LibraryThing: State of the Thing - April

LibraryThing: State of the Thing Dear {NAME}, Welcome to the April State of the Thing! In this issue we announce our new AI Search feature, celebrate TinyCat’s seventh anniversary, open our Poetry Month Treasure Hunt, dish out book world news, and offer 3,202 free Early Reviewer books! You can like LibraryThing on [Facebook]( and follow [@LibraryThing]( on Twitter and [librarythingofficial]( on Instagram for news and updates. AI Search LibraryThing is pleased to introduce our new, natural-language [AI Search]( which helps you find books when you don't remember the title. It's also quite good at subject and topic searches. AI Search is powered by OpenAI technology. If you've played with ChatGPT, you'll know these systems are incredibly powerful, but also prone to "hallucinations." (Librarians are already complaining about patrons requesting books that literally don't exist!) To solve this problem, LibraryThing checks everything against authoritative book data. We [launched the feature]( on March 28. Yesterday we [released version 2](, which brings much more LibraryThing data into the mix, to better results. It's great for "What's that book?" questions: - [Dinosaurs come to life on an island]( - [Picture book where kid goes to island with strange creatures]( - [Guy trapped on Mars]( - [Dystopia where kids kill each other]( - [Funny movie where they ride pretend horses in camelot]( It's also great for topics, subjects and authors: - [Retellings of Greek mythology]( - [Novels about World War II in France]( - [Children's books about growing gardens]( - [Nonfiction books about women in tech]( - [Zombie movies]( Come try out [AI Search]( for yourself, and join the conversation over in [Talk](. TinyCat Turns Seven! Happy Birthday! [TinyCat](—our catalog for tiny libraries—debuted seven years ago, and we’re in the mood to celebrate! We are so pleased to be able to offer smaller libraries a sleek, user-friendly, affordable way to manage and share their collections online, and we have taken great pleasure in building relationships with thousands of participating libraries over the years. Come take a look at some of the amazing TinyCat libraries we have recently highlighted through our [Library of the Month]( blog column, and be sure to check out our interview with the latest Library of the Month, excerpted below. Store Sale. In honor of the occasion, we are running a major sale on all of our CueCat scanners, barcode labels, and TinyCat merch in the [LibraryThing Store](. The sale runs until Friday, May 5th, so take advantage of the bargains and stock up now. Be sure to check out our [blog post]( for more information about our TinyCat birthday celebration, and [join the conversation]( over in Talk. “Books & Cats” Giveaway. To celebrate seven years, we're also giving away seven prizes to our TinyCat members! Six of our seven winners—all chosen at random—will have the choice to receive a free set of [TinyCat/LibraryThing coasters]( or a free [TinyCat pin](. The grand prize winner will receive our very last, organic-cotton, TinyCat tote bag in stock, perfect for all of the book hauls and beach gear this summer. See our [blog post]( or the [Talk thread]( for more information on how to enter the giveaway. Keep abreast of the latest developments by following [@TinyCat_Lib]( on Twitter, and be sure to check out [LibraryThing’s Youtube channel]( for a range of TinyCat tutorials. Library of the Month of the Month. TinyCat’s featured library this past month was [The Traveling Library CCTX](, a traveling nonprofit library in Corpus Christi, Texas working to get more books into the hands of readers who need them. The library’s Founder and Executive Director Abigail Trevino sat down with Kristi this past month to answer her questions about the organization and [their library](. Q. Who are you, and what is your mission—your “raison d’être”?: The Traveling Library CCTX is exactly how it sounds! We’re a traveling library! A library on wheels! A bookmobile! These are all things that we have been called and have loved. It doesn’t matter how people describe us because the mission has always been the same. Our mission is to provide access to knowledge, encourage the exercise of rights, provide inclusion in society, and freedom for all. The Traveling Library provides knowledge to those in need by providing literature and other resources that are needed. The mission of The Traveling Library was inspired by my grandfather and uncle, who were both big supporters of education and reading. You can find the [full interview on our blog](. TinyCat Webinars. To learn more about TinyCat, join Kristi for a live demo Wednesdays at 1pm Eastern. Webinars are now on Zoom, so make sure to use our new [link to attend](. You can also check out our playlists of Tiny Tutorials on [LibraryThing's