The Finalists for a Literary Prize Judged By Librarians

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

2026 Libby Book Award Finalists

The finalists for the Libby Book Award, which honors the best books of the previous calendar year as selected by librarians, have been announced. We’ve got a whopping 20 categories for the awards along with a brand new Reader’s Choice award, and there are two finalists for each category. Two of 2025’s big books made the Adult Fiction finalist list: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. In Adult Nonfiction, we’ve got two more by-now-familiar titles: A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland and A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst. My kingdom for even one BIPOC-authored book in the two major categories and the Reader’s Choice award, but you will find more diversity across the remaining categories. Alchemised by SenLin Yu made it into more than one category, Stephen Graham Jones’ excellent The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a finalist competing with Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Bewitching in the Horror category, and All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson is up against Scarlet Morning, Book 1 by ND Stevenson in Middle Grade. It’s delightfully cheeky that Sherry Thomas’s The Librarians placed in Mystery. I see you, librarians.

Speaking of Librarians…

Kim A. Snyder’s formidable documentary, The Librarians, is set for a February 9 PBS premiere, following an award-winning theatrical and festival run. The documentary examines book banning efforts across the U.S. and their impact on public libraries and library staff. Here’s a quote from Amanda Jones, activist and author of That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, who’s featured in the documentary and spoke to Deadline, to give you an idea of how critical this coverage is:

“I’ve received death threats for the crime of giving a speech at the public library about how libraries are for everyone. And it’s not just an attack on librarians, but it’s attack on the books. But they’re also trying to devalue and defund libraries as a whole across the board.”

Learn more about the documentary and its premiere here.

Gossip Girl Fans, Rejoice

The author of the Gossip Girl YA series is writing a standalone sequel focusing on the character Blair Waldorf. The new book, Blair, will follow the titular character two decades after leaving the Constance Billard School for Girls. E! News points out that while the fan favorite’s onscreen romance centered around Chuck Bass, book Blair’s romance is with Nate Archibald. Readers won’t find out what this will mean for Blair of the sequel for some time as the newest Gossip Girl book is tentatively set for a Summer 2027 release.

The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists

A heinous book on the bestsellers list is akin to a bucket of ice water over the head first thing in the morning, so know that there is one on this list of the week’s bestselling books, and it’s addressed. But we also have worthy recommendations for books that didn’t make the the big media lists but did make indie bestseller lists. We got you.