Can't see this email? Open in your browser

Lit Hub Daily

April 17, 2026

TODAY: In 1397, Chaucer shares the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of King Richard II.

We need your help to continue our essential coverage of the literary world. Lit Hub Members get an ad-free reading experience, exclusive newsletters, editors’ recommendations, early book giveaways, and our classic Joan Didion tote. | Support Lit Hub today.

Four films remain in our Best Literary Adaptations bracket! Want to push your favorites to the finals? Get voting. | Lit Hub

Was Rasputin a fraud? A mystic? A womanizer? A prophet. Whatever he was, he changed history. | Lit Hub History

Luke Goebel reflects on the dark arts of writing dangerously (and on his marriage, while he’s at it). | Lit Hub Memoir

“Many lay Catholics were very interested in contraception, and many parish priests—and even some high-level theologians—supported their desires.” On the devout Catholic father of five behind oral contraception. | Lit Hub Religion

Maria Semple’s Go Gentle, Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House, and Lena Dunham’s Famesick all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. | Book Marks

THIS WEEK ON THE HUB: Dissenting opinion: Why Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is good, actually · Seven novels to read if you’re obsessed with Elif Batuman · Seven movies that were tragically cut from our Best Literary Film Adaptations bracket · You can spend a night (or several) in the horny hockey cottage from Heated Rivalry · Meet this year’s literary Guggenheim fellows · Are these the most influential novelists of 2026? · The Center for the Art of Translation is getting a permanent home in San Francisco · Here are the winners of the 2026 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.

Rachel Khong’s TBR pile includes books by Anne Truitt, Simon Critchley, James Hillman, and more. | Lit Hub Criticism

Leise Hook on what her American and Chinese names reveal about herself. | Lit Hub Memoir

Ramona Ausubel recommends an exercise for getting unstuck and considers the power of “what if.” | Lit Hub Craft

For the next installment of our National Poetry Month series, we recommend reading Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays.” | Lit Hub Poetry

“Route 11 was at a standstill. For the last five minutes I’d been keeping pace with a telephone pole.” Read from Christopher Hebert’s new novel, Delivery. | Lit Hub Fiction

DEAR MONICA LEWINSKY IS A MUST-READ!

From the acclaimed author of American Mermaid comes a wise, funny, and wildly original examination of female desire and the price women pay for giving in to their appetites.

Learn More

“GRIPPING.” –BOOKLIST, STARRED REVIEW

New from award-winning author Taylor Brown: a suspenseful, thrilling tale where once-extinct wolves have returned, the land is tinder-dry and fragile, and desperate men seek to reclaim what they believe is theirs to rule.

Order Now