YouTube channel](, where Kristi walks you through various features of TinyCat in 30 seconds or less. If you'd like to schedule a webinar at another time or if you have other questions about TinyCat, you can reach Kristi at tinycat@librarything.com. Poetry Month Treasure Hunt [HuntBirds]April is National Poetry Month, and we’re springing into the season with a poetry hunt! We’ve scattered a quiver of twelve quills around the site, and given members from April 18th–30th to complete the [Poetry Month Hunt](—solving the clues and finding the corresponding pages on LibraryThing. When you find the right page, you’ll get a banner announcing you’ve found a quill. Everyone who finds at least two quills receives a profile badge, with other prizes available the more clues you solve. Come brag about your quiver of quills (and get hints) on [Talk](. The Talk of LibraryThing What conversations are going on in our groups? - A reading visit to [Latin America and the Caribbean]( is being undertaken this April by the members of the [2023 Category Challenge]( group. - Members continue to share the [New Vocabulary]( they have gained through reading—a discussion first launched in 2008—over in [What Are You Reading Now?]( - The books members plan to read from [April through June]( are being shared by the members of the [Non-Fiction Readers]( group. - American short story writer and playwright [Edna Ferber]( has been chosen as the [June Author]( over in [Monthly Author Reads](. Speaking of Groups, if you’re new to LibraryThing, there’s a group for that: [Welcome to LibraryThing](21)! List of the Month Come join LibraryThing’s List of the Month project, as we create a new thematic book list each month. Like all of our [Lists](, the List of the Month draws upon the knowledge of the LibraryThing community, while also aiming to provoke discussion around each theme. See our [wiki page]( for a complete List of the Month list, and join us over in our [Talk group](, for further discussion of the project. April List of the Month. The world grows green, and the garden calls! Our List of the Month this April is devoted to the best books about gardening. Head over to our list of the [Best Gardening Books]( to add your top ten choices. Check out other recent Lists of the Month: - March [Favorite Epistolary Fiction]( - February [Favorite Romance Fiction]( - January [Best Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs]( - December [Top Five Books of 2022]( - November [Noirvember: The Best Noir]( Hot on LibraryThing Here are some titles that have been particularly hot on LibraryThing in the last month: - [Hang the Moon]( by [Jeannette Walls]( - [Romantic Comedy]( by [Curtis Sittenfeld]( - [Homecoming]( by [Kate Morton]( - [I Will Find You]( by [Harlan Coben]( - [Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea]( by [Dav Pilkey]( - [The Only Survivors]( by [Megan Miranda]( - [Dark Angel]( by [John Sandford]( - [The White Lady]( by [Jacqueline Winspear]( - [Loyalty]( by [Lisa Scottoline]( - [Hello Beautiful]( by [Ann Napolitano]( - [Countdown]( by [James Patterson]( - [A House With Good Bones]( by [T. Kingfisher]( - [Camp Zero]( by [Michelle Min Sterling]( - [Poverty, By America]( by [Matthew Desmond]( - [Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity]( by [Peter Attia]( - [Storm Watch]( by [C. J. Box]( - [Things We Hide from the Light]( by [Lucy Score]( - [Tress of the Emerald Sea]( by [Brandon Sanderson]( - [Pineapple Street]( by [Jenny Jackson]( - [The House is on Fire]( by [Rachel Beanland]( Hot in Libraries Here's what's hot across [thousands of public libraries]( in the United States: - [Lessons in Chemistry]( by [Bonnie Garmus]( - [Storm Watch]( by [C. J. Box]( - [I Will Find You]( by [Harlan Coben]( - [Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]( by [Gabrielle Zevin]( - [Spare]( by [Prince Harry]( - [Pineapple Street]( by [Jenny Jackson]( - [Hello Beautiful]( by [Ann Napolitano]( - [I Have Some Questions for You]( by [Rebecca Makkai]( - [Remarkably Bright Creatures]( by [Shelby Van Pelt]( - [Demon Copperhead]( by [Barbara Kingsolver]( - [Someone Else's Shoes]( by [Jojo Moyes]( - [It Ends With Us]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [It Starts with Us]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [Mad Honey]( by [Jodi Picoult]( - [Verity]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]( by [Taylor Jenkins Reid]( - [Daisy Jones and the Six]( by [Taylor Jenkins Reid]( - [The House in the Pines]( by [Ana Reyes]( - [Worthy Opponents]( by [Danielle Steel]( - [The London Séance Society]( by [Sarah Penner]( This data was collected by Syndetics Unbound, a LibraryThing/ProQuest project to enrich the library catalog. The search data is fully anonymized the day it is collected. For more information about Syndetics Unbound, please visit [Syndetics.com](?utm_source=LT&utm_medium=sott&utm_id=main). Free