TODAY: In 1906, “The Gift of the Magi” is published in the O. Henry Anthology The Four Million. The story was first published in The New York Sunday World under the title “Gifts of the Magi” in December 1905.
- THESE TIMES: What happens to the presidential election during coronavirus? · Round four of our personalized quarantined book recommendations · Please stay home and enjoy the best literary adaptations to stream right now. | Life in a Pandemic
- ON THE VBC: Hadley Freeman discusses researching family history on Personal Space · On Sheltering, Zan Romanoff takes on the myth of Bluebeard · Lisa Olstein talks to Paul Lisicky about writing from—and through—pain, on Rekindled · Watch John Freeman, Leila Chatti, and Traci Brimhall on the second installment of Copper Canyon Live.| The Virtual Book Channel
- “I don’t require my career to be fun. I require it to be challenging and deeply satisfying.” A look at Elizabeth George’s no-frills writing routine. | Lit Hub Craft
- Betsey Johnson recalls striking out on her own (on the eve of the cotton Lycra revolution). | Lit Hub Style
- On leaving a life and moving to Alaska—with a pack of sled dogs as companions. | Lit Hub Nature
- “The decision by a woman to kill is always unexpected, generally condemned, and deeply misunderstood.” On gendered violence and female rage. | Lit Hub Politics
- Dean Jobb recommends 10 of the greatest con artist movies of all time. | CrimeReads
- New titles from Anne Tyler, Don Winslow, Julia Alvarez, and Eric Eyre all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks
- “I feel that I am like the designated New Yorker. Everyone else can leave.” In case you were wondering, Fran Lebowitz is staying in New York (and still not using an iPhone). | The New Yorker
- Duke University Press has made its books and journal articles on pandemics and contagion free to access online. | Hyperallergic
- “I couldn’t focus. What’s more, news aside, I could barely read. Instead, I ate an unusually large quantity of salt-and-vinegar chips.” R.O. Kwon on feeling grief during the pandemic. | The New York Times
- Next up on the list of virtual (and free) book award ceremonies this year: the L.A. Times Book Prize. | Los Angeles Times
- Myriam Gurba, one of the most vocal opponents of Jeanine Cummins’ American Dirt, considers the aftermath of the literary world’s protests. | Yes! Magazine
- The coronavirus pandemic is putting librarians in “an impossible position” as they advocate for better working conditions. | NBC News
- “I wish the book seemed less relevant than it does.” Emily St. John Mandel on interconnectedness and the problems with writing post-apocalyptic fiction. | Los Angeles Review of Books
Also on Lit Hub: On being gay in the Black Pentecostal church • Lit Hub Recommends: quarantine edition • Read a story from Sarah Harris Wallman’s collection Senseless Women.
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