- “We know there are going to be a lot more disasters in the future, so how do we protect our collections in light of that knowledge?” How to protect rare books and manuscripts from climate change. | Pacific Standard
- Ever the fools, scientists have released a study alleging that using two spaces after a period is better than using one. | The Atlantic
- What’s more important, the auto or the fiction? Christian Lorentzen on new books by Sheila Heti, Helen DeWitt, and Tao Lin. | Vulture
- “Today’s imperial censorship is usually masked as the publisher’s bottom line. ‘This won’t sell’ is the widest moat in the castle’s defenses.” Rabih Alameddine on who gets to tell stories. | Harper’s
- You do me, I’ll do you, and we’ll both benefit: On Gertrude Stein’s “mutual portraiture society.” | The Paris Review
- Doris Lessing, Bohumil Hrabal, and more: Joshua Cohen recommends 5 novels “in which characters discover politics, or politics discover them.” | Five Books
- Researchers have uncovered two hidden pages—containing dirty jokes and “sexual matters,” as well as a burgeoning literary sensibility—in Anne Frank’s diary. | The New York Times
- “I don’t know why Ramadan is the act of faith which has endured for me.” Hanif Abdurraqib on continuing to fast during Ramadan, despite no longer considering himself a practicing Muslim. | BuzzFeed Reader
- “Behold the lopsided ears! Behold the scraggly coat! Behold the lolling tongue, the malformed limb, the crooked tail!” On the poetics of Petfinder. | The New Yorker
- Rachel Kushner on the things she can’t live without—like her (shoplifted?) Chanel lipstick, her favorite French novel, and her youth-sized J.R. Smith Cavs Jersey. | The Strategist
- “Pregnancy, entered into willingly, is an act of generosity, a commitment to share the resources of life with another incipient being. Such generosity is in no other circumstances required by law.” Sally Rooney on the Irish abortion referendum. | The London Review of Books
- Two cats interview Meg Wolitzer—in between “pauses to play in the sunshine,” naturally. | The Believer Logger
- “I never plan my stories. A detailed outline is enough for me to lose interest in the whole thing.” A rare, spare interview with Elena Ferrante. | LA Times
- “Could any other popular narrative genre be so given to a critique of Americanism and forgiven for it, celebrated for it?” Nicholas Dames on the spy novel. | n+1
- R.O. Kwon, Judy Blundell, Masih Alinejad, and James A. McLaughlin are writers to watch out for this summer. | The New York Times
Also on Lit Hub:
Rebecca Solnit: The coup has already happened . . . So what are we going to do about it? • The best stories of the year: announcing the 2018 O. Henry Prize winners • Jhumpa Lahiri, Yiyun Li, Norman Rush and more on their favorite story by the master of short fiction, William Trevor • Michael Ondaatje on Italo Calvino’s The Baron in the Trees, Mavis Gallant’s Paris Stories, and the other books he loves to reread • On the strange, artistic world of Marfa, Texas • We encourage you to experience the unexpected poetry of sleeping outside • George Saunders on the emotional realism and beautiful, hostile dreamscapes of Bobbie Ann Mason • Michael Pollan on the lost history of psychedelic therapy • “Stop being so uptight and boring and xenophobic and just let people figure out how to lives their best lives.” Michelle Tea on her fantasy for the world • 12 Palestinian writers and artists reflect on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba • How Kristen Arnett runs library storytime without boring kids to death (or suffering a nervous breakdown) • Rereading Little Women in its 150th anniversary year • In praise of the book-gif: why the world of literature should use motion as a communication tool • Marwan Hisham on “getting the fuck out Raqqa” during the Syrian War • Forget the sophomore slump: 6 novels that disprove an old cliché • Michael Moorcock on the eerie prophecy of his friend, Ray Bradbury • Is the opening paragraph of True Grit… perfect? Emily Temple does a close reading of Charles Portis’s classic
Best of Book Marks:
Ninety-three years ago this week Mrs. Dalloway was first published and to mark the occasion we dug out the first reviews of every Virginia Woolf novel • The author of That Kind of Mother Rumaan Alam spoke to Jane Ciabattari about the books in his life, mostly about motherhood • We took a look at the ten works of fiction and six poetry collections that make up the 2018 Best Translated Book Award finalists • This week in Secrets of the Book Critics: David Varno on Denis Johnson, critical takedowns, and the rise of VIDA • Parul Sehgal on springtime for Knausgaard, Jane Smiley on the late Richard Wagamese, and more Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week • William Trevor’s final stories, Michelle Tea’s confessions, Robin Williams’ troubled brilliance, and more all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week
New on CrimeReads:
The Big Sleep Test: a rare book dealer’s love-hate relationship with Chandler and his booksellers • From Iceland to Japan to Nigeria, 6 international crime novels out this May • 8 crime novels that explore the turbulent aftermath and collective trauma of the Vietnam War • Sarah Weinman on the life and work of spy novelist Holly Roth, whose disappearance at sea remains a mystery • Killer, academic, thief: the failed campaign to save, then study, the last man to be publicly executed in New York • How crime writer Elmore Leonard first cut his eyeteeth on gritty Westerns • A vicious attack, and a story that refused to become a thriller • Saving lives and solving mysteries with these 8 stories featuring heroic crime-solving nurses • “Ghosts are a gift to the crime writer.” 8 ghostly thrillers that merge crime with the supernatural. • Inside New York City’s 19th century workhouses and the plan to incarcerate the poor • Spycraft in the secretary pool: life at MI-5 during the Swinging Sixties • A musician’s secrets for writing a lyrical, rhythmic crime novel
