At Lagardère, Hachette Book Group's parent company, publishing division revenue in 2025 rose 4.5%, to €3 billion (about $3.5 billion), and overall revenue was €9.4 billion (about $11 billion). Chairman and CEO Arnaud Lagardère said that the company's "two core divisions," one of which is publishing, "performed at a very high level, illustrating our operational excellence."

In the U.S., like-on-like revenue grew 3%, while total revenue, including results from Sterling Publishing, acquired late in 2024, rose 11%. "Business expansion was driven by a very busy schedule of new title releases," Lagardère observed.

David Shelley, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said that those titles included Brimstone and Quicksilver by Callie Hart (Grand Central), Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben (Grand Central), Nightshade by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown), The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (Grand Central), Return of the Spider by James Patterson (Little, Brown), The Idaho Four by James Patterson and Vicky Ward (Little, Brown), The Twilight Saga Deluxe Hardcover Collection and Twilight: Deluxe Collector's Edition by Stephenie Meyer (LBYR), Big Dumb Eyes by Nate Bargatze (Grand Central), Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez (Grand Central), The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown), The Biblio Diet by Jordan Rubin and Dr. Josh Axe (Worthy Books), Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems (Union Square Kids), and One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (Orbit).

Among other highlights of 2025, Shelley noted the inaugural Changing the Story Festival, sponsored the Latinx Storytellers Conference and the Asian American Journalists Association's national convention, as well as Her Agenda and HBG's Women in Publishing employee resource group's Off the Page: The Women Changing Publishing & Media; the AAPI employee resource group's AAPI Reads industry-wide event featuring author Min Jin Lee; and Legacy Lit's Blackademics Author Talk Series: The State of Black Education. 

In December, Hachette announced a $200,000 investment in its Raising Readers initiative, the company's social impact campaign to combat the significant decline in children's reading for fun and entertainment, which is the single biggest predictor of a child's future success. In the company's 200th anniversary year, the investment will expand to curate classroom libraries for 200 underfunded schools and education programs, mobilizing more than 200 volunteers to deliver reading or literacy support, launching 200 Little Free Libraries in book deserts, and hosting 200 author visits to classrooms for immersive author sessions and read-alouds.

Shelley said that highlights of the spring list include American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee (Grand Central), The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig (Orbit), The Golden Boy by Patricia Finn (Cardinal), Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by Liza Minnelli (GCP), and Fury Bound (Deluxe Edition) by Sable Sorensen (Requited). Additionally, James Patterson is scheduled to release 15 new titles this year, including Judge Stone in collaboration with actress Viola Davis (Little, Brown).

Solomon Everta, owner of Eureka Books in Eureka, Calif., is planning to add a second store, Omnibus, which will be located at 117 F Street, "diagonally across the Old Town Gazebo from Eureka Books," Lost Coast Outpost reported. 

While Eureka Books buys and sells used books, its ground floor is primarily occupied by new titles. Omnibus will focus on manga and graphic novels, as well as role-playing games, related pop culture items (including films), and illustrator-focused art supplies. It is scheduled to open March 7. 

For tabletop role-playing games, Eureka Books will be collaborating with the owners of Dandar's Boardgames and Books, whose downtown Arcata store was destroyed by a fire last month.

Everta said that although his favorite part of the job is talking with customers about books, the responsibilities of ownership often limit his time to do so. To gauge customer demand, he listens to his staff "because they know more about what our customers want."

Manga is one of those genres in demand. Eureka Bookstore's selection has grown significantly over the past few years as Everta started buying more titles from customers who came in with "huge collections" of used manga and graphic novels, the Outpost noted, adding that soon "one bookshelf of manga and graphic novels became two. Then three. Then five."

"It has been very successful," Everta said. "So successful that we're at the point of thinking that it could really use its own space."

Omnibus will be located in the Antonsen/Snug Building. With its "Italianate architecture featuring tall, narrow windows and an overhanging eave, the 1890 building... is a registered Eureka historic landmark," the Outpost wrote.

"Even though Eureka Books is pretty big, it's full," Everta said, noting that Omnibus will offer more storage space for the business. Staff in the two stores will communicate with each other and move between the locations to give breaks to co-workers or use the Antonsen Building's kitchen facilities. 

Everta expressed gratitude to the community for its support: "In order for you to have bookstores in your community, you have to go to the bookstore and buy books. But it's not something like, you do it and you're done. The community has to continue to do that and to teach the next generation that this is what we do."

Bogan Books has reopened in a new space in Fort Kent, Maine, following a temporary closure, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The bookstore, which first opened in 2018, is now located at 291 West Main St. Owner Jamie Pelletier shares a space with a salon called Skin Serenity, with Bogan Books occupying the front of the store. Pelletier rents the space from salon owner Stephanie Pelletier (no relation), with whom she has been friends for several years.

