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
- Bookstores and libraries are both affected by Hurricane Harvey flooding, and helping out. See how you can help. (Shelf Awareness) And check out the follow-up article on how bookstores are reopening as the floodwaters recede.
- Texas Teacher Launches Hurricane Harvey Book Club, a Facebook group featuring videos of adults and children reading children’s books. Kathryn Butler Mills started the project as a way to help children affected by the floods, offering them the distraction and comfort of a good story.
- Fantasy author Terry Pratchett’s unfinished works are destroyed by a steamroller at the deceased author’s request. (L.A. Times)
- John Smelcer dropped from YA PEN Award amid ‘concerns’ over integrity, chief among them Smelcer’s claims to Native American heritage, which have long been challenged by Native Americans. (The Guardian)
- An Iranian bookstore in Westwood, CA, closes after 36 years (L.A. Times)
- Pepe the Frog cartoonist forces withdrawal of ‘alt-right’ children’s book (The Guardian)
Literary Losses
Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue and other novels, died August 23 at the age of 71. Her works explore the visual arts through fiction: Girl in Hyacinth Blue tells the story of a Vermeer painting, while other books focus on Renoir, Tiffany, Emily Carr, and the Renaissance artist Artemesia.
Obituaries and tributes: Los Angeles Times
Bibliography and Biography: Goodreads; Wikipedia
Louise Hay, the well-known New Age self-help author and founder of the Hay House publishing house, has died at the age of 90. Ms. Hay self-published the bestselling Heal Your Body (1976) and You Can Heal Your Life (1984), and went on to found Hay House in 1987. The firm has published self-help books by authors such as Wayne Dyer.
Obituaries and tributes: Publishers Weekly
Bibliography and Biography: Goodreads; Wikipedia
Worth Reading
- Giving History a Better Ending: Marvel, Terrorism, and the Aftermath of 9/11 (Tor.com)
- Mathematical secrets of ancient tablet unlocked after nearly a century of study (The Guardian) OK, so it’s not exactly book-related. But it is ancient-writings-related, which I also find fascinating.
For Writers and Bloggers
- The Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon begins September 11. It’s not too late to sign up! The readathon runs for two weeks; use it to make a dent in your overflowing TBR pile (or list.) Hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings.
- The 21 Best News Roundups for Self-Publishing Authors (Reedsy) Full disclosure: The Bookwyrm’s Hoard’s News & Notes feature is on this list, under “General Publishing Roundups.” How cool is that?!
Free Fiction Online
- “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El-Mohtar. This beautiful fairy tale subverts several fairytale tropes. It won this year’s Hugo Award for Best Short Story. (Uncanny Magazine)
- “The Library of Lost Things” by Matthew Bright. A quirky, somewhat creepy dark fantasy about a library where all lost writings are filed, indexed, and never, ever to be read. Lots of literary allusions. I’m not sure I liked it, but it’s well-written and will stay with you. (Tor.com)
Really Cool / Just for Fun
Art by Tahra (Kyoung Hwan Kim)
- A writer at Geek & Sundry turned her catsitting instructions into a D&D campaign. (Tor.com) And you can even download the fill-in-the-blank PDF.
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
