Reading

Reading and Leeds PRIZE DRAW PROMOTION RULES:

1. By entering this promotion (the Promotion), you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions (the Terms and Conditions).  Completion and submission of an entry form or e-mail will also be deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.  Promotional materials relating to the Promotion, including all information on how to enter the Promotion published in publications of the Promoter (including social media if applicable) or on the Promoter’s websites, also form part of these Terms and Conditions. In the event of any conflict between any terms referred to in such promotional materials and these Terms and Conditions, these Terms and Conditions take precedence.
2. The promoter of this Promotion is News Group Newspapers Ltd (publishers of The Sun and The Sun on Sunday) of 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF (the Promoter).

Eligibility

3. The Promotion is only open to residents of the United Kingdom.
4. You must be aged 18 years or older to enter the Promotion. 
5. The following individuals are not eligible to enter the Promotion:
   1. employees and agents of the Promoter, News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (or any group companies of the Promoter or News Corp UK & Ireland Limited);

2. employees and agents of (i) any organisation directly connected with the operation or fulfilment of the Promotion (including third party promotional partners); and (ii) any associated, affiliated or subsidiary companies of such organisations or partners; and

3. the immediate families and household members of all such employees and agents referred to in (a) and (b).

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6. By entering the Promotion, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and are eligible to claim the Prize you may win. The Promoter may require you to provide proof of your age, residency, and eligibility to enter the Promotion. If a Winner is found to be ineligible, the Promoter reserves the right to award the Prize to another participant and to require the return of the Prize (or any portion of the Prize) if already awarded. The Promoter’s decision as to whether an entrant is eligible for this promotion is final and the Promoter is not obliged to provide any reasons for disqualification.
7. You must comply with the laws that apply to you in the jurisdiction that you access the Promotion from. If any laws applicable to you restrict or prohibit you from entering the Promotion, you must comply with those laws and, if applicable, refrain from entering the Promotion.

Timing

8. The Promotion starts at 01.00am (UK time) on Sunday 23rd August 2026 and closes at 11.59pm (UK time) on Monday 24 August 2026 (the Promotion Period). Any entries received outside the Promotion Period are automatically disqualified. 

How to Enter

9. How to enter:

10. Participants may make a maximum of one entry per person during the Promotion Period. Bulk, automatically generated or third party entries are void.

11. The Promoter reserves the right to remove or temporarily suspend any entries submitted from the Promotion if it reasonably suspects any breach of these Terms and Conditions or if it receives any complaint from any third party relating to such entry.

12. Any entries received other than via the official entry methods will not be accepted. Use of script, macro or any automated system to enter the Promotion is prohibited. Entries made (or which appear to have been made) using any such system may be treated as void.  Any illegible, incomplete or fraudulent entries will be rejected. No purchase of any product or service is required to enter into this Promotion. 

13. Incomplete or illegible entries will be void.  

Winners and Prizes 

14. There will be 2 (two) winners of the Promotion (the Winners), who will receive a Prize (as defined below). One Winner will be selected at random from all valid entries for “Reading”, and one Winner will be selected at random from all valid entries for “Leeds”, received during the Promotion Period by a computer process that produces verifiably random results. There will be no prizes for any other participants.

15. The Prizes are:
16. One pair of general admission tickets to Reading Festival (awarded to the Reading draw Winner). Tickets are valid for 5 days between 26 August 2026 and 30 August 2026 only. Winner must be 18 or over (valid photo ID may be required). If the Winner’s guest is a minor, the minor must be accompanied by his or her parent or legal guardian (at their own expense). Venue reserves the right to refuse entry. Winner and guest are responsible for travel to and from the show, at their own expense. Winner and guest must use tickets on the same date[s].

2. One pair of general admission tickets to Leeds Festival (awarded to the Leeds draw Winner). Tickets are valid for 5 days between 26 August 2026 and 30 August 2026 only. Winner must be 18 or over (valid photo ID may be required). If the Winner’s guest is a minor, the minor must be accompanied by his or her parent or legal guardian (at their own expense). Venue reserves the right to refuse entry. Winner and guest are responsible for travel to and from the show, at their own expense. Winner and guest must use tickets on the same date[s].

16. The Prize is non-exchangeable and non-transferable.  The Winners have no right to request or receive an alternative to the Prize, and the Prize cannot be redeemed for cash or its monetary value, in whole or in part. 

17. Notwithstanding paragraph 16 above, in the event that, for any reason beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control, the Promoter is unable to award the Prize as described in these Terms and Conditions, the Promoter reserves the right to award a prize of a similar nature and an equivalent value, or at its sole discretion, the cash value of the Prize.  The Promoter also reserves the right to award a prize of a similar nature and an equivalent value, or at its sole discretion, the cash value of the Prize if in its reasonable discretion it is appropriate to do so.

18. The Winners are responsible for paying all costs and expenses that are not included within the Prize, but are incidental to the Winners redeeming the Prize, including (for example) transport, accommodation, meal costs, spending money, insurance and any other incidentals.  The Winners is also personally responsible for any personal expenses and any VAT, national and/or local tax liabilities (if any) incurred in claiming or using the Prize.  

19. By participating in the Promotion, participants agree that the Prize is awarded on an “as is” basis and that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, neither the Promoter nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated companies, make any guarantees, representations or warranties of any nature with respect to the Prize. 

20. The Promoter may amend or withdraw any element of a competition, prize draw, vote or poll for reasons beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to the unavailability of the vote, poll, competition or prize draw entry platform before the closing date, or for strike, lock-out, labour dispute, illness, act of God, natural disaster, adverse weather conditions, war, riot, civil commotion, accident, public health concern in relation to potential infection, epidemic or pandemic, malicious damage, fire, flood and/or storm, compliance with law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, breakdown of plant, machinery or transportation.  The Promoter is not responsible for any loss or damage caused to you as a result of any of these occurrences.  

