Lit Hub Weekly: January 2 – 5, 2018

• In response to a cease and desist letter from Donald Trump’s lawyer, Henry Holt and Co. has moved the release date of Michael Wolff’s White House tell-all from next week to yesterday. And ICYMI: here’s everything you need to know about Fire and Fury. | Washington Post, Deadline, Literary Hub
• Fred Bass, who inherited Strand Bookstore from his father and turned it into a legendary destination, has died at 89. | The New York Times
• And Other Stories, Europa Editions, and other indie presses share their favorite books of 2017. | The Guardian
• “I am contributing to the historical record whether I like it or not, whether I deserve to or not. It’s a daunting thought.” On being a history book writer for hire. | The Rumpus
• David Bowie’s son has launched an informal book club that will read the renowned bibliophile’s favorite titles. | Open Culture
• “It covers uncharted territory, it compels its readers to see part of the world anew, and it prizes exploration over pat conclusion.” Angela Flournoy on Langston Hughes’s radical debut novel. | New York Times
• “Even though I doubted it would offer any real insight into Stevie’s soul, why was I eager to read this and every other book ever written about her?” Emily Gould on a new, unauthorized biography of Stevie Nicks. | Bookforum
• Retracing John Steinbeck’s travels through Eastern Europe, 70 years later. | New Republic
• “Think of how readily we accept what a women writer is, or should be.” On our gendered expectations of authors. | Hazlitt
• The first issue of Triangle House Review includes fiction by Larissa Pham, a year-long interview between Chelsea Hodson and Wendy C. Ortiz, and more. | Triangle House Review
• “I knew it was a risky jump, and I had to be ready. I really wanted to fight for what I could do.” Nicole Chung interviews Kristi Yamaguchi. | Shondaland
• Roxane Gay on the books she read in 2017. | Roxane Gay
• Do you believe in love after life? How the spouses of two late memoirists—who wrote books about their own deaths—fell in love. | The Washington Post
• “I find myself wondering, fleetingly, if I should present the short film I am working on for the museum under a pseudonym myself.” Lily Cole responds to author Nick Holland’s decision to quit the Brontë Society following her appointment. | The Guardian
• J.K. Rowling now has her own Scottish pub, to the chagrin of (some) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fans. | Food & Wine

Also on Literary Hub:

Eight ways of looking at Samuel Beckett: J.M. Coetzee imagines Kafka the Professor, and Beckett on a South African beach • How to dig a hole: on the fine art of digging (and other bits of very old wisdom) • One man’s escape from North Korea: Masaji Ishikawa flees totalitarianism under the cover of night • Ursula K. Le Guin does not like being famous (but still has a lot of fun making up stories) • We were mothers, daughters, and lovers: Danielle Jackson digs into the groundbreaking art of Kathleen Collins • Freak, geek, or cool kid? Sam Graham-Felsen on navigating the tribes of high school • When women went blue: Eileen Pollack on the courage of groundbreaking female stand-ups, and the dirty, dirty jokes they told so well •  The best movies start as books: a look ahead at some much anticipated adaptations in 2018 • Sara Paretsky got tired of the vamp or victim portrayal of women in crime fiction, so she went ahead and created the great V.I. Warshawski •  Margaret Atwood in conversation with Andrew O’Hagan and John Freeman • The killer next door: Imagining the dark suburbs of Pittsburgh • 15 books you should read in January • They tried to ban Fahrenheit 451 and replace it with… my book. David Williams on receiving the worst kind of endorsement from a Florida woman • James Han Mattson tries to think like a 14-year-old • Chris Yates reckons with a self-imposed deadline