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 >
For lovers of lush literary adaptations, it doesn’t get much more mouth-watering than this. Sophia Coppola—acclaimed director of Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring, and my own personal favorite, The Beguiled—is teaming up with Apple to develop Read more >
As is the case with many novels, Sally Rooney’s Normal People began its life as a short story. In “At the Clinic,” Connell and Marianne are 23, Marianne needs to have a tooth removed, and they each have very different Read more >
As we learned on Twitter last week, writing prompts are very bad (or… necessary and good? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I am so jealous of you). So, this is not a writing prompt, but a simple Read more >
For about two months in 1970, ITV aired episodes of a bonkers science fiction comedy series based (oh so very loosely) on Miguel de Cervantes’ literary classic Don Quixote. The show, entitled The Adventures of Don Quick, follows an astronaut named Read more >
This morning, after reading the news that the British Library was encouraging kids to make their own tiny books in imitation of the Brontë sisters’ childhood crafting endeavors, I fell down a deep, deep internet hole that ended unlike almost Read more >
On the heels of the second season of My Brilliant Friend, the faithful and well-acted HBO adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, Ferrante fans have received some good news: Netflix will be co-producing a series based on Ferrante’s most recent novel, Read more >
Harukami Murakami, who even in the best of times is not a particularly public person, is going to be hosting a special radio show for everyone stuck at home in Japan (which is most of Japan). Murakami is no stranger Read more >
You know what they say: April showers bring May books. Here’s today’s brand-new batch coming to (virtual) bookstores near you. Consider this a friendly reminder that it’s never a bad idea to support your local indie. * Samantha Harvey, The Shapeless Read more >
I first encountered them at a Walgreens in Iowa. The card was long and thin, with a backdrop of blurry purple flowers and a sentiment printed in a cousin of Lucinda Handwriting: There’s no taking back / what I did Read more >
Everyone loves Jürgen Klopp. Even I, a longtime Man United fan who finds Liverpool FC’s COVID-interrupted title run almost as hilarious as Steven Gerrard’s slip, love Jürgen Klopp. For those of you unfamiliar with the Champions League-winning Liverpool manager, Klopp Read more >
