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
- Amazon will soon be the fifth-larges bookstore chain in the U.S. (Publishers Weekly). That’s arguably untrue, counters Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader.
- New York Libraries Are Promoting Reading On The Subway (The Digital Reader)
Worth Reading
- LibraryReads So White, Or Why Librarians Need To Do Better (Katie McLain, Book Riot)
- Are First Editions Meant To Be Read Or Merely Displayed? (Maegan Donovan, Book Riot)
For Writers & Bloggers
- The Novel Factory book-writing software helps with planning and organizing your novel, and files can be exported to Word, RichText, and Scrivener. (Note: I haven’t tried this, but it looks interesting. However, at least half of what it does can be done in Scrivener, albeit without the “coaching.”)
Book & Movie Announcements
- The trailer for Murder on the Orient Express is out. They’ve got a great cast, but I have my doubts about Brannagh as Poirot. And while the costuming looks good, Brannagh’s makeup is over the top and not Poirot at all especially to anyone who has seen David Suchet’s superlative performances. Suchet’s Poirot is a perfect interpretation of Christie’s detective, from looks to mannerisms to personality. Brannagh’s Poirot appears modeled on Peter Ustinov’s.
- Harper Lee Estate endorses To Kill a Mockingbird graphic novel. (The Guardian) The artwork will be by Fred Fordham, who recently illustrated a graphic novel by Philip Pullman.
Awesome Lists
- 100 Must-Read Middle Grade Books for the Summer (Book Riot)
- Top Ten Sites for Book Lovers (Lifewire, 2016) and Ten Websites for Book Lovers (SuperheroYou, 2015) There’s some crossover on these lists, but both have websites worth checking out.
- 14 Careers for Readers, Because It Is Possible To Make A Living Off Your Love Of Books (Bustle) They left out copyeditor and indexer, so there are two more.
- Differently Abled Heroes to Inspire Younger Readers (Book Riot)
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
Trish @ Between My Lines
I’m still excited to see Murder on the Orient Express as the setting is going to be fab! I’m not familiar with the actor so I’m a bit disappointed to hear your comments and trying to reduce my expectations a bit.
And I read about the New York subways and reading on Facebook during the week, it’s a fab idea!
Trish @ Between My Lines recently posted…Book Review: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Lark_Bookwyrm
Please don’t get me wrong — Brannagh is a terrific actor and I love him in some of his other roles. (His Henry V, for instance, was brilliant.) I’m also a bit prejudiced because honestly, David Suchet completely owned the role; his interpretation is pitch-perfect. So it’s very hard for me to see someone else in that role… and I’m also very familiar with Poirot as he appears in the novels: egg-shaped head; smallish, neat, and dapper… physically, Brannagh (like Peter Ustinov before Suchet) isn’t really the right “type” for the role. But I’m still going to see it; the setting and the rest of the casting look terrific, and Brannagh is such a good actor that he may be able to overcome the visual appearance and win me over.
Rita @ Paging Through Books
I can’t wait to see The Orient Express! I would’ve loved to taken a trip on that one.
Love your bookish lists today. Read the Novel Factory with interest. Do you think Scrivener is difficult for the average person to figure out? That seems to be their claim if I’m reading it right. If I remember correctly, you’re writing the Great American Novel 🙂
Rita @ Paging Through Books recently posted…Weekly Book News
Lark_Bookwyrm
My daughter loves Scrivener. I’ve tried it, and the basics aren’t too hard to figure out, but it takes a while to figure out all the things it can do. It’s a very powerful, versatile program. I suspect the Novel Factory software would work better for newer writers, or for the initial planning and organization stages (particularly for planners as opposed to pantsers), but more experienced writers will probably want to switch to or import into Scrivener once they really get going. But I haven’t tried Novel Factory, and I am very much a beginning writer (if I’m a writer at all, which remains to be seen), so my opinion is far from “informed.” (And thank you, but no, I’m not writing the Great American Novel or anything like it. I’d be happy to finish a short story at this point!)
Stephanie @ Don't be Afraid of the Dork
I agree that it is going to be nigh on impossible to beat David Suchet as Poirot but I’m open to different interpretations and the cast and look of the trailer was AWESOME! Lots of good lists to go an explore, Lark – Thank you! HAve you see the Washington Post list of Summer Reads? I got several interesting looking non-fiction books off of that list! https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/entertainment/summer-reading-list-2017/ Happy Saturday!
Stephanie @ Don’t be Afraid of the Dork recently posted…REVIEW | Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Lark_Bookwyrm
I haven’t seen that list yet — thanks for the link! I tend to limit my use of the Washington Post because it’s too easy for me to hit the maximum number of free articles early in the month, but I’ll definitely check this out.