Willy Vlautin lists some of his favorite noir novels… Read more
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Author: GR
What Snoop Dogg’s Success Says About the Book Industry
Will the shifts brought on by the pandemic, favoring online retailers over bookstores and established authors over new ones, change publishing forever? Read more
In the Instagram age, you actually can judge a book by its cover
Last week’s big literary event was not the publication of a new book, the million-pound signing of a celebrity author or the announcement of a prestigious prize. Instead, it was the unveiling of a cover: the jacket of the forthcoming novel by Sally Rooney.
“It’s quite rare that a publisher will reveal a jacket and make such a big deal about who designed it, or even mention who designed it,” says Danny Arter, creative editor of The Bookseller, a magazine reporting on the publishing industry. But in recent years, book cover design has taken on a higher profile, and we may be seeing a new heyday for book design. Read more
Denis Donoghue, Humanist Literary Critic, Dies at 92
He wrote prodigiously while teaching, first in Dublin and then in New York, and often clashed with critics he considered too political. Read more
Agatha Christie’s Oxfordshire home is on sale for £2.75m
The mystery novel maven lived at Winterbrook House, on the banks of the River Thames in Oxfordshire, for upward of 40 years, from 1934 to her death in 1976, according to a news release from listing agent Savills. Read more
U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo On Her New Album “I Pray For My Enemies”
The album brings together poetry, jazz, funk, and traditional Muscogee music and rhythms. Read more
Simon & Schuster won’t distribute book by officer from Breonna Taylor raid
Simon & Schuster announced it will not distribute a book written by Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who took part in the fatal Breonna Taylor apartment raid. Read more
Books About Racism and Police Violence Fill Out List of ‘Most Challenged’ Titles
After a year dominated by protests against police killings of Black Americans, the books on the list of the most frequently challenged titles of 2020 reflected the movement — and the backlash to it. Read more
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Why Librarians Are Natural Born Detectives
Whether you’re looking for information about an uncle’s will or a homemade poison, the reference desk is the place to go. Read more
Rathbones Folio prize paid £30,000 to scammers posing as the winner
Publishing industry magazine the Bookseller revealed on Wednesday that the Folio, which is awarded to the year’s best work of literature regardless of form, was scammed by “sophisticated cyber-criminals”. The scammers posed as the Mexican author Valeria Luiselli, who had won with her novel Lost Children Archive, and requested that the £30,000 payment be made through PayPal. Read more
