📚 NYT bestseller list, legit?

Good morning. This is Shades of the Day, the daily newsletter that summarizes and organizes the different shades of perspective in news and culture so that you can see the big picture quickly.

Here at Shades we believe that seeing multiple points of view is the best way to stay informed. The easiest (and most fun!) way to do that is with the Shades mobile app, where this newsletter’s content is pulled from.

It’s Saturday, March 30 — here’s what you’ll find in today’s newsletter:

• Obama’s guidance for Biden on his re-election campaign

• The debate over how the NYT bestsellers list works

• 4 quick hits of news from the last 24 hours

- Jeff (co-founder of Shades)

🤝 Obama’s guidance for Biden

Obama steps into the ring for Biden's 2024 run, but will his charm sway voters?

🤝 Time says Obama is lending Biden guidance for his re-election campaign. He could hold the secret to rallying key voter demographics.

🤝 Hot Air: Eh, don't get your hopes up! Obama's concern won't save Biden's campaign from sinking.

🤝 The Times is a believer, though: Obama's charisma could boost Biden's re-election campaign.

🤝 By the way, Politico says the Obama-Biden friendship is complex: Their relationship is marked by past tensions and loyalty tests.

📚 NYT bestseller list, legit?

Is the NYT's Bestseller List a true measure of success, or just marketing hype?

📚 The NYT's Bestseller List is a widely recognized benchmark for book success. But How Stuff Works says it's not as straightforward as it seems.

📚 The NYT describes its own process — it collects data from bookstores across the country, and bases the rankings off that information.

📚 Esquire thinks the process is way more subjective than the NYT lets on. Sometimes a book with lower sales numbers will rank higher than a book with more.

📚 In 2023, author James Patterson accused the NYT of “cooking the books”. He didn't agree with where one of his books was ranked.

📚 Observer says there are ways to game the system — if you have enough cash! It involves paying people to buy your books in various locations.

Quick hits

🌉 Salvage operations start for the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, with economic concerns rising.

🇺🇸 Trump shared a controversial video showing Biden tied up, sparking further debate on his inflammatory political rhetoric.

🇮🇱 UN peacekeepers were wounded by an explosion while on patrol along the Israel-Lebanon border.

🇳🇱 Dutch nightclub standoff ends with all hostages released and the armed suspect arrested without violence.

Thanks for reading. If you have any feedback about our newsletter and what changes you’d like to see, please share it here — or you can email me at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!