TODAY: In 1918, Muriel Spark is born.
- “Is it the fault of the mother that her child will suffer? Or is empire, white supremacy, the denial of ongoing genocide, and the prison industrial system to blame?” Randa Jarrar on Palestinian mothers, the Virgin Mary, and the Mothers of the Movement. | Lit Hub Memoir
- The internet has been oddly absent from literary fiction, but this month, we’re getting two novels about Being Extremely Online… at the peak (we hope?) of Being Extremely Online. | Lit Hub
- Mean girls are a lot more fun to read about than, you know, be around. Ellie Eaton recommends her favorites, starting with the snobbish Caroline Bingley. | Lit Hub
- While training a bot named Carey, Lydia Paar considers if perhaps bots shouldn’t replace humans after all. | Lit Hub Tech
- “I’d dreamt of this day, but I never thought about what it would mean to see my name on the cover—for me, and for every other Keisha out there.” Keisha Bush on reclaiming her name. | Lit Hub
- Mark Bittman on the philosophy of “agroecology,” a social justice approach to global food production. | Lit Hub
- From a skin-shedding bodyguard to the adopted daughter of death, here are 7 Sci-Fi and Fantasy books to soothe your February blues. | Book Marks
- After more than 40 years, Mary-Kay Wilmers is stepping down from her post as editor of the London Review of Books. | LRB
- Read the story of Madeleine L’Engle’s friendship with Ahmad Rahman, a Black Panther incarcerated for a murder he didn’t commit. | Vanity Fair
- “Rape does not go away when you refuse to say it. Euphemisms are death. And so is revenge, in the end.” Carmen Maria Machado on Promising Young Woman. | The New Yorker
- “There is no one trans story: Morris’s memoir remains one of many. It’s a fine lesson about her life alone, but an iffy guide to trans lives more generally.” Considering Jan Morris’ Conundrum. | The Paris Review
- The Art of Fielding, Postcolonial Love Poem, and more rapid-fire book recs from Emily Nemens. | Book Marks
- Garth Greenwell and R.O. Kwon on the intersection of kink and art, and why “kink in and of itself is an aesthetic practice.” | BOMB
- The ACLU of Arkansas is calling for the end to a ban on almost all reading material at the Benton County jail. | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Also on Lit Hub: Your week in virtual book events, featuring Emily Rapp Black, Dantiel W. Moniz, and more • Susan Meissner recommends 10 books set against natural disasters • Read from Chang-rae Lee’s new novel, My Year Abroad
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