Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
A New BookTok Bestseller List
The UK now has an official #BookTok bestseller list thanks to a collaboration between German-launched Media Control and TikTok. Combining sales data from NielsenIQ BookData and #BookTok community engagement, Media Control’s algorithm creates this monthly ranking of books. The first month of stats is for March 2026 with Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid topping the chart. But Irish romance author Chloe Walsh dominates the list with six titles, starting with Taming 7 in second place. I’m almost certain Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros would dominate a U.S. version of this list (they do have three titles each on the UK top 20) but, for now, the U.S. only has lists of books popular on BookTok compiled by various outlets rather than anything formal. You can check out Barnes & Nobles’ most popular BookTok books here, and read more about how the collab impacts the world of books at BBC.
Speaking of Rebecca Yarros
The hugely successful author of The Empyrean series has announced her next book, and no it isn’t associated with those romantasy books. Yarros has written a new contemporary romance, titled, Peculiar Stars, which is described as a “castaway romance.” In the book, a cyclone strands Callista on an island and also crash-lands her into a slow-burn romance with her fiancé’s cousin. Yarros is known to switch it up from romantasy, publishing contemporary romances between Empyrean books. You can read the full synopsis for Peculiar Stars and the exclusive on TODAY.
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Library Pugs!
The Book Riot staff were unanimously delighted by Manchester Journal‘s profile on the pugs of Dorset Village Public Library in Vermont. Our Chief of Staff, Rebecca Joines Schinsky, got to meet literary celebs Anouk and Toby in person (the proof is in the BLEP) at the storied New England institution. The rescue pugs are actually successors to dearly departed OGs Milla and Chewie. They have merch, they have fans, and they’re living the good life surrounded by books. May we all be as fortunate as these snuggly librarians.
Utah Adds Two More Books to Banned List; 34 Now Outlawed in State Public Schools
The state of Utah has been on a book banning blitz in 2026. This week, the state added two more titles to its list of books that must be removed from every public school in the state. This comes amidst a lawsuit challenging these state-sanctioned bans filed in February, and it comes after banning four books just 10 days earlier.
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