Kellyanne Conway, Mike Pence and William Barr have book deals. That is raising new challenges for publishers trying to balance ideological lines with a desire to continue representing the political spectrum. Read more
Year: 2021
Danielle Evans has won the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize
Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections and Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, has won The New Literacy Project’s annual Joyce Carol Oates Prize, a $50,000 award that recognizes “a midcareer fiction writer who has earned a distinguished reputation and the approbation and gratitude of readers.” Read more
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Roshan the Camel Brings Books to Homeschooling Children in Rural Pakistan
The school children, who live in remote villages where the streets are too narrow for vehicles, put on their best clothes and rush out to meet Roshan. They crowd around the animal shouting “the camel is here!” Read more
Opening a Small-Town Bookstore During the Pandemic Was the Craziest Thing We Ever Did
It’s every book lover’s fantasy. Yet nothing can quite prepare you for the reality of starting any business, even under normal conditions. Certainly, few dreamers think to prepare for the nightmare of a global pandemic that shutters most brick-and-mortar retail, disrupts supply chains, and kills hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens. Read more
UK book sales soared in 2020 despite pandemic
New figures from the Publishers Association show fiction and audiobooks did particularly well, with value of consumer sales up 7% on 2019 despite bookshop closures. Read more
Jhumpa Lahiri developed her voice for new novel ‘Whereabouts’ by first writing it in Italian
Writing is delicate work, perhaps doubly so when you are writing in a language that is not your native tongue. But Jhumpa Lahiri is no ordinary writer, and her latest novel, “Whereabouts” – an English translation of a story she originally wrote and published in Italian – requires the sort of deft hand so few can properly wield without it becoming boring and unobservant. Read more
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The star Japanese crime novelist almost too good to translate
Imagine yourself, over a 30-year career, being considered a modern master of both crime and literary fiction. You’ve sold millions of copies, won every major mystery award, seen several books adapted for the screen and earned the sobriquet “Queen of Mysteries.” But here’s the catch: Your work has never been translated outside your home country. Read more
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Al Young, Poet With a Musical Bent, Is Dead at 81
Mr. Young, who served for three years as California’s poet laureate and also wrote about jazz, was known for his readings, which often incorporated music. Read more
A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames
…Ames delivers an old-school L.A. crime novel that evokes Chandler with maybe an aftertaste of Bukowski. Readers expecting action won’t be let down, and the sparkling yet unpretentious language gives the whole an extra kick. Recommend to noir fans, action fans, anyone who likes a good read. Read more
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Closed During The Pandemic, English Bookstores And Libraries Reopen
One book store owner told the Guardian newspaper, “We’ve had people trying to smell the books through their masks, and perfectly respectable middle-aged people acting like kids in a sweet shop.” Read more
