Ah, April! To quote the Bard: “April has put a spirit of youth in everything.” Is the political world still mad? Yes, despairingly so. But also, there is fresh greenery everywhere, the birds are busy building their nests (Sophie has already spotted goslings, and not just on screen!), and the longer light every day reminds you there is also much beauty all around. And there are always books to remind you, too.
– Awards! The shortlist for the International Booker Prize has been announced recently. The shortlist boasts a touching yet timely selection pulling from a wide range of experiences spanning from Taiwan to Iran, Bulgaria, and western Europe. National Book Critics Circle Award has also announce its winners, Han Kang’s We Do Not Part snagging an award for fiction, Karen Hao’s Empire of AI for nonfiction, and Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes To Me for autobiography among many other notable titles. Need a break from reading books? May we suggest listening to one instead? The Audie awards for best audiobooks have been awarded in March, which makes for a great lineup to choose from (and it still counts as reading, of course!) The Inside Awards, voted on by U.S. prison inmates, also released their shortlist. And finally, the Oscars! This year’s winners (and nominees) were rather full of book adaptations (One Battle After Another inspired by Pynchon’s Vineland, Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein, and Train Dreams by Denis Johnson per se).
– Trending on screen! On that note, there are still many book-to-screen adaptations in the works for the upcoming year (including a new Game of Thrones movie!). However, there is also a new trend in these upcoming adaptations: pop stars! Several pop stars are rumored to be in talks to play the lead in new adaptations of classics, such as Billie Eilish in The Bell Jar and Sabrina Carpenter in Alice in Wonderland.
– Publishing News! The publishing world has been shaken up this month by the allegations that a much hyped new horror book was largely AI-generated or assisted. In response, Hachette has discontinued its upcoming editions and initiated a consequent roll back from the shelves. Right on the heels of this news, it also broke out that a NYT freelance writer was fired for using AI to write a book review, the text being heavily lifted from a review of the same book by The Guardian.
Talking of a trying month for the publishing industry, a plagiarism case in the USA between two YA books was concluded this month disregarding the claim, with the verdict that “hot, sexy, dangerous boys—central to virtually all young adult romance novels—cannot be copyrighted.” No objections here.
– Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! March the 2nd marked the 122nd anniversary of the birth of Dr Seuss, Sophie’s alma mater’s most famous alum and the author of classic children’s literature such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and The Cat in the Hat, with their signature quirky and catchy rhymes. And on the subject of birthdays, did you know that we are celebrating the 50 year anniversary of our Hague ABC store this month? Come celebrate with us with some cake at any of our branches on April 11th!
– Lists! If you watched Project Hail Mary at the movies and were amaze-amaze-amazed by its charm, check out Bookriot’s recommendations on books to read after the movie. As we are approaching the end of winter and the (sloooow) start of spring, the clocks have gone forward an hour and the time may start to feel a little… floppy and stretchy. (No? Just Damla, then?) Here is a fun list of books from the Reactor mag, featuring books where time can’t be trusted. And to continue the bendy mood, 7 Hybrid Memoirs That Merge Art and Family from Electric Literature.
– Interviews! NPR just published a touchingly hopeful interview with Gisele Pelicot in the wake of her recently published memoir, A Hymn To Life. NPR also spoke with Michael Pollan, who was in Amsterdam just last month, about consciousness (and what it might mean in today’s world of AI).
– Looking for a new way to get lost in a book? How about immersive reading? That’s combining reading and listening to a book in order to enhance the mood and absorption of the material at hand. It has become so popular that apps such as Spotify, Audible, and Apple Books have integrated page match features to sync the book progress with the audiobook.
– In case you’re TBR list or pile needs a little padding, here’s The Millions‘ Great Spring 2026 Book Preview. One hundred and forty (140) upcoming books to get excited about!
– And finally, a bit of levity to finish off our news round up: this library accepts cat pictures for outstanding fees. Unfortunately, we can’t implement a similar paying method at the ABC, but once can dream!
