Lit Hub Weekly: December 9 - 13, 2019

• “Beneath the intricate workings of Handke’s text, one can hear the rumbles of some of the worst tendencies of our present age.” John Erik Riley travels to Bosnia to try to see what Peter Handke saw (or didn’t, as the case may be). | Lit Hub Politics
• “I have lied, cajoled and manipulated to get time by the river.” Lara Maiklem goes mudlarking on the Thames. | Lit Hub History
• The ?ULTIMATE ?best books of 2019, or: The list of all lists (yes, we read them all and did math). | Lit Hub
• The best reviewed books of 2019 round-up has begun. | Book Marks.
• From epic crime novels, to social noir, to gothic psychothrillers, the CrimeReads editors recommend thebest of 2019’s crime and mystery novels. | CrimeReads
• “It isn’t an intellectual process, and it’s not prescient—it’s about what I can bring myself to believe.” Read a profile of SF legend William Gibson. | The New Yorker
• In the last decade, the digital marketplace has transformed the way we read. From audiobooks to Instapoetry, here are some of the major book trends of the 2010s. | BBC
• Sarajevo has declared Nobel laureate Peter Handke “persona non grata” for his controversial views. The author will be legally barred from entering Bosnia through the capital. | Yahoo News
• “I hope it doesn’t lead to divorce”: Benjamin Myers on what it’s like to be on a literary prize shortlist with your spouse. | The Guardian
• “This is one of the great artistic achievements by an American—or really anyone—over the last century.” Jonathan Franzen pays tribute to Peanuts. | Library of America
• Textbooks have gotten 1,000 percent more expensive since the 1970s—do professors have an ethical obligation to take a stand against price gouging? | The New York Times
• A case for Little Women as “the original super-franchise.” | Vulture
• “His work was too deftly sewn into the English language to be picked free of it.” Brian Evenson on Gary Lutz’s “untranslatable” fiction. | The Paris Review
• Has the success of Elena Ferrante’s novels and new translations of work by 20th-century Italian female authors marked a new era for women in the Italian publishing world? | The New York Times
• Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is a notoriously difficult book to adapt for film. A roundtable with a film scholar, McCarthy expert, and actor attempts to figure out why that is. | Mel Magazine
• “My pilgrimage, I hoped, might reveal some higher purpose hidden within our seemingly endless Indian losses.” Julian Brave NoiseCat on visiting Wounded Knee. | Harper’s
• “When people can publish whatever they want, they do.” Or, what the internet can learn from the printing press. | The Atlantic
• Imaginary gift guides with real books in them: these are the most expensive books ever sold. | Book Riot
• When it comes to portraits of Jane Austen, how do scholars separate the “definitelys” from the “maybes”? | The Times Literary Supplement
• “Impeachment is a political process as much as a legal one—and it duly involves two linguistic struggles.” | The Economist

Also on Lit Hub:

Finishing up Lit Hub’s  Best of the Decade: here are the best literary TV adaptations of the decade and a list of the best literary film adaptations of the 2010s • Gillian Gill on Virginia Woolf’s multilayered relationship with her mother • Fintan O’Toole on the unholy interplay between punk and Brexit • How the 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe discovered a new star… with a piece of string • Going deep on the fashion of Jane Austen • Siri Hustvedt on panpsychism’s shifting foundations • Paul Scraton follows the old path of one of history’s most infamous walls • Gabrielle Hickmon on Audre Lorde’s Berlin years • How to spend a literary long weekend in Chicago • It’s long past time for our idea of “American fiction” to stop defaulting to “white and male” • 91 theses on Lord Byron, graffiti, and bathroom stalls • Umberto Eco on the elusive concept of ugliness • Biographer Julie Dobrow on the poetic power of Emily Dickinson’s bedroom • Lauren Michele Jackson on race, weed, and the gray areas of the legal system • In a time of disaster, is it possible to write with optimism about nature? • A brief history of Nairobi’s literary house parties • Judith Arcana on Grace Paley’s life and career • Marcos Gonsalez on diversifying our readings of the canon • On Kylie Minogue, cancer, and coming back to life • How cleanliness and beauty became intertwined in the 18th century • Katy Hershberger on Lurlene McDaniel—master of “dying teen” lit—and the allure of a problematic genre • Disneyland on opening day was far from the Happiest Place on Earth • The 10 best cookbooks of the year • Stewart Sinclair on what it means (and takes) to have a career in writing • What would the Anthropocene look like on other planets? • We have a new favorite cookbook and it’s the 1970s classic Cooking for Orgies and Other Large Parties • The rise of the downfall of the dirtbag heiress • Gary Snyder knows the sacred power of a little bit of dancing • What does the future of transportation look like?

Best of Book Marks:

Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House, and Elton John’s Me are among the best reviewed memoirs and biographies of the year •  Marlon James’ Black Leopard Red Wolf, Ted Chiang’s Exploration, and Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein are among the best reviewed sci-fi and fantasy of the year • Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic, Morgan Parker’s Magical Negro, Jericho Brown’s The Tradition all feature among the best reviewed poetry of the year • Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror, Rachel Cusk’s Coventry, and Oliver Sacks’ Everything In Its Place all feature among the best reviewed essay collections of the year • George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy, Seth’s Clyde Fans, and Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown all feature among the best reviewed graphic literature of the year • Lars Iyer on five great books about visionary youth • Five books on incarceration in America from the National Book Foundation’s Literature for Justice program

New on CrimeReads:

The twenty best crime films that you probably did not watch this decade, as selected by Zach Vasquez • Lisa Levy recommends the 10 best psychological thrillers of the year • All the best international crime novels of 2019, perfect for the armchair traveler • Gar Anthony Haywood returns to his beloved protagonist after a 19-year hiatus • Katie Gutierrez on three books that explore the subversive nature of female appetite • Gary Phillips on the trail of Roosevelt Mallory, who helped revolutionize 1970s pulp fiction, and then vanished • Journalist Dave Seminara on the local legacy of Pablo Escobar • Paul French gifts us a merry rundown of crime fiction set during the holiday season • Damien Angelica Walters on bringing the realities of gendered violence into feminist horror fiction • Donis Casey on the interwar detective story