This weeks Literary Ledger 03 to 10 July 2026

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) TikTok Joins the National Year of Reading

TikTok is now an official partner of the National Year of Reading. This is both surprising and… not surprising. While you could argue that social media is one of the biggest contenders for taking up children’s attention and time away from reading, it is probably also one of the only ways to reach them now.

To celebrate the partnership, TikTok hosted an event at the British Library as part of its BookTok celebrations, featuring live discussions, creator panels, book recommendations and more. The event forms part of TikTok’s wider “World’s Biggest Book Club” initiative, which includes in-app content, live events and community activities designed to encourage reading throughout 2026.

There is no denying that TikTok has had a huge impact on the book world. BookTok has helped drive book sales and even brought attention back to books that had long been forgotten, overlooked, or were previously flying under the radar. 

II) BookTok’s Latest Obsession: Yesteryear

If you haven’t heard of Yesteryear… who am I kidding, of course you have. But, for a little reminder for those who need it, it follows a “tradwife” influencer who suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855. It is Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel.

I am currently reading it right now, actually! It has taken the number one spot on June’s BookTok chart and has certainly been sparking lots of conversation. It has also reignited thoughts I had that had sort of moved on from back in 2024, from the likes of Ballerina Farm or Nara Smith, who both emulate the tradwife lifestyle that our character does here.

I’m really enjoying it at the moment. I do have some qualms with it, especially when it comes to the main character and how aware she is of the situation she finds herself in as a modern tradwife. I think the biggest thing is that, as a tradwife influencer, you probably don’t see your own life as being as undesirable as others might view it, even in your own head. It’s almost a form of brainwashing, which is why I find it interesting that she is so self-aware at times, yet still contradicts herself when recognising the misogyny and hypocrisies around her.

Anyway, I don’t want to spoil anything because I still really enjoy it. I’m getting through it quickly and want to see what happens in the end and how we round up this story!

III) Fern Press Closes to New Publishing

Fern Press, which was launched only a few years ago as a boutique literary imprint focused on distinctive fiction and non-fiction, has now closed to new publishing and will no longer be acquiring new books.

This is part of PRH’s Vintage division, which said the decision was prompted by the departure of a key member of the imprint rather than poor performance or cost-cutting. Although books already under contract will still be published, Fern Press authors will be transferred to other imprints within Vintage. No titles are being cancelled.

IV) Hachette Employees Vote to Unionise

A couple of months back, I wrote about how 600 Hachette Book Group employees across the U.S. and Canada launched the Hachette Workers Coalition (HWC). Hachette declined to recognise the HWC, leading employees to push for a formal vote where they could privately decide whether the union would receive official recognition.

The majority has now voted in favour of unionising, with 388 employees voting yes and 130 voting no to join the Washington-Baltimore News Guild. Hachette will now be legally required to negotiate with the union.

This is a great and impressive step for Hachette employees, especially considering management sent out flyers arguing against unionisation in an attempt to sway employees away from voting yes, with phrases such as “Why We Believe Hachette is Stronger Without a Union” and “What You Could Lose With Union Negotiation.”

HBG now joins HarperCollins among the Big Five publishers with a recognised union.

V) When AI Writes the Wrong Story

AI has made its way back into the LL, only a matter of time, though. Amazon has removed several books about Scottish politicians, including John Swinney, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, after they appeared to have been generated using AI.

The books contained many false claims, with one of the more bizarre and far-fetched examples being that First Minister John Swinney was born in Ohio to a Polish mother and had worked as a teacher, none of which is true.

This is a dreadful spread of misinformation, and what is worrying is that people trust books, or at least they used to, in the sense that you believed what you were reading came from someone who was an expert, or had at least done their research. With AI, who is there to hold it accountable when it’s a machine?