The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

12 new books to get your hands on right now.

Well, what’re you waiting for? These books aren’t going to read themselves. * Jhumpa Lahiri, Whereabouts (Knopf) “Lahiri’s elegant phrases throughout the book reveal as much about her character as they do about the author’s understanding of her environment and Read more >

By Katie Yee

Why George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia is necessary reading for the 21st century.

George Orwell probably hasn’t stopped spinning in his grave since that Apple Macintosh commercial came out in 1984. You know, the one with the lady in red gym shorts who throws a big old hammer at Big Brother, at which Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

What the fresh hell? Magnum is releasing a Dante-themed ice cream bar.

Is this the dark woods or the shining world? The ice cream company Magnum, in partnership with the Dante Alighieri Society, is releasing a new series of ice cream bars to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death. Three Read more >

By Walker Caplan

“Nobody saw it as contemporary.” Why Stacey Abrams’s new novel went unpublished for a decade.

On May 11th, Doubleday will publish national powerhouse Stacey Abrams’s novel While Justice Sleeps, a thriller about a Supreme Court justice who slips into a coma, leaving his law clerk responsible for untangling a conspiracy involving the president of the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Michael Chabon has apologized for his "complicity" in Scott Rudin's abuse.

Amid a flood of damning stories documenting producer Scott Rudin’s abusive behavior, Michael Chabon took to Medium and published an apology for “[his] part in enabling Scott Rudin’s abuse, simply by standing by, saying nothing, looking the other way.” Chabon Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Here are the best reviewed books of the week.

Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground, Jenny Diski’s Why Didn’t You Just Do What You Were Told?, Anthony Bourdain’s World Travel, and Jonathan Ames’ A Man Named Doll all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Brought Read more >

By Book Marks

These are the 50 best-selling books of all time (on Amazon).

Want to read what everyone else is reading? MarketWatch reports that in honor of World Book Day, Amazon has released a list of their 50 overall bestselling books in the U.S. (at least in the 27 years since their launch Read more >

By Emily Temple

An original Robert Frost manuscript is up for auction.

Poetry-heads rejoice, and then leap into action: a handwritten copy of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is currently up for auction through Lion Heart Autographs. The copy is not the original manuscript of the poem, but Read more >

By Walker Caplan

You can now read Jane Austen in . . . molecule form.

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery—here’s some good Friday news: in a new study, a team from UT Austin has encoded a quote from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park on a small plastic molecule. The goal of the study Read more >

By Walker Caplan

These bookstores are the best in the country at supporting indie lit.

In advance of Independent Bookstore Day on April 24, the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses has put together a map of 140 bookstores that give special support to independent publishers. The list, which was compiled by recommendations from CLMP Read more >

By Corinne Segal

Cover reveal: Wole Soyinka's Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the US cover for Wole Soyinka’s new novel, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, which will be published on September 28 by Pantheon Books. This will be Soyinka’s first novel Read more >

By Literary Hub

Everything you need to know about this week’s manufactured Jane Austen controversy.

If you’ve been seeing headlines this week that say things like “Jane Austen canceled for drinking tea” and “Woke Madness! Jane Austen under historical interrogation,” and are a.) worried or b.) simply confused, let me clear things up: Jane Austen Read more >

By Walker Caplan

This year's International Booker Prize shortlist is dominated by indie publishers.

The International Booker Prize has just announced the six books in the running for this year’s award, which celebrates the finest fiction from around the world, translated into English. The £50,000 prize is split evenly between author and translator. Said Read more >

By Walker Caplan

10 books that make the Earth come alive.

Today is a day specifically set aside to celebrate and support environmental protection efforts. Really, this should be every day. Climate change is real. Please read Greta Thunberg’s twitter. There is certainly no shortage of books on the subject. You Read more >

By Katie Yee

This Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day—go forth and buy books!

Just a little, happy reminder: Independent Bookstore Day is this Saturday, April 24th. This year, the celebration is both online and in person at over 700 stores nationwide, featuring free author conversations as well as Independent Bookstore Day-exclusive books and Read more >

By Walker Caplan

LeVar Burton is your new Jeopardy! guest host.

Ask and you shall receive! Actor, producer, and children’s television icon, LeVar Burton, was just named as one of the new guest hosts for Jeopardy! The announcement seems to be a testament to the tenacity of fan support. In November, Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby