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Here are the stories Today in Books readers were most interested in this week.
Anthropic Settles AI Book Piracy Suit
Anthropic has settled a class action lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement. Terms of the settlement aren’t yet available. The settlement comes after Anthropic notched a significant win in June, when a federal judge ruled that the AI startup’s use of legally purchased books was permitted under fair use doctrine. The judge in that case noted that using pirated books to train LLMs is a violation of copyright law, which left the door open for this follow-up litigation. Details will likely be revealed after the settlement is finalized September 3. This is an encouraging and important development.
Obama’s Summer Reading List Has Landed
America’s reader-in-chief (remember having a president who was intellectually engaged?) has entered the chat. Barack Obama’s 2025 summer reading list is here, and…it looks like a Barack Obama reading list. Always one for consistency, Obama’s picks follow a reliable template. I’m delighted to see Katie Kitamura’s Audition and Sophie Elmhurst’s A Marriage at Sea get shout-outs, and you know dude couldn’t resist Ron Chernow’s Mark Twain and the latest Michael Lewis, which just happens to be about government. Any time there’s an S.A. Cosby book out, it’s going to make an Obama list, and King of Ashes is no exception (indeed, the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company has optioned the novel for adaptation). Wonderful recognition for a few less-well-known novels here, too. Madeleine Thien (The Book of Records) and Anita Desaid (Rosarita) but must thrilled.
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Reading as Resistance to Brainrot
You’re subscribed to a pretty nerdy newsletter here, so I probably don’t need to tell you that reading is a great way to shore up intellectual strength, but Paul Jun’s exploration of ways to resist slop and brainrot is too good not to share. Keep reading…
Take Our Survey About Reading Diversely in 2025
In 2015, here at Book Riot, we put out a series called Reading Diversely FAQ. It answered questions like “Why is reading diversely important?” and “Isn’t paying attention to the race of an author racist?” and “Why does everything have to be political?” Ten years later, we still care deeply about reading diversely, and the problem of racism in the world of books and reading is far from solved. That’s why we want to revisit this series and give it an update for 2025.