America has its newest and coolest young librarian: 10-year-old Cora Newton of Lafayette, Louisiana, who decided she wanted to create a Little Queer Library after witnessing recent conversations in her area about banning LGBTQ books. Claire Taylor reported for the Read more >
If there was any justice in the world, we would give LeVar Burton, lifelong champion of reading, the last word on book bans. (There isn’t, of course, so we will have to continue writing about them any time some new Read more >
On Saturday, Lambda Literary announced the 24 winners of its 34th annual Lambda Literary Awards, chosen from more than 1,300 submissions and selected by more than 60 judges in the literary field. In addition to prizes in the categories below, Read more >
The most common entries for ‘x’ in alphabet books nowadays are probably ‘x-ray’ and ‘xylophone’—based on anecdotal evidence only, someone do this research please—but of course, it wasn’t always so. The x-ray was invented in 1895, and, as the editors Read more >
As we’ve noted over and over again, the hottest new book trend sweeping the country is to ban them and/or burn them if they don’t align with your weird, paleoconservative, theocratic prejudices. Not great! But as ever is the case Read more >
The Costa Book Awards, which was founded in 1971 and known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, is no more. Today, Costa Coffee announced that the 2021 Costa Book Awards, held in February 2022, would be the last iteration Read more >
Congratulations to PEN America‘s staff, who announced yesterday that they won voluntary recognition of their union! This milestone has been a long time coming. After months of organizing, they wrote to management to formally demand recognition last December and will Read more >
The beloved indie entertainment company A24—creators of Moonlight, Minari, Midsommar, and very cool merch—publishes their first children’s book today. Film buffs may recognize Claire A. Nivola’s Star Child as the book Joaquin Phoenix reads aloud to his nephew in C’mon C’mon (2021). The Read more >
A new play being staged in Kosovo’s capital of Pristina is taking on Peter Handke’s deeply troubling role in denying Serbian atrocities during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The Handke Project is a multinational, English-language production that puts the Austrian writer’s Read more >
This week, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library promised to donate over 1,000 free copies of the author’s classic Slaughterhouse-Five to teachers and students in Brevard County, Florida, where the book is currently being challenged by the group Moms for Read more >
We’ve said it many, many times before and we’ll say it many, many times again: libraries represent the best of America. Today’s entry: the New York Public Library will give away 500,000 books this summer to help kids, teens, and Read more >
Today over at Forbes, Michael T. Nietzel gives a rundown of the books that colleges are assigning to their incoming students as a sort of conversation starter for the year ahead (and a first piece of homework that everyone can Read more >
One of my toddler’s favorite books is Dr. Seuss’s ABC. I like the narcotic effect of the sing-song rhymes, she likes getting praised whenever she correctly screams a letter, and we both like the goofy little drawings. Every time I Read more >
This is cool: Maryland’s public library system announced today it was beta-launching an app that gives a tour of different sites in Maryland that are significant to the area’s Indigenous history and present. Curated by Dr. Elizabeth Rule, an assistant Read more >
In Peter Baker’s New York Times article today about the role of Jared Kushner (‘memba him??) in the final months of the Trump White House, one detail stood out to those of us whose fun little hobby is laboring over our Read more >
James Patterson seems like a lovely, charming guy. And based on this very watchable interview with Seth Meyers, he’s got a nice collection of self-deprecating anecdotes (befitting one of the highest paid writers of all time). Despite his renown, though, Read more >
Oprah Winfrey’s latest book club pick is Leila Mottley’s debut Nightcrawling (also one of Lit Hub’s picks for summer), in which a young Black woman in Oakland grapples with poverty and police corruption while trying to protect those she loves. Read more >
Dorothy Parker was famed for her quips, her wit, and her sharp tongue. She had a witty comeback for every occasion—even her own death. She publicly hated on beloved children’s classics and literary icons. Best of all, she quit her Read more >
I’m not particularly superstitious but there are some very bad vibes coming off Noah Baumbach’s Netflix adaptation of Don DeLillo’s White Noise. While the headline is how much the thing is allegedly costing—$140 million for a lot of recursive academic Read more >
Friendly reminder that it’s important to take breaks in your day. Go on. Take a walk. If you end up at your local library or the closest bookstore, well, that happens. If you find yourself walking out with a book Read more >