Books from Early Reviewers! Our Early Reviewers program pairs publishers and authors looking for reviews and book buzz with readers looking for their next great read. This month we’re pleased to feature [The Nightingale Affair](, the second entry in [Tim Mason’s]( series of [Charles Field]( mysteries from [Algonquin Books](; six colorful picture books from [Nosy Crow US](, a new division of the UK children’s publisher making their stateside debut; and our very first book—the psychological thriller [Wednesdays at One]( by [Sandra A. Miller](—from another new publisher participant, [Zibby Books](. Explore the full list and [sign up to request books](. [The Nightingale Affair]( [Wednesdays at One]( [The All-American]( [Someone Is Always Watching]( [Nightbloom]( [This Is Where It Ends]( [With Every Memory]( [Funeral Songs for Dying Girls]( [The Light of Eternal Spring]( [Edible Wild Plants, Volume 2: Wild Foods from Foraging to Feasting]( [Your Body Is a Revolution: Healing Our Relationships with Our Bodies, Each Other, and the Earth]( [The Adult]( [Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter]( [Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation]( [Code Crisis]( [Like the Appearance of Horses]( [Call of the Nightingale]( [The Last Lion of Karkov]( [Nomenclatures of Invisibility]( [OKPsyche]( Our April batch of Early Reviewers has 3,202 copies of 174 books. The deadline to request a book is April 25th, 6pm Eastern time. Did you win a book recently? When you receive your book, make sure you head over to your [Books You've Won]( page to mark it received. After you've read your book, add your review to LibraryThing. First, add the book to your LibraryThing catalog. Then click the pencil-shaped "edit" icon next to the book, or click "edit book" from the work page. Type your review into the Review box, and click "submit" to save it. Reviewing your books gives you a greater chance of winning books in the future, while neglecting to review lowers your odds. For more information, visit the [Early Reviewers Help Page](. Book World News: In Memoriam Bestselling British mystery writer [Anne Perry](, known both for her many historical whodunits and for her own youthful crime, [has died at 84](. Born Juliet Hulme, at the age of fifteen Perry was convicted of murder, going on to serve five years in prison. Considered one of the most sensational murder cases in 20th-century New Zealand history, the Parker-Hulme murder has been explored in books such as [Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century](, and in the film [Heavenly Creatures](. After her release from prison, Perry left New Zealand and changed her name, eventually becoming a successful author. Her debut novel, [The Cater Street Hangman](, the first of the long-running [Charlotte & Thomas Pitt]( series, was published in 1979. Her [William Monk]( series, also set in the Victorian era, ran to twenty-four volumes. Altogether Perry published over one hundred books, selling some 26 million copies. Celebrated Yugoslav/Croatian writer and scholar [Dubravka UgreÅ¡ić](, who achieved early acclaim in her country, before going into exile following the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and her subsequent refusal to accept the rising tide of nationalism and militarism around her, [has died at 73](. Touted as a rising literary star upon the publication of her [Fording the Stream of Consciousness](, which was awarded the 1988 [NIN Prize](Prize), given to the best Yugoslav (now Serbian) novel of the year, UgreÅ¡ić went on to win many awards and honors, including the [Austrian State Prize for European Literature]( (1998) and the [Heinrich Mann Prize]( for essays (2000). She was known for her almost encyclopedic literary knowledge, and for the wealth of literary allusions to be found in both her fiction and nonfiction. Other losses in the book world this past month: - [Eric Brown](, British science fiction author and newspaper critic, [has died at 62](. - [Joan Clark](, Canadian novelist and children’s writer, [has died at 88](. - [Patrick French,]( British historian and biographer, [has died at 56](. - [Raghavan Iyer](, Indian-born American chef and cookbook author, [has died at 61](. - [María Kodama](, Argentine writer and executor of the Borges estate, [has died at 86](. - [Edward Koren](, American writer, illustrator and cartoonist, [has died at 87](. - [Judith Miller](, British antiques expert and author, [has died at 71](. - [Chandler O’Leary](, American author, illustrator and lettering artist, [has died at 41](. - [Julie Anne Peters](, American young adult author, [has died at 71](. - [Rachel Pollack](, American science fiction author and trans activist, [has died at 77](. - [Mary Rayner](, British children’s author and illustrator, [has died at 89](. - [Mary Ronnie](, New Zealand