Weekend reads: Week of March 28, 2026

Here's a collection of literary posts that we didn't share on our reader blog this past week but thought were worth highlighting.

• This week in literary history: Hugo Grotius escapes prison in a book chest (Literary Hub)

• The secret Afghan women’s book club defying the Taliban to read Orwell (The Guardian)

• Why we still need book festivals (Literary Hub)

• The welder who became a popular model for romance book covers (Franklin County Times)

• A free home for San Francisco artists, from Dave Eggers and friends (The New York Times)