Winners Notification and Claiming Prize 

21. The Promoter will use its reasonable endeavours to notify the Winners by phone or using the other contact details provided to the Promoter on Tuesday 25 August.  The Winners need to confirm acceptance of the Prize within 24 hours of being notified they have won. Winners may be required to submit valid identification before receiving their prize.   

22. If a Winner cannot be contacted within this 24 hour window or (ii) refuses or is unable to confirm acceptance of the Prize, the Promoter reserves the right to re-draw a new Winner at random, using a computer process that produces verifiably random results), from the remaining valid entries that were received during the Promotion Period.   
23. The Prize will be delivered, or details with instructions on how to book or obtain the Prize will be communicated, to the Winner within 12 HOURS after the Prize has been accepted.  

Publicity and Data Protection 

24. The Promoter will collect and process participants’ personal information in accordance with the privacy policy at http://www.newsprivacy.co.uk/. 
25. The Promoter is required to either publish or make available information that indicates a valid award took place. As such, (and subject to any objections of the Winner) the Promoter will send the surname and county of the Winners and, if applicable copies of their winning entries, to anyone that contacts the Promoter at the address given above by no later than 28 (twenty eight) days after the end of the Promotion Period. 

26. The Winners of this Promotion may be asked to participate in publicity.

27. If Winners objects to their information being published and/or made available, or participating in publicity as described above, they should inform the Promoter at the earliest opportunity by emailing help@thesun.co.uk.  The Winners acknowledge that the Promoter may still be required to share their details with the Advertising Standards Authority or other regulators.

Liability 

28. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall in any way limit or exclude the Promoter’s liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by its negligence or for any other matter where liability may not be limited as a matter of law. 

29. The Promoter will not be responsible for any damage, loss or injury resulting from participants’ entry into the Promotion or their acceptance and/or use of the Prize, or for technical, hardware or software failures, lost, faulty or unavailable network connections or difficulties of any kind that may limit or prohibit participant’s ability to participate in the Promotion.  Your statutory rights are not affected.

30. The Promoter will not be responsible for any lost, damaged, defaced, incomplete, illegible or otherwise unreadable entries. Proof of sending an entry (whether by post, email, SMS or other method) is not proof of receipt by the Promoter of any entries.

31. Without prejudice to a participant’s statutory rights and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not be responsible or liable to compensate the Winners or accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by or any personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up a Prize.

32. The title in the Prize and any risk of loss or damage to the Prize will pass to the Winners upon delivery of the Prize to such Winner. The Promoter is not liable for or obliged to replace any defective, lost, damaged or stolen Prize where such defect, loss or damage is not due to the fault and/or negligence of the Promoter.

General 

33. The Promoter’s decision as to the Winners of the Prize is final and binding on the participants. The Promoter will not enter into correspondence with participants in relation to this decision.

34. Participants agree to keep confidential any information of any nature regarding the Promoter and its businesses, personnel, agents, sponsors and event promoters received by participants as a result of winning or participating in any Promotion.

35. The provision of the Prize does not imply endorsement by Festival Republic or any third parties concerned in any way with the Promotion.

36. Unless otherwise stated in the promotional materials, this Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, the manufacturer or service provider of the relevant Prize. Participants are providing their information to the Promoter and not to the manufacturer or service provider of the relevant Prize (although, if a participant wins, their details may be disclosed to the Prize provider in order to provide them with the Prize).

37. Participants must not do anything illegal and/or dangerous and/or that would put themselves or others at any risk with the Prize or in connection with the Promotion in any way.  

38. Any participant who enters or attempts to enter the Promotion in a manner, which in the Promoter’s reasonable opinion is contrary to these Terms and Conditions or by its nature is unjust to other participants (including tampering with the operation of the Promotion, cheating, hacking, deception or any other unfair playing practices such as intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other participants or the Promoter and/or any of its agents or representatives) may be rejected from the Promotion at the Promoter’s sole discretion. Furthermore, where such actions have significantly impaired the Promotion, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, add further stages to the Promotion as it deems reasonably necessary in order to resolve any problems arising from such actions.

39. The Promoter reserves the right, at any time, to cancel, modify or amend any element of the Promotion and/or these Terms and Conditions. Any such cancellation or any material amendment will be notified by posting the updated Terms and Conditions on the Promoter’s website. The Promoter is not responsible for any loss or damage caused to you as a result of any event outside the Promoter’s control.

40. These Terms and Conditions are governed by English law. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any dispute or claim arising in association with the Promotion or these Terms and Conditions.

41. The Promoter may transfer all or part of its rights under these Terms and Conditions to someone else without obtaining your consent; provided such transfer does not significantly disadvantage you.

42. Any provision of these Terms and Conditions which is deemed illegal and/or prohibited or unenforceable under any applicable law will be ineffective to the extent of such illegality, prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions.

43. If you have any difficulty accessing or entering this Promotion, please contact the Promoter at help@thesun.co.uk. If you would like these terms and conditions in another format (for example: audio, large print, braille), please get in contact and the Promoter will endeavour to provide it.

In-paper T&Cs 

Your terms and conditions to be included in the paper are set out below.  If space is particularly limited, please discuss with legal to ascertain if it is possible to shorten these further.  

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Promotion closes at 23.59pm on Monday 24 August. Open to residents of the United Kingdom who are aged 18 years or older, excluding employees and agents of the Promoter and its group companies, or third parties directly connected with the operation or fulfilment of the Promotion and their affiliates, and their immediate families and household members. One entry per person. Winners will be selected at random from all valid entries and notified by phone/email on Tuesday 25 August 2026. Winners must claim their prize by 23.59 on Tuesday 25 August 2026. No cash alternative and prize is non-transferable. Your information will be used to administer this Promotion and otherwise in accordance with our privacy policy at newsprivacy.co.uk Promoter is News Group Newspapers Limited. Full T&Cs apply – see [insert hyperlink].

