On May 18th, 1897, one day before Oscar Wilde would finish a two-year prison sentence for “gross indecency” with men, the author took a cab with two warders from Reading Gaol to wait for a London-bound train. Were it up Read more >
Remember March? You know, a million years ago? During the month in which most places in the US began to shut down and enforce social distancing, book sales, unsurprisingly, suffered, with one notable exception: audiobooks. The Association of American Publishers Read more >
To be young, gifted, and black Oh, what a lovely, precious dream To be young, gifted, and black Open your heart to what I mean –Nina Simone, “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black,” after Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Hansberry—the iconic playwright Read more >
Stephin Merrit (the primary lyricist of the on again/off again Magnetic Fields) is essentially a master of microfictions, so it’s no surprise that the band’s new album, Quickies, is inspired by the stories of Lydia Davis (who is, in fact, Read more >
The temptation to start hanging out with real live people is strong. Despite being the epicenter of the worst global pandemic in a century even New York state is starting to reopen. I’m not going to get into the terrifying Read more >
For the past 20 years, the New York Public Library has been celebrating the work of young writers with the Young Lions Fiction Award, which is given annually to an American writer age 35 and younger. Past winners include Amelia Read more >
On Wednesdays we wear pink, but on Tuesdays we celebrate the new books that are coming into the world. We also order them from our local independent bookstores or on bookshop.org. * Curtis Sittenfeld, Rodham (Random House) “Rodham is a nauseating, Read more >
Virtual Author Series: Emma Straub and Judy Blume Monday, May 18, 7pm EDT Books & Books and the Miami Book Fair present Emma Straub and Judy Blume in celebration of Straub’s new novel All Adults Here. The authors and booksellers Read more >
We talk a big game about how much we love public libraries, but it turns out there exists a tier of library love that we had never previous considered: converting half of your house to a beautiful, minimalist public(!) library. Read more >
“I resisted. I would not die. I could not.” Katherine Anne Porter—the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author of Ship of Fools and Pale Horse, Pale Rider—was born 130 years ago today in Indian Creek, Texas, and should, by Read more >
Most of my friends were very disappointed when, on their eleventh birthdays, they received no letter from Hogwarts. Me? I was always more of a Lightning Thief kind of girl. (Don’t @ me!) To all my fellow Percy Jackson fans who Read more >
In the literary world, blurbs are a fraught business. These days they’re an industry standard, and writers and publishers need them to promote their books, but they are, above all else, a favor economy, and lots of people sort of Read more >
Bryan Washington, one of this year’s 5 Under 35 honorees and rising literary star of Houston, was just awarded the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut short story collection, Lot. The Dylan Thomas Prize, now in its fifteenth Read more >
Those among us with a cool $100,000 to spare will soon have a new opportunity to safeguard a piece of rock and roll history. Jim Morrison’s Paris Journal, containing reflections and poems that the singer wrote in Paris just before Read more >
Disclaimer: I find most things related to machine learning terrifying if I think about them for longer then a few seconds, both because at this point in my life, my STEM knowledge ends with PEMDAS, and because I have enough Read more >
You might not have heard of The Snoop Sisters, a largely-forgotten, short-lived detective show from the 1970s, about two single, senior-citizen mystery writers who moonlight as sleuths. Although it has since fallen into obscurity (though I’m not super confident many Read more >
I’ve always been a re-reader and a re-watcher, but my instincts to seek comfort in the familiar have gotten even stronger lately. I don’t want any more surprises, so I’m spending more time with old friends, whose stories I’ve already Read more >
Britain’s most recent national hero, the centenarian Captain Tom Moore, will mainly be remembered not for his service during World War II but for his equally admirable efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. You might have heard the touching story: while Read more >
At a time when bookstores are weighing the health risks of reopening during a pandemic with the compounding financial consequences of remaining closed—a decision that has been especially fraught for independent bookstores—Barnes & Noble is choosing to forge ahead. Of Read more >
It looks like Ethan Hawke’s stint as a contemplative Protestant minister struggling with his faith has given way to Phase Two. In the forthcoming Showtime adaptation of James McBride’s novel The Good Lord Bird, Hawke stars as the God-fearing firebrand abolitionist The Good Lord Bird.">Read more >
