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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.
The Top 10 Bestselling Books of the Year So Far
Color me unsurprised. According to Circana BookScan, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins is in first place with Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping in a close second place. Meanwhile, Rebecca Yarros and Freida McFadden are the only authors who appear on the list more than once, with all three of Yarros’s Empyrean Series romantasy books making the cut, and two of McFadden’s thrillers placing. These aren’t all new books–folks won’t stop buying Oh the Places You’ll Go for graduates and anyone else celebrating a transitionary period. Also, my kingdom for a BIPOC-authored book here. Especially in this year of backsliding into regression, it’s hard to look at a list like this without grinding my gears about whose books continue to get marketing dollars and get platformed and championed by publishing. So, while I’m here, let me shout out this Must-Read Summer Books, BIPOC Edition list.
A Series Adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
TIL that Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, disavowed Miloš Forman’s film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson. The novel was told from the perspective of Chief Bromden, a Native American patient, but the film diverged away from his POV. If early talks of a series adaptation of the classic pan out, perspective will return to the Chief. Deadline reports that “Paul Zaentz, the nephew of the film’s original producer Saul Zaentz, disclosed: ‘Just now, I’ve signed an agreement with Ken Kesey’s widow to develop a TV series which we’ll make through the point of view of the Chief for the first season.’” The season would follow the Chief after his escape from the psychiatric hospital. This won’t be the first series adaptation spinning off the original text–there was the one-season Ratched, a prequel following Mildred Ratched. I’m sure if this proceeds, we’ll be hearing a lot more about it.
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Now Where Did I Put That Tiny Violin?
In a time of all-white bestselling books lists, I guess it’s time to further dissect the dearth of straight, white men making bank and acclaim through works of literary fiction, a category boasting a diminishing readership within that demographic. You can read Marc Tracy’s “The Death and Life of the Straight White Man’s Novel,” but this is the choice quote I’ll leave you with:
For some observers, the complaint is roughly translatable as, “Won’t somebody please think of the straight white men?” “If a very small number of people who are not white, male, heterosexual gained a (likely temporary) foothold in a fringe cultural practice — which is what literary fiction is — there has to be a raging sense of privilege, neo-Trumpist or outright Trumpist, to claim that that constitutes a crisis,” the Bosnia-born novelist and screenwriter Aleksandar Hemon said in an email.
One for the Tarot and Oracle Girlies
If you need an infusion of mystical intuition this year, we’ve got some new tarot and oracle decks for 2025 that you should see. These decks are feasts for the eyes, they’re inclusive, and they speak to a variety of enthusiasts. Check them out here!
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