Social Media T&Cs

Your terms and conditions to be included in the social media post are set out below.  If space is particularly limited, please discuss with legal to ascertain if it is possible to shorten these further.  

How to participate: Enter via Sun Club hub or email sundayfeatures@the-sun.co.uk with name, address and contact number.   UK residents 18+ only. Ends 23.59GMT 24/08/2026.  Promoter: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Years ago, at the height of his success, Anthony Jeselnik couldn’t sleep. It was making him crazy. Hoping to find relief, the comedian sought help from a therapist he assumed would guide him back to a healthy sleep schedule. Instead, he encountered an apathy that stunned him.

“So what?” he recalls her saying. “So what if you don’t sleep? If you wake up, read a book. Find ways to be productive in your loneliness.”

Anthony Jeselnik grows earnest when he talks about his love for books.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

The advice resonated. Today, the comedian is still reading alone, only now he has a dog — and an audience. A lifelong reader, Jeselnik has transformed his literary habit into a popular online book club, Jeselnik Book Club, where he recommends novels and invites discussion on his YouTube channel. His first video, posted in January and reviewing Jim Thompson’s “The Getaway,” garnered over 31,000 views. Each month, he chooses a novel and offers it up for discussion.

“My goal was to curate and give people their best shot at enjoying reading,” he says. It’s a valiant effort, considering that reading has been in a steady decline. Last year, it was reported that the number of American readers had declined by 40% over the previous two decades.

“People will say, ‘Oh, I don’t like reading books.’ You’re choosing the wrong books,” says Jeselnik, his voice likely ringing with his signature snark because he, for the most part, knows otherwise. In 2022, bestselling writer Isaac Fitzgerald, who recently released the anticipated “American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed,” witnessed the power of a Jeselnik recommendation.

“It helps with the masculinity crisis in that reading is masculine. It is a masculine thing to do,” Anthony Jeselnik argues, advocating that young men trade online conspiracy forums for literature.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

“A friend texted me that Anthony Jeselnik, a comedian whom I loved — but had never met nor interacted with — shouted out his love of my memoir, ‘Dirtbag, Massachusetts,’ on his podcast. I was thrilled,” Fitzgerald says. “At my events, both in Chicago and throughout the rest of that year, more and more people in my signing lines told me they’d heard of the book from Jeselnik’s podcast. I was also buoyed by how many of the people in the signing lines were young men.”

Since then, despite Jeselnik’s self-proclaimed loner status, Fitzgerald and Jeselnik have struck up a friendship. “The man is a real lover of books, with excellent taste and, unsurprisingly, confidence in his convictions,” Fitzgerald says. Earlier this year, the author held a book launch event for “American Rambler” at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. Jeselnik hosted. “I think he may have single-handedly invented a new way to do literary events. I don’t know what to call it … a literary roast?” Fitzgerald says. “Everyone laughed for an hour straight.”

In a sun-drenched luxury apartment above Hollywood Boulevard, Jeselnik explains that he mostly avoids the press — because he says he’s become weary of cancel culture and identity politics, conversations that have mired comedy.

Still, he welcomes the chance to discuss books, his voice swelling with excitement at the mention of authors Emily St. John Mandel and Ottessa Moshfegh — both personal favorites. Almost an hour into the conversation, the comedian reveals that he has Joan Didion’s author photo tattooed on his chest. His hand rests on his heart as he evangelizes her writing — a surprisingly tender moment of sentimentality from a comedian who has made a career out of stinging misanthropy.

“She has the cleanest prose. I think she’s the best writer of all time,” Jeselnik says. “I’ve read all of her novels, a lot of her essays. Her book about her husband dying is one of the most heartbreaking books.”

In fact, Didion is a natural match for the comedian. He is renowned for his precise and restrained use of language, delivering provocative truths about people’s ugliest impulses and asking the audience to laugh at them.

In the comedy world, Jeselnik has become legendary for his razor-edged one-liners, each joke ending with a dark reversal. He’s gained a reputation as the provocative bad boy of comedy with irresistible charm. Over the course of his career, he has enjoyed toying with this stage persona, which he jokes is that of a “borderline psychopath.” His roast of Donald Trump catapulted him to stardom, and he has released five hourlong comedy specials, the most recent of which, “Bones and All,” debuted in 2024. On Instagram, he has over 1 million followers.

“I was trying to be the devil onstage and somehow ended up as likable anyway,” he says of his storied career. This interests him in literature too — transcending reputation through good art. “Edgar Allan Poe wrote these books about psychopaths and killers. Authors do not equal their persona.”

“I’m trying to make reading cool again,” Anthony Jeselnik says. “Reading is a solitary act in the way that stand-up comedy is a solitary art form.”

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

Jeselnik’s book club recommendations are eclectic and literary — the kind of titles name-dropped in MFA writing workshops and met with impressed nods at dinner parties. Most recently, he recommended “Stoner” by John Williams, “Dept. of Speculation” by Jenny Offill, and “Paradais” by Fernanda Melchor. He curates his recommendations painstakingly, choosing brisk reads of around 250 pages that he hopes will hook new readers.

“I’m trying to make reading cool again,” Jeselnik notes. “Reading is a solitary act in the way that stand-up comedy is a solitary art form.”

He hopes his fan base embraces a life of reading. Similarly, in 2025, comedian John Mulaney also began recommending books on social media. “There are so few books for guys that are literary. There’s a lot of John Grisham and Jack Reacher, but there’s not something literary that a guy can sink his teeth into,” Jeselnik says. “If it’s well written, and the writer is great, then I’ll go on any kind of journey they take me on. I don’t always understand everything that I read, either. But reading a great writer, it’s like listening to classical music.”

