The Must-Watch SENSE AND SENSIBILITY Trailer

Watch the full trailer for the newest adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is here, check out the BookTok summer reading list, and get updated on the latest AI controversy in publishing. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

Watch the New Sense & Sensibility Trailer

Uggggghhhh I love Sense and Sensibility so much. I’ve watched the Ang Lee film adapted by Emma Thompson more times than I can count, and because I’m loyal to a fault skepticism was my first reaction to this year’s Georgia Oakley film, adapted by Diana Reid and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, and Fiona Shaw. Well, Focus Features just released the full trailer for Sense & Sensibility and it gave my skepticism a swift kick. The sisterhood, the cinematography, the unwashed hair, the sweeping violins! Go watch it now and tell me what you think. And, in case you missed it and want to gaze at stills after the trailer, Vogue published a First Look at the adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s best.

The #BookTok Summer Reading List

Want to know what will be abuzz over at #BookTok in the coming months? Now that summer is officially underway, get into the books and conversations for the 2026 BookTok Summer Reading List, featuring titles from various creators’ personal lists. Here they are:

Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe (Dystopian Romance) Alchemised by SenLinYu (Romantic Fantasy) There Is No Anti Memetics Division by QNTM (Science Fiction) The Secrets We Hide by Karin Slaughter (Mystery/Thriller) Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector (Literary Fiction) The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (Science Fiction) Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Historical Fiction) Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (Romance) The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Science Fiction) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy)

ThriftBooks, Ingram, and PRH Initiate Programs for Libraries

Two new programs working to support library catalogs were announced ahead of this week’s 2026 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition. Ingram Library Services and Penguin Random House are introducing a print-on-demand program intended to help stock libraries with backlist titles, and ThriftBooks launched ThriftBooks LibraryAdvantage, allowing libraries to purchase new and used books directly from the bookseller featuring “exclusive discounted pricing, flexible payment options, and sustainability benefits.” These new programs arrive as public libraries work to recover from the abrupt shut-down of major books distributor Baker & Taylor.

Commonwealth Foundation Clears Writers Accused of Using AI

Remember that debacle involving allegations of AI use among regional winners of the Commonwealth Prize? Well, we have updates:

The verdict: “After a thorough consultation with our judges and careful consideration of all available information, we are satisfied that AI was not used to write the winning stories.”

Read the full story about the findings and lasting impacts of the Commonwealth Prize controversy.