The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

These five books are perfect picks for dog lovers.

Did you know? Today, August 26, is National Dog Day! The day celebrates all our canine friends, from large to small, Westminster Kennel Club stars to beloved rescue pups. The holiday was originally founded in 2004 by Collen Paige, who Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

LaKeith Stanfield will star in the new adaptation of Victor LaValle's The Changeling.

It’s always nice when they nail the lead. Apple TV+ today confirmed that not only has The Changeling—a fantastical urban horror drama based on Victor LaValle’s best-selling 2017 book of the same name—been given a series order, but that LaKeith Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

For people who love LIES, here's a laptop case designed like a book.

Here’s some good news for liars, scoundrels and chaos-sowers: accessory company MOSISO has designed a laptop case that resembles a vintage, leather-bound book. At only $26.99, this is a perfect product for the KOKOPELLIS and ANANSIS of the world who Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Did you know there’s a Les Miserables-inspired street fighter video game?

If you like stories but find musicals irritating and books long, you might enjoy Arm Joe, an indie Street Fighter-style game based on Les Miserables. Arm Joe is a homophonic translation of the phrase “Ah, mujou!”, a phrase recognizing the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Apparently, Sally Rooney will only be doing (1) book event for her new novel.

Sally Rooney has pulled a Lorde: after releasing two smash hits, she’s retreated from city life. According to Vogue, Rooney has moved back to rural west Ireland, near the quiet town where she grew up; she spends weekdays working and Read more >

By Literary Hub

Dorothy Parker is back in New York City—with a new and improved tombstone.

54 years after her death, legendary author and wit Dorothy Parker’s cremated remains have finally been transported from Baltimore, where she was initially buried, to New York City, her primary home—and her tombstone has a new inscription. Parker was never Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Marvel Comics is branching out . . . into NFTs.

NFTs: they’re beloved by independent writers; credit card companies; and Nelson Mandela’s grandson. Now, Marvel’s getting in on the action: they’re launching the inaugural series of classic Marvel Comics as NFTs. Essentially, these Marvel Comic NFTs are digital collectibles; as Read more >

By Walker Caplan

"No revision, no second thoughts. Already I am terrified." Jean Rhys on writing and life.

Jean Rhys, my favorite Ice Queen and author of Voyage in the Dark, Good Morning Midnight, and Wide Sargasso Sea, would have turned 131 today. Rhys’ explorations of sex, desire, migration, and alienation were as haunting to me at 18, Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Breaking news: Men still don't know how to write women.

I’m sure this will come as no surprise to you, dear reader, but here it is: even some of the best, most well-regarded male writers are embarrassingly clueless when it comes to writing about women. Need actual proof? Check out Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

14 new books to look forward to this week.

You know what they say: new books are just as good (if not better) than new friends. Okay, maybe they don’t say that. Maybe I made that up. Maybe my dog and I are feeling a little stir crazy, and Read more >

By Katie Yee

Anne Trubek, founder of Belt Publishing, raised $6,000 for Afghan refugees in one day.

With a spontaneous series of tweets on Sunday, Anne Trubek of Belt Publishing raised $6,000 to help ten Afghans apply for humanitarian parole. The effort began when Trubek contacted the nonprofit Global Cleveland to ask how she could assist with Read more >

By Corinne Segal

A close reading of the new name for the Pfizer vaccine.

In case you get all your breaking news from Lit Hub, I’m pleased to be the first to tell you that the FDA has granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which will henceforth be known as… Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee). At Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Here's Benedict Cumberbatch reading Kurt Vonnegut’s advice to the people of 2088.

In a 1988 Volkswagen ad campaign for TIME, of all places, Kurt Vonnegut wrote a letter to the people of 2088. In it, he reflected on the current moment, imagined the next century (apparently, everyone will “sip orange drink through Read more >

By Walker Caplan

“Ask certain questions and decline to answer them.” George Saunders on the job of a short story.

In his new short story “The Mom of Bold Action,” published in the coming issue of The New Yorker, George Saunders both satirizes and humanizes (what’s the difference, if the satire is good?) a mother who, after her son is Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Want to be a bookseller? This chicken-coop-turned-bookstore is up for grabs.

Big news for booksellers, or even aspiring booksellers: The Times Union has reported that Owl Pen Books, a bookstore nestled in the hills of Washington County, is for sale, along with its 40,000 titles. As perhaps hinted by its location, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Every book featured in HBO's hit satire The White Lotus.

On Sunday the 15th, the season one finale of HBO’s comedy-drama The White Lotus aired. The six-episode series, helmed by showrunner Mike White (Enlightened), chronicles a week in the life of a group of guests and staff at a tropical resort Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

This new children’s literature museum is inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Calling all Miyazaki fans: a new hilltop children’s literature museum in Edogawa City, designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates, is inspired by the works of Eiko Kadono, the author of Kiki’s Delivery Service (known to many as the source material Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Read a previously unpublished Ursula K. Le Guin poem.

Here’s some relaxing reading for this Friday afternoon: in an online feature in TriQuarterly Mag, writer Jacqueline Dougan Jackson recalls her experience meeting Ursula K. Le Guin when Le Guin came to teach at Beloit University, involving a humorous prank Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here are the best reviewed books of the week.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Velvet Was the Night, Jaime Cortez’s Gordo, Billie Jean King’s All In, and Frances Wilson’s Burning Man all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for Read more >

By Book Marks

Federico García Lorca predicted his own death in a poem.

Eighty-five years ago today, on August 19th, 1936, Federico García Lorca—the Spanish avant-garde poet, playwright, and ardent socialist—was shot and killed by Nationalist militia before being buried in an unmarked mass grave somewhere outside Granada, where he remains to this day. Read more >

By Dan Sheehan