With anti-intellectualism in comedy on the rise, he says his book club stands as an antidote to the manosphere. Young men passing time on conspiracy theory-infested corners of Reddit should instead pick up a novel, the comedian argues. “It helps with the masculinity crisis in that reading is masculine. It is a masculine thing to do,” he says. “The Hemingways of the world were out there. It used to be a badass thing to be a writer, and a brave thing to put your thoughts onto the page and publish them.”

The comedian has been a voracious reader since childhood. When he was in a Montessori school, the teachers discovered that reading would soothe Jeselnik. “I could go sit in a corner, and you can be a juvenile delinquent reading juvenile delinquent books.” Reading gave him a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that followed him into early adulthood — a penchant he would like to stoke in his fans.

Early on, when Jeselnik discovered Bret Easton Ellis’ work, it felt revelatory. “Once you got outside of the curriculum, it was revolutionary to me to read Bret Easton Ellis; to read about sex, gay sex, to read about drugs, and people, young people, doing this was fascinating.”

Starting a book club felt like a natural progression for Jeselnik’s decadelong career, he explains. “In terms of how I do things and my approach to stand-up, instead of doing a podcast, having a book club seems like a natural extension of that.” There’s an earnestness in his appreciation of great literature that translates to his videos. “You can tell that I like the book and want people to enjoy it at the same level.”

Jeselnik, 47, imagines his comedy career is winding down. Thankfully for his fans, he has other creative ambitions. “I’d love to take a crack at either short stories or writing a novel.”

He reflects on the trend of comedians who, later in their careers, seek new legitimacy. “You see a guy like Jim Carrey: the last thing he wants to do is make anyone laugh anymore. He wants to be taken so seriously,” he says. Jeselnik believes his stage persona spared him from that particular crisis of self. “People are afraid of me. Fans who approach me are careful because my stage persona is borderline psychopath,” he says. “I don’t feel that same need to be taken seriously. I think I am taken seriously.”

His comedic sensibility explores cruelty, shock, transgressions and antiheroes — and it’s also what continues to draw him to literature. “I love bank robbers. I love the idea of the villain winning. That is revolutionary to me. You’re raised on TV, and things have to be wrapped up in half an hour, and the moral has to hold,” Jeselnik says. “I love that books don’t have to play by those rules.”

Connors is a culture journalist in L.A. She covers books, food, entertainment and offbeat Los Angeles. She’s currently at work on a book of essays about tourism in all its forms.

DAWN French and Jason Manford have paid a heartbreaking tribute to the “quietly magnificent” publicist Neil Reading.

The entertainment industry heavyweight died aged 56 following a short illness.

Mr Reading, one of Britain’s best-known showbiz publicists, represented a glittering roll call of stars including French, John Cleese and the late Victoria Wood.

His sudden death has prompted an outpouring of grief from the celebrities and friends whose careers he helped champion.

The founder of Neil Reading PR was behind a string of West End hits, including High Society, Only Fools And Horses and Fawlty Towers – The Play.

But for French, Mr Reading was far more than the man handling her publicity.

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She said: “Neil Reading was a one-off, such a kind, decent, intelligent man, a proper gentleman in the old-fashioned way, quietly magnificent.

“Our work relationship became a very real and trusting friendship.

“He has been my ally and fierce protector through so much and for so long. I don’t quite know how I’ll manage without him. Sleep tight darlin’ heart.”

Comedian Jason Manford also revealed the devastating depth of their nearly two-decade friendship.

He said: “Describing Neil as my PR manager does not come close to describing what he meant to me.

“He was a trusted friend of almost 20 years, a confidant and one of the most loyal, noble and brilliant men I have ever known.”

Mr Reading’s star-studded client list also included John Bishop, Sir Lenny Henry and Paul McKenna.

Bishop said: “Neil was a true gentleman. He was too humble to realise how much he meant to people and I know he will be greatly missed.”

McKenna said: “Neil was one of the finest people I’ve ever known.”

Businessman Nick Candy, who was a close friend of Mr Reading, said the publicist’s impact stretched far beyond the spotlight.

He said: “Neil wasn’t just a brilliant publicist – he was a true friend and one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever known.”

Mr Reading launched his agency in 1992, building it into a formidable entertainment, consumer and lifestyle PR operation.

The company later expanded into business, property and fashion, while forging links with agencies across Europe and the United States.

Through decades at the heart of showbiz, Mr Reading became a trusted figure behind some of Britain’s biggest names and productions.

He is survived by his wife Claire and daughter Rosa.

Mr Reading’s career was built on a knack for turning famous names into headline-makers, long before social media transformed the publicity game.

He struck out on his own in 1992 at just 22, quickly building an agency around personal publicity and an increasingly glittering roster of household names.

By 1997, he was representing stars including Jonathan Ross, Michael Flatley, Jack Dee, Lee Evans and Ben Elton, while also working with clients outside showbiz.

His agency went on to become a formidable force behind some of Britain’s biggest entertainment launches.

In his 1997 Independent interview, he described personal PR as his “first love”.

On a recent summer day at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, students ambled through yawns, braces and acne into their creative writing class. The day’s lesson tackled “style,” that elusive, ultra-subjective choice of expression.

“Who was the first author you encountered to do something different on the page?” asked the teacher, Clarke E. Andros.

They named Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein and Lemony Snicket before moving on to a précis of Joy Williams’ flash fiction. “These stories are weird — she’s weird,” Andros warned.

In some ways, high school looks much the same as it did 20, even 100 years ago: sleepy eyes either light up or glaze over when a teacher poses a Socratic question. Nervous laughs and unexpected insights emerge as young people use stories to make sense of themselves and the world around them.

(Fingerprint; Penguin Classics; Pantheon)

The idea of the “Great American Novel” took shape in the aftermath of the Civil War, when a fractured nation looked to literature to define itself. As classrooms evolved, so did the canon that reflected America’s changing identity.

