News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff.
Literary Losses
Notable Literary Deaths in 2020: So many literary figures have died this year, from Christopher Tolkien in January to John Le Carré just last week.. Literary Hub lists them all (or at least most), with links to their NYT biographies.
Bookish News
- Denver’s Tattered Cover Bookstore becomes the largest black-owned indie bookstore (Publishers Weekly)
- Many Bookstores Still Need GoFundMe to Survive (Publishers Weekly)
Worth Reading/Viewing/Checking Out
(not all book-related)
- In the dance of COVID, my readers are my partners — their words lead me toward creating some of my own: Susanna Kearsley on how readers’ emails have touched and helped her during the quarantimes.
- PW’s 2020 Person of the Year: The Book Business Worker (Publishers Weekly)
- Tome raiders: solving the great book heist: The Guardian‘s Mark Wilding on the international investigation to solve the 2017 theft of about 240 rare books and manuscripts.
- Did you know that Tolkien wrote a Christmas poem? And it’s very Tolkienesque.
- Want to Feel Better? Stop Reading New Books. That’s Right (Emily Temple, LitHub) When I saw the headline, I thought Ms. Temple was recommending rereading old favorites — something I have found very comforting in the quarantimes. But instead, she recommends reading books that are at least 15 years old, that you have not read yet. And she makes a good argument for doing so.
- The Gutenberg Bible and How To See It (and other religious works) Online (Book Riot)
- Thanks to Nora Roberts for Being My Sex Ed Instructor (Margaret Kingsbury, Book Riot)
Books, Movies, TV
- 7 Questions About the New Bridgerton trailer (Book Riot)
- …and yes, there were Black People in the Regency. (Vanessa Riley’s blog)
Lists
- The Ultimate Best Booksof 2020 List (Compilation by LitHub)
- 16 Authors Share The Best Books They Read in 2020 (We Are Bookish, NetGalley)
- Pres. Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020 (Twitter)
RO
I was just telling someone about how sad I was over the death of so many people this year, along with everything that’s been going on. I agree – I have so many old books from long ago that continue to pile up on the TBR pile that I really need to get to. Many are romance, and a few are suspense too. I’ve been really looking forward to watching Bridgerton, and it’s already on my very long Netflix list. I’ve been watching lots more period pieces lately, Warrior, Emma, Effie Gray, the Deadwood Movie, etc. Seeing the Gutenberg Bible sounds quite interesting, and I need to check that out. So sad to see so many bookstores and restaurants are going out of business, and I continue to keep so many who need help in prayer. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas, and here’s hoping that 2021 is so much better. Hugs, RO
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