Earlier this month, Lisa Kessler, a paranormal romance author, logged into Kindle Direct Publishing to check her earnings from the previous month. On her publishing dashboard, she saw something she had never seen before in her 11 years as an author: a negative earnings balance. The reason for the negative balance? Kindle e-book returns. Read more
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At the national diary archive in Pieve Santo Stefano, Tuscany, no journal is ever turned away – whether typed, scrawled or written on a bedsheet. Read more
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From Maine to Alaska, narrow gauge is all the rage, including one of the most historic, Pennsylvania’s East Broad Top. Read more
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Ever wanted to play a computer game based on the poems of Emily Dickinson? Well, now you can, with the release of EmilyBlaster, a 1980s-style game in which players must shoot words out of the sky to correctly recreate Dickinson’s verse. EmilyBlaster is a real-life version of the fictional game that a character makes in Gabrielle Zevin’s novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, out next month. Read more
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There are an astounding number of travel books out there. How to choose the best of the best? You can start by asking the experts. Read more
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Most books are sold online, where it’s impossible to replicate the experience of browsing in a brick-and-mortar store. Book-discovery apps aim to change that. Read more
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Tucked into a corner of St. James’ Square, the exterior doesn’t so much scream library as it murmurs anonymous guest house, a remnant of the building’s former life as a private residence. But like Dr. Who’s famous TARDIS spaceship, the library is seemingly bigger on the inside. One million books on 17 miles of shelves are spread out across a cluster of four different buildings, creating a labyrinthine maze that director Philip Marshall says draws Harry Potter comparisons from nearly every visitor—myself included. Read more
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As downtown Chicago creaks slowly, slooooooowly, back to where it was before the pandemic, the American Writers Museum on Michigan Avenue has grown antsy. Its fifth-year anniversary was approaching, though like other cultural attractions, attendance had thinned. So in true big city rent-party fashion, they decided to invite everyone over. Read more
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Now readers can discover books set closest to their hometown with Books Around America, this cool Internet tool, developed by Crossword Solver using Goodreads data. It also spits out a bunch of fun facts, like: Bisbee, AZ, is home to the highest percentage of mystery novels. Bloomington, IN, is apparently where the romance happens. Read more
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The ‘fascinating insight into what was to become an iconic work’ is the only known surviving copy of its kind and is to be auctioned along with a first edition signed by Rowling. Read more
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