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
- Patrick Modiano wins Nobel Prize for Literature. Read about Modiano and his work at NPR, The Guardian, and The New York Times.
- Malala Yousafzai and Kailish Satyarthi win Nobel Peace Prize for their activism on the right to education. (BBC News)
- The Twitterverse went crazy over J. K. Rowling’s tweeted anagram, until a British university student solved it. Sorry, folks, there’s no new Potter book in the works as rumor briefly had it. Instead, the tweet was the first sentence of a synopsis of the Newt Scamander movie currently being screenwritten by Rowling. (GalleyCat)
- Amazon about to open its first ever physical store – sort of. (The Verge)
- Print Books Outsold Ebooks in First Half of 2014 (Huffington Post Books)
- In Frankfurt, author Paul Coelho urges lower ebook prices (Publishers Weekly)
- Harlequin signed a one-year deal with Scrib’d, so subscribers will be able to read backlist titles from Harlequin and its imprints. (GalleyCat)
- Canadian authors being hit hard by Amazon-Hachette dispute. (Publishers Weekly)
Worth Reading
- When Writers Outnumber Readers is also about taking time to read. (Heidi Pitlor, on Huffington Post Books)
- Mystery author Felix Francis talks about his writing and his father. If you’re a mystery fan or a writer, this one is worth reading on several levels. I never realized, for instance, that Dick Francis’s novels were to some extent collaborations right from the beginning. (Huffington Post Books)
- No, I Don’t Want to Read Your Self-Published Book. Ron Charles, editor of the Washington Post books section, and Roger Sutton, editor of Horn Book, talk about why they won’t accept self-pubbed books for review. (Washington Post)
- Diversifying Your Reading Beyond Gender or Race (Nicole Perrin, BookRiot)
For Writers & Bloggers
- Don’t forget that NaNoWriMo starts on Nov. 1!
- Perfection vs. Art. Author Jim Hines discusses the importance of giving yourself permission to create, well, crap. Perfectionism stands in the way of creating. (Ask me how I know.)
- ‘Lunar Chronicles’ author Marissa Meyer’s 9 steps in the writing process post links to 9 blog posts she did on the topic. If, like me, you’re fascinated by how writers work, check it out.
- How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance. It’s not as easy as the “bodice rippers” of old made it sound. (Alexandra Alter, Wall Street Journal)
Literary Losses
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, author of The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid, and a number of other books for middle grade and young adult readers, died recently of complications from a stroke. The author was 87. Her first book was published in 1964; her most recent in 2011. I remember enjoying The Headless Cupid in elementary school, and as recently as my daughter’s elementary school years, The Egypt Game was still a staple in classrooms and school libraries. (Obituary: Publishers Weekly)
Book & Movie Announcements
- The Theory of Everything trailer is out! I’m really, really looking forward to this movie. And it looks like Eddie Redmayne is going to be terrific.
Awesome Lists
- 19 Magical [British] Bookshops Every Book Lover Must Visit (Buzzfeed) I have got to get back to the UK – some of these are amazing. (I did make it to Blackwell’s once.)
- Scary Books for Scaredy-Cats (BookRiot) I must admit, even some of these are a bit much for me – but I’ll probably read Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.
Really Cool / Just for Fun
Map of Boston, by Mapsburgh
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
blodeuedd
Arghh, I really wanted to read that Washington Post article but it wont open :/
blodeuedd recently posted…Romance Friday: A Hint of Wicked – Jennifer Haymore
Lark_Bookwyrm
Oh, nuts! I’m sorry – let me check the link. [goes away; comes back embarrassed] That was my fault entirely; the link didn’t paste properly when I wrote the post. I’ve put the proper link in now, so it should work this time. I’m so sorry!
blodeuedd
trying again 🙂
blodeuedd recently posted…First Truth and Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in Oct 10 2014
Lark_Bookwyrm
🙂 Hope it works this time!
anna@herding cats & burning soup
Oh I felt that kitty’s pain this last week. lol
anna@herding cats & burning soup recently posted…Happiness Challenge–Day 8–books, girly screeching & calling out Tonya Burrows 😀
Lark_Bookwyrm
Me too!
Rita @ My Home of Books
Ha, that quote—that’s me so many times! I used to say when I finished a book and didn’t have another it was like a smoker finishing a pack and not finding another in the house and stores were closed. (this is when stores actually closed and we didn’t have Amazon to insta-buy a title– yes I guess I’m old, lol).
I just love your articles this week! So many I skimmed through and now want to grab another cup of coffee and read thoroughly. I told my husband about the Amazon store and he didn’t think it was a big deal and thought it was a bad move on their part, but I think it is mostly just to grab the tourists (very touristy location) and for the same-day delivery to NYC folks. I happened to stumble upon the fact this week that NY county (Manhattan) is the county with the largest library circulation and readers,Seattle’s county second, and Portland Oregon’s third. Just a fun fact.
Thanks as always for a great job and the hard work you did to pull all this together for us. This Saturday feature by you is a go-to must read every week 🙂
Rita @ My Home of Books recently posted…Weekly Wrap-Up: 10/11/14-10/13/14
Lark_Bookwyrm
Thank you, Rita! That is high praise and I’m so glad you enjoy this feature! As for the Amazon store, I have my doubts myself. Sounds more like those Sears ‘stores’ where all you could really do was pick up your order. Nice tidbit on the library circulation – thanks!
Bea @Bea's Book Nook
Silly kitty, start another book! 😀
I have to read the Francis article. I know that Francis senior often collaborated with his wife before she died.
Excellent round up as always!
Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Bea Reviews A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life by James Bowen
Lark_Bookwyrm
Thanks, Bea! I enjoyed the Francis interview. Dick Francis is one of my favorite non-Golden Age mystery writers.
Bea
He’s one of my favorite mystery authors. That interview was interesting.
Lark_Bookwyrm
Glad you enjoyed it! I think I’ll have to give some of Felix’s solo books a try, which I haven’t done before now.
Bea
Whoops! I meant that Dick is one of my favorites; Felix, not so much. He’s getting better but he’s not an auto-read.
Lark_Bookwyrm
Glad to know Felix is getting better!
kimbacaffeinate
I love that map..so cool. Now I need to read all of these links. An Amazon store..why? I will check it out. Thanks as always for sharing all of this in one place!
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…Sunday Post #129- Embracing Fall
Lark_Bookwyrm
I wondered why an Amazon store, too. I guess if it meant same-day pickup it might be nice. And I love those maps – check out his Tumblr for more.
Stephanie
First, I love the Tolkienesque maps – I need to see if there is one of my home town… I enjoyed both the articles on Writers outnumbering readers and the Washington Post article which were really touching on the same thing though highlighting different issues – people not reading as much because of distraction and being overwhelmed by the number of books. I will also be following along on Marissa Meyer’s blog posts – I think her process will be very interesting. As I’ve mentioned before I have felt so safe in her hands with The Lunar Chronicles because she seems to have a solid plan.
Stephanie recently posted…MINI-REVIEWS: The Case of the Missing Marquess, Cybele’s Secret, and The City of Ember
Lark_Bookwyrm
Yes, I’m finding Meyer’s posts quite interesting! I’ve only read the first few so far. And good point about the similar theme of those other two articles – I hadn’t thought of that.