national librarian and academic, [has died at 96](. - [Mimi Sheraton](, American food critic and author, [has died at 97](. - [D.M. Thomas](, British novelist, poet and translator, [has died at 88](. - [John E. Woods](, American translator of German literature, [has died at 80](. - [Bill Zehme](, American magazine writer and celebrity biographer, [has died at 64](. Book World News: Freedom of Expression In the United States, the battle over library curation and educational curricula is ongoing, with the [American Library Association]( reporting in late March that it had tracked [1,269 "demands to censor library books and resources" in 2022](, the highest number of book challenges recorded since ALA began tracking such information more than twenty years ago. The total number of challenges in 2022 represents almost double the 721 cases recorded in 2021, while the number of unique titles involved (2,571) represents a 38% increase from the number of titles (1,858) challenged in 2021. In Texas, [a judge’s decision to return more than a dozen books]( to the shelves of the Llano County Public Library, on the grounds that their removal had violated the constitutional rights of community members, led to a tense standoff, in which county officials [considered closing down the library](, in response to the ruling. Ultimately, the decision was made [to keep the library open](, but the possibility of future closure was not ruled out. Similarly, the Missouri House of Representatives recently passed a state budget that [defunded the state’s public libraries altogether](, reportedly in response to a legal challenge being brought by the ACLU, the Missouri Association of School Librarians and the Missouri Library Association to an earlier state law prohibiting sexually explicit material in schools. The [state Senate restored the funding](, and the budget will now go back to the House, where a compromise bill between the chambers is expected. Beloved children’s author [Judy Blume]( has [recently commented]( on the upsurge in book challenges in the US, maintaining that the current situation is worse than it was in the 1980s. Average Americans, in the meantime, have [indicated once again that they support the freedom to read](, with a new poll showing that a majority of respondents believe that middle schoolers should be able to access books addressing ostensibly controversial topics. In China, meanwhile, [the recent imprisonment]( of attorney and author [Xu Zhiyong]( and attorney Ding Jiaxi has led to international criticism, with [Human Rights Watch]( calling for the convictions to be thrown out, a Washington Post editorial [arguing for the importance of Xu Zhiyong’s work](, and the US State Department [offering their condemnation](. In the [March issue]( of State of the Thing we reported on the controversies within the book world surrounding recent efforts to bowdlerize a variety of famous authors’ work, in order to remove content that is now considered outdated or offensive. The [recent announcement]( that many of British children’s author [Roald Dahl’s]( classic tales would be rewritten generated great furor, while a number of similar stories, such as the news that the [James Bond]( novels were to be [rewritten to reflect current sensibilities](, also stirred controversy. It has since been reported that [Agatha Christie’s]( work has been [edited by sensitivity readers]( for new editions, and that [P.G. Wodehouse’s]( beloved [Jeeves and Wooster]( books are [to receive a similar treatment](. Book World News: Awards The winners of the 2022 [National Book Critics Circle Awards](Book+Critics+Circle+Award) have [been announced]( in multiple categories. [Hua Hsu]( has won in the Autobiography category for his [Stay True: A Memoir](, while the winner in the Biography category was [Beverly Gage]( for her [G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century](. The winner in the Criticism category was [Timothy Bewes](, for his [Free Indirect: The Novel in a Postfictional Age](, and in the Poetry category it was [Cynthia Cruz](, for her [Hotel Oblivion](. [Ling Ma]( has won in the Fiction category for [Bliss Montage: Stories](, while [Isaac Butler]( has won in the Nonfiction category for [The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act](. The Gregg Barrios Prize for Book in Translation went to [Grey Bees]( by [Andrey Kurkov](, translated by [Boris Dralyuk](. The John Leonard Prize for debut book went to [Morgan Talty]( for his [Night of the Living Rez](, while the [Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing]( went to [Jennifer Wilson](. The [Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award]( went to [Joy Harjo](, and the newly established Toni Morrison Achievement Award to San Francisco bookstore [City Lights](. In late March President Biden awarded the 2021 [National