The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

5 fictional female friendships to revisit this Galentine's Day.

I sincerely hope you have fun brunch plans this weekend because Sunday is Galentine’s Day! In case you haven’t seen Parks and Recreation in a while (reasonable, since they took it off Netflix a while back) here’s a refresher: according to Read more >

By Katie Yee

8 books to help you through these last cold days of winter.

At this point in the year, you may be itching for spring—but it’s still February and there’s still some cold for us to endure. But no matter what it may feel like when you put your foot in a snowbank, Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

You can’t steal from a little free library, but can you censor it?

We once again have to point out that you cannot actually “steal” from a little free library. And you should definitely not get the cops involved if you think someone is “stealing” the explicitly free things you’ve put out. Little Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Preview a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion soundtracked by Cardi B and Dua Lipa.

Here’s something to tide you over while you wait for the Dakota Johnson-helmed Persuasion Netflix adaptation: this month, a musical adaptation of Persuasion begins its run at Kingston’s Rose Theatre. Adapted by Jeff James and James Yeatman, the adaptation’s soundtrack Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Take a look at this gorgeous, see-through “book house.”

Because you can never have enough gorgeous libraries to imagine yourself visiting: Condition_Lab’s new Pingtan Book House library in Pingtan, China, built by working closely with local carpenters and CUHK architecture students, is a luminous, organic structure with a matrix Read more >

By Walker Caplan

On the terrifying hoax execution that haunted Dostoevsky’s writing.

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 >

By Walker Caplan

Sorry, kids: A new startup is releasing children's books about "conservative icons."

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 >

By Jessie Gaynor

Want to help stop book bans? The Authors Guild has tools for you.

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 >

By Walker Caplan

Here are the first selected titles for the National Book Foundation's Science + Literature Program.

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 >

By Snigdha Koirala

On the 1863 novel that predicted the Internet, cars, skyscrapers, and electronic dance music.

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 >

By Walker Caplan

Exclusive cover reveal: Iain Reid’s We Spread.

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 >

By Literary Hub

Your literary guide to the 2022 Oscar nominations.

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 >

By Eliza Smith

Drive My Car is the first Japanese film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.

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 >

By Walker Caplan

Medieval manuscripts as coloring books? Yes please.

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 >

By Jonny Diamond

Here are this year's finalists for The Story Prize.

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 >

By Snigdha Koirala

20 new books hitting shelves this week.

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 >

By Katie Yee

“I do not think it is a good story.” Never ask Charles Dickens for writing advice.

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 >

By Walker Caplan

Donald Trump’s vanity publishing project is making him a lot of money.

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 >

By Jonny Diamond

The beloved Gaza bookstore destroyed by an Israeli airstrike will open again next week.

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 >

By Walker Caplan

Should Dublin Airport be renamed after James Joyce or Enya?

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 >

By Dan Sheehan