This weeks Literary Ledger 29 to 5 September 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) “Wuthering Heights” Trailer Drops

Oh goodness, where to even begin? I had low expectations for this film from just the set photos, the casting choices, and Kharmel Cochrane's (casting director) comments on the surrounding discourse: “There’s definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy. There was one Instagram comment suggesting the casting director should be shot. But just wait until you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not. You really don’t need to be accurate. It’s just a book. That is not based on real life. It’s all art.”

It almost feels insulting for Fennell to call it “just a book.” If it’s just a book, why base your own art on it? Why not come up with your own original idea to… ruin? I also find her comment a bit tone-deaf. I could go on forever about everything that’s already wrong here. I’m genuinely gutted over the casting choice for Heathcliff. There’s no disputing his description in the novel: “But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman . . .” And somehow we landed on Jacob Elordi?

It’s rare for POC actors, especially Black, mixed, or South Asian actors, to take center stage in a film like this. Yet here, even though the story itself would have allowed it without debate (though surely some would have complained anyway), it didn’t happen. It’s striking when an 1847 Emily Brontë can feel more socially aware than a 2025 filmmaker. Wuthering Heights grapples with the effects of class and race on its characters, but this adaptation has been whitewashed and polished into something flashy and shallow.

The crux of the novel is that Heathcliff is not white, and poor. It matters. To suggest otherwise either means you didn’t read the book (which I highly doubt Emerald did) or you completely missed the point. And then there’s Catherine being played by a 35-year-old blonde Margot Robbie. The character is engaged at 15, married at 18, and, spoiler alert, dies very young. Her youth and early death are central to the story: Heathcliff loses her at such a formative age, and his obsession with that loss drives him to ruin the lives of everyone around him. Changing her age and appearance feels not only tone-deaf but utterly pointless.

And to say this is going to upset a lot of English Lit fans, who exactly are you marketing this film to, then? Who did you expect to watch it? That was your audience, and you’ve completely alienated them. Because the people fawning over Jacob Elordi surely aren’t going to make up for it, are they?

I saw someone comment that she didn’t even bother to read the SparkNotes, and that honestly made me chuckle.

To summarise: it’s Fifty Shades of Grey meets Wuthering Heights fanfic, debased, corset-ripping, full of sexual innuendo, the type where they feed each other fruit and suck on fingers (I think that was actually in the trailer), have sexual fantasies across the room, and engage in the most taboo sex imaginable. It’s so predictable that I can’t help but ask: why even use the book if it’s just to insult it?

Rant over, sorry! I wasn’t sure if this blog was meant to be unbiased, but I guess I’ve found my answer. The most ironic part? The trailer looked good… as its own movie. Emerald Fennell is talented with psychosexuality and eroticism, but for Wuthering Heights? Absolutely not.

II) A Summer Slump: The Decline of Children’s Book Sales in 2025

Children are the future of our world and a reflection of the direction in which humanity is evolving. One way to understand this is through literature, by looking at what children are reading, how much, and when.

However, according to NielsenIQ BookScan’s Total Consumer Market (TCM), children’s book sales have seen a decline. For the 12 weeks leading up to 23rd August, the total sales for the children’s category were worth £83.9m, a drop of 8.4% compared with the same period in 2024, when sales reached £91.6m. Making it the weakest summer since 2019.

This decline is not reflected in other categories, only children’s books, so it can’t simply be blamed on a wider market trend. It’s unfortunate to see, and hopefully just a temporary blip. Once school is out, with more free time and fewer structured activities, screens may become the easiest option. It’s easier to keep them entertained, but ironically, much harder to get them to focus on anything that requires more than 30 seconds of attention.

But then again, I feel almost old-fashioned saying that, is it just a lazy excuse we fall back on when we can’t think of another explanation? I’m not entirely sure. On the other hand, some suggest that hot weather dampens book sales during the summer, which is also a reasonable explanation.

III) Reese Witherspoon Joins Hachette’s “Raising Readers” Campaign

I came across a post on my LinkedIn feed from Hachette Book Group that I hadn’t expected: Reese Witherspoon is joining their ‘Raising Readers’ campaign as both the audiobook voice and spokesperson.

Beginning this autumn, Reese Witherspoon will deliver an urgent message featured in Hachette Audio’s fiction titles. You can listen to a preview here: https://soundcloud.com/hachetteaudio/raising-readers 

Witherspoon’s role is to help address the decline in children’s reading, particularly when it comes to reading for pleasure. The campaign encourages parents to guide their children to read for at least ten minutes a day, a habit that studies have shown can have a positive impact.

IV) Revisit Forks: Watch All Five Twilight Movies for Free

It is officially autumn, which brings with it many things: landscapes painted in orange hues, jumper weather, and misty mornings. And with the season comes a wave of media to set the mood, cult classics included. One of the most iconic? Twilight.

If these films spark a sense of autumnal nostalgia for you, then you’re in luck. To mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of Stephenie Meyer’s first Twilight novel, Lionsgate has announced that all five Twilight films will stream for free on YouTube for the very first time. The movies will run on a continuous loop from September 7 at 12:00 PM PT through September 14 at 11:59 PM PT. You can watch them here: https://www.youtube.com/live/f7-xgAkNxDs 

It’s shaping up to be a great week for supernatural/romance enthusiasts. Shockingly, I’ve only made it as far as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, so I might have to tune in myself.

V) Wiley’s AI Efforts Grow as Education Revenue Drops

CEO Matthew Kissner told The Scholarly Kitchen when discussing AI, "We’re at a fascinating inflection point right now with AI, and it’s creating very interesting opportunities to reinvent how we approach publishing - I’ve worked in other industries where players who failed to adapt simply aren’t here today."

Wiley recently executed a ‘landmark’ $20 million (approx £15 million) AI licensing project with a major tech company. However, not all of the company’s AI efforts have been positive. The learning group, which includes textbooks, courses, and educational products, saw revenue drop 7%. Part of this decline came from AI licensing, which fell $3 million (approx £2 million). Weakness in professional sales, such as products for businesses, also contributed to the overall decline. Still, Wiley expects modest revenue growth next year and anticipates an improvement in profitability.

It begs the question: is AI truly the future of publishing, and how far will this push go? While Wiley leads the way in academic and scholarly publishing, one can’t help but wonder if AI will start to permeate the more creative side of the industry as well. The idea that huge sums of money are being poured into AI for publishing is, frankly, a sad one, especially when we think about what might be lost in the process. How far is too far?