The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

NYC’s “fanciest cat” gets new digs in Algonquin Hotel facelift.

The legendary Algonquin Hotel just got a fancy new architectural refurbishment, courtesy the firm Stonehill Taylor. In paying homage to the hotel’s legendary literary heritage, the upgrade features “a 3D art installation made from pages of books that once belonged Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

The Exorcist.">

The Exorcist.">"It has absolutely nothing going for it, except Satan." Read James Baldwin on The Exorcist.

Though James Baldwin is best known and loved for his novels, essays, and oratory, he is not frequently remembered as a great film critic—though, as Noah Berlatsky wrote in The Atlantic, he should be. In 1976, Baldwin published The Devil The Exorcist.">Read more >

By Emily Temple

21 new books to take home and love today.

Just look at them: all these new books, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and waiting for you to give them a good home. They promise to make excellent company. * Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different (Viking) “A bildungsroman, a Read more >

By Katie Yee

Your guide to free virtual literary events happening in August.

Finally: community you can enjoy from your couch! * In Conversation: Michelle Tea and Torrey Peters August 1 (tonight!) @ 7pm EST Michelle Tea’s latest, Knocking Myself Up, hits shelves tomorrow. Tonight, you can see her in conversation with Torrey Peters Read more >

By Katie Yee

Britney Spears: (oops) the supply chain did it again.

As you all undoubtedly know, Britney Spears landed a $15 million book deal with Simon & Schuster earlier this year. Her untitled memoir is apparently already finished(!) and her team was vying for a January 2023 release date… until the Read more >

By Katie Yee

Stephen King to testify against the giant PRH-Simon & Schuster merger.

Stephen King is set to testify on behalf of the Department of Justice against the proposed merger (acquisition?) of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. King, who is published by Scribner, an S&S imprint, is likely to articulate one Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Attention book lovers: your dream job is hiring again.

Yep, you guessed it: “Barefoot Bookseller,” the greatest job in the literary world, is once again accepting applications. Would you like to run a bookstore on a desert island in the Maldives for a year? What if I told you Read more >

By Emily Temple

An ode to the grumpy writer in The Princess Diaries.

The Princess Diaries was first released on this day in 2001, and because it’s based on a book, that officially means I can write about it for literary hub dot com and no one can stop me. My fellow ’90s Read more >

By Katie Yee

Undisputed “World’s Greatest Author” finally lands Big 5 publishing deal.

Yes, it’s Tingle Time. One of my all-time favorite literary personalities, the greatest self-published author to ever live, Chuck Tingle, has signed a two-novel deal with Tor’s Nightfire imprint. Per the Publishers Marketplace announcement, the first book, Camp Damascus, is Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Tomorrow is Paperback Book Day, so here are 21 new ones to celebrate.

July 30 is officially Paperback Book Day! It’s apparently the day that Penguin started publishing paperbacks, way back in 1935. And what a glorious day it was! Who doesn’t love paperbacks? They feel so nice in your hands! They fit Read more >

By Katie Yee

Check out the trailer for Joyce Carol Oates/Ana de Armas collab Blonde.

Watched by all. Seen by none. As I wrote last month when the first teaser trailer dropped, hopes are high for Andrew Domink’s NC-17 adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ gargantuan work of historical bio-fiction. Now, with the release of an action-packed Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

These 24 debuts just made the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize longlist.

New York City’s Center for Fiction today announced the longlist for its prestigious First Novel Prize, which has, since 2006, honored the best debut fiction of the year. The twenty-four nominated debut novels—which include Leila Mottley’s Nightcrawling, Fatimah Asghar’s When Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

The New York Times has found its next Books editor.

Today, The New York Times announced that current Culture editor Gilbert Cruz will be the paper’s next Books editor, replacing Pamela Paul, who left the role in March. “Gilbert spent the past four years bringing important changes to our arts report, diversifying Read more >

By Emily Temple

Oh great. NFT eBooks of the Gutenberg Bible sold for $100,000 in a single day.

Oh good, now there’s an app to buy books as NFTs. And if you were to purchase said NFT ebook, your book would live on the blockchain where, according to a press release from Web3.0 start-up Book Tokens, it would Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

A poet who criticized Xi Jinping has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Chinese poet and activist Zhang Guiqi, also known by his penname Lu Yang, who posted a video in which he called on President Xi Jinping to step down, has been sentences to six years in prison. Lu Yang was convicted Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Here's the shortlist for the first Ursula K. Le Guin Fiction Prize.

The shortlist for the first Ursula K. Le Guin Fiction Prize is here, featuring works “of imaginative fiction” from nine authors. Five jurors—adrienne maree brown, Becky Chambers, Molly Gloss, David Mitchell, and Luis Alberto Urrea—will select a winner for the Read more >

By Corinne Segal