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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
The 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist
The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the biggest literary prizes, recognizing “the author of the best full-length novel of the year written in English and published in the UK” with a £30,000 prize. Here is this year’s shortlist:
Flashlight by Susan Choi (Jonathan Cape, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK)
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (Europa Editions UK)
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK)
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson (Cassava Republic Press)
Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly (Saraband)
Heart the Lover by Lily King (Canongate)
The Correspondent has been a big bestseller in recent months, and I’ve been hearing a lot about Flashlight and Heart the Lover, but I’m not familiar with the other three books on the shortlist. Let us know in the comments: have you read any of these? Which one do you think will win?
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30% of People Think Reading Regularly Makes Them Better Than Others
Take this statistic with a healthy helping of salt, because the entirety of the methodology is “To create this study, researchers from the Headway app surveyed 2,000 professionals of all genders, aged 18 and over.” (How did they source these respondents? Who counts as a “professional”? Are they all users of their app?)
Regardless, I couldn’t resist the factoid “30% of people believe reading regularly makes them better than others.” Let’s be honest, that does align with a good portion of reading culture, online and off.
Other fun “facts” from this survey include:
- 24% of respondents wouldn’t date someone who doesn’t read at all
- 66% of people buy at least one book a year that they don’t read
- 55% said yes to “Have you ever read a self-help book instead of seeking professional help (e.g. therapy)?”
- 82% of respondents believe people who don’t read regularly are “missing out intellectually”
The New BookTok Tie-In is… Crystal Light?
We’ve seen some unexpected bookish product tie-ins in recent years, like Walmart’s romance-themed hot sauces. The latest version is Crystal Light teaming up with BookTok influencer and debut author Brooke Averick to release three new drink flavors matched with popular genres on BookTok. There’s Hibiscus Lemonade for Romance, Prickly Pear Lemonade for Mystery, and Passion Fruit for Fantasy. Please place your bets now on what brand will do a BookTok tie-in next. Romantasy Eggo Waffles? A Freida McFadden-themed kitchen knife set? Hunger Games pool inflatables?
The Scariest Horror Books of 2026
There’s horror books, and then there’s horror books—the kind of novels that need to be stored in the freezer when you’re not reading them. Personally, I prefer my horror reads to be on the “creepy” and “existential dread” side of the spectrum, but if you are looking to send your nervous system into fight or flight mode, check out these picks for the scariest horror books of 2026.
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