Nick of Time

Just days before furloughed staff at the Institute of Museum and Library Services were set to be laid off, a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit co-filed by the ALA staving off further cuts to the beleaguered agency—for now. Charlotte Vassell’s The In Crowd took home the top prize at this year’s Edgar Awards, where the Mystery Writers of America also honored genre titans, booksellers, and publishing professionals. Despite a solid first quarter, Amazon’s forecast for the future remains murky amid concerns about tariffs—and perhaps got even murkier today, after the Trump administration closed a loophole allowing American shoppers to still buy cheap Chinese goods online, per the New York Times. Plus, we talked with Boom! Studios publisher Michael Kelly about his vision for the storied comics house. The Harvard Crimson did a deep dive into the downward trajectory of Harvard University Press, where staff say acquisitions and morale are at an all-time low. Sony’s 3000 Pictures has preemptively acquired film rights to playwright Jordan Harrison’s buzzy debut novel, Miss Archer, reports Deadline. Amid accusations of plagiarism in an influencer’s cookbook, the Washington Post considered the complications of copyrighting recipes. Valerie Stivers signed off as Compact’s book critic with a final missive on the future of literary publishing. The Conversation assessed the rising costs and shrinking margins of books in Australia. And at Pioneer Works’ annual Press Play publishing fair, Lauren Oyler and Brandon Taylor talked to hannah baer about the dark art of literary takedowns.