Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
House Lawmakers Vote to Have the Power to Appoint the Librarian of Congress
In the latest piece of America fighting for its ever-living soul news (because that’s exactly what a second Trump term demands), House lawmakers passed a bill just yesterday that prevents the president from appointing the Librarian of Congress. This comes a year after Trump fired the person holding that position, the trailblazing Dr. Carla Hayden. The bill is now heading to the Senate, where it needs significant bipartisan support to make it. If the Senate votes for it, it’ll mean that House and Senate leaders will have the power to appoint the heads of the Library of Congress and the Government Publishing Office.
What the Most Popular Book Clubs Are Reading Right Now
Book clubs are really in their bag right now, and I can’t complain. There are general ones, niche ones, famous ones, and small ones, and Jamie Canaves has all the tea on what some of the biggest book clubs are reading this month. The selections are a decent mix of new, 2026 It Books (like John of John by Douglas Stuart, which was selected by Roxane Gay’s book club) and backlist titles (like The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, selected by book influencer Jack Edwards’ book club, Inklings).
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Is BookTok Bringing Back Monoculture?
This post on the Romancing the Phone Substack (which, A++ name), has got me thinking about the disappearance of monoculture, which essentially means that a majority of us don’t all share the same pop culture moments like we used to. This is widely attributed to the internet and the rise of niche communities, algorithms that adjust to the individual, and streaming services. I never thought about it, and I realize this is a little beside the point of this particular Substack post, but I do think BookTok is kind of bringing back monoculture, just with books at the center. That, and popular adaptations, as the post’s writer, Alyssa Morris, mentions briefly. I just wish the books popular on BookTok were more diverse, and I’m honestly kind of surprised they’re not because, if you’re on there enough, the books mentioned do start to feel redundant.
But I digress. If you’re wondering which books are the ones at the center of the monoculture that BookTok is fostering, they are basically the current bestsellers: Morris lists Yesteryear, Strangers, Project Hail Mary, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and Off Campus. Two of these are current It books, two were aided by adaptations (though Project Hail Mary was popular before its adaptation starring Ryan Gosling, to be fair), and the last is a weirdo pick that I am glad is popular just because it’s so odd. But otherwise, as I said, they are not diverse, and after seeing these around on every list, it’s starting to feel repetitive.
Shaq Is Just Out Here Doing Whatever
Yes, I mean that Shaq. As in, Shaquille O’Neal. The one who played sportsball. And I’m not hating on him at all—I actually don’t know too much about him or any athlete, for that matter—but I have seen him put his name on just about any and everything since I gained consciousness. Well, now he has gotten involved with comics—Archie Comics, specifically. Yeah, it’s super random. But it also sounds kind of dope, not going to lie. The partnership is over a new original series titled Vengeance Unchained: The Legend of Black Caesar, and it’s got an element that pretty much always guarantees my interest in something: pirates. It’s about the real-life Black Caesar, a West African man who was part of Blackbeard’s crew. Stephanie Williams (of Nubia & the Amazons, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur fame!) is writing it, and Ray-Anthony Height (who has done art for Star Wars: Doctor Aphra and Strange Academy) is illustrating.
You know what? Yeah. Hell yeah.
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