AGP Executive Report

Digital Releases & Big Names: “The Mummy” is getting a home digital date (May 19), while “Project Hail Mary” lands on Prime Video today—another Andy Weir book-to-screen win. New Book Drops: Weldon Owen is releasing “MARILYN: THE LOST PHOTOGRAPHS • THE LAST INTERVIEW,” unveiling Marilyn Monroe’s complete final LIFE interview and unseen Allan Grant photos. Local Community & Libraries: Emporia High’s Hunter Smith promoted his dragon fantasy series at Elmendaro Township Library, and BC3’s commencement speaker Gregg Behr is bringing “When You Wonder, You’re Learning” to graduates. Publishing Industry: PressReader renewed and expanded its Economist deal, adding corporate and government access across new regions. Culture & Faith: Religious leaders are weighing the “Trump UFO files” as possible biblical angels, sparking fresh online debate. Collectibles: A conserved 1938 Action Comics #1 sold for $1.4M, shepherded by Ventura’s Timmy Heague.

Field-Ready Crop Science: China’s “Tian Shu” crop-decoding push is moving from lab sequencing to real-world field data, aiming to standardize genotype, traits, and environment for smarter breeding. Publishing & Culture: A new book tour spotlights Quebec’s language politics through Guy Rex Rodgers’ “What We Choose To Forget,” while local bookstores keep leaning into experimental theater and experimental storytelling. AI in the Spotlight: The BookTok storm over Mia Ballard’s “Shy Girl” (picked up by Hachette, then dropped after AI-writing accusations) keeps raising the same hard questions about disclosure and what “original” means now. Travel With Numbers: A data roundup ranks which airlines are most and least likely to delay or lose luggage this summer. Libraries Under Pressure: Children’s Books Ireland says school library funding cuts have “collapsed” support, leaving kids short on books. New Releases: Amazon orders “Fourth Wing” to series, and Michael B. Jordan unveils more Prime Video adaptations.

New Releases & Events: A Jersey hot dog history gets a launch party May 22 in New Brunswick as Mark Neurohr-Pierpaoli’s “New Jersey Hot Dogs: A Frank History” spotlights Rutt’s Hut, Jersey Shore footlongs, and regional oddities. Kids’ Creativity: Gillette Castle is hosting a free May 16 workshop where children build secret cardboard doors inspired by the park’s 47 real ones. Pop Culture Books to Screen: Felicity Jones is set to play Agatha Christie in “Eleven Missing Days,” with Vincent Cassel co-starring as the detective drawn into Christie’s 1926 disappearance—headed to Cannes market. Publishing & Awards: Canadian comics creators Michael DeForge, Guy Delisle, and Lee Lai are among Doug Wright Awards finalists, with DeForge nominated for “Holy Lacrimony.” Health & Food Claims: A new review highlights turmeric’s curcumin as potentially supporting brain health via inflammation reduction, while separate book pitches keep pushing natural-healing themes. Legal/Policy: Florida’s “long-arm” statute is being tested in a cancer malpractice case over whether forwarded medical records count as covered “processed” materials.

In the past 12 hours, coverage skewed toward culture, publishing events, and book-adjacent public life, with several items highlighting how books connect to community and identity. Local and author-led moments included a Manhasset artist publishing a children’s picture book inspired by the New York Public Library (“Vivi A–Z at the New York Public Library”), a Minden (Louisiana) Army veteran hosting a book signing for Testimony Loading: Experiencing God’s Healing Peace, and a Montreal Expos historian appearing in Pembroke for a signing tied to The Tragic Story of Willie Davis: And Other Expos Vignettes. There were also broader cultural/arts signals: Berlin’s reckoning with its past via Stolpersteine and archive-facing memorial markers (in a book review), and a spotlight on photography publishing through the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards longlist, spanning topics from colonial legacies to Nazi medical research imagery.

A major thread in the most recent reporting is the intensifying legal fight over AI and copyrighted books. Multiple items in the last 12 hours frame the Zuckerberg/Meta dispute as escalating into a high-stakes federal case: one account says plaintiffs accuse Zuckerberg of personally encouraging AI copyright allegations, while another describes the lawsuit’s core claim that Meta reproduced and distributed “millions of copyrighted works” to train Llama without permission or compensation. This is reinforced by additional “background” coverage in the 12–24 hour window, which similarly centers on the allegation that Zuckerberg personally authorized the use of copyrighted works for AI training, and by broader mentions of publishers suing Meta over AI copyright infringement.

Another notable (though more niche) development is the intersection of books with education policy and censorship. In the last 12 hours, PEN America’s report is cited with specific figures: 3,743 unique titles removed from school classrooms and libraries in 2024–2025, with nonfiction making up 29%—described as more than double the prior year. The same reporting attributes the trend to an “embrace of anti-intellectualism” and links book bans to wider political movements, including those centered on LGBTQ rights. While this is not a single new incident, the repeated emphasis on nonfiction removals and the scale of removals suggests a sustained, measurable escalation rather than isolated cases.

Beyond those headline themes, the last 12 hours also included a mix of entertainment and media-book crossovers and smaller publishing announcements. HBO’s Harry Potter reboot received a second-season renewal (with filming planned for fall), and there were book-related reviews and releases ranging from Yann Martel’s Son of Nobody (focused on history’s footnotes) to crime/thriller recommendations and podcast/book event programming (e.g., Scott Simon’s Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known). Taken together, the coverage suggests a busy publishing ecosystem—yet the strongest “news” signals in this window remain (1) AI copyright litigation and (2) quantified reporting on school book bans.

