After a long fight, Maryland is finally giving up the ghost on its library e-book law, circumstances publishers consider a win but which, to the library community, represent a major blow. Barnes & Noble’s publishing imprint, Sterling Publishing, continues to expand, this time by acquiring Knock Knock, a gift and publishing company. In London, an outbreak of Covid-19 has hit the book business after the first in-person London Book Fair since 2019. Both John Grisham and Celeste Ng have joined the lineup for the U.S. Book Show, to be held by PW next month. In the Lone Star State, the Texas Education Agency has released new school library standards as the battle over book bans rages on. The picture book It’s Okay to Be a Unicorn has come under fire in an Ohio school district, reports HuffPost. PBS NewsHour spoke to Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov about how he is preserving his country’s culture during wartime. Years after wrapping up his occasionally provocative Tumblr and shortly after leaving Knopf to start his own firm, book biz publicity veteran Paul Bogaards has launched a Substack. And Joan Brest Friedberg, cofounder of the children’s literacy program Beginning with Books, has died at 94.