The Reader: A new review source for book lovers

November 15, 2026 / 10:26 AM EST / CBS News

It's become an all-too-familiar story: Earlier this year, the Washington Post put an end to Book World, its weekly book review supplement.

"Books are expensive," said bestselling author Jonathan Alter. "Readers need help to know what's good out there."

Alter says Book World's closure created a void: "Thirty years ago, there were 30 American newspapers that, as part of their Sunday newspaper, had a book review section," he said. Today, only The New York Times still maintains a separate book review section.

"So, we stepped into the breach, and we're doing something about it," said Alter, who is co-founder of The Reader, a new, general interest, online book review, to be published every weekday.

Executive editor Haley Sweetland Edwards said, "We will have mostly book reviews, but also essays about books, columns about the literary book world, and top authors like Robert Caro and Margaret Atwood and Ann Patchett will be providing recommendations of books that have slipped below the cultural radar."

The Reader is part of Washington Monthly, a non-profit magazine. Edwards says authors lined up to be part of it: "We have 31 Pulitzer Prize-winners who have agreed…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/