Jamie Pelletier bought Bogan Books from original owner Heidi Carter in 2024. Though the bookstore was doing well, she closed it temporarily due to illness and recently having a baby. While it was closed, Pelletier noted, some customers continued to buy from her directly. 

The bookstore reopened in January, and Pelletier is holding the first author event in the new space tonight, February 19. A grand opening and ribbon cutting is planned for early March.

Stephanie Pelletier told the Bangor Daily News the partnership is mutually beneficial, with salon customers asking about the bookstore and vice versa. So far "it's been really good for the both of us," she said.

Yer Mom's Book & Wine, a bookstore, wine bar, and cafe, will open in Louisville, Ky., later this spring, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. 

Located at 814 East Main St., Yer Mom's Book & Wine is intended to be an anchor tenant for the NuLu Marketplace North development, which will open later this year. In addition to a curated book selection, Yer Mom's will feature a variety of local and mainstream wines, nonalcoholic beverage options, and a food menu consisting of sandwiches, salads, and small bites.

"We don't have a bookstore in downtown Louisville," store owner Tara Leigh Goode told the Courier Journal. "We desperately need one. They tend to be great for foot traffic, great place makers, great anchors to get more people downtown."

Along with Yer Mom's, Goode will open two additional businesses in the same development: a 4,500-square-foot co-working space called Greenhouse Workspace, and a grocery store called Grown Up Harvest Grocery that will emphasize locally sourced products and food.

"Place makers are important," she said. "I love that... we can create a multi-use space that's humming and buzzy, that brings and invites people in."

NuLu Marketplace North remains under construction, with the developer expecting the first tenants to open after the Kentucky Derby in May. Goode said she hopes to have Yer Mom's Book & Wine open by early June.

Matt Friberg has been named publisher at Parallax Press, succeeding Hisae Matsuda, who will continue with the company as senior editor. The leadership transition comes as Parallax, which was founded by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and Arnie Kotler, celebrates its 40th anniversary this April.

Matt Friberg

"It's an incredible opportunity to step into the role of publisher at Parallax Press," said Friberg. "More than ever, our society needs brave, visionary books that spark radically new ways of seeing, being, and acting in the world. At Parallax, we address this challenge by drawing inspiration from our deep roots in Plum Village, France--a living tradition rich with fresh insights in community living, collective transformation, and mindful resistance. It's a great honor for me to nurture the continuation of Thich Nhat Hanh's gentle yet fearless spirit through our publishing program, to bring his deep wisdom and shining example to bear on whatever social, political, and ecological realities lie ahead. I'm excited to deepen this work with the brilliant team at Parallax and the Plum Village community."

Friberg expressed his "wholehearted gratitude to Hisae Matsuda for six years of skillful, compassionate, and authentic leadership. Hisae's extensive publishing experience and deep love for the Dharma have ensured Parallax's place as a healthy cell in the Plum Village body. I'm thrilled that we will keep working alongside one another as she remains with Parallax as a senior editor. Nothing is lost!"

Journalist and historian Roland Huntford, "who wrote about the world's polar extremities and the men who explored them, including a book that challenged the previously undisputed heroic status of Robert Falcon Scott for his doomed expedition to the South Pole in 1912," died January 23, the New York Times reported. He was 98.

Born in South Africa, Huntford spent 15 years as the Scandinavian correspondent for the British newspaper the Observer, "a job that allowed him to indulge his love for Nordic skiing and winter hiking," the Times wrote. His familiarity with Nordic culture and ability to speak Norwegian added to his fascination with the race to the South Pole between British explorer Captain Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen.

Huntford's book Scott and Amundsen, later retitled The Last Place on Earth (1979), "sent shock waves through Britain by poking holes in Captain Scott's previously incontestable heroic narrative," the Times noted. Although critics praised the book, Scott's fans were not impressed.

The Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University barred Huntford from accessing its archives after the book's publication, and Peter Scott, the explorer's son, sued for libel because of a sentence in the acknowledgments thanking him for access to his father's papers. He claimed it implied that he approved of the book as a whole. A settlement was reached with a disclaimer in subsequent editions indicating that Peter Scott disapproved of the book.

For his part, Huntford told the Guardian in 2008: "In as much as I had an agenda, it wasn't to run down Scott. Rather, it was to rehabilitate Amundsen, who I felt had never been given the credit he deserved outside Norway."

Huntford's other books include The New Totalitarians (1971), Shackleton (1985), Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing (2008), and Nansen (2012). In 1974, he worked on Scott and Amundsen, a British TV mini-series based on the book that aired on PBS's Masterpiece Theater in 1985, starring Martin Shaw as Captain Scott and Sverre Anker Ousdal as Amundsen.

