprint in her LA Times article. For one thing, Butler didn’t specify that she never wanted Survivor to be reprinted. It’s also already been fed into AI models. If fans and academics studying Butler’s work want access to the same text, should they have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for a used copy?
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I appreciate that it’s getting an introduction that clearly lays out Butler’s feelings about the story, and it’s a valuable resource for readers who want to see how her work evolved, especially since it explores themes she revisited in later books.
What do you think? Should Survivor have been reprinted, or should it have stayed “lost”? Let me know what you think in the comments!
The Bestselling Book Without a Title or Cover
At the time of writing this, the #1 bestselling book on Amazon has no title, cover, or description. The entirety of the information available is “Untitled Empyrean (Not Book Four) by Rebecca Yarros,” but that’s enough to have fans slamming the preorder button. On Instagram, Yarros explained that the book was supposed to be a “surprise,” but fans discovered it instantly:
“[Y]ou not only found it as soon as my publisher put it on preorder, but shot it straight to number one on Amazon without a cover, title, or even a vague idea of what might be coming your way!?!? You’ve rendered me speechless.”
We still don’t know what the book is, but we know what it’s not: book four or a graphic novel. Yarros also assured readers that “this hasn’t altered book 4’s timeline in the least.” The mysterious book is 176 pages and comes out September 29th, but why am I telling you that? As we have learned, if you’re a fan, you’ve probably already preorder it.
What Do The Paper Bag Princess and The Handmaid’s Tale Have In Common?
Book Riot’s resident Canadian editor is putting together Today in Books this week, so I’m going to use this opportunity to share a fascinating piece of art that celebrates a couple of Canadian classics: The Paper Bag Princess and The Handmaid’s Tale. (Yes, Instagram algorithm: this is exactly the kind of thing I want to see more of.)
Lesley Luce uses paper fragments—from photos, books, and ephemera—arranged in concentric circles in her artwork, and they are stunning. One is titled “They didn’t get married after all,” which is the triumphant last line from the Canadian picture book classic The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko—an important work in my own feminist childhood. In that context, the line is a statement about girls and women having agency over their own lives. The work also references The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, though, in which the main character becomes a handmaid after her marriage isn’t recognized by the regime, putting that same line in a completely different light.
Alas, someone already bought the original piece, but you can take a look at it on her website. It also has a flipbook that shows all of the CanLit referenced in the work.
Cozy Fantasy Romance Reads for Hard Times
I don’t need to dig into the reasons many of us are looking for escapist reads right now. You’re probably already thinking of them, from global crises to personal ones. Luckily, books are here to help, and cozy fantasy romance may be the gentlest subgenre to curl up with when you need a break from the horrors. I can second the recommendation of Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon, which is both extremely steamy and unexpectedly sweet.