By Sophie

Happy September! The month that everything starts up again: work, school, and the book business, too – Katabasis hit our shelves a week and a bit ago, next week will see Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets, and further on in the month we’ll have The Gingerbread Bakery, The Impossible Fortune, Alchemised, and a lot more besides (see the carrousel below for all the big titles expected this month). Exciting times! But now on to the Bookbits, which will hopefully be exciting too. ^^

– First off, let me point you in the direction of a couple of substacks: Page & Pairing, where books get teamed up with their best accompanying drinks and foods, and Pass the Salt, a lifestyle and culture trend-spotting newsletter (we helped provide insights for their issue on “What People are Reading in Summer 2025” issue!).

– Interviews! NPR spoke to the amazing Ocean Vuong about his memories, beliefs, and of course his new book The Emperor of Gladness. Also, Lea Ypi and Elif Shafak talk to each other about the rise of populism, censorship, and many more things besides over on The Guardian.

– Awards! The Hugo Awards were announced last month, in many categories. I want to highlight the Best Novel, which went to the excellent The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett, and Best Novella, won by Ray Nayler for The Tusks of Extinction. Also, a heads-up for the Booker Prize shortlist announcement, which will be on Tuesday evening 23 September.

– Publisher Simon&Schuster is hosting Bookstore Blitz on their YouTube channel, and it’s just what you think it is: authors and musicians and other lovers of all things bookish are given 5 minutes and $100 to spend in McNally Jackson books, and the goal is to get as close to that $100 as possible at check-out. And yes that does mean some tough choices at the register! Final bookhauls are also shown.

– Lists! 5 Underrated Books Set in an Alternate 20th Century (amen to The Mechanical!), 8 Folklore-Inspired Horror Novels That Will Make Your Skin Crawl, and 12 New September Romances to Avoid Homework With.

– For everyone back in school and in need of books for their reading lists, NPR asked their readers and listeners what books shaped them in high school. Most of them are standard fare but with excellent arguments for why they are modern classics, and there are also a few tips at the bottom for books that should be read in school nowadays instead.

– It took until the very end of summer, but (former) President Obama’s summer reading list dropped! Some of the books he recommends are Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Audition by Katie Kitamura, and Who is Government? by Michael Lewis.

– The Books We Read Too Late—And That You Should Read Now: 7 staffers at The Atlantic take us through the books they wish they’d read earlier in their lives, and how they still benefit from the lessons learned, anyway.

– And finally: Tiny Bookshop, a cozy narrative game where you get to manage your own bookstore. On wheels, no less! Get to know the locals and try to pair them with the perfect book (and they’re actual books, too!), all in your own good time. Our Damla’s already hooked. ^^