Literary Adaptations: Starburns’ stop-motion/live-action “Lincoln in the Bardo” is stacking its voice cast, with Meryl Streep, Colman Domingo, Bill Hader and Tom Waits joining—an extra push for George Saunders’ Booker-winning novel as it heads toward TIFF: The Market. Publishing & Community: California’s State Library added “The Circle of Kourabies,” a mother-daughter reconstruction of immigrant history built from letters, records, and heirloom recipes—proof that family archives can become public literature. Books in Schools: Philadelphia’s K-8 English overhaul is still struggling: teachers report weak phonics support, not enough time to read full books, and uneven help for students who fall behind. Author Spotlight: Claire Ackroyd, a Maine organic inspector turned mystery writer, shared how her series hinges on a protagonist with specialized knowledge—leading to “Murder in the Maple Woods” and “Body in the Blueberry Barrens.” Reading Culture: Lincoln, Nebraska, picked Bruce Holsinger’s “Culpability” for its One Book One Lincoln program, tying family drama to AI-shaped secrets. Poetry & Attention: A new poem exchange reframes prose vs poetry as a call for longer, deeper attention—an ethics-of-reading moment.