Humanities Medals](, which recognize work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities," to twelve recipients. Amongst them were authors [Richard Blanco](, [Walter Isaacson](, [Ann Patchett](, [Bryan Stevenson](, [Amy Tan](, [Tara Westover](, and [Colson Whitehead](. The 2023 [PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction](20Award) has [been awarded]( to [Yiyun Li]( for her [The Book of Goose](, described by the committee as a “dazzling, conventions-defying, nuanced novel,” one that offers “a tale of a complicated friendship, of two girls bending toward and away from each other,” and which is told with “a singular prose.” American author [Margo Jefferson]( has [been announced]( as the winner of this year’s [Rathbones Folio Prize](20Prize) for her memoir, [Constructing a Nervous System](. The judges described the book as being “unlike any other; a thrilling, generous, spirited and surprising read that remakes culture, redresses history, renews and repurposes everything it touches, and passes on these gifts of reinvention and renewal to everyone who’ll read it.” In an award structure introduced to the Folio Prize this year, Jefferson’s book was one of three category winners, for Nonfiction, and was then selected as the overall winner of the prize. The Fiction category winner was [Michelle de Kretser]( for her [Scary Monsters](, and the Poetry category winner was [Victoria Adukwei Bulley]( for her [Quiet](. The winner of this year’s [BIO Award](, given out annually by the [Biographers International Organization](, to “a distinguished colleague who has made major contributions to the advancement of the art and craft of biography,” [has been named]( as [Kitty Kelley](. The author of seven biographies, Kelley was praised by the award committee for “her courage in speaking truth to power, and her determination to forge ahead with the story in the face of opposition from the powerful figures she holds accountable.” The BIO also oversees the [Plutarch Award](Award), given out to the best biography of the year, and [recently released their shortlist]( for the honor. [Beverly Gage](, a Yale professor who also won the [National Book Critics Circle Award](Book+Critics+Circle+Award) in the Biography category this year, has [been named as the 2023 recipient]( of the [Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize](20Historical%20Society%20American%20History%20Book%20Prize) for her [G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century](. Once known as the “New-York Historical Society American History Book Prize,” the award is given out annually by the [New-York Historical Society]( to the best work of American history or biography. The winners of this year’s [Audie Awards](Winner), given out by the [Audio Publishers Association]( (APA) in recognition of outstanding audiobook and spoken word entertainment, [have been announced](. Audiobook of the Year went to [Finding Me: A Memoir](, written and narrated by [Viola Davis](, and published by [HarperAudio](, while Best Audio Drama was given to [Pipeline](, written by [Dominique Morisseau](, performed by a cast of seven, and published by [L.A. Theatre Works](. The winner in the Autobiography/Memoir category was [Unprotected: A Memoir]( by [Billy Porter](, narrated by the author and published by [Recorded Books](; while the winner in the History/Biography category was [Summer of ‘85]( by [Chris Morrow](, narrated by [Kevin Hart]( and published by [Audible Originals](. For the complete list of winners, see [this list](. [Susan L. Shirk]( has been [named this year’s winner]( of the [Lionel Gelber Prize](20Gelber%20Prize), given out annually by the University of Toronto’s [Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy]( in recognition of "the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues," for her [Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise](. The jury praised Shirk’s book as “a masterful analysis of the leading contemporary challenge in geopolitics,” one that is “provocative, plausible, and full of pragmatic potential for policymakers.” The winners of this year’s [Windham-Campbell Prizes](, awarded in multiple categories by Yale University, and recognizing English-language writing globally, [have been announced](. The winners in the Fiction category are [Ling Ma]( (United States) and [Percival Everett]( (United States), while [Darran Anderson]( (Ireland / UK) and [Susan Williams]( (United States) have won in the Nonfiction category. The Drama winners are [Dominique Morisseau]( (United States) and [Jasmine Lee Jones]( (UK), while the winners in the Poetry category are [Alexis Pauline Gumbs]( (United States) and [dg nanouk okpik]( (Iñupiaq/Inuit). The National Book Foundation [has announced]( its 2023 “5 Under 35” honorees, highlighting five young authors “whose debut