But the syllabus today is at a tipping point. Forces — some visible, some harder to see — are upending literature and education itself. American students are in a decade-long reading recession, while fewer students are reading for pleasure than in previous generations.

Reading scores among high school seniors are at their lowest in decades, according to federal testing data, while schools across the country are grappling with how to respond to waning attention spans and artificial intelligence. The Los Angeles Unified School District has begun a course correction, voting to limit student use of laptops and tablets during class — the first major American school system to do so.

We spoke with five high school English teachers across the city — three from LAUSD, one from a charter and one from a private school — to find out what literature belongs in today’s classroom, and which stories can help us understand America, past and present.

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Raquel Olvera, Roosevelt High School, Boyle Heights

What books in the American literary canon are you teaching (old and new)?

In 11th-grade American Literature, as part of the LAUSD-approved Odell curriculum, we read four book options: “Friday Night Lights,” “Beloved,” “The Great Gatsby” and “The Warmth of Other Suns.” For my 10th-grade World Literature course, I like “Antigone” and “Things Fall Apart.” I also teach “In Cold Blood,” using it to explore Americans’ fascination with true crime and what the genre reveals about race, gender, class and the justice system.

(Simon & Schuster; Sky Publishing; Vintage)

What’s one work from the canon adults should revisit today?

“The Great Gatsby.” When I read it in high school, I wasn’t engaging with its undercurrents of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, gender or sexuality in the way I do now. Its themes of power, wealth, consumerism and American identity remain as relevant as ever.

What are English teachers up against in the classroom in 2026?

Besides large class sizes and underfunding, I think public educators are largely battling apathy. Students and young people aren’t engaging with books like they used to. A side effect of that is a lack of empathy and curiosity. At the very least, you can model what it means to be a reader and a writer, and hope that years later, students remember that one nerd English teacher who showed them what humanity can look like.

Schehrezade Lodhy, Da Vinci Schools, El Segundo

What books in the American literary canon are you teaching (old and new)?

Students really enjoy Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” — it’s all about the human condition and cancel culture, forbidden love and lies and deceit, with witches in the forest. In poetry, we explore a range of American voices, from Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes to Amanda Gorman, and sometimes even song lyrics. I also use “The Moth: Storytelling” podcast when students are working on personal essays. The goal is to make literature, poetry and storytelling as accessible as possible. At a charter school, we have quite a bit of autonomy with what we teach.

What’s one work from the canon adults should revisit today?

James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” I read Baldwin a few summers ago, and that was quite an education for me. Unfortunately, some of the content is a bit too mature for high school, but I do talk about Baldwin a bit in my classes when we cover African American authors.

(Reader’s Library Classics; W. W. Norton & Company; Simon & Schuster)

What are English teachers up against in the classroom in 2026?

Artificial intelligence, big time. I really pared back technology in my class, and we’ve pivoted back to paper and pencil. Going into my 18th year of teaching, my biggest goal is re-creating that experience of thinking critically for oneself and studying literature through a critical lens. We’re in this era of going back to the basics. With decreased attention spans, teachers are being forced to become even more creative. It feels like we’re reinventing ourselves every year.

Aiden Brown, John F. Kennedy High School, Granada Hills

What books in the American literary canon are you teaching (old and new)?

From an educationally traditional background, I still believe in canon disruption — mixing the new and old. In American Lit, I’ve taught “Their Eyes Were Watching God” 11 times now. It’s a hard one to get on the first try because the vernacular is so particular, but when we read it physically while also listening to the audiobook, it’s such a great novel to hear. I pair it with bell hooks’ “All About Love.” I teach “Macbeth” from a performance-based lens, making it less intimidating. My favorite book is “Frankenstein,” written by a teenage girl who invented science fiction. My ninth-graders’ favorites were “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Odyssey” (Emily Wilson translation) and “Persepolis,” a graphic novel about a girl discovering punk rock and rebelling against the established order.

What’s one work from the canon adults should revisit today?

All of the lonely young men need to reread “The Great Gatsby,” and anyone freaked out by the state of the world should read “Parable of the Sower.” One quote from the book hangs on a poster board in my classroom: “A community’s first responsibility is to protect its children — the ones we have now and the ones we will have.”

What are English teachers up against in the classroom?

Teenagers are still the funniest people on the planet. As the world around them becomes more atomized, I find that they’re increasingly interested in connection. In the classroom, we are seeing skill loss and a decreased ability to focus on a task. I don’t think that’s just because of AI or the pandemic — it’s also phones, screens and the world kids are growing up in. One thing teachers seem to agree on is a return to pen and paper.

Clarke E. Andros, Crossroads School, Santa Monica

What books in the American literary canon are you teaching (old and new)?

A newer addition I would recommend is “Hunger: A Novella and Stories” by Lan Samantha Chang. Especially in California, we have a lot of great Asian American literature, including works by Amy Tan, but I enjoy the writing level in Lan’s — it’s accessible to students but pushes them, all about intersectional identity and the first-gen experience. A lot of the Latino students I’ve taught in Los Angeles also connect with that book.

(Penguin Classics; Grand Central Publishing; Mariner Books Classics)

What’s one work from the canon adults should revisit today?

“Of Mice and Men.” Revisiting it today opens up deeper conversations about labor, social conciousness and power. Steinbeck creates a microcosm of American society, where disability, gender, race and class are all represented and shaped by an economic hierarchy. The characters are left navigating a world where people often turn on each other rather than challenge the systems around them. It’s novella-length, so you could read it in a Sunday morning.

What are English teachers up against in the classroom in 2026?

We’re up against systems that often prioritize ed-tech and third-party vendors over smaller class sizes and more teachers. When I was at LAUSD, it was clear from our superintendent — who just stepped down over his fraud investigation — was just in bed with tech. It’s hard for me to imagine the folks in power didn’t look at [the failed AI chatbot venture] and see it as a grift.

