The Book News We Covered This Week
Article excerpt
Amazon has crowned its favorite books of 2026, while Utah's school board added another title to its growing banned-books list, the 35th so far this year. The 2026 Locus Award winners were announced, recognizing excellence in science fiction and fantasy. Book bans continue to accelerate in public schools across the country, with the American Library Association tracking what it describes as unprecedented challenges to library collections. Meanwhile, independent bookstores report robust sales as readers increasingly seek alternatives to corporate recommendations.
Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Here are the stories we covered ourselves on Book Riot this week.
Amazon Editors Name the Best Books of 2026 So Far
The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
Utah Has Banned Its 35th Book from All Public Schools
The state of Utah has been on a book banning blitz in 2026. On Friday, June 5, the state added its 35th book to the list of books that must be removed from every public school in the state: Lucky by Alice Sebold. The ban comes amidst a lawsuit challenging these state-sanctioned bans filed in February, and it comes after banning 15 other books in 2026 alone.
The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
The 2026 Locus Award Winners and More SFF News
Do Minors Have a Right to Privacy in the Library?
This right to privacy is radical. There are few places in America where there’s any expectation of privacy, let alone a commitment to it. Learning about this blew my mind in college, when I heard that my college’s library, which doubles as the town’s public library, was approached by federal agents. Those agents wanted the records of a user who was related to a potential terrorism suspect. The right to privacy meant the library wouldn’t turn those records over. In hearing this story several times, there were anecdotes peppered in about how the library would keep a card on a bulletin board that said “were we visited by federal agents today?” with a “yes” or “no” answer below.
Libby’s Most Popular Books of 2026 So Far
Take Action to Fund Libraries in 2027: The Latest on the Institute of Museum and Library Services
And for All Access members, here are all the interesting links we bookmarked that didn’t make the cut for full Today in Books coverage.
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