The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Big-hearted strangers turn Little Free Libraries into Little Free Pantries.

Are you desperately searching for proof that there is, in fact, still goodness in this crazy, mixed-up, pandemic-cowed world? You are? Well then, might I direct your attention to this Chicago neighborhood street corner? Seen in my Chicago neighborhood. Sign Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Need a distraction? Get lost in The Paris Review’s Author Index.

Today, The Paris Review launched a new way to make good use of some of that extra alone time: by browsing the Author Index, which is exactly what it sounds like. They call it “a comprehensive resource featuring every author Read more >

By Emily Temple

Ina Garten, Samin Nosrat are here to help you with your lockdown cooking.

We’re on the lookout for Nice Things at the moment, and “beloved chefs helping you make the most of your socially distanced pantry” is the perfect combination of heartwarming and actually useful. While the grocery stores in my neighborhood remain Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Bookshop.org to share 30 percent of each purchase with bookstores impacted by coronavirus shutdowns.

Bookshop.org, an alternative to Amazon that shares proceeds from book sales with independent bookstores, will give more money to those stores in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on small businesses. Bookshop announced today that it would increase Read more >

By Corinne Segal

The author who accused Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie of plagiarism owes her money.

Never let anyone tell you a period of global anxiety isn’t a great time to pick a fight over plagiarism. After author Anne Giwa-Amu recently put a video on YouTube accusing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie of plagiarizing her 1996 novel Sade for Adichie’s 2006 hit Half of Read more >

By Aaron Robertson

Celebrities are posting videos of themselves reading children's stories for quarantined kids.

With many of us holed up in our homes indefinitely, and the list of school closures growing daily, two online initiatives are rallying authors and celebrities to post videos of themselves reading children’s stories out loud. This week, Romper launched Read more >

By Corinne Segal

Haven't read War and Peace? Now's the time to join Yiyun Li's free virtual book club.

If you’re feeling alone and listless, or even if you simply have a few extra hours a week all of a sudden, I’ve got some good news for you. Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18, brilliant novelist Yiyun Li will be Read more >

By Emily Temple

10 new books to support right now!

So, things are really weird and horrible right now, but as Jonny Diamond wrote in his editor’s note, “Books are how we bear witness to life, even as they divert us from its darkest days.” Amazingly, books are still coming Read more >

By Katie Yee

Amazon bans Mein Kampf, with only a few exceptions.

About a month after a flurry of reports revealed that Amazon had started to remove more Nazi propaganda from its bookstore, the company has announced an official ban on most editions of Mein Kampf along with other Nazi-themed books. Jim Waterson, Read more >

By Corinne Segal

Here is a (growing) list of resources for gig workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

It will be a long time before we know the full effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s already clear that its impact has been immediate and uniquely horrific for freelance artists, writers, and other gig workers in the US, Read more >

By Corinne Segal

How you can support bookstores during the coronavirus pandemic.

Though most bookstores are closing their doors to the public, you can still buy books from them! And because you believe in our shared responsibility to preserve the wellbeing of those most vulnerable among us, you’re staying home and reading Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Some bookish suggestions for what to do when you're social distancing with your toddler.

Day one of “in the house school” for my three year old began (at 7am) with him playing teacher, asking me what I had for breakfast (nothing, because somehow at eight months pregnant I’m still morning sick) and then him Read more >

By Emily Firetog

The first lines of 10 classic novels, rewritten for social distancing.

Of course, books can be a balm in these terrifying times—but as the surge in sales of plague-related literature reveals, sometimes all we want to read are books that speak directly to our terrifying times. Well, friends, with a little elbow Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Can't decide what to read next? Tell us your favorite books and we'll recommend one just for you.

Have you already gotten through the first round of your self-isolation reading list? Are you trying to decide what book to read next? The Literary Hub staff has got your back—not to mention a lot of strong opinions about literature. Read more >

By Emily Temple

The Museum of the Bible's Dead Sea Scroll fragments have been revealed as worthless forgeries.

Here’s some Monday morning schadenfreude to start your week right: after extensive testing, it seems that the Museum of the Bible’s sixteen fragments of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, for which museum founder Steve Green paid millions of dollars, are in Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

So Shakespeare wrote King Lear during a plague. Well, good for him, say all the writers.

Over the weekend, as countries around the world began or continued to shut down, many Twitter users, the most prominent among them being Rosanne Cash, reminded their followers of how productive one William Shakespeare managed to be when the plague Read more >

By Emily Temple

Hold on to your Nebulas: Ken Liu's short stories are coming to TV.

Ken Liu, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of more acclaimed SFF short stories than you can shake a futuristic stick at, will soon be bringing his expansive imagination to the small screen. As Publishers Marketplace announced earlier today, AMC Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Lots of people are looking up "pandemic" and "quarantine" and "Kafkaesque" in the dictionary.

Turns out people have some questions about the new coronavirus—and not just “what is social distancing, exactly” and “can I go to the gym?” This morning, Merriam-Webster lexicographer Peter Sokolowski tweeted this list of recent lookups in the digital dictionary: Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here are the National Book Critics Circle Award winners!

This evening, the National Book Critics Circle announced the winners of their annual awards, which celebrates excellent writing and encourages the discourse around literature. These are the only national awards chosen by the book critics themselves. The original ceremony that Read more >

By Katie Yee

A Natalie Wood biography suggests her husband played a role in her death.

Almost 20 years ago, celebrity biographer Suzanne Finstad published her 2001 bestseller Natascha: The Biography of Natalie Wood. By that point, the vague details surrounding Wood’s death in 1981 made it one of Hollywood’s most infamous mysteries. Wood had gone missing Read more >

By Aaron Robertson