Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

In Case You’re More of a Nonfiction Girly

Yesterday, I shared about the L.A. Times list of the 30 best fiction books of the last 30 years, and today we’re taking a look at their matching list of best nonfiction reads. I read far more fiction than nonfiction, so I was initially surprised by how many of these books I’ve read, but then it occurred to me that the nonfiction books I pick up tend to be heavily vetted specifically because it takes more to get me to engage with true stories. The books on this list were hugely popular and/or big critical successes, picking up awards left and right, when they hit shelves and their significance endures. I mean, David Sedaris is one of our great living satirists and it felt like everyone was reading Me Talk Pretty One Day (#30 on the list) when it published. We’ve got another living legend–this time of both fiction and nonfiction writing–in award-winning author Jesmyn Ward whose powerful and deep memoir, Men We Reaped, placed 13th. At the top of the list, Isabel Wilkerson beat out Joan Didion for 1st place with The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, which I really really need to get to reading because an expertly told history of a huge movement isn’t something to skip past, even if you’re more of a fiction girly.

I’m Not Mad at This Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Scam

I have always wondered how many people cheated Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! program encouraging childhood literacy with kid-sized personal pizzas, but I didn’t anticipate someone actually owning up to the manipulation of such a wholesome setup. The very idea of confessing to scamming a program that holds such a pure and nostalgic place in the hearts of Millennials seemed unlikely until I read Kim Kelly’s story over at Food & Wine. She did the thing. If you’re already feeling offense creep into your heart, just read this tidbit from the piece:

First stop was the county library to load up on books, since the Bookmobile only came to my village once a week and they rarely restocked the selection. After a few hours in the stacks, we’d seal the deal with a personal pan pizza for me and a salad for her. It was magical. As much as we loved the grift, it also meant that we spent a lot of quality time together and that my reading level was stratospheric for a little girl from an underprivileged nowheresville without a library or a post office.

Grift away, kids. Grift away.

Fight the Algorithm! Diversify Your TikTok Feed

Publishing and readers are enamored with BookTok, and TikTok can be a fun and interesting space, but I hope we all understand the real and serious issues with social media and algorithm-driven content as a whole. Algorithms are not celestial creations unblemished by the biases and machinations of mankind. If you read Careless People (I’m reading it now and it is horrifying, eye-opening, and such a page-turner–go read it!) or you’re any amount of online, you know this is far from the truth. And if you spend time scrolling BookTok, it will quickly become obvious that if you don’t take direct action to make your feed inclusive, white creators promoting white authors will dominate. Publishing understands the power of BookTok and how books that go viral there amount to big money, and so we end up with a boom in books (like those romantasy books we keep talking about) largely written by white authors, with similarly big marketing money going toward those books.

Algorithms are racist, and TikTok is particularly algorithm-driven in terms of the content it shows you. Already, we’re seeing declines in the number of diverse books acquired by romance publishers in the past few years, at least partially driven by BookTok’s dominance in breaking new titles.

That’s from Romancing the Phone‘s Alyssa Morris, who offers a guide to breaking the cycle in your own feed by diversifying your TikTok, including general tips and some great bookish content creators to follow on that platform. Check out the post and then look at your feed with fresh eyes and a plan if you find there’s need to shake things up.

American Library Association Sues Trump

The ALA has announced that they’re suing the Trump administration, including Trump himself. The lawsuit is arguing that the actions against the Institute for Museum and Library Services were illegal and unconstitutional. Read more about how libraries are using the judicial system to fight for funding.

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The post The 30 Best Nonfiction Books of the Last 3 Decades appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Eliot Tatelman, the self-described Jordan’s mascot forever ingrained in New Englanders’ memories with his quirky commercials and wild giveaways, announced that he’s stepping down from the company and handing the reins over to his two sons, according to WCVB.

Eliot Tatelman is stepping down as president of Jordan’s Furniture. WCVB 5

“Being part of this company has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Tatelman said in a statement, according to the outlet.

“From the early days working alongside my brother Barry to becoming a brand people know and trust, Jordan’s has always stood for family, community and customer experience.”

