Book Sales Are Softening, NBCC Winners, and More Book News.

The Book Riot Podcast episode covers a range of current publishing news, beginning with a notable shift in book sales trends: print sales dipped over 3% in Q1 2026, driven by declines in romance and hardcover nonfiction, signaling a quieter year without major breakout hits like ACOTAR or Let Them Theory. The hosts reflect on the implications of this slowdown, suggesting a return to more traditional bestsellers—backlist titles, book club favorites, and adaptation-driven books—rather than algorithm-fueled phenomena. The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) 2025 awards are celebrated, with standout wins for Hong Kong’s *We Do Not Part*, Arundhati Roy’s memoir *Mother Mary Comes to Me*, and Nicholas Boggs’ debut *Baldwin, A Love Story*. The episode also highlights First National Black Bookstore Day on April 7th, promoting support for Black-owned bookstores through a newly launched directory. Other topics include the rise of AI-generated micro dramas from Harlequin and Dashverse, adaptation news for *The Corrections* (Netflix, starring Meryl Streep and adapted by Jonathan Franzen), and *Dungeon Crawler Carl* being picked up by Peacock. The hosts also share personal reading highlights, including Tom Junod’s deeply personal memoir *How Right I Was in the Days of My Youth* and Tia Kier Madden’s layered thriller *Whitby*, both praised for their emotional depth and literary craft.