Several newspapers nationwide, including the Chicago Sun-Times and at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, published a syndicated summer book list featuring entirely fictional books attributed to well-known authors. Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende never wrote Tidewater Dreams, which the "Summer reading list for 2025" describes as her “first climate fiction novel. ” Percival Everett, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, never authored The Rainmakers, allegedly set in a “near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity. ” Out of the 15 titles on the list, only five are genuine. Ray Bradbury, who ironically disliked computers, did write Dandelion Wine; Jess Walter authored Beautiful Ruins; and Françoise Sagan was the creator of the classic Bonjour Tristesse. Victor Lim, marketing director for Chicago Public Media, the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times, said the list was part of licensed content supplied by King Features, an affiliate of Hearst Newspapers. The list carried no byline, but writer Marco Buscaglia has taken responsibility, stating it was partially generated by Artificial Intelligence, as initially reported by the website 404 Media. In an email to NPR, Buscaglia said, “Huge mistake on my part and has nothing to do with the Sun-Times. They trust that the content they purchase is accurate and I betrayed that trust. It's on me 100 percent. ” When a user shared a photo of the list on social media, both readers and writers reacted with outrage. “As a subscriber, I am livid!” posted user xxxlovelit on Reddit. “What is the point of subscribing to a hard copy paper if they are just going to include AI slop too!?” On Bluesky, Kelly Jensen, author, former librarian, and Book Riot editor, expressed disappointment: “This is the future of book recommendations when libraries are defunded and dismantled. Trained professionals are removed in exchange for this made-up, inaccurate garbage. ” “We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak, ” Victor Lim told NPR.

“This is licensed content not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom, but it is unacceptable for any content we provide our readers to be inaccurate. We value our readers’ trust and take this very seriously. More information will be provided soon as we investigate. ” The fake summer reading list bore a date of May 18, two months after the Chicago Sun-Times announced that 20% of its staff had accepted buyouts amid financial challenges faced by its nonprofit owner, Chicago Public Media. Author and NPR Books contributor Gabino Iglesias sees this fictitious list as emblematic of broader media problems today. “How many full-time book reviewers are there in the U. S. ?Very few, ” he noted. Simultaneously, Iglesias acknowledged there are many people writing and discussing books online and on podcasts. He revealed he is among several writers planning to file a class action lawsuit to protect their work from AI misuse. Jokingly, Iglesias said that if readers want the fake books described on the list, he and other authors are ready to produce them: “Pay writers, and then we can write these fake books that don’t exist, ” he laughed. This story was edited by Jennifer Vanasco.