By Andrew Richard Albanese, Editor-in-Chief
It’s summer, and Carlo Carrenho is enjoying some much needed time off with family, so I’m stepping in again this week with a somewhat abbreviated version of the Around the Book World column. Same goes for this week, though: don’t fear, Carlo will be back for the August 24th edition.In the meantime, among the headlines this week: Russian strikes have once again targeted Ukraine’s publishing industry; Sharjah announces the dates for its upcoming Bookseller Conference; IFLA announces the location of its 2028 meeting; U.S. literary agents revise their code of ethics; young readers are said to be driving a book boom in Korea; and why you really should read author and translator Emily Wilson’s much talked about London Review of Books essay on Christopher Nolan’s the Odyssey.
Russian Strikes in Ukraine Again Damage Key Publishing Industry Infrastructure
Chytomo reports that fresh Russian attacks have damaged a family-run bookstore in Kyiva, a library branch in Lviv, and a key distribution center in Kharkiv. According to the report, the “Alpaca bookstore near Kyiv’s Pochaina metro station” and “Library Branch No. 32 in Lviv” were damaged in strikes last week, and a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv set fire to an RNK-Ranok logistics center, reportedly destroying eight million books—said to be roughly a third of Ukraine’s annual book supply, including “600,000 school textbooks intended for delivery to Ukrainian schools by September 1.”
The report notes that this was the second time the Alpaca bookstore, “a family-run Kyiv bookstore specializing in children’s, educational, and fiction,” has been damaged in the last six weeks. In a bit of good news, library reps in Lviv told Chytomo that no books were damaged and all employees were safe. Meanwhile, in a statement, RNK-Ranok CEO Victor Kruglov said the drone attack was the second at the same location, suggesting that the attacks on Ukraine’s book supply are indeed deliberate. Kruglow put preliminary losses at around a billion hryvnias (approximately $22.4 million).
Brazil to Host 2028 IFLA World Library and Information Congress
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has announced that it has selected Brasília, Brazil’s capital city, to host the 2028 World Library and Information Congress (WLIC), set to run from August 21-24, 2028. “After 17 years, IFLA and WLIC return to Latin America and the Caribbean,” an IFLA release states, adding that Brasília is not only Brazil’s “third-most populous city and the nation’s vibrant capital,” but also “a city that has for decades encouraged an entrepreneurial and innovative outlook toward librarianship.”
In a statement, Tiago Emmanuel Nunes Braga, Director of the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT) IBICT and chair of the National Committee to organize the event, and Ricardo Crisafulli Rodrigues, General Coordinator of the National Committee, said organizers would soon begin planning the program for IFLA’s flagship annual event. “Our aim is to ensure that every delegate experiences a warm reception in our city and has the opportunity to immerse themselves in Brazilian and Latin American culture alongside the professional program,” noting that Brazil “one of the world’s most multicultural countries.
Sharjah Announces Dates for Its Upcoming Bookseller Conference
In a release this week, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), announced that the fifth Booksellers Conference will take place on September 19-20 at Expo Centre Sharjah. Reps said this year’s conference will bring together “booksellers, distributors, and e-commerce platforms from 98 countries” to explore “the state of global book distribution, explore strategies to strengthen supply chains, enhance partnerships between distributors and publishers, and address the accelerating digital transformation in bookselling and distribution.” Registration is open until September 18, and attendees can register here.
The release notes that this year’s program will feature a strong emphasis on the “operational aspects of bookselling and distribution,” with sessions addressing “stock management techniques, demand analysis, return reduction, and supply chain efficiency,” as well as discussions designed to build relationships among distributors, publishers, and authors. In a statement, Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, CEO of the SBA, said the Booksellers Conference represents a cornerstone of Sharjah’s strategy to “reinforce the sustainability of book markets” and “consolidate Sharjah’s status as a leading global hub for the publishing industry.”
New Study Shows Growth in the Number of U.K. Children Listening to Audio Content
During the U.K.’s National Year of Reading, there’s been much written about declining levels of reading for pleasure among young people. But The Bookseller reports that two surveys released by the U.K.’s National Literacy Trust (with support from Penguin Random House) reveal that young people ages 8-18 are listening to stories—including audiobooks—in growing numbers. According to one report, Children and Young People’s Audio Listening in 2026, released on July 27 and based on the responses of 110,114 children, 47.3% of respondents listened to some form of audio in 2026, with podcasts being the most common format (49.1%), followed by listening to both audiobooks and podcasts (28.7%), and audiobooks only (22.3%).
A second report, Audiobooks in the Home, based on an online survey of 3,000 parents and caregivers, found that 69.2% of respondents said “someone in their household listened to audiobooks.” The research shows that “audio is much more than an alternative to print—it is another powerful route into stories, knowledge, and reading for enjoyment,” Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the NLT, told the Bookseller. Penguin Audio publisher Richard Lennon added that the findings underscore the publisher’s belief that “there is no single ‘right way’ to read,” and that “audiobooks sit alongside print and e-books as an important part of building a lifelong reading habit.”