work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.” Each honoree is chosen by a past winner, finalist or longlister of the National Book Award, or by a prior “5 Under 35” honoree, with the authors chosen coming from around the world. This year’s honorees are: [Mateo Askaripour]( for his [Black Buck](, [Chelsea T. Hicks]( for her [A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories](, [Morgan Talty]( for his [Night of the Living Rez](, [Jenny Xie]( for her [Holding Pattern](, and [Ada Zhang]( for her [The Sorrows of Others: Stories](. Produced every ten years, Granta magazine’s [Best of Young British Novelists]( list, which highlights 20 novelists under the age of 40 who show exceptional promise, has [recently been announced](. The parameters of the list were expanded in this newest iteration, with potential authors now including those who consider the UK their home, but who do not hold a UK passport. The young authors listed include: [Graeme Armstrong](, [Jennifer Atkins](, [Sara Baume](, [Sarah Bernstein](, [Natasha Brown](, [Eleanor Catton](, [Eliza Clark](, [Tom Crewe](, [Lauren Aimee Curtis](, [Camilla Grudova](, [Isabella Hammad](, [Sophie Mackintosh](, [Anna Metcalfe](, [Thomas Morris](, [Derek Owusu](, [K Patrick](, [Yara Rodrigues Fowler](, [Saba Sams](, [Olivia Sudjic]( and [Eley Williams](. The 2023 winners of the [Whiting Awards](Award), presented annually by the [Whiting Foundation]( to ten emerging writers in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Drama, [have been announced](. The winners for Fiction include [Marcia Douglas](, [Sidik Fofana](, [Carribean Fragoza]( and [R. Kikuo Johnson](. The Nonfiction winners are [Linda Kinstler]( and [Stephania Taladrid](, while the winner for Drama is [Mia Chung](. The Poetry winners are [Tommye Blount](, [Ama Codjoe](, and [Emma Wippermann](. In the UK, seventy-year-old American poet and novelist [Lee Stockdale]( has [been announced as the winner]( of the [National Poetry Competition]( for his [My Dead Father’s General Store in the Middle of a Desert](, which was praised by judges as “remarkable,” a poem that “caught and held our attention from first reading.” The [International Booker Prize Shortlist](Booker+International+Prize+Shortlist) has [been announced]( with six of the thirteen books from the [Longlist](Booker+International+Prize+Longlist) still in the running for the prestigious literary award. These include: [Still Born]( by [Guadalupe Nettel](, translated by [Rosalind Harvey](; [Standing Heavy]( by[GauZ’](, translated by [Frank Wynne](; [Time Shelter]( by [Georgi Gospodinov](, translated by [Angela Rodel](; [The Gospel According to the New World]( by [Maryse Condé](, translated by [Richard Philcox](; [Whale]( by [Cheon Myeong-kwan](, translated by [Chi-Young Kim](; and [Boulder]( by [Eva Baltasar](, translated by [Julia Sanches](. [Nadia Mikail]( has [been named the winner]( of this year’s [Waterstones Children’s Book Prize](s%20Children's%20Book%20Prize) for her [The Cats We Meet Along the Way](, which won both the Older Readers category and the overall prize. Waterstones children’s head Florentyna Martin praised the book for the “tenderness woven through each chapter,” describing it as “a novel of hope, set against an eventful road trip, that encourages us to share stories and dreams.” The winner in the Younger Readers category was [M.T. Khan]( for her [Nura and the Immortal Palace](, while the winner in the Illustrated Book category was [Kim Hillyard]( for her [Gretel the Wonder Mammoth](. Additional Award News This Month: Winners. [The Academy of American Poets First Book Award]( | [The Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) Best Book Designs List]( | [The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards]( | [The CBC Children’s Favorites Awards]( | [The Christopher Awards]( | [The Comedy Women in Print Book Prize]( | [The Daily Mail First Novel Competition]( | [The Florida Book Awards]( | [The Indie Book Awards]( | [The Novel Prize]( | [The Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature]( | [The Republic of Consciousness Prize]( | [The Story Circle’s Women’s Book Awards]( | [The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize]( | [The Zócalo Public Square Book Prize]( Shortlists / Finalists. [The Age Book of the Year Award]( | [The Benjamin Franklin Awards]( | [The Carol Shields Prize]( | [The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards]( | [The Christian Book Awards]( | [The Commonwealth Short Story Prize]( | [The Donner Prize]( | [The Dublin Literary Award]( | [The Dylan Thomas Prize]( | [The Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards]( | [The Highland Book Prize]( | [The Jhalak Prize]( | [The Lambda Literary Awards]( | [The Oscar’s Book Prize]( | [The Publishing Triangle Awards]( | [The Sami Rohr Prize]( | [The Sheikh Zayed Book Awards]( | [The