This weeks Literary Ledger 22 to 29 August 2025

Welcome to your weekly roundup of all things books! We’re keeping it short and sweet, just five stories to keep you in the loop without overwhelming you. Think of this as your quick fix for staying connected to the book world.

I) Katabasis Released

I’m sure you’ve heard of R.F. Kuang by now. And if you haven’t…do you even read? She’s the author of bestsellers like Yellowface – which has won multiple awards, including the British Book Awards’ Fiction Book of the Year (2024) – Babel, and the infamous Poppy War series. Fans have been eagerly anticipating her latest fantasy novel, and it finally dropped on 26th August.

Katabasis follows two graduate students who set aside their rivalry to journey through Hell in order to save their professor’s soul. Critical reception has been mixed. Publishers Weekly notes: “[Kuang] takes readers on a clever and deeply cerebral, if sometimes fatiguing, journey through hell… It’s not perfect, but Kuang’s devoted fans will find this hits the spot.”

II) Jonathan Karp, CEO of Simon & Schuster, to Step Down to Head New Imprint, Simon Six

After five years at the helm of Simon & Schuster, Jonathan Karp has announced he will step down as CEO to launch and lead a new imprint, Simon Six. Karp plans to edit every book himself and collaborate with the teams at various S&S imprints on a book-by-book basis, saying: “I have decided it’s time for me to return to the part of publishing that animates me the most.”

Funnily enough, the original name for the imprint was going to be X Books, but Elon Musk beat them to it. Probably for the best; it’s usually wise not to copy anything he does for the foreseeable future. The idea behind Simon Six is that each of the six books published annually will have its own X-factor (hence the previous working title).

Simon Six is expected to launch its first list sometime next year, so keep an eye out!

III) The New Adult Book Prize Shortlist 2025

The New Adult Book Prize is a new UK literary award, launched in April 2025 by The Bookseller in association with The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. Five debut authors and five established authors have been nominated, with the winner to be revealed at the Cheltenham Literature Festival this October.

Here’s a quick overview of the ten shortlisted books:

• Onyx Storm (Piatkus) by Rebecca Yarros – #1 New York Times bestselling author. The third book of The Empyrean Series, a fantasy novel.

• Sorcery and Small Magics (Orbit) by Maiga Doocy – first novel of The Wildersongs Trilogy, a cosy fantasy series.

• Heir (Atom) by Sabaa Tahir – first novel of an intended duology; nominated for Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Fantasy (2024) on Goodreads.

• Ghost Chilli (Fleet) by Nikkitha Bakshani – debut fiction novel.

• Disappoint Me (Doubleday) by Nicola Dinan – queer fiction, funny, sharp, and poignant.

• Homesick (HarperFiction) by Silvia Saunders – debut contemporary novel; winner of the Comedy Women in Unpublished Print Award.

• Good Girl (Bloomsbury) by Aria Aber – debut literary fiction novel; made the shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

• The Pairing (Macmillan) by Casey McQuiston – queer romance; nominated for Readers’ Favorite Romance (2024) on Goodreads.

• Under Your Spell (Simon & Schuster) by Laura Woods – romance novel; an easy, fun read.

• Human, Animal (Verve) by Seth Insua – debut literary fiction exploring the enduring effects of conflict and the friction between tradition and progress.

IV) Hamnet Teaser Trailer Drops

The teaser trailer for the film Hamnet has just dropped! This adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s incredible historical fiction novel tells the love story that inspired Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece Hamlet. So far, it looks brilliant, with a stellar cast led by Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.

I’m keeping my fingers (and toes!) crossed that the film stays true to the source material, rather than using it merely as “inspiration”, something that’s frustrated me with recent adaptations like Wuthering Heights (2026) and Frankenstein (2025), which twist the original stories to the point of almost insulting their frameworks.

V) Penguin Celebrates 90th Birthday with 90 Little Book Stops

To celebrate its 90th birthday, Penguin has launched an exciting new project: 90 Little Book Stops. These Stops are essentially community bookshelves or small book boxes placed in neighbourhoods, acting as book exchange spots.

The idea continues the tradition started by Todd Bol in Hudson, Wisconsin in 2009, as a memorial to his mother, a schoolteacher and avid reader. Penguin is partnering with the non-profit Little Free Library, which manages the network, to mark this milestone.

The Little Book Stops will be installed across 12 regions in the UK this autumn. Check back in September when Penguin will reveal all 90 locations, so you can find your nearest Stop and join in the fun!