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Amanda Jones, author of That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America

In 2022, when small-town librarian Amanda Jones caught wind of a local public hearing that would discuss “book content,” she knew what was at stake. Schools and libraries nationwide have been bombarded by demands for books with LGBTQ+ references, discussions of racism and more to be purged from the shelves. Amanda would be damned if her community were to ban stories representing minority groups. She spoke out that night at the meeting. Days later, she woke up to a nightmare that is still ongoing. Amanda Jones has been called a groomer, a pedophile and a porn-pusher. She has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and friends alike. But she wouldn't give up without a fight. She sued her harassers for defamation and urged others to join her in the resistance.

Week of September 29, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of September 29th include REVENGE OF THE TIPPING POINT, a brand-new volume from Malcolm Gladwell that reframes the lessons of his groundbreaking first book, THE TIPPING POINT, in a startling and revealing light; PLAYGROUND by Richard Powers, a sweeping, panoramic novel set in the world’s largest ocean where four lives are drawn together; Paula Hawkins' THE BLUE HOUR, a masterful work of fiction that is as page-turning as it is unsettling and recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith; THE SEQUEL, the eagerly awaited follow-up to THE PLOT, in which Jean Hanff Korelitz gives readers an antihero to root for while illuminating and satirizing the world of publishing; and FIRE AND BONES by Kathy Reichs, a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself at the center of an arson investigation that spawns deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence.