Lit Hub Daily: December 2, 2021

• “Anyone who claims that age is ‘just a number’ is either very young or works for Hallmark.” Hilma Wolitzer on what it’s like to keep writing at 91. | Lit Hub

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• Still the one: Michael Dirda considers the perennial resonance of Frank Herbert’s masterpiece (yes, of course it’s Dune). | Lit Hub Criticism

• “Can you believe that bookstores exist? Heaven on earth.” Emma Straub on opening Books Are Magic. | Lit Hub Bookstores

• Johnny Cash, Siri Hustvedt, and Rachel Carson feature among the New and Noteworthy Nonfiction you should read this December. | Lit Hub Reading Lists

• Volcanoes—supernatural deities or comic book villains? Robin George Andrews argues for the rehabilitation of lava’s reputation. | Lit Hub Nature

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• Good news: Books don’t die when their publicity cycles do! Here are the 36 best old books we read in 2021. | Lit Hub Reading Lists

• Hermione Hoby on a literary Fuccboi, Hari Kunzru on Mario Vargas Llosa’s prismatic political thriller, Moira Donegan on Lauren Groff’s nuns, and more of the Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks

• S.A. Cosby on the conversation around policing in America—and why it needs to change. | CrimeReads

• “I’m living my truth. I knew that truth about myself for all those years, but there were a few dozen reasons why I couldn’t live it until now.” Lucy Sante on aging, identity, and life at 67. | Oldster

• Rebecca Panovka considers two recent Dostoevsky biographies that delve into his relationship with his “unfortunate wife,” Anna. | Bookforum

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• Brittle Paper names 50 notable African books of the past year. | Brittle Paper

• “Community is an ore; it glows despite the elements obscuring it.” Bryan Washington on queer bars in 2021 and the “harrowing endeavor” of keeping queer spaces alive. | The New Yorker

• Jason Mott discusses his latest novel, screenwriting, and satirizing the writer’s life. | The Rumpus 

• On police procedurals, Latasha Harlins, and white subterfuge. | The Believer

• Aku Ammah-Tagoe interviews Shruti Swamy. | Los Angeles Review of Books

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Also on Lit Hub: 47 virtual book events worth streaming this December • Sarabande Books on what it means to support experimental work • Read from J.R. Thorp’s debut novel, Learwife