At NPR, Linda Holmes looks at the recent debacle surrounding the announcement of the nominees for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

• The Columbia Chronicle takes a look at the rise of small presses in Chicago, including featherproof, Other Voices, and Curbside Splendor.

• Jim Hanas’s Plus Ça Change newsletter is focusing on the life and work of Nathanael West this week. We heartily approve.

• Marc Masters looks at the latest from Real Estate, and in the process makes a spot-on Feelies comparison.

• Alex Wheatle takes a look at the Booker and its relationship to race.

• New fiction from Emily Lyon at Storychord.