Welcome to this week's Book Briefing where we round up the news for the week!
This week there's the new book announcements that kept us up FAR too late, award winners, researchers digging into AI and children's books, and so much more.
Hayden Panettiere Dies Aged 36
Actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her roles in 'Heroes' and 'Nashville', has sadly died at the age of 36. Panettiere began acting as a child and went on to build a career across film and television, receiving two Golden Globe nominations for her role as Juliette Barnes in 'Nashville'. Earlier this year, she also released her memoir, 'This Is Me: A Reckoning', reflecting candidly on growing up in the spotlight and the challenges she faced throughout her life.
ACOTAR 6 & 7 Titles and Covers are Finally Here!
Sarah J. Maas has unveiled the titles and covers for the sixth and seventh instalments in her blockbuster ACOTAR fantasy series, sending the internet into a frenzy after a five-year gap since the last book. The two novels form part of a larger continuous story called ‘The Valkyrie Cylce’ with Book 6 (Volume I) scheduled for October 27, 2026, and Book 7 (Volume II & III) following on January 12, 2027.
Key new book releases delayed by tech glitch
A key Australian and New Zealand book distributor has faced difficulties getting books out to booksellers in NZ after experiencing issues with its IT systems. They’re working hard to get these delayed titles onto shelves next month. It’s going to be a busy September, with many of August’s big releases shifting into what was already a packed month for new books!
Penguin to Support Children Reading with Bookseller Grants
Penguin Random House NZ, the largest publisher in Aotearoa, has announced an amazing new initiative to get more readers aged 0–12 engaged in reading and loving books. Booksellers are being invited to get creative with fresh, new ideas for getting tamariki excited about reading, with $50,000 in funding available to support successful new initiatives.
'Fourth Wing' is entering its Graphic Novel Era
The 'Fourth Wing' graphic novel was announced and is scheduled for release in April next year. Rebecca Yarros confirmed that it’s Volume 1 and covers the first half of 'Fourth Wing' (Chapters 1–22), told through beautiful, full-colour illustrations by Anabel Rossi. With this, as well as 'Threshing Day', we should be okay waiting for Book 4 to be announced (for a little while longer!).
The follow up to ‘Daggermouth’ is coming, and H.M. Wolfe is teasing some big announcement!
H. M. Wolfe has a sequel to the insanely popular dark dystopian romance 'Daggermouth' on the way! 'Python' will conclude The Heart Duology and is currently set for release in July next year. But we’ve also got our eyes glued to H. M. Wolfe’s Instagram while we wait for the official announcement she’s been teasing on her account. Is it a new series? A Story to Screen revelation? We need to know!
Argentina’s longest novel is getting an English translation
One of Argentina’s most legendary cult novels is finally getting an English translation! Alberto Laiseca’s 'Los Sorias' is a sprawling 1,300-page political sci-fi novel that took ten years to write and spent years circulating as a single manuscript before its first tiny print run of just 350 copies. Despite becoming a favourite among major Argentine writers, it has remained largely unknown outside the Spanish-speaking world, but that’s about to change, with Deep Vellum acquiring the English edition and translator Max Lawton taking on the mammoth task ahead of publication in 2029.
The Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner Announced
Omar Musa has taken out the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award and its $60,000 prize for his second novel, 'Fierceland'. Set largely in Malaysian Borneo, the family saga follows two siblings as they grapple with the complicated legacy of their palm oil baron father, tackling themes of family, privilege, colonialism and environmental destruction. The judges called it a “tour de force”, making this a huge moment for Musa.
Local author, Olivia Spooner, is back with The Flying Girls
Olivia Spooner has a new historical fiction novel on the way, and we’re so excited for this one! 'The Flying Girls' is inspired by the pioneering female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary during WWII, who flew everything from trainers to heavy bombers from factories to RAF bases, often without radios or navigational equipment. From the #1 bestselling Kiwi author of 'The Girl from London', this sounds like another gripping piece of little-known wartime history brought to life, and it’s coming in October.
Aotearoa’s Best Children’s Books Take Centre Stage This Week!
Tomorrow night (August 19th), the winners of the 2026 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will be revealed at a ceremony in Wellington! This year, 30 books were shortlisted from 159 entries, celebrating some of the very best books created for tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa, across picture books, junior and young adult fiction, non-fiction, illustration and te reo Māori. With $70,500 in prize money up for grabs, including the coveted Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, we can’t wait to see which books take home the top honours!
Speculative novel by EJ Swift wins the Arthur C Clarke award for Science Fiction
E.J. Swift has won the 2026 Arthur C. Clarke Award for 'When There Are Wolves Again', a hopeful piece of eco-fiction exploring rewilding and climate activism in a near-future Britain. Following two women across half a century, the novel was praised by the judges for its exploration of environmental change, recovery and the idea that our future isn’t inevitable. Swift took out the award from a record 132 submissions, making her the 40th winner of one of science fiction’s biggest literary prizes.
Why Climate Fiction Matters More Than Ever
People across the United Kingdom and many countries in Europe are experiencing extreme heatwaves, record-breaking temperatures, wildfires and drought due to the climate crisis, with death tolls rising and changes to the landscape that can be seen from space. Author Tara Menon recently reflected on why this makes climate fiction so important in capturing both extreme weather events and the more mundane realities of a changing climate, referring to Amitav Ghosh, who says, “the climate crisis is also a crisis of culture, and thus of imagination”.
AI is twisting gender biases in generated children’s books
Experts from the University of Washington have been looking into the way gender is assigned to animal characters in books, and how this is shifting as AI generates a huge number of children’s books that are flooding the market. The results demonstrated that AI preferred to use either gender-neutral language or male pronouns when writing children’s stories featuring animal characters, with female animal characters not featured at all.
That's all for this book briefing! For more bookish news, new releases, staff picks and plenty more from all the team at Book Hero, follow us on Instagram at @bookheronz and check back here on our blog as we post regularly!
