News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff.
Literary Losses
Michael Hague, beloved illustrator of a number of children’s books, passed away on March 10, 2026, according to an announcement by his wife Kathleen (as reported by Spectrum Fantastic Art on Facebook.) Hague illustrated editions of many classic children’s books, as well as a number of books which he wrote or co-authored. (If you missed it, you can read my full obituary here.)
Obituaries and tributes: Hooked on Books; Tony DiTerlizzi. Bibliography and Biography: Goodreads; Wikipedia. Articles: “Michael Hague Creates a Picture-Perfect World for Children” (Los Angeles Times, 1990); an interview with Michael Hague from 2009 (School Library Journal)
Bookish News
- Horror Novel ‘Shy Girl’ Canceled Over Suspected A.I. Use (New York Times); also covered by The Guardian and elsewhere. See below under “Worth Reading” for opinion pieces on publishers and AI in books.
- Federal Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss DoDEA Book Removal Case (Publishers Weekly)
- HarperCollins Union Wins New Contract (Publishers Weekly)
- Chicken Soup for the Soul Sues AI Firms for Copyright Infringement (Publishers Weekly)
Worth Reading/Viewing
- A.I. Is Writing Fiction. Publishers Are Unprepared. (New York Times) An opinion piece in response to Hachette’s cancellation of Mia Ballard’s Shy Girl over alleged use of AI to write it.
- How Could This Have Happened? A Publisher’s Take on How an AI-generated Book Got Acquired by a Major Publisher, Why No One Flagged It as Problematic, and Why Shy Girl is a Bellwether (Brooke Warner’s substack). Warner discusses points made by the NYT, Lincoln Michel at Counter Craft, and Marcus at Paper Trails, bringing to bear her own experience in publishing. She concludes, “Does it irk me that publishing is now expected to hurry up and get its shit together around how we’re supposed to deal with AI when LLMs would not exist in the first place if it weren’t for the massive amount of data that AI companies took without permission from publishers and authors? Yes, it most decidedly does.”
- How to Avoid Writing Like AI: First, Fight AI Editors Writing for Mars Magazine, Adario Strange “I think there’s a different, and more important question to be asked. It’s not, “Can AI increasingly write books and essays that people will read and accept as human-made?” The more important question is, “Do humans care whether or not a book or essay they read comes from a human, or from an AI algorithm?” So far, I think the answer is still on the side of humans.”
- Sarah Beth Durst on Why You Should Open Magical Doors (Publishers Weekly) “The importance of magical worlds, in particular those that offer a feeling of comfort and safety, is that sometimes…you need to escape the inescapable in order to be ready to face it. That’s what fantasy literature is for: not just entertainment, not just fun, but for survival of the soul and the heart… Escape isn’t an indulgence; it’s a necessity.”
- Rebuilding Myself After Brain Injury, Sentence by Sentence Am I still a writer if I’ve lost my words? Author Kelly Barnhill on her slow, incomplete recovery from a TBI (a severe concussion.) (New York Times)
- “I Will Not Comply”: Librarian Luanne James Fights Censorship Demands of Rutherford County Library System’s Board (Book Riot)
- How To Read Sixteen Books at Once (At All Times), by speculative fiction author Jo Walton. (Reactor) Sixteen sounds like… a lot, but the author has a system.
Books, Movies, and TV
- The official teaser for Remarkably Bright Creatures is out!
- Lisa Kleypas announced her return on her Facebook page. The popular romance writer has not published a book since 2021’s Devil in Disguise. Kleypas attributed her absence to “health issues, a move to another state, and a big book I’ve been working on”—namely, her forthcoming novel, Queen of Lombard Street, a historical novel about a fictional Victorian woman determined to open the first all-female bank. It’s a departure for Kleypas, who made her name as one of the leading authors of historical romance. (I’m looking forward to it!)
Book Lists
Cool, Fun, and Awesome
All Aboard The New York Public Library’s Book Train!
Mattel has a Bridgerton-themed Polly Pocket set!
Bookish Quote
NOTE on paywalls: Publisher’s Weekly and The Guardian may require you to sign up for a free account in order to read their content. Both The New York Times and the Washington Post have paywalls, but allow a small number of free articles per month.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
I had the same thought after reading that Jo Walton article! Sixteen sounds like a lot… but then I looked at my active currently reading books, and I have 7 on there without even trying… so I guess maybe 16 isn’t that extreme after all.
“Escape isn’t an indulgence; it’s a necessity.” That’s a great quote. Off to read the rest of the Sarah Beth Durst article now.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…Series Mini Review: Manners and Monsters