Barry Tatelman (left) with brother Eliot Tatelman (right). WCVB 5

Jordan’s Furniture was founded by Tatelman’s grandfather in 1918 and currently operates eight stores across New England, including two in Connecticut.

Day-to-day operations of the 107-year-old brand will now fall to Tatelman’s sons Josh and Michael, who have been co-CEOs of Jordan’s since 2019.

Tatelman was beloved in New England for his participation in iconic commercials for the store. WCVB 5

Tatelman said his departure from the business side of Jordan’s after decades of service is not a complete goodbye to the company.

Eliot Tatelman with children who received cash as part of a giveaway. WCVB 5

“I’m like the mascot of Jordan’s. I’m like the Wally of the Red Sox. I mean, that’s who I am,” he told the outlet.

Jordan’s Furniture is a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway.

The post Iconic Jordan’s Furniture CEO Eliot Tatelman retires after decades  appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

Onyx Storm Soars to the Top of the Charts

The numbers are in and they’re wild. Beyond the anecdotal evidence of people camping out in freezing temperatures and flooding Targets pointing to the success of the third book in Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series, Circana Bookscan reported that Onyx Storm sold 1,288,300 hardcovers in its first week. The deluxe edition sold 1,109,783 print copies alone–sprayed edges truly reign supreme. Circana, which provides sales tracking and data for publishing, said, “These sales results also make ONYX STORM the fastest-selling adult title in the history of Bookscan, since we started tracking books in 2004.” We thought the Hoover fandom was next level but, for now, Yarros wears the crown, and while I’m not part of said fandom I will always favor one that cosplays. The Empyrean series is elite among the undeniably popular romantasy genre, which saw a stunning 30 million print sales last year. Those numbers tell no lies–the genre remains the It Girl in publishing.

Authors Guild Certifies Human-Authored Books

The U.S. Authors Guild will distinguish human-written works from those authored by AI with a certification. “Human Authored” will house a listing of publicly accessible certified texts, though the distinction is currently reserved for Authors Guild members and texts written by a single author with plans to expand beyond those parameters. Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said, “The Human Authored initiative isn’t about rejecting technology — it’s about creating transparency, acknowledging the reader’s desire for human connection, and celebrating the uniquely human elements of storytelling.” Authors who use AI-powered spell check and grammar tools are still eligible for certification. It’ll be interesting to see if this certification takes off with writers and publishers and starts appearing on books.

I don’t say this to trivialize the real and troubling impact AI has on creative works of all kinds, but I can’t help but think of the movie Desk Set as the world of artists and writers contends with its own “Emmy,” (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the movie–you won’t be sorry) working to articulate the importance and uniqueness of human effort and strike a balance with new technology. In the classic rom-com everything was tied up neatly with innovators and the human computers who thought they were being made irrelevant happily working side by side, but reality is more complicated and friction remains.

Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan Walk Into a Bar…

In news straight out of the randomizer, Jake Gyllenhaal will star in an M. Night Shyamalan-Nicholas Sparks collab. When I hear Sparks’ name, I think of a young, white couple holding each other in the rain…but now they see dead people? This is actually not an adaptation, in case you were triple-checking Sparks’ catalog, but two wildly different writers of different formats taking a single story and making it their own. Shyamalan and Sparks came up with the story together, but will obviously be taking it in different storytelling directions, with the former taking his version to the screen and the latter taking his to the page. Sparks’ production team will even be joining Shyamalan’s for the film. I’m actually quite tickled by this idea and might have to do a side by side when (and who knows when because it’s not yet attached to a studio) both come out.

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How I Genrefied My School Library and What I Learned Along The Way

As an outsider who most certainly considered being a librarian while trying to figure out a career path in my youth, I love learning new things about and am still fascinated by librarianship. If that resonates, take a journey with one high school librarian who decided to organize the fiction section by genre to help students find the books they wanted and needed (spoiler alert: it’s a Big Process).

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The post The Fastest-Selling Adult Title of the Last 2 Decades appeared first on Our Story Insight.