On the flip side, at hyper-competitive, elite schools like this, students are approaching high school with college in mind rather than with high school in mind. When students understand the value of the process, they’re less likely to look for an easy shortcut like AI.

Adam Tan, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, Mid-City

What books in the American literary canon are you teaching (old and new)?

With independent reading, memoirs are big, like “Crying in H Mart” and Sylvia Plath’s fictionalized “The Bell Jar.” Younger kids gravitate to “Musashi,” a celebrated epic based on a famous samurai. We have a lot of Korean American students here, so they like “Pachinko,” dealing with racism and the Korean population in post-World War II Japan. I’ll also throw in “The Bluest Eye.”

In ninth grade, we read “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Of Mice and Men,” “The Thief and the Dogs” and “Romeo and Juliet,” with the film adaptations to use media literacy. In American Literature, the major texts are “The Great Gatsby,” “The Things They Carried” and “The Crucible.” We also read nonfiction articles, including pieces on AI and robots, while focusing on rhetorical devices.

(Blackstone Publishing; Knopf; Little, Brown and Company)

What’s one work from the canon adults should revisit today?

“The Catcher in the Rye” benefits from the distance of adulthood. It’s a novel about disillusionment and the search for identity, but when you revisit it, you also see that it’s very much a love story. I often encourage students to look for forms of love beyond romance — love for family, friends and fellow human beings. Even today, students can tell you that the biggest phony in the book is Holden himself. The novel reminds us that while literature may not have answers to the world’s problems, it can help us examine our wounds and find solace in art.

What are English teachers up against in the classroom in 2026?

A lack of accountability in the modern world. In general, we have a school district focused on 100% graduation rates, no F’s. [LAUSD] wanted everything on computer, and now they want less computer time, which is great, but not everyone at top management is on the same page. Teachers are often trying to balance what the district wants with what we know our students need.

What I try to instill instead is an intrinsic desire to grow as a thinker. How do you make sure students are reading without taking the joy out of it? A lot of us are going back to pen and paper. Despite all the concerns about AI, I still think the soul and spirit of young people is as strong as ever. The core is not rotting.

About six months after Toni Morrison died in the summer of 2019, Literary Cleveland began hosting annual community tribute parties on the Nobel Prize-winning author’s birthday, Feb. 18. Lorain, Ohio — a suburb of Cleveland — is where Morrison was born and raised, and where she set several of her novels. During these gatherings, participants were prompted to read aloud from their favorite Morrison works, and share why they savored those particular lines.

Over time, these meetings began to feel increasingly intimate, even “sacred,” according to Literary Cleveland’s Executive Director Matt Weinkam, which prompted him, in tandem with Ohio Humanities head Rebecca Asmo, to brainstorm how to take their program state-wide. “This is Toni Morrison, one of our greatest writers,” Weinkam recalls thinking. “We needed to do something bigger.”

At the time, Weinkam and Osmo were also trying to figure out how to commemorate America’s semiquincentennial. Weinkam was listening to Morrison’s entire oeuvre on audio and realized that when you organize the 11 novels in a certain order, “they tell the history of America.” So how, he thought, “could you use the literature of Toni Morrison to view our country through a different lens — through her lens?” He says they knew honoring Morrison as a consequential figure not just in literature but also in the context of American history would be central to Ohio’s celebration of the semiquincentennial.

“[But] only as the project was coming together did we strike on the fact that her novels trace American history from ‘A Mercy,’ set in 1690, through ‘God Help the Child,’ in the 2010s. Not only does her work re-center African Americans in the story of our country, it also tackles major events from our founding, through slavery, to the impact of Jim Crow, to the great migration and beyond.”

In the months leading up to the 250th anniversary, they decided to bring the Morrison salons they were curating in Cleveland to all 88 Ohio counties. For assistance they connected with Britt Lovett, a strategist, community leader and fellow Morrison acolyte.

“People say that reading Toni Morrison is challenging,” says Lovett. “[But] reading Toni Morrison is like my grandmother speaking to me.”

In February, on what would have been Morrison’s 95th birthday, they officially launched “Beloved: Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison,” a yearlong homage including readings, workshops, lectures and a monthly book club that meets on Sunday evenings. They intentionally programmed the book club so that it would take readers through our U.S. history utilizing Morrison’s vision: Weinkam proposed reading Morrison’s novels in the order in which they are set rather than the order in which they were published. “That simple shift,” says Lovett, “changed everything.”

They began with “A Mercy,” one of Morrison’s later novels, published in 2008 — which is set in the late 17th century, before slavery took hold and the country became “racialized.” Next came “Beloved,” then “Sula” and “Jazz.” “Experiencing the novels this way reveals how Morrison traced generations of Black American life across centuries of our nation’s history,” Lovett says. “What may appear to be individual stories become part of a larger narrative about memory, freedom, family, belonging and the ongoing project of America itself.”

For Morrison, writing fiction was a form of “literary archaeology,” excavating history, and how the past hovers over the present. Her quest was what she termed “rememory.”

Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is a Princeton professor and author of “America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries” who has studied Morrison. “She understood the ongoing national effort to disremember — this startling combination of dismembering and remembering — to protect the innocence of America,” Glaude says. “Instead, her novels relentlessly expose the horror and the magisterial efforts on the part of ordinary people to overcome them. In doing so, she takes us to the beating heart of this fragile experiment — something we desperately need to remember in this 250th year of the country.”

