Welcome to this week's Book Briefing where we round up the news for the week!
This week reading gets political with lawsuits, bookshop raids, and book bannings. As well as that we have exciting new titles to add to the TBR, authors visiting our little country at the bottom of the Earth, and so much more.
THRESHING DAY!!!
Rebecca Yarros has finally revealed the title for the mystery Empyrean book she has been teasing us with! Releasing in September, ‘Threshing Day’ is going to be a set of 13 stories set on Threshing Day and taking us along with some of the biggest characters in the Empyrean universe (and their dragons!).
Stephen King collection banned from public schools in Utah
In Utah a recent decision by certain school districts in Utah to ban ‘Different Seasons’, a collection of four novellas by Stephen King including Rita Hayworth, Shawshank Redemption, led to a statewide ban by the board of education. The book was determined to contain ‘objective sensitive material’. King has responded via social media saying “What’s wrong with these people?”
New Instagram feature lets book lovers share their current read!
Bookstagrammers rejoice! Instagram has released a new profile feature, ‘Reading’, which lets you share what you’re currently reading on your profile! This cute new banner on your profile will make it easier than ever to share what your reading with your online community. Our only critique so far is you can only include 20 characters which is not enough for our favourite rambly book titles!
We are all ready to get lost in the new Taylor Jenkins Reid novel
Taylor Jenkins Reid announced her brand new novel, ‘The Last Days of Vic & Coco’ which is arriving on 2nd March 2027. A novel about female pool hustlers travelling across America in the summer of 1974, we are so excited to return to a world of her characters. Reid describes the novel as the book she's been waiting her whole career to write, calling it "my love letter to female friendship" and saying it's about "the specific way that women platonically love one another and the devastation that only friendship can bring to somebody's heart."
Bookshops Raided in Hong Kong for ‘problematic’ material
Five people were arrested in Hong Kong as a result of two independent bookshops being raided by police. The individuals have been arrested with suspicion of violating national security legislation. These bookstore raids along with other rounds of arrests present a chilling image of what it looks like when you can be criminalized for what’s on your bookshelf, and the targeting of independent booksellers in order to stifle signs of political dissent.
Stunning new editions of Quicksilver and Brimstone are coming
We are about to become even poorer, with the most gorgeous new special editions of Callie Hart’s Fae & Alchemy series heading our way later this year. With the most beautiful character art and of course breath taking sprayed edges we are more than a little obsessed.
A 210-Year-Old First Edition of ‘Emma’ Goes on Display
A rare first edition of Jane Austen's ‘Emma’ is now on display at Melbourne's State Library of Victoria after being acquired for A$100,000. Published anonymously in 1816, the beautifully preserved three-volume edition is being showcased as part of the library's World of the Book exhibition, celebrating Austen's enduring literary legacy.
Katherine Rundell’s book, ‘Impossible Creatures’ chosen by Queen Camilla
Queen Camilla has announced a new initiation called ‘The Queen’s Christmas Present’ and has chosen ‘Impossible Creatures’ by Katherine Rundell as the book which will be gifted to every child in Year 6 across Englan, Wales, Northern Ierland, and part of Scotland.
Te reo Maori word selected as most beautiful in the world
Kaitiakitanga has been chosen as the world’s most beautiful word by a language-learning platform Babbel, topping 223 words from across 75 different language. The judges said that kaitiakitanga was chosen due to it’s relevance at a time where humans are required to reflect on their responsibility for the natural world. Kaitiakitanga is a kupu that describes the idea of guardianship or stewardship of te taiao (natural world).
Waterstones Debut Prize for Fiction Announced
‘May We Feed the King’ by Rebecca Perry was announced as the winner of the 2026 Waterstones debut fiction prize from a very strong shortlist of amazing debut novels. Judges said that this book was chosen due to it’s “crisp, cool prose” and was written “with a poet’s eye for detail”.
Tech giant, Google, being sued by book publishers
A group of major publishers including Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier, have come together to file a lawsuit against Google. They are accusing the tech giant of using millions of copyrighted books without permission to build and train it’s Gemini artificial intelligence model. This is part of an ongoing public discourse around the harm to authors and the publishing industry caused by the actions of some of the biggest AI leaders.
Memoir of cricket legend Kane Williamson is on the way
Kane Williamson shared on his social media that “writing a book wasn’t something I ever imagined doing”, and yet in November ‘Bare Margins’ arrives, his autobiography where he shares about his 16 year jouney as part of the NZ cricket team, and as a batsman that will go down in history as New Zealand’s all-time leading run scorer.
Volume 2 of ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ graphic novel released early!
Bookstores are awaiting volume 2 of the Graphic Novel adaptation of ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ by Matt Dinniman, but a special edition will be available early as part of Local Comic Book Shop Day, and annual event across comic book stores worldwide. The rest of us will just have to wait til this hilarious adventure continues in November!
Ben Macintyre to visit Aotearoa
Bestselling author Ben Macintyre is coming to NZ later this year as part of touring for his new book about the Cold War ‘Redwood’. The novel comes out in September, and Ben is visiting in November which gives us plenty of time to read about the spy who saved the world from nuclear war before going along to an evening with the author. Tickets are on sale now!
Australian Prize adds four spots to it’s longlist
The Stella Book Prize is an award that celebrates excellent writing by Australian authors who identify as women or non-binary. For 2027 the longlist has increased from only 12 books to 16, ranging across fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. This means the chance to highlight even more incredible voices! Last year’s winner of the Stella Prize was Lee Lai for their turbulent graphic novel about friendship strife.
Joe Biden reveals all in his upcoming memoir
In November (two weeks after the midterm elections) ‘Promise Me, America’ is being released, a candid memoir by Joe Biden as he reflects on his time as president during a tumultuous era in American history. About the memoir Biden says “It's about why I chose to run for reelection and why I chose to step aside."
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!
