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News, Notes, Talk

Here are the best reviewed books of the week.

William Boyd’s Trio, Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control, Janice P. Nimura’s The Doctors Blackwell, and Simon Winchester’s Land all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”   Fiction Read more >

By Book Marks

This new indie bookstore categorizes books by emotion.

It’s rare to see Raven Leilani’s Luster next to Doctor De Soto, William Steig’s children’s book about a mouse that performs dental surgery—but this is par for the course at Oh Hello Again, Seattle’s newest bookshop. Oh Hello Again, rather Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Indie bookstore to open a block away from recently shuttered Barnes & Noble.

For a long while Barnes & Noble was villain number one in the eyes of indie bookstore owners, the poster child for soulless, homogenizing box stores (they even made a movie about it!)—but that was 25 years ago. These days, Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Umberto Eco tracking down a book in his massive library is your new competence porn.

The late Umberto Eco—professor, novelist, children’s book author—was a man of many talents. One of which, as seen in a video clip posted on Twitter by writer Ted Gioia, was quickly finding books in his famously massive personal library. I Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Meet the illustrator making art based on Haruki Murakami’s short stories.

Ard Su’s colorful, stylized illustrations have accompanied fiction by Lorrie Moore in The New Yorker and interviews on NPR NextGen. But before she completed her MA in illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art, she studied Japanese, in the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Amanda Gorman won the inauguration.

Between Bernie’s mittens, Ella Emhoff’s coat (and iconic Pence mocking), and the president of the United States no longer being a proudly monstrous coup-stoking white supremacist, there were some big wins at yesterday’s inauguration. Of course, as a literary website, Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Ursula K. Le Guin stamps are coming to a post office near you.

Remember that one week last year when we were all pushing to save the USPS? Well, here is another reason to support them: they’re putting beloved sci-fi writer Ursula K. Le Guin on a stamp! Honestly, why is this not Read more >

By Katie Yee

The New Yorker Union is stopping all work for twenty-four hours.

Today, the New Yorker Union announced that its members will be “undertaking a twenty-four-hour work stoppage,” lasting between 6 A.M. this morning (Thursday, January 21), through 6 A.M. tomorrow. During this time, the official statement reads, “union members will not Read more >

By Emily Temple

The Hungarian government has ordered a publisher to put a disclaimer on inclusive children's books.

Loathe as I am to be the bearer of dispiriting news on this hopeful day, here’s a dispatch from Hungary that manages to be both petty and terrifying at the same time. It seems that authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

President Joe Biden panders to writers everywhere by ALSO doing last-minute edits.

According to Arlette Saenz just now on CNN soon-to-be President Joe Biden will be editing his inaugural speech right up to the very last second, in what is the presidential version of “Wait, can you use this version?” Apparently, he Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Read every presidential inauguration poem ever performed (there are fewer than you think).

Today, Joe Biden will become only the fourth president in American history to have a poet read at their inauguration. (Yes, they’ve all been Democrats.) When she takes the stage, Amanda Gorman, at 22, will be the youngest ever inaugural Read more >

By Emily Temple

Meet Midst, a new writing tool that reveals the editing process behind poems.

As readers, we’re obsessed with the creative process: entire podcasts, interviews, and courses are dedicated to how writers come up with their ideas and write. But here’s a trade secret: more often than not, the genesis of any given idea Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Watch the first gorgeous trailer for The Luminaries, premiering on Valentine’s Day.

Worry no more about Valentine’s Day plans! Starz has picked up the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, and it’s set to premiere on February 14th at 9:30 pm. The six-part series stars The Knick’s Eve Hewson as Anna Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Read an open letter from publishing professionals condemning Trump enablers’ book deals.

As you may remember, about a week ago, Senator Josh Hawley challenged the results of the election, encouraged the storming of the Capitol, and then complained about Simon & Schuster canceling his book deal, calling the publisher’s decision “Orwellian” (how?) Read more >

By Walker Caplan

"Too much coloring": Here is some writing advice from Washington Irving to Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe was born on this day in 1809, so what better day for an “extremely famous, very dead authors: they’re just like us!” feature! In this case: their friends tactfully tell them when they’re using too many adjectives! Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Check out these vintage pulp covers for classic Patricia Highsmith novels.

Today marks 100 years since the birth of Patricia Highsmith, rebellious writer, music lover, closet romantic, and author of one of the greatest crime novels—and coming of age stories—of all time (no matter what some people say). Though we think Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here are the guest editors for the Best American Series 2021.

Do you like the Best American series? Of course you do! Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, travel writing, to food writing. Each volume’s Read more >

By Literary Hub

Poets take note: there is now a Maya Angelou Barbie.

I’m not sure how to feel about this one: poet Maya Angelou is going to be a Barbie. I have limited experience with Barbies, both in my own childhood and as a parent, and I find their weird, distorted physical Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

14 new books to fuel your reading resolutions.

How’s that New Year’s resolution to read more going? Yeah, badly for me, too! I just got an HBO Max subscription, so you can imagine my nights awash in the Friends theme song (I find the show comforting—don’t @ me!) and Read more >

By Katie Yee

Melinda Gates has donated $250,000 to the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

Earlier this year, we learned of the founding of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which is the first English-language literary award to celebrate excellence in fiction by women writers in the United States and Canada. And today, the Carol Read more >

By Walker Caplan