In 1973, as an editor at Random House, Morrison published and collaborated with collectors in compiling “The Black Book,” a seminal volume that tells the story of the African American experience in America in the form of an encyclopedic scrapbook that spans from 1619 through the 1940s. There is no narrator, and this is intentional. The visuals — newspaper clippings, slave auction notices, patent applications by Black inventors, photographs, sheet music, relate their own powerful story “Black life as lived” — great joy juxtaposed with the tragedy and legacy of slavery. From her work on that groundbreaking assemblage emerged the idea for “Beloved,” which won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Nearly seven years after Morrison’s death at 88, we are living in a golden age of Morrisonia. Three extraordinary new books, published this year, shed light on the brilliance and complexity of Morrison’s life and work, and place her as an American eminence, a visionary who saw fiction as a means through which to recast her country’s story. “On Morrison” by Namwali Serpell; “Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship” by Dana Williams; and a posthumously published collection of Morrison essays entitled “Language as Liberation: Reflections on the American Canon.” Serpell writes that “Morrison has shaped the way we think about everything.” Morrison herself said that she wrote to “think the unthinkable,” to write novels that were “relentlessly black,” giving no deference to the “white gaze.” Her refusal to sugarcoat the interior and exterior lives of her characters, whether enslaved or traumatized by the past — by events in American history — was purposeful.

“You’re confronted with horrific acts of violence,” Serpell says. “Not to present it in spectacular fashion, nor to feed any kind of voyeuristic or prurient interest on the part of the audience, but to use quiet language — beautiful language — in order to actually get us to step back and think about why this violence is happening and where it’s coming from.”

In that way, Morrison’s work was always a radical experiment — and is perhaps why, according to the American Library Assn., “The Bluest Eye” her 1970 debut — continues to be one of the most frequently “challenged” books in the U.S. “Beloved” runs a close second. But this also is among the reasons her books are considered must-reads in the classroom, and contemporary classics.

John Freeman is an executive editor at Knopf who oversees Morrison’s publishing program. “Her books persist today because they beckon us doubly: they invite us to look clearly at what America is, to come to grips with the fantasies and shadows developed to avoid this awful knowledge,” Freeman says. “They also tell us one phenomenal love story after another.”

Through her book club, cultural icon Oprah Winfrey introduced millions of readers to Morrison by featuring four of the author’s novels. “From ‘The Bluest Eye’ through ‘Beloved,’ ‘Jazz,’ ‘Home,’ ‘A Mercy’ and ‘Love,’ Morrison’s words have helped me become more of myself,” Winfrey says. “She understands the lives of Black women like no one else I’ve ever read. Reading her, I’ve often felt seen in places I didn’t know how to name.”

(HarperCollins; Penguin Random House)

In Morrison’s essays, lectures and other public comments — including as a professor at Princeton for nearly two decades — she occupied the role of public intellectual, always teaching us how to view America’s evolution as a country, and how it became “racialized.”

In a Granta interview conducted late in her life, she challenged the interviewer to consider that the concept of “whiteness” is peculiarly American: “Think about it, “ she prompted. “If you come to this country from Germany or Russia, or anywhere you got off the boat, got on the land, in order to become an American, you have to be white. That’s the quality that brings the country, its people together — having a non-white population. My concept is that if you were from Sweden, you were Swedish. You didn’t have to say, ‘I’m a white Swede.’ You know what I’m saying?”

As we prepare to celebrate America’s 250th, it’s useful to reflect on how Morrison viewed the intersection of fiction, history and memory, how the mission of her fiction was to uncover truths omitted by the standard historical records and history’s “sages.” In her 1987 essay, “The Site of Memory,” she utilized a river as a metaphor to discuss how imagination excavates forgotten histories and people. “All water,” she wrote, “has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that: remembering where we were.”

Haber is a writer, editor and publishing strategist, and co-founder of the Ink Book Club on Substack. She was director of Oprah’s Book Club and books editor for O, the Oprah Magazine.

At the beginning of Mary H.K. Choi’s wildly entertaining presentation for her new novel “Pool House’” at Skylight Books, she reveals she won’t be reading.

“Readings are boring,” she says, tapping her Prada loafers. “It’s like you’re watching someone else play video games.”

Instead, she and Yasi Salek, host of the hit podcast “Bandsplain,” spend the evening riffing on literature, coolness, autism diagnoses and a literary perennial: unrelenting pain.

“How is your mother wound?” Salek asks in her signature vocal fry most often heard ad-libbing about the band Weezer. Salek reveals she is in Jungian therapy, adding, “What Carl says, goes.”

Throughout the discussion, Choi describes her novel as a challenging read — calling it a “gross, decaying meat soup.” She jokes that her career as an author feels like a “Make-A-Wish Foundation wish,” bewildered by any attention her work has garnered. Yet dozens of eager readers have packed into the independent bookstore, spilling into the aisles with copies of the novel balanced on their laps.

“Publishing is so slow, it’s like giving birth to a lawn chair,” Choi remarks. Later, she professes tedium with the resurgence of an alt-lit scene.

“Don’t you find that everyone has to be cool right now? Why is everyone so cool?” Choi asks Salek.

Let’s be clear: Salek and Choi are very cool. Salek sits cross-legged, dressed in all black, with a heart tattoo on her forearm that reads “books.” Before “Pool House,” Choi authored three New York Times bestselling novels. Salek recounts dropping out of her MFA program at Bennington College in 2020 to start what would become a cult-classic podcast.

Book-themed sugar cookies sold at a past Little Literary Fair at Hauser & Wirth.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

“I love that you started a podcast instead of getting an MFA,” Choi replies.

Like Skylight Books, independent bookstores across Los Angeles have become gathering places for readers and writers alike. Authors ranging from household names to debut novelists regularly draw enthusiastic crowds. Increasingly, bookstores are functioning not only as retail spaces but as community hubs.

A few blocks from Echo Park Lake, local favorite A Good Used Book has transformed Sunday mornings into one of the neighborhood’s liveliest recurring gatherings. Visitors browse used books while enjoying charcoal portraits, handmade jewelry and Hawaiian shaved ice. Buy a book and you might even end up on the store’s coveted Instagram Story — the hottest plug in town.

