Morning news brief
Article excerpt
Israel and Iran exchanged strikes early Monday in an escalating cycle of retaliation, marking a dangerous escalation in Middle Eastern tensions. Meanwhile, Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview after being questioned about his election fraud claims, walking out rather than engaging with the line of questioning. In West Africa, an Ebola outbreak is spreading at an alarming rate, raising fresh public health concerns. The morning brief covers three major developing stories with significant geopolitical and domestic implications.
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.
It was a quiet week in news, so today everyone gets an assortment of stories we didn’t get to. We usually reserve these for All Access members, so if you want to stay in the know, check out our subscription tiers.
Firstly, you don’t want to miss our recap of The Most Read Books on Goodreads in 2026 (So Far):
Goodreads has just released its list of the Most Read Books of the Reading Challenge (So Far), so let’s take a look at the top five titles of the first half of the year. (Though it’s really only been five months.) In addition to the overall most read books, they also have broken it down by genre, including contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, romances, romantasies, fantasy novels, science fiction, horror, nonfiction, and more.
And don’t forget to check out our most recent episode of the Book Riot Podcast where Jeff and Rebecca select the It Books of June 2026.
Now on to the rest!
UK publishers allowed to opt out of Google AI search results
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s ‘Mexican Gothic’ Is Getting a Graphic Novel, See a Sneak Peek! (Exclusive)
Facebook whistle-blower can’t promote book at Hay Festival
Anna Kendrick to Direct ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ Film Adaptation
Sadie Sink to Star in ‘The Marriage Plot’ Adaptation at FX From A24, Will Arbery and Hiro Murai
Collector’s editions of the Game Changers/Heated Rivalry books announced
Michigan City Council Cuts Drag Queen Story Hour From Pride Festival Lineup
Announcing Downright Scoundrels Needed by Sarah Gailey, Reactor
What are you reading? Let us know in the comments!