The Book News Book Riot Covered This Week

Here is the book news we covered this week at Book Riot:

The State of U.S. Civics Education: Book Censorship News for May 2, 2025

What does the average American know about their civic rights or about how this country’s democracy and government operate? The answer depends on who you ask, of course, and in an era where many are labeling the moment a Constitutional crisis, understanding the reality of American civics education helps explain where, why, and how a country built on democracy so easily lets it slip away from the grasp of its citizens.

Meta Says Pirated Books are Both Invaluable and Worthless, and More Library News

Library folks, I’ve got some interesting updates to dive into. Besides the usual batch of censorship lawsuits and legislation updates, there’s a head-scratching analysis of Meta’s legal defense for using copyrighted texts to train its AI model, as well as a couple of unusual reflections on genre.

7 Adaptations Out in May We Hope are Just as Good as the Book

It’s May, which means we have a whole new month of new page-to-screen adaptations to get excited about. Whether you’re ready to head to a movie theater and buy a big, expensive (but tasty) tub of popcorn, or if you’ve got a more Netflix-and-chill type of vibe this month, there are adaptations you’re going to want to tune in for. We’re talking new seasons of some of your favorite TV shows, sequels to cult favorites, new horror, new thrillers, new sci-fi, and more.

The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists

Remember how we said Rebecca Yarros’s reign over the bestseller list seemed to have ended? The dragons rallied and put two of the Empyrean books back on the list. That’ll show us!

This Year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners

The winners of this year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced over the weekend. The Book Prizes were founded in 1980, and they honor books published in English in the prior year. Judges come from a wide range of backgrounds, including authors, librarians, journalists, and academics. 

This year’s Prizes were presented in 13 categories.