Stella Prize]( | [The Tir na n-Og Awards]( (English) | [The Tir na n-Og Awards]( (Welsh) | [The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction]( | [The Yoto Carnegie Medals]( Longlists. [The Alligator’s Mouth Award]( | [The Griffin Poetry Prize]( | [The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize]( Other Book World News Bookselling and Publishing The copyright case brought by four major publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House) in 2020 against the [Internet Archive]( in response to their program to lend out digital copies of paper books in their collection—previously reported on in the [September 2022]( and [March 2023]( issues of State of the Thing—has now entered a new and possibly final stage. Judge John G. Koeltl, [ruled in favor of the publishers](, declaring in his [47-page opinion]( that the Internet Archive violated their authors' copyrights, and that their effort to establish a right of "controlled digital lending" had no basis in law. The judge wrote "no case or legal principle supports that notion. Every authority points the other direction." Internet Archive officials vowed to appeal the case, with founder Brewster Kahle stating that “libraries are more than the customer service departments for corporate database products. For democracy to thrive at global scale, libraries must be able to sustain their historic role in society—owning, preserving, and lending books.” He went on to describe the judge’s ruling as “a blow for libraries, readers, and authors.” [Authors Guild]( CEO Mary Rasenberger, by contrast, said that the Internet Archive had "tried to justify its illegal creation and distribution of e-books under a legally absurd theory of fair use,” and that “Judge Koeltl saw through their rhetoric and false comparisons." Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the [Association of American Publishers](, had this to say: “The publishing community is grateful to the Court for its unequivocal affirmation of the Copyright Act and respect for established precedent. In rejecting arguments that would have pushed fair use to illogical markers, the Court has underscored the importance of authors, publishers, and creative markets in a global society.” In the [February]( and [March]( editions of State of the Thing we reported on the issue of AI-generated content and the use of ChatGPT in the book world, covering some of the controversies surrounding AI, from the concern expressed by [audiobook narrators]( and [illustrators]( at what these developments might mean for their respective professions to the recent onslaught of AI-generated content that is overwhelming publishers such as [Clarkesworld]( and [Asimov’s Science Fiction]( magazine. At the end of March it emerged that the ​artificial intelligence tool has been [temporarily banned in Italy]( over privacy concerns, marking the first time the chatbot had been suppressed by a national government. We have been following the case of manuscript thief Filippo Bernardini for the last few months, reporting in the [January]( issue of State of the Thing on [his arrest by the FBI]( and in the [February]( issue on the mystery surrounding the possible motivation for his thefts. Bernardini has now pleaded guilty, stating in his letter to the judge that he stole the manuscripts of forthcoming books in order to read them, and had no intention of selling or releasing them to the public. He [has been spared a jail sentence](, but will be deported and ordered to pay $88,000 in restitution. Library and Literary News Award-winning American children’s author and artist [Tomie dePaola]( is to be [honored by the United States Post Office]( with his own “forever” stamp. The stamp features dePaola’s beloved picture book character, [Strega Nona](, who first appeared in 1975 in the [Caldecott Honor](Honor)-winning title of the same name, and who went on to star in [many subsequent adventures](. A [dedication ceremony for the stamp]( will be held at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire on May 5th. [Little Free Library](, a movement and organization promoting community book exchanges, usually through public book-sharing boxes, [have announced a new initiative]( to set up and maintain such boxes in areas of the US that are considered “book deserts.” The goal is to set up approximately 5,000 LFL book-sharing boxes in areas where access to books is poor. Wait, That's It? That's all I have for the Thing this month! If you have any suggestions, or ideas for improving State of the Thing, please reach out to me at abigailadams@librarything.com. Happy reading, Abigail PS: If you'd rather receive a plain-text version, [edit your email preferences](. You can also read it [online](. This message was sent to {NAME}. Click to [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from future emails](.