U.S. Literary Agents Update Their Code of Ethics
The Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) has announced the release of a revised Canon of Ethics to be adopted on September 1, 2026. The revision aims to update the profession’s ethical framework “to reflect the realities of modern literary representation,” including “industry consolidation, new business models, emerging technologies, and changing patterns of book discovery.” The code was last updated in 2022. “Authors and creators are asking more of their literary agents than ever before, and our members should have the flexibility to meet those evolving needs in ways that make sense for their businesses and their clients,” said AALA president Regina Brooks, in a release.
In the author-focused U.S. newsletter The Bottom Line, industry analyst Jane Friedman offers a comprehensive look at the changes. “The short version in my view: With the blessing of the AALA, agents can earn money however they like, as long as financial arrangements are disclosed, transparent, and/or mutually agreed upon, and agents don’t directly ask for payment (especially under the guise of services) in exchange for representation,” Friedman writes. “I believe most agents work in good faith and protect the interests of their clients, and I imagine little will change in the business practices of well-regarded, established agencies. But starting September 1, when the new AALA Canon of Ethics goes into effect, authors must be more diligent, and sharp in evaluating who they partner with.”
Reading Is on the Rise Among Young Adults in Korea
Japan’s The Mainichi reports that “South Koreans in their 20s and 30s, the country’s most avid users of artificial intelligence, are also driving a reading renaissance that is reshaping the domestic publishing market.” According to the Korean culture ministry’s 2025 National Reading Survey, “the share of South Korean adults who read at least one book a year, whether in print, digital, or audio format, has steadily declined for more than a decade, falling from 72.2% percent in 2013 to 38.5% in 2025,” the article states. But “the reading rate among people in their 20s stood at 75.3%, and among those in their 30s at 66.4%, while a separate government survey by the science ministry on internet usage found that the same age groups also had the highest rates of generative AI use, at 75.3% and 71.1% respectively.”
There appear to be several reasons for the rise in reading among younger Koreans, the report notes, citing interviews with consumers at the Seoul International Book Fair, held in late June, including the apparent success of some popular social media campaigns. But the interviews also touched on AI, with some readers reporting that AI helps by answering questions and offering recommendations. Another reader, however, suggested the reading rebound is not driven by AI so much as a reaction to it. “People are using AI so much that they’re losing time to read and think, and I think they realize they need to go back to reading books to form their own ideas and express themselves,” the reader suggested.
Hachette Reports Decent Results—and an Expected Windfall from the Anthropic Settlement in the U.S.
As Publishing Perspectives reported this week, Hachette parent company Lagardère Publishing reported a “solid first half” of 2026 in a July 28 earnings call, despite an overall soft publishing market. Specifically, revenue contracted by 1.6% in France over 2025 in what officials said was a positive result given a “difficult” market in France that, overall, declined by around 5%. U.K. sales were down 1.2% against a strong 2025; U.S. sales rose 1.3%, based on a “particularly dynamic frontlist” and strong audiobook sales; and revenue in Spain/Latin America revenue rose sharply by 13%.
Meanwhile company officials on the call confirmed that the publisher stands to reap a sizable sum from the recently approved Anthropic settlement in the U.S., although they declined to offer an estimate. “We had, let’s say, a good and significant settlement in the U.S.,” a company officials said on the call, noting that while some publishers—notably Bloomsbury—have disclosed their “expectations” regarding the settlement, it was too early to disclose any specific amounts. However, officials put the “total number” of Lagardère Publishing titles in the settlement at around 15,00o, which at an estimated $3,000 to $3,100 per work, split with the authors, means the publisher could take in more than $22 million.
New S&S CEO Greg Greeley on His First 100 Days
On this month’s edition of the Open Book podcast, Open Road CEO David Steinberger sat down with new Simon & Schuster CEO Greg Greeley to talk about his first 100 days at the helm. While Greeley didn’t offer new details about the publisher’s strategic initiatives, he spoke more about some of the themes he touched on in his interview with Publishing Perspectives at the London Book Fair this past March, right after his appointment.
In London, Greeley told Publishing Perspectives that he had one priority at the start of his tenure: “listen and learn. I’m a big believer that a strategy handed down from one person is never going to work, right? I’m not going to come in as an outsider and have the perfect strategy. What I want to do is hear from people where the biggest opportunities are, and the biggest pain points, and then, collectively with the leadership team, we will attack those things,” he said. In listening to the podcast, it sounds like that is what happening.
Translator Emily Wilson Weighs in on Christopher Nolan’s New Film, but Don’t Let the Headlines Distract You
There have been many headlines about translator Emily Wilson criticizing Christopher Nolan’s film version of The Odyssey (which the famed director has said was inspired by Wilson’s translation, the first into English by a woman) in an essay for the London Review of Books. But her essay is so much more than that: it’s a fascinating look at translation, art, storytelling, filmmaking, history, writing, geopolitics. It is a glorious piece of writing and it would be a shame to let it be reduced to headlines about her criticizing Nolan.
“In what we are told is the streaming era, this epic is bringing audiences back to cinemas. In what we are told is a time of declining literacy and the ‘death of the humanities’, translations of The Odyssey, including mine, are flying off the shelves,” Wilson concludes. “Some of those who buy the book or show up in cinemas to watch Tom Holland may go on to study ancient Greek. Perhaps the film will persuade a few college administrators not to cut their literature, language, and history departments. Nolan, who studied English at University College London—where students still study The Odyssey as a first year ‘foundational text’—is doing his best to get the general public reading again, and I am grateful.”