Florida doesn’t maintain a state-sanctioned banned books list. But for the second year in a row, a state official has demanded that public and charter schools statewide begin proactively removing books.

Florida’s Commissioner of Education, Henry Mack, appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in late June, sent a seven-page letter to superintendents Wednesday afternoon. In it, he praises the efforts of three districts who have removed thousands of books and outlines how other schools must immediately remove review titles before the state steps in.

Demands to remove books quickly based on “depictions or descriptions” of sexual content that could be “harmful to minors” is yet another means of undermining the Miller Test, the federal standard for determining obscenity.

Mack’s demands undermine the “local control” rhetoric that the right has used when it comes to library collections. Local communities do not retain control of what’s in their libraries when the state ties school funding to banning books it doesn’t like. That’s state control being enforced locally.

Learn more about Mack’s list of demands and why thousands of books are going to disappear from Florida shelves–and how few of them will be documented, erasing not only marginalized voices but the paper trail that preceded it. – KJ

The Choose Your Own Adventure® series is getting an adult imprint. Millennial nostalgia is real and everyone’s yearning for millennial content, so it feels like perfect timing. CYOA Unbound will be the first imprint “dedicated to publishing nonlinear, multiple-ending gamebooks for adults.”

The inaugural lineup, out fall 2027, includes:

CYOA Unbound will publish titles that span genres and categories like reimagined classics, horror, mysteries, thrillers, and romance. Launched by one of the most well-known makers of gamebooks, Chooseco has 270 million copies in print across 40 languages.

“I can’t tell you how many fans have been asking for this on social media,” said Chooseco Director of Marketing Lizzi Middleman in a press release.

I well remember how the controlled freedom of making all the wrong decisions, sending my characters spiraling to a dark fate, thrilled my begrudgingly lawful good heart. Once more, with maturity. – SZW

In an era of escalating book bans and coordinated attacks on public libraries, it’s more important than ever to champion access to diverse and inclusive literature in those spaces. This is true whether a library is a massive urban system, a well-funded suburban institution, or a tiny rural library.

But even with tight budgets and sometimes challenging situations, small and rural libraries are doing the work to ensure their collections both meet the needs of the community and showcase the diversity in their backyards–and beyond.

“Small and rural libraries face these challenges with a fraction of the staff and budget of their urban counterparts,” explains the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL), who asked their members what building a diverse collection actually looks like in their communities.

“It is important for folks to see them on the shelves, even if some patrons will not read them,” a Connecticut executive director said.

A Kansas collections librarian put it more bluntly: “Why buy these diverse titles if they never check out?” And then she kept doing it anyway, because a community’s newer or quieter neighbors deserve to find themselves in the library, too.

Read the full report from the Association of Rural & Small Libraries to understand the importance of this work–and where and how librarians are rising to the responsibility. – KJ

Beloved Apple TV series Slow Horses, about disgraced MI5 agents who have been sent to Slough House to work after they’ve made career-ending mistakes, is now airing its sixth season. If you’re looking for books with a similar feel to the show, here are four to get you started.

Red Widow by Alma Katsu: This suspenseful spy story by Alma Katsu stars another operative with a career on shaky ground.

Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart: Like Slow Horses, this action-packed assassin story has plenty of dark humor, as well as a protagonist trying to move on from his notorious past.

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen: As with the characters in Slow Horses, Maggie has a solid crew of old spy friends ready to help her get to the bottom of this new mystery!

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka: For dark humor and twisty crime shenanigans, look no further than Kōtarō Isaka, the Japanese author of the bestselling book Bullet Train. While Bullet Train is the second book in Isaka’s Assassins series, this is the first book.

More details about these Slow Horses readalikes here. — MM

The wait is finally over: after many months of waiting (and a helluva fashion PR campaign), The Love Hypothesis is finally streaming. 

If you’ve already devoured the film and/or book and want to keep the vibes going, or just love you some of that fake dating trope, here are four romances like The Love Hypothesis that Silvana Reyes Lopez recommends.

Faking Under the Mistletoe by Ashley Shepherd – A bubbly Christmas-loving social media intern and her grumpy boss start fake dating to make an ex jealous

Winging It With You by Chip Pons – An opposites-attract romance unfolds on the set of an Amazing Race-esque TV show.

Make A Scene by Mimi Grace – A baker whose cousin is marrying her ex begins fake-dating the owner of the boxing gym next door to convince her worried family that she has, in fact, moved on. 

Sweeter Than Honey by Joy Avery – A widow and baker pretends to date her small town’s sheriff to ease her mother’s worries about her love life. —VD

Every year, everyone gets very excited about all of the creepy books there are to read at Halloween–and justifiably so. But the rest of fall deserves love, too! I decided to dig around and look for some books that reflect all of the best things about autumn, not just Halloween, though there are a couple here that could pull double duty.

Whether they actually take place in the fall or play with fall-adjacent themes, these graphic novels are perfect for cozying up with as the temperature drops and the smell of fallen leaves and pumpkin spice dances in the air.

More autumnal graphic novels. —EG

Did you know? hooks wrote her dissertation on the work of Toni Morrison.

The new adaptation of The Love Hypothesis is the first mainstream movie to show a main character on the asexual spectrum.

Agatha Christie fans, these mystery recs for you.

Plan your next literary adventure to this Japanese town that has more than 100 used bookstores.

Publishers are hosting influencer trips now.

Written by Rebecca Schinsky, Kelly Jensen, Sharifah Williams, Danika Ellis, Megan Mabee, Vanessa Diaz, Erica Ezeifedi, and Jeff O’Neal. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

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