Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Here are the biggest headlines from last week.
Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi dies at 56
Iranian French writer Marjane Satrapi dies at 56. The cause and location of his death have not been shared, but one thing is certain: the world of graphic memoir has lost a legend. Satrapi’s most famous work, Persepoliswas published in the early 2000s and showed millions of readers the lives of everyday Iranians during the Islamic Revolution. As our senior editor Kelly Jensen said, its blend of memoir, history, and stunning artwork has helped usher in our current, glorious era of the graphic memoir.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office released a statement on the author’s impact: “His passing marks the loss of a leading figure in French culture and a freedom-loving artist whose work delivered a universal message and received immense international acclaim.”
Five Publishers and Scott Turow Sue Meta and Mark Zuckerberg
Chances are you’ll guess what the lawsuit is about as soon as you read the headline. Publishers Hachette, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Elsevier and Cengage, along with bestselling author Scott Turow, are suing Meta and Mark Zuckerberg. for copyright infringement, claiming that the company and its founder acted illegally to train its artificial intelligence program, Llama. As a writer, I welcome such action and hope we see a solution what happened to anthropic. We teach kids in school that you can’t copy and paste someone else’s work without attributing it because it’s called plagiarism, but AI companies don’t pay attention to this very simple standard.
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Barnes & Noble’s picks for the best books of 2026 so far
The “Best Books of the Year So Far” list continues! This time, it is Barnes & Noble’s Choice. Some titles are common to most other lists we have seen so far, like first year Cairo by Claire Burke, relatives By Tayari Jones, and Stranger By Belle Burden. But there are also some unique options, like seek immediate shelter By Vincent Yu and red winter By Cameron Sullivan. You’ll find a greater variety of styles here than at other sites the new York Times‘Best of’ list, including sci-fi, romance, cookbooks, self-help, and horror. Also check out their list of the best audio books, yes booksAnd children’s books of the year so far.
ticket prices for odyssey Up to $1,000 on eBay
Tickets went on sale for Christopher Nolan yesterday afternoon odyssey-and they soon became chaotic. Wait times on AMC’s website were more than an hour, and tickets for IMAX shows in New York, Texas, Florida and Arizona quickly sold out. Scalpers are now listing these tickets on eBay for hundreds of dollars, with some prices reaching $1,000. odyssey It is “the first feature film shot entirely on IMAX cameras” and Nolan has encouraged audiences to see it in this format… but it’s hard for me to imagine paying $1,000 for the difference in quality.
What are you reading in June?
It’s time for our monthly check-in: What did you read in May, and what’s on your June TBR? If you’re participating in the Read Harder Challenge, what tasks have you completed recently? Sign up for All Access An up-close and personal look at my reading life, including the book series that has taken over my life recently.
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