Lit Hub Weekly: February 25 - March 1, 2019

• The New York Review of Books has named two new editors—both in their 30s—to replace Ian Buruma. | The New York Times
• “It would be hard to know which of the many books I have not heard of is the best—after all, I haven’t heard of them—but it would probably not be Stoner, which has the interesting distinction of being, despite all this recent advocacy, not very good at all.” On the curious recent revival of John Williams. | The Baffler
• From Charles Dickens to the Bible to suffragette lit: how to read like Frederick Douglass. | Lapham’s Quarterly
• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on Friday Black’s path to publication. | The Mantle
• “Beauty is a lot easier to prove than intelligence.” On the continued popularity and power of all those photographs of Marilyn Monroe reading. | Affidavit
• In actually delightful internet news: James Baldwin was the top trending Google search worldwide in the hours after Regina King’s Best Supporting Actress acceptance speech. | NBC News
• “We have to engage in a deeper, more strategic and more active way with people that our industry has left behind.” On reading, publishing, and being working class. | The Bookseller
• Literary real estate: The late Philip Roth’s Manhattan apartment has gone to market with a $3.2 million asking price. | The Real Deal
• Writers and activists including Margaret Atwood, Gloria Steinem, and Arundhati Roy have co-signed an open letter calling for Afghan women’s voices to be included in US peace talks with the Taliban. | The Guardian
• How the life of Spanish memoirist, short story writer, and actress Felicidad Blanc became an allegory for Spain after Francisco Franco. | Vol. 1 Brooklyn
• “‘Noli timere,’ it ended. ‘Be not afraid.’” On the lessons of Seamus Heaney’s final text message. | Fast Company
• “She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible, unseen; unknown.” On Mrs. Dalloway and the invisibility of older women. | The Atlantic
• Meet Janet Mills, Maine’s poet-governor. | Down East
• How to map a myth, or “where is Ithaca, anyway?” On the geography of The Odyssey. | Lapham’s Quarterly
• “The idea of male experience being representative of general experience, and female experience being women’s experience only is depressing.” Meg Wolitzer has fully arrived in Hollywood, and she’s planning to stay. | TIME
• The Booker Prize has a new funder, and surprise! It’s a hedge fund billionaire. | BBC News

Also on Lit Hub:

It doesn’t rot your brain if it’s literary! A ranking of the 50 greatest literary TV adaptations, ever • According to science, you’re probably worrying about the wrong things (so put your fears of an asteroid attack aside and commence freaking out about sugar) • Sarah Weinman talks to Patrick Radden Keefe about chronicling a 50-year-old murder in his book, Say Nothing • If de Tocqueville predicted Twitter, Balzac knew Trump would use it: Liesl Schillinger on reading Balzac in the age of Trump • Geoff Dyer, with the deep dive on WWII classic Where Eagles Dare you didn’t know you needed • Why is Guantánamo Diary’s author being denied a passport more than two years after his release? • What Scott McCloud taught us about internet storytelling • On the black women who wrote America’s earliest autofiction • The writer and designer of The Yellow House discuss the process of creating its cover • Boris Fishman on scarcity, satisfaction, and the riches of Russian cooking • What we don’t talk about when we talk about drinking • On the astronomical cost of clean air in Bangkok • Melissa Chadburn challenges traditional approaches to reporting • Aaron Shulman: “Failing at my novel was like getting my heart broken” • Eight Gilded Age stories that predicted the future • On the overdue evolution of immigrant narratives • Francisco Goldman on Valeria Luiselli • There is no redemption for Michael Cohen: Timothy Denevi reports from the corridors of power • Maggie Levantovskaya on the process of shedding books as an academic • From an abundance of literary festivals to affordable housing, Cleveland is a surprisingly great place for writers • In this month’s Astrology Book Club, what every sign should read while waiting out the dregs of winter • Our favorite book covers and our favorite Lit Hub stories of February

Best of Book Marks:

New on CrimeReads:

All the crime and mystery books to check out this March • Tori Telfer, expert on all things true crime, is back to solve your most pressing true crime quandaries • Andrea Bartz on how thriller writers are capitalizing on our deteriorating memories (thanks iPhone) • “Who put Bella in the wych elm?” 75 years later, there are many theories, but still no explanations • Lost classics, heartbreak, and Detroit: the CrimeReads staff picks their favorite stories of February 2019 • Karen Ellis dives deep into the private (reading) lives of crime writers • Historical (crime) fiction that has stood the test of time: Charles Todd guides us through an expansive genre •  Don Winslow on the finale of his epic crime trilogy, the omnipresence of the drug trade, and the absurdities of Trump’s wall • Isabella Maldonado and Lissa Redmond, retired cops-turned-writers, talk fiction vs. reality • Kate Quinn on taking inspiration from the all-women night bomber regiment who fought the Nazis • Kelley Armstrong recommends 6 mysteries perfect for the depths of winter • Cave divers and the eternal search for the missing • Tina Kashian rounds up her favorite cozy mysteries inspired by cooking traditions from around the world • D. B. John rounds up 5 great noirs about North Korea • Melissa Scrivner Love on learning to write from her court reporter mother • Evan Ratliff on a cyber criminal’s global empire of drugs, weapons, and gold, interviewed by Lisa Levy