Books news

June 06, 2015 - 07:39 AM

America's burgeoning fleet of book bikes

October 03, 2025

The United States is in a literacy crisis. In 2023, a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 28% of American citizens ages 16–65 read below the equivalent of a third-grade level. Another study, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest American...

Stephen King is the most banned author in US schools, according to report

October 02, 2025

A new report on book bans in US schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans.

U.S. faces 'expanded and escalated' book censorship, PEN America reports

October 01, 2025

Timed to coincide with the upcoming Banned Books Week and Let Freedom Read Day, October 5–11, PEN America has released its annual report on censorship in public schools. The data further supports the concern, expressed across the book industry and in PW's Freedom to Read issue, that censorship...

Judge gives preliminary approval to Anthropic settlement

September 26, 2025

Following a September 25 hearing, U.S. District Judge William Alsup gave preliminarily approval to $1.5 billion settlement in the class action lawsuit in which authors charged AI giant Anthropic with copyright infringement for using pirated books to train its large language models.

Judge approves $1.5 billion settlement over AI company Anthropic's alleged use of pirated books

September 25, 2025

A federal judge on Thursday approved a $1.5 billion settlement between artificial intelligence company Anthropic and authors who allege nearly half a million books had been illegally pirated to train chatbots.

Book industry divided over AI adoption, finds BISG survey

September 23, 2025

Nearly half of book industry professionals are using artificial intelligence tools for work, but 98% report significant concerns about AI implementation, according to new survey data from the Book Industry Study Group released in September.

Federal judge tosses Trump's lawsuit against PRH, 'NYT'

September 19, 2025

A federal judge has thrown out President Donald Trump's $15 billion lawsuit against Penguin Random House and the New York Times, which the President had filed earlier this week on the grounds of defamation, calling it "improper and impermissible in its present form."

New organization hopes to boost book reviews

September 17, 2025

Former Beacon Press director Helene Atwan and a group of other industry members have formed Viva la Book Review, a new nonprofit organization which hopes to match book reviews—and reviewers—with local media outlets amid what Atwan described as the "erosion" of book criticism.

Trump sues Penguin Random House, 'New York Times' for $15 billion

September 16, 2025

President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in Florida accusing the New York Times and its reporters Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker, and Michael S. Schmidt, of disparagement. Penguin Random House, which published Buettner and Craig's book based on their reporting, Lucky Loser: How...

Book banners are everywhere. These lawyers are playing offense.

September 12, 2025

Mark Herron isn't exactly a media lawyer. His specialty is discrimination and employment rights, and most of his cases involve mistreatment in the workplace stemming from gender, race, or disability status. That's what made the case of Karen Cahall v. New Richmond Exempted Village School...