Book Passage, San Francisco, Calif., celebrated the release of George Saunders's Vigil: A Novel (Random House) at Calvary Presbyterian Church. Saunders was in conversation with Vendela Vida, the author of We Run the Tides

"We're so excited that not one, two, but THREE of our Books Are Magic staff members are releasing books this spring!!!" Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, N.Y., posted on Instagram. "It's such a joy working with these three wonderful, talented people, you will NOT want to miss out on their books...":

The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke (March 3)
American Fantasy by Emma Straub (April 7)
Good News by Alexa Brahme (May 5)

As the Page Turns bookstore in Travelers Rest, S.C., posted on Instagram: "Loneliness is real--especially for seniors who may not be religious, have a neighborhood circle, or a peer group where they feel fully accepted. We want to be a place where everyone belongs."

The indie bookstore has introduced "The As the Page Turns Social Club" for ages 65+, describing the concept as "a relaxed weekly meet-up for coffee and conversation. Books, politics, hobbies, memories, life stories, all of it is welcome. No sign-ups. No fees. No expectations. Just community. If even one person walks through the door and feels less alone, it's worth it. Please help us spread the word."

Is spring ever coming? Wild Geese Bookshop, Franklin, Ind., posted: "The sun is out and the bookshop is open 11-6!"

Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round) will join Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in the film What Happens at Night, based on Peter Cameron's novel. From Apple Original Films in partnership with Studiocanal, "the dream-like story follows a married American couple who travel to a small, snowy European town to adopt a baby," Deadline reported. The cast also includes Patricia Clarkson.

Martin Scorsese will direct and produce for Sikelia Productions, from a script by Patrick Marber. Scorsese, DiCaprio, and Apple Original Films previously collaborated on the 10-time Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon. 

A "first video look" has been released of the opening night last November for The Hunger Games: On Stage, an ambitious stage production now playing at the purpose-built, in-the-round Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London, Playbill reported. Performances are currently scheduled through October 18.

Adapted by Conor McPherson from the first novel in Suzanne Collins's series, the production stars Mia Carragher as Katniss Everdeen, Euan Garrett as Peeta Mellark, and Joshua Lacey as Haymitch Abernathy. Matthew Dunster directs.

A shortlist has been released for the £10,000 (about $13,455) Unwin Award, recognizing nonfiction writers in the earlier stages of their careers as authors, "whose work is considered to have made a significant contribution to the world." The winner will be announced in London on April 21. Check out the shortlisted writers here.
 
Judging panel chair Claudia Hammond said: "The varied shortlist reflects upon equality, gender politics, sustainability, diversity, technology and more--demonstrating the many different ways in which books and writing can make an impact on our world."
 
Publishers Association CEO Dan Conway called the shortlist "a fascinating showcase of the impact of publishing on the world--and the many different ways we can see this come to life."

Grace Newman is a writer from Gloucester, England, who grew up in New Orleans, La. A lifelong Formula 1 fan, she witnessed the World Driver's Championship victories of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, sparking her passion for the sport that later inspired her fiction. Racing Hearts (Hera Books, January 6, 2026), her debut novel, is a spicy, rivals-to-lovers, fake dating, sports romance that takes place in the F1 world. Newman now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their dog, Daisy.

Handsell readers your book in 30 words or less:

F1's glass ceiling meets its match in Georgia Dubois. Leading the sport with F1's first female-run team, she's racing toward glory and rewriting the rules along the way.

On your nightstand now:

Ruth Ware's The Woman in Suite 11. I'm a devoted Ruth Ware fan. There's something about the way she builds tension, whether it's at a remote chalet or an isolated island, that makes her books impossible to put down. I'm only halfway through, but I'm already suspicious of every character. Ware has this gift for making ordinary settings feel sinister, and I know I'll be staying up far too late to finish this one.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. I was captivated by the idea of summers filled with mysteries--cycling through the countryside, stumbling upon castles, and camping under the stars with your closest friends. George's tomboy spirit and refusal to be called Georgina made her my hero, and I wanted nothing more than to explore abandoned lighthouses, discover secret tunnels, and prove myself to be as brave and resourceful as she is.

Your top five authors:

Stephen King
Emily Henry
Ruth Ware
J.R.R. Tolkien
Margaret Atwood

Book you've faked reading:

I've been working on Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy for about 10 years now. After recently rewatching the movie, I feel ready to give it another go.

Book you're an evangelist for:

The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen. I'll talk about this book to anyone who will listen. It's the wildly entertaining true story of Sam Zemurray, a broke Russian immigrant who became the Banana King, a man so powerful that he managed to topple governments in his quest to build the largest fruit empire the world had seen. This book has everything: ambition, espionage, and a CIA-backed coup in Central America. There is nothing better than nonfiction that reads like fiction.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I can admit I own several different copies due to the beauty of their covers.