Note: The most recent evidence is rich on AI/copyright, censorship metrics, and community book events, but comparatively sparse on any single “industry-wide” business shift beyond those themes—so the overall picture is more about escalation in disputes and policy reporting than about one unified new publishing milestone.

In the past 12 hours, coverage skewed toward culture and media releases, with several book-adjacent entertainment items drawing attention. Netflix’s Lord of the Flies series received a detailed review praising its character-focused structure and expanded backstories, while another review framed Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 as “forgettable fun” despite liking the story setup. On the publishing side, multiple “what to read” and review pieces circulated (including Mother’s Day paperback recommendations and reviews such as The Vast Enterprise and Small Town Girls), alongside announcements like Q-Workshop’s officially licensed Lord of the Rings dice sets and a book fair opening in Plasencia featuring “new voices.” There were also notable local/industry updates tied to books and reading infrastructure, including the Idaho Blue Book’s redesigned availability for purchase and North Dakota’s Center for the Book selecting titles for the National Book Festival.

A second major thread in the last 12 hours involved legal and policy commentary that intersects with books and information. A RealClearPolitics-authored piece argued that the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision highlights not only the ruling but also the timing of when the Court decides cases. Separately, multiple items in the broader feed point to ongoing disputes over AI and copyrighted works (e.g., “Nvidia Must Face Most Of Authors’ AI Copyright Suit,” “Meta Sued…Training Llama On Pirated Books,” and publishers suing Meta), though the most recent evidence provided here is more headline-level than deeply detailed in the text excerpts. The most concrete “books + law” item in the last 12 hours is the release of a note connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide attempt, which was ordered unsealed and described as having been found in a book in his cell.

The last 12 hours also included a clear “reading culture” and community-events emphasis. An educational event for young authors is scheduled in Okotoks, with students meeting professional authors and artists in a day dedicated to literacy and storytelling. In the same window, there were announcements and profiles that treat books as community-building tools—such as a North Dakota Center for the Book update on award winners and tours, and a local author spotlight on a new children’s book about hope and healing. Even where the content is not strictly “book news,” the coverage repeatedly ties back to reading habits, author events, and book fairs.

Looking back 3–7 days (as supporting continuity rather than the main focus), the feed shows the same AI/copyright conflict building momentum, with repeated references to publishers suing Meta and Zuckerberg over alleged AI training using copyrighted books. It also shows continuity in “book as public life” coverage—e.g., ongoing attention to book bans and school curriculum disputes, and more general commentary on reading culture and literacy. However, because the most recent 12-hour window is dominated by reviews, entertainment tie-ins, and event announcements, the evidence for any single large “breaking” book-industry shift in the last day is limited; the strongest corroborated theme remains the sustained attention to AI and copyright, with the latest items mostly reinforcing what’s already been developing.

In the past 12 hours, coverage skewed toward new book releases, author profiles, and publishing-industry items rather than a single dominant “breaking” story. Several pieces highlighted fresh fiction and nonfiction: Lesley Downie’s middle-grade adventure Kat and the Totally Twisty Tunnels Time Forgot; Andrea Mara’s psychological thriller Such a Nice Girl; Siri Hustvedt’s memoir Ghost Stories; and Clare McGlynn’s study/review coverage on extreme porn and how to fight it. Other publishing-related announcements included Xulon Press releasing multiple Christian titles (memoir, devotional/study, and grief-focused work), Liberty Hill Publishing launching the sci-fi Artificial Underworld, and reMarkable unveiling the “reMarkable Paper Pure” tablet with features like handwriting search and meeting-note tools.

Cultural and literary events also featured prominently. The Griffin Poetry Prize’s 2026 lifetime recognition award went to Chilean poet Raúl Zurita, with background on his work and experiences under Chile’s dictatorship. Canadian youth writing programming continued with CBC Books’ “The First Page” student challenge, including details on submission volume and the selection process. Local library programming appeared as well, such as a Mother’s Day Tea and book discussion centered on Little Women, and other community reading events.

A notable thread across the most recent coverage is the intersection of books with media, technology, and distribution. PressReader expanded its partnership with VIA Rail to provide eligible passengers extended complimentary access to digital reading before departure and after arrival. There was also continued attention to book-to-screen and screen-adjacent publishing: Netflix’s Lord of the Flies miniseries coverage, and Apple TV’s trailer for Propeller One-Way Night Coach, adapted from John Travolta’s children’s book. Meanwhile, industry commentary included calls for research spending balance (“Industry must match Government research spend”) and travel/reading experiences framed as part of broader consumer offerings.

Looking slightly further back (12 to 24 hours ago), the same major publishing controversy began to consolidate: multiple items state that major publishers are suing Meta and Mark Zuckerberg over alleged copyright infringement in AI training, including claims that Zuckerberg “personally authorized” the infringement. That theme continues into the 24–72 hour window as well, reinforcing that this is the most sustained “industry-level” development in the rolling week—though the provided evidence is still largely headline-level and lawsuit framing rather than new court outcomes.

Overall, the last 12 hours read more like a busy mix of releases, reviews, and cultural programming, while the most consequential continuity across the week is the escalating legal dispute between publishers and AI platforms (Meta/Zuckerberg). If you want, I can produce a separate “top 5 most newsworthy items” list strictly from the strongest corroborated themes in the provided evidence.