I recently reread Donna Tartt’s Dark Academia classic The Secret History—published 30 years ago this month—for the first time since I was a young identity-less Classics student myself. On the whole, I found the book as enjoyable as I remember Read more >
On September 20th, 1939, Jean-Paul Sartre was conscripted into the French Army. Because of his exotropia, which he said caused him balance issues, and his partial blindness, he didn’t go to the front. Instead, they made him a meteorologist. It Read more >
It’s a doozy! This week brings us new books by Yiyun Li, Elizabeth Strout, Andrew Sean Greer, Chelsea Martin, and more. * Yiyun Li, The Book of Goose (FSG) “The most propulsively entertaining of Li’s novels, The Book of Goose is Read more >
PEN America has released a new report on book bans in schools during the 2021-22 school year showing a marked increase in efforts to limit what students are reading—and a troubling, coordinated campaign of groups pushing those efforts. From July Read more >
Dear Reader, Every so often, life has a funny way of putting the right book into our hands at the right time. You’ll read a passage, and you’ll feel like it was written for you, specifically. You’ll look around the Read more >
Sure, Woody Allen may be a celebrity octogenarian with millions of dollars and a decimated reputation, but he’s also just like you: keeping up with pandemic trends by quitting his job to follow his real passion! On Sunday, Woody Allen, Read more >
The American Library Association has released its preliminary data on attempts to censor books or limit library resources, and the numbers are bad. From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, there were 681 “attempts to ban or restrict library resources,” targeting Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction. The judges for this year’s award are Ben Fountain (Chair), Brandon Hobson, Pam Houston, Dana Johnson, and Michelle Malonzo. The Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, including memoirs, science writing, biographies, and histories, as well as three books that tackle the pandemic. The judges for this Read more >
The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University shortlist was announced today on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. The prize, which seeks to herald a “new vanguard of British writing,” comes with a £15,000 purse; the other shortlisted writers Read more >
Good news for workers’ rights! The US arm of Verso Books has ratified its union contract 16 months after they began negotiations, making it the first publisher to have a contract with NewsGuild, “the largest union of journalists, media workers Read more >
The Literature of 9/11 is undoubtedly a rich subject that has been explored at length by people with much more extensive education than I have. But there’s a segment of novels that take place in the months leading up to Read more >
In case you needed a strong reminder that banning books is wrong—or extra motivation to read the books that have recently been targeted—LeVar Burton is here for you. During a recent appearance at Rose City Comic Com in Portland, Oregon, Read more >
In 1982, Frank Delaney of the BBC visited Roald Dahl at home for a long conversation that meandered from children’s literature to 18th-century furniture and making orange marmalade. During that visit, Dahl gave Delaney a glimpse at his writing routine, Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry, including volumes by a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and three Whiting Award winners. The judges for this year’s Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature, which includes ten titles originally written in nine different languages: Arabic, Danish, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, and Spanish. The judges for Read more >
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