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News, Notes, Talk

EXCLUSIVE: Here's the cover for Anthony Veasna So's debut story collection, Afterparties.

Happy Friday. We made it. It’s the end of the longest week of the longest year, and here’s a really cool looking cover for Anthony Veasna So’s forthcoming debut short story collection, Afterparties. Blurbed by Bryan Washington, George Saunders, and Read more >

By Lit Hub Daily

Don't know where to start with Colson Whitehead? Here's a reading list.

Aside from his scintillating prose, deadpan wit, and fearless approach to dealing with some of the darkest corners of American history, Colson Whitehead’s literary career has been marked by an audacious versatility. Though many of his works feature some element Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

A comedian has just solved "the world's most difficult literary puzzle."

In 1934, The Observer’s crossword writer, Edward Powys Mathers, wrote a short mystery novel that was also a fantastically difficult literary puzzle. The book, Cain’s Jawbone—named after the “first recorded murder weapon” and published under his nom de plume, Torquemada—consists Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here are the best reviewed books of the week.

Nicole Krauss’ To Be a Man, Megan Hunter’s The Harpy, Shirley Hazzard’s Collected Stories, and David Sedaris’ The Best of Meall feature among the best reviewed books of the week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes Read more >

By Book Marks

Here are the 2020 Kirkus Prize winners.

Tonight, at its special virtual ceremony hosted from the Austin Central Library, Kirkus Reviews announced the winners of the 7th-annual Kirkus Prizes in fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature, which celebrate the most inventive, electric, and timely fiction of the year. The Award Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

And the host of the 71st National Book Awards is...

Jason Reynolds! The two-time National Book Award Finalist, and current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will host the 71st National Book Awards on November 18, 2020. “To be at the forefront of ushering in the celebration of my peers Read more >

By Literary Hub

6 definitively good things that came out of last night's election.

There’s a long way to go before we get to a final decision on the next president of the United States. Frankly, it’s disheartening that it’s even this close. But I am happy to report the following definitively good things Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Need to relax? Try the soothing sounds of old French books. (Yes, really.)

Apparently, there is only one time of year/election cycle/planetary crisis at which I am desperate enough turn to ASMR to soothe my ragged, sad brain. Unfortunately, it is that time again. Fortunately, the world of literary ASMR—that is, relaxing book Read more >

By Emily Temple

Our all-time favorite diversionary Lit Hub stories for this election eve.

It has been a long four years. We’ve run scores of important, thought-provoking essays during the Trump Presidency, many of which will endure as crucial documents of this hard, hard time in America.* HOWEVER. One doesn’t have to look far Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Take a break from the news by reading about voter shenanigans in William Kennedy's Roscoe.

As you read this sentence, voting is underway in a historic US election, a stressful contest, to put it mildly, but in this season of taking heart in the dark cackle of historical déjà vu, perhaps it’s worth remembering that Read more >

By John Freeman

Virginie Despentes's Vernon Subutex trilogy was shaped by the 2008 financial crisis.

Between now and the announcement of the 2020 Albertine Prize winner in December, we’ll be running a series of Q&As with the five shortlisted nominees. It feels apt that our first conversation, today of all days, is with Virginie Despentes, Read more >

By Aaron Robertson

The Things They Carried is finally being adapted for film (and the cast is insane).

Since its publication in 1990, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a linked collection of semi-autobiographical short stories about the Vietnam War, has become a modern classic—in fact, its title story is the most frequently anthologized piece of short fiction Read more >

By Emily Temple

12 new books to get from your local indies this week.

Dear reader, the only thing we really recommend reading today is the ballot. If you have not voted, we strongly recommend that you do! If you have already done your civic duty, why not reward yourself with a trip to Read more >

By Katie Yee

Here are the winners of the 2020 World Fantasy Awards.

The World Fantasy Awards, established in 1975, honors the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. The Award is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in the genre of fantasy and speculative fiction, and comes with a Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

Bookshop.org misses opportunity with UK launch to spell it “Bookshoppe.”

Our friends at Bookshop.org have launched their “don’t buy books at Amazon” alternative over in the UK and I am obviously upset that they’re not calling it Bookshoppe. This comes just in time for Britain’s second round of lockdown as Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Remember the days when a literary radio broadcast could cause mass panic?

On this very day, in 1938, Orson Wells broadcasted an adaptation of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. It aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System network as a special Halloween episode. It begins like this: “We know now that Read more >

By Katie Yee