Today marks 141 years since the death of Fyodor Dostoevsky, who died of a pulmonary hemorrhage at age 59. But for a terrifying month, Dostoevsky anticipated a very different death date: December 22, 1849, before Crime and Punishment, before The Read more >
To be clear, all children’s books that mythologize political figures are bad. (Sorry to the well-meaning relative that gifted my daughter a boxed set of “lil feminist” board books, but Cleopatra only “said girls rule” in the most literal sense.) Read more >
If you’ve been paying attention to local news in the past year, you’ve likely noticed the concerning wave of book bans sweeping the nation. Books by authors of color; books that acknowledge historical atrocities; books featuring LGBTQ+ characters; sex education Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced its inaugural selected titles for its new Science + Literature program. Supported by a three-year $525,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the program recognizes three books each year and aims to foster Read more >
Today we’re celebrating the 194th birthday of Jules Verne—novelist, poet, playwright, and, as it turns out, seer. Often described as the “father of science fiction,” Verne accurately predicted the invention of (and many details about) the submarine in 20,000 Leagues Read more >
Lit Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Iain Reid’s new novel, We Spread, which will be published by Scout Press in September. The I’m Thinking of Ending Things author’s latest work is described by the publisher as a Read more >
As the Hub’s fearless leader Emily Temple wrote in the innocent days of 2017, “Hollywood would basically be irrelevant without books.” And while much has changed over the past five years, that statement, at least, still stands: the 94th Academy Read more >
A history-making moment from my favorite film of the year: Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s sharp, beautiful adaptation of the Haruki Murakami short story, is the first Japanese film ever to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Drive My Read more >
Have you always wanted to illuminate your very own 14th-century treatise on the chivalric niceties of the Burgundian court? Yes? Well you’re in luck. According to Lit Hub contributor Rebecca Rego Barry, over at Fine Books & Collections, the New Read more >
This morning, The Story Prize announced this year’s three finalists. Now in its 18th year, the prize recognizes short story collections and seeks to bring more attention to the form. Previous winners have included Edwidge Danticat, George Saunders, and Deesha Read more >
There’s Throwback Thursday and Caturday and Selfie Sunday, and I would really just like to know when we’re going to make New Books Tuesday happen, you guys. I mean, just look at this treasure trove of new books hitting shelves Read more >
Today marks the 210th birthday of Charles Dickens—novelist, critic, and, from 1859 until his death, editor of a weekly literary journal called All the Year Round. As literary journal editors will presumably understand, the responsibilities stressed him out to the Read more >
Donald Trump’s spray-on fascism is continuing to make him a shit-ton of money. Back in November, the lifelong loser (of elections, of casinos, of dignity) published a coffee table book with a brand new press called Winning Team Publishing, founded Read more >
A brief but happy update: The Bookseller has reported that Samir Mansour Bookshop, the largest bookstore in Gaza, will reopen next week after being destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last May. The reopening was made possible by a GoFundMe campaign Read more >
That’s (kind of) the question being debated back in my homeland today as the country continues to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the publication of Ulysses, unabashed fart-enthusiast James Joyce’s modernist magnum opus about one man’s odyssey through Dublin on an Read more >
Ever wanted to see Charlotte Brontë’s intimate apparel? You’re in luck—kind of. As The Guardian just reported, a new exhibition at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, showcasing Charlotte Brontë’s wardrobe, includes this “sensual” outfit: Yes, it’s . . . huge and Read more >
73 years ago, Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali was born. During his short life (he passed at the age of 52 due to cancer), he wrote celebrated collections like The Country Without a Post Office, Rooms Are Never Finished, and A Nostalgist’s Read more >
This week we’re celebrating the 148th birthday of Gertrude Stein, experimental novelist and poet—and by extension, we’re celebrating Stein’s penchant for bending rules and subverting the expected, which started early in her career. Case in point: when she refused to Read more >
At the risk of reigniting the Sally Rooney Discourse—today, Hulu and BBC Three released a few early images from their upcoming adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling first novel Conversations With Friends, which will premiere sometime this spring. (If you somehow Read more >
Here’s an adaptation that sounds genuinely great: Deadline has just reported that Anonymous Content will develop Lauren Oyler’s breakout novel Fake Accounts as a series. Julia Garner (Ozark) will produce under her new production banner, and, amazingly, the series will Read more >