“It feels like in a city as big as Los Angeles, books are still underrepresented. So there’s a lot of room to grow, and that’s exciting,” says Chris Capizzi, who founded the bookstore in 2017.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Review of Books hosted its annual Little Literary Fair at SCI-Arc, drawing hundreds to literary panels and workshops on zine-making, publishing and finding an agent. Vendors from across California filled the space, representing independent presses, bookstores and literary magazines.

“I find writers based [in the L.A. area] to be socially incisive in equal measure as being experimental, innovative and just fun,” says Emily VanKoughnett, the events director at the Los Angeles Review of Books. “I love the L.A. lit scene because it invites people to explore pockets of the city and connect over writing.”

This summer, literary events across Los Angeles are continuing to draw readers into bookstores, community spaces and alternative venues alike. The city’s literary scene remains as weird, profane and sentimental as ever.

There’s a sense of quiet mystery in tarot. That’s why during my reading last week, it was more peculiar than disruptive when a dancer hopped on a table to lay at a 90-degree angle and jet her feet in the air.

Despite said activity, the tone was contemplative, and moments later, as I was being asked to describe the colors and mood of a Ten of Swords card, I was tapped on the shoulder. After a gesture to follow, I was handed a lantern.

The way I swayed the light would now dictate the performer’s movements. We may not have been dancing, but it was close. Melancholic and intimate, the performer (Haylee Nichele) silently guided me to become comfortable in my discomfort, to sit with the evening’s themes of longing, loss, confusion and impending grief.

Sam Alper’s Bill, foreground, and Haylee Nichele’s Constance in Koryn Wicks’ “You Must Be Here for the Reading,” an immersive tarot show.

(Daniel Kleen)

“You Must Be Here for the Reading,” running through June 20 at North Hollywood’s After Hours Theatre, is part theatrical and dance performance, part tarot reading and part cocktail hour. It’s also personal, led by two actors who encourage the attendees to open up, to complete poems and to generally tune into their vulnerability.

The 60-minute show, partly scripted and partly improvised, comes from the mind of Koryn Wicks. Trained in dance and choreography, Wicks’ day job is in themed entertainment while her personal projects explore the immersive space. They’re theatrical works that experiment with audience interaction. “You Must Be Here for the Reading” is no different.

The setup: Collectively, our group of eight has arrived at a tarot reading, only the famed reader we are there to work with, Constance, performed by Nichele on the night I saw, never arrives for her assigned role. We know her fate, but her partner, Sam Alper’s Bill, who nervously attempts to carry on with the performance in her absence, does not.

From there, “You Must be Here for the Reading” becomes a show heavy on audience participation. There are scripted, story-specific beats, but the cards pulled — and the tales they tell — is, of course, randomized.

Sam Alper as Bill, an unsuspecting tarot card reader in Koryn Wicks’ “You Must Be Here for the Reading.”

(Daniel Kleen)

“I knew that I wanted the audience to be the primary drivers of the tarot reading,” Wicks says. “I knew that I wanted the host to not be a tarot reader and there to be some sort of event that made it so the audience would have to take the reins and read the tarot.”

In turn, “You Must Be Here for the Reading” works for both those who are novices to the space as well as those who are more experienced. During the pre-show, guests can explore tarot books and uncover slips of paper hidden in them that prompt us to answer questions or complete poems — the latter will figure into the performance. A worksheet given to us asks us to interpret some core tenets, as well as to enter the reading with a question we would like to explore.

The show then focuses on how each attendee’s desires, concerns or lived experiences shape the perception of the reading.

“What’s drawn me to tarot is the way it’s built on symbolism and the way that symbolism is embedded in the collective unconscious,” Wicks says. “I think it’s really fascinating that we have this artifact that has this ability to give us insight into a lot of shared experiences. When I’ve read different books about tarot, or had my cards read by different people, there is an openness to interpenetration.

“The assignment I gave myself for this piece,” Wicks continues, “was to create an experience in which you had a group of people coming together and going through the process of defining the symbolism and meaning of the cards in real time.”

And yet the show also pulls from Wicks’ background in dance. While Constance never shows for the reading, her presence is still felt, often hovering or circling around the table with movements designed to interpret the tone of the reading. She’s a ghostly presence, the gracefulness heightening the somber emotions of the night. Though she and Bill never interact directly, much of the dance seeks to explore their unseen bond. At times, Constance may call on various audience members to act as a dance partner.

Koryn Wicks, creator of “You Must Be Here for the Reading,” an immersive tarot performance in which audiences are tasked with deciphering their own cards while a melancholic story unfolds around them.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

“I really believe that one of the most beautiful things art does for us is remind us that we are not alone,” Wicks says.

Immersive art allows for a sense of participation, which Wicks hopes will increase one’s appreciation of dance.

“Dance is an embodied art form,” Wicks says. “There is science that shows that some of the enjoyment from watching dance comes from imagining yourself moving. In North America, a lot of people haven’t had an experience or education with dance, especially not concert dance. Then we ask them to sit in a dark auditorium in a small chair and not move to enjoy it. I found through my research, both practical and academic, there is something to inviting audiences to participate in dance that allows them to derive meaning from it.”

While there isn’t enough time in the show for everyone to have a one-on-one experience with the dancer, watching an audience and cast member attempt to get in sync with each other underlines the night’s themes of connecting. Ultimately, that’s the space where the show resides. “You Must Be Here for the Reading” uses tarot as a means to bring some structure to our often disconnected lives.

“It stands in contradiction to our current historical moment,” Wicks says of the show. “It’s very anti-AI. It’s asking people to sit with books and to find little seeds and not necessarily pursue solutions or puzzles. It’s asking us to connect, sometimes with strangers.”

I kept my question that I brought to the reading secret, but I found the show provided a hopeful answer. Not because the cards offered a solution. Instead, they provided a community.