Book you hid from your parents:

It by Stephen King. At a young age, I was fascinated by his writing and probably read the story much too young. Still, it captured me into the world of fantasy and sci-fi--something I'll always be grateful for.

Book that changed your life:

Atonement by Ian McEwan. This book fundamentally altered how I think about storytelling, memory, and the weight of our choices. McEwan's beautiful prose drew me into pre-World War II England, making me care deeply about the characters. The way he weaves together themes of guilt, imagination, and the stories we tell ourselves is mesmerizing. It taught me that great literature can make you question everything you thought you understood about a story, and it showed me the profound moral responsibility that comes with how we narrate our own lives. It's very beautiful, and I think about it often, even if I struggle to bring myself to reread it.

Favorite line from a book:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." --from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This opening line is perfect. Austen is being sarcastic right from the start, and it really sets the tone with Elizabeth Bennet and the world she lives in.

Five books you'll never part with:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie  
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Atonement by Ian McEwan

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

Persuasion is Jane Austen's most mature love story, and it hits differently than her other novels. Anne Elliot isn't a witty teenager; she's a woman who made a mistake years ago by letting others talk her out of marrying the man she loved, and now she's living with that regret. Watching her get a second chance with Captain Wentworth feels earned in a way that makes my heart ache. The tension between them is quieter but somehow more intense because of all that history and hurt. "You pierce my soul" will always be one of my favorite book quotes from a romance novel. This book taught me that real love sometimes means waiting, growing, and believing that it's never too late to choose differently. It's a story about hope and lasting love.

A fictional character you see yourself in:

Marianne Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen). She feels everything at full volume, and that's exactly how I am. When Marianne falls in love, she falls completely. She refuses to dim her own light just because passionate women are labeled "too much." Yes, she gets her heart broken over someone unworthy, but she finds her way back. She never loses hope when it comes to love. Her journey taught me that loving fiercely isn't foolish; it just needs to be balanced with wisdom. This is something I always want to put into my characters.

An explosion at London's British Museum sets off the exhilarating drama of Go Gentle by Maria Semple, narrated by a New Yorker who finds herself at the center of an international art heist connected to her employer. The story is set amid the whimsical grandeur of a prestigious Manhattan address with scenic detours to a French chateau, attractive backdrops for an adventure swirling with art world mystique, comedy, and middle-aged sexual exploits.

Adora Hazzard is a resident philosopher at the swanky Lockwood Library museum. Its fabulously wealthy owners, Layla and Lionel Lockwood, live in a massive glass structure with a statuary garden and guards who are ex-Mossad agents. When readers meet them, the Lockwoods have acquired a valuable French statue of questionable provenance. Adora's duties extend to providing "moral training" to the couple's twin sons in scenes that showcase Semple's abundant wit, as when the boys learn to apply Plato's four virtues to their disagreement over a pair of "garish" limited-edition Louis Vuitton sneakers.

Across Central Park, Adora resides on the seventh floor of the renowned Ansonia building with her "reliably irritable" teen daughter, Viv; their dog, Mr. Manl; and a "coven" of accomplished women friends. Dante, the Ansonia doorman with an Italian accent, and Ziggy, the coven's enterprising dog-walker, make regular, spirited appearances. The novel's Stoic-inspired heroine is convinced her dating days are behind her until, in tandem with the art heist, she unwittingly stumbles into a romance that upends her tidy life. It all starts with a suave, mysterious stranger she meets at the ballet.

Adora's superpower is her adherence to the maxim "the less you want, the happier you'll be," and until she meets Digby, she is perfectly content. The erotically charged attraction between Adora and the "expensively moisturized" Digby shatters her peace of mind even as their clever back-and-forth makes for dazzling dialogue. Meanwhile, the latest addition to the Lockwoods' statuary arrives in New York to great fanfare.

Adora shares a biographical detail with her creator, namely her former TV writing career in Los Angeles. Semple (Today Will Be Different; Where'd You Go, Bernadette?) dives into her protagonist's history, untangling the difficult truth behind her departure from California. Go Gentle's marvelously madcap storylines converge as the action shifts to Paris and Digby's true identity becomes devastatingly clear, setting into motion an unanticipated finale that will have Semple fans cheering heartily from the sidelines.

Semple is an acclaimed storyteller with a fondness for intellectually dazzling heroines of a certain age, and her fourth novel is her best yet. --Shahina Piyarali

Shelf Talker: This exhilarating novel by acclaimed storyteller Semple features a New York philosopher who finds herself at the center of both an international art heist and a romance with a mysterious stranger.