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Lit Hub Daily

December 18, 2025

TODAY: In 1870, Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen name Saki, is born.

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We’re proud of everything we publish, but we definitely have our favorites. These are the Lit Hub stories our staff loved in 2025. | Lit Hub

Sandy Ernest Allen reckons with Harry Potter as a trans person: “I’d often look at that Harry Potter blockade and wonder why I was clinging to them, especially if their author thought so little of my humanity.” | Lit Hub Memoir

“Am I the asshole for calling out romance novelists who don’t actually care about romance?” Kristen Arnett answers this and other questions about your literary drama. | Lit Hub Advice

Terese Svoboda on mixing personal memories with public histories (and what her mother-in-law has to do with Hitler). | Lit Hub History

“Everyone is enticed into this orgy of analysis, to feast and gorge on information, to go a little mad in the process.” The 10 best book reviews of 2025. | Book Marks

“I understand the nature of war—writing about war, living through war—and why war is an indelible, horrible experience, yet absolutely central in human history.” On the history and future of authoritarianism, war, and literature in Europe. | Lit Hub In Conversation

FALLON BOOK CLUB PICK & #1 NYT BESTSELLER—THE NEW MUST-READ FROM FREDRIK BACKMAN

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later.

Read Now

Tammi Morton-Kelly rediscovers Rea Irvin’s classic comic strip, The Smythes. | The Comics Journal

Escapism, podcasts, and risk-aversion: Emma Loffhagen considers what’s behind the nonfiction dip. | The Guardian

Kyle Chayka looks back on the year in AI slop. | The New Yorker

On Władysław Reymont, “chronicler of the profane” and Poland’s often overlooked Nobel laureate. | Asymptote

Ellis Simani investigates how nonprofits navigate the language of DEI in the era of Trump. | ProPublica

WATCH WORLD-CLASS LITERARY EVENTS ONLINE

Get front-row, online access to world-class literary events with renowned authors. The Vancouver Writers Fest Digital Festival features 26 full-length, professionally recorded events, available to watch on-demand from December 16 - February 2. Sliding scale pricing and gift certificates available.