News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff
Book News
- Little Free Libraries on the Wrong Side of the Law (Los Angeles Times)
- Grove Atlantic and Electric Lit to Launch Literary Hub, a website for publishing and literary news, on April 8. You can sign up at Literary Hub for email updates. A number of publishers are partnering to create content. (GalleyCat; Literary Hub)
- Scribd has added comics to its subscription library, including Marvel and Archie. (Scribd blog)
Worth Reading/Watching
- How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning (The Atlantic) A few thoughts on this one: 1) Unspell sounds like a simplified version of the current phonetic alphabet. 2) Is it really helpful to start kids off in one system and switch them to another? 3) If we were to simplify spelling, where does that leave the ability to distinguish between words that sound the same but are spelled differently? (answer: context, I guess, just as we do when the words are spoken.) 4) There’s a lot of potential for confusion and error due to pronunciation differences and regional accents. 5) Do this, and reading old documents becomes even harder and more of a specialist’s job.
- Roald Dahl’s moving 1988 letter in support of vaccination. (Electric Lit) One of Dahl’s daughters died of complications of measles. His letter, written years after her death, has new relevance today.
- Jonathan Franzen Says Young Adult Lit Equals “Moral Simplicity” and It’s a Tired Insult (Caitlin White, Bustle)
- A book cover than can judge you has been invented by Thijs Biersteker. If you look skeptical, the book is locked. Approach it with a neutral face, and it unlocks.
- Severus Snape’s important scenes from the movies, in chronological order (by YouTube user kcawesome13) clarifies Snape’s story and motivations… and intensifies the feels.
For Writers & Bloggers
- Blogger to Author: When is it OKAY for an author to comment? (on Herding Cats & Burning Soup)
Book & Movie Announcements
- Cassandra Clare will work with three other YA novelists on a novella series entitled Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy.
Awesome Lists
- 16 Perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts for Book Nerds (Buzzfeed) (Bookstore gift cards are always nice, too!)
- 25 Painfully Unrequited Love Stories from Literature (Flavorwire)
- Who To Call When You’re In a Fandom of One (Epic Reads). Be sure to watch the video.
- 20 New Titles For Children’s Books (Based Entirely On Their Covers) (Smosh, from 2013)
- 20 Embarassingly Bad Book Covers for Classic Novels (Flavorwire, from 2013)
Really Cool / Just for Fun
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
Bea @Bea's Book Nook
I’m not sure that ‘simplifying’ spelling would actually work for pretty much the reasons you outlined.
Little Free Libraries do sometimes run into legal troubles which is unfortunate. They’re such a good idea.
Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Sunday Book Share #128
Lark_Bookwyrm
I agree on the Little Free Libraries; it’s not the first I’ve heard of people being told they must take theirs down. (I’m pretty sure my POA wouldn’t allow them in our division, so I’ve never put one up.) And it is too bad; they are a lovely idea.
Stephanie
Love the “Who to call when your a fandom of one” – been there, done that! Also very nice list of unrequited love! My first thoughts was Eponine and Marius. Nice round-up as always!
Stephanie recently posted…REVIEW: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
Lark_Bookwyrm
Thanks, Stephanie! Yes, I’ve been there, too… but less so now that I’ve found some other bloggers who share my tastes. And my daughter and I share a bunch of fandoms. 🙂
anna (herding cats & burning soup)
Oh my gosh. I’m always so impressed with people who can do accents like that. I so do not have that skill. I’ve got mine…and that’s it. lol
And thanks for the post shout out 😀 Appreciate it!
anna (herding cats & burning soup) recently posted…Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT #1) by Paige Tyler
Lark_Bookwyrm
I felt positively embarrassed listening to her – I use accents when I read aloud, but other than RP, none of my British accents are very accurate. (I think my RP is all right. I hope.) Re the post shout-out – absolutely; it’s a great post!