News of note for readers: June 4, 2024

Catch up quick with the bookish news of the past few days ... or take a deeper dive into each story. Your choice!

• Colorado has passed a bill that sets strict rules for challenging and removing books from public libraries (Book Riot).

• A report has found a 4.4 percent decrease in the number of books read by students in the UK and Ireland, as well as a drop in how many are reading challenging books (The Guardian). 

• The Franz Kafka biopic The Glory Of Life, based on the bestselling German novel Michael Kumpfmüller, will come to theaters in North America eventually (Deadline).

• Since yesterday was the anniversary of Kafka's birthday — and since we're less than a month away from the hundred-year anniversary of his death — it's time to look at why he's captured so much of pop culture's attention (The Guardian).

• Read an excerpt from Maxim Loskutoff's just-released novel, Old King, which follows the intersection of one man's path with the later-infamous Ted Kaczynski (Literary Hub).