News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.
Books & Ebooks in the News:
- The National Book Award winners for 2013!
- Goodreads is now available on the Kindle Fire, according to this Goodreads announcement and Amazon’s own press release, issued Monday (11/18). The deeper integration comes with the release of Fire OS 3.1 and is available for all current-generation Fire tablets. And on Tuesday, a similar firmware update was pushed to the Kindle Paperwhite 2.
- “E. L. Doctorow Honored with Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters” (Dianna Dilworth, GalleyCat)
- The Oxford Dictionaries chose “selfie” as the U.S. word of the year (GalleyCat)
Worth Reading:
- “Neville Longbottom Is the Most Important Person in Harry Potter — And Here’s Why” Emily Asher-Perrin’s essay draws some surprising parallels between Harry’s generation and that of his father, and will convince you of Neville’s pivotal role. It also shows once again the level of craft and forethought that Rowling put into writing the series.
- “Blockbuster’s End: What Its Closing Means to Movies” (and libraries.) (John Gaines, LibraryPoint, Central Rappahannock Regional Library system)
Literary Losses:
Doris Lessing, Nobel laureate and best-selling author, died Sunday, Nov. 16. Although best-known for her 1962 novel, The Golden Notebook, Lessing’s writing spanned decades and genres; in addition to literary fiction, she wrote science fiction, autobiography, and even an opera in colaboration with composer Phillip Glass. (New York Times)
Barbara Park, creator of the Junie B. Jones series, died Friday, Nov. 15, at the age of 66. Her hilarious series featuring an “irrepressable” kindergartner (and later first-grader) were instrumental in introducing millions of children to the fun of reading. Park also wrote a number of well-received middle grade titles. (New York Times)
Beloved children’s author and editor Charlotte Zolotow died Tuesday, Nov. 19, at the age of 98. Her books include Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, William’s Doll, illustrated by William Pène du Bois (and later turned into a song for the album Free to Be… You and Me), and one of my own childhood favorites, Over and Over, illustrated by Garth Williams. She is survived by daughter and fellow author Crescent Dragonwagon. (Shannon Maughan, Publishers Weekly)
Awesome lists:
- 45 Great American Indie Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season (Flavorwire)
- 25 More Great American Indie Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season (Flavorwire)
- Library Journal’s Best Books 2013: Top Ten
- 11 Lost Literary Classics You Can Download Free (includes links to some interesting sites, but you’ll have to search for the individual titles.) (Vulture.com)
- 15 Classic Children’s Books That Started as Bedtime Stories (Mental Floss)
Just for fun:
- Sesame Street parodies the Hunger Games in ‘Catching Fur’
- What Would Shakespeare Tweet? We Imagine 12 Literary Legends on Twitter (Daniel Lefferst and Kristen Mascia, Bookish.com)
Bookish Quote Comic:
That’s it for this week!
I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature. You can leave me a comment or send me an email — my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
Pamela D
I LOVED the Hungry Games clip. I have watched it a few times this week in preparation for watching Catching Fire. 🙂
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
It seems to be pretty popular! I’m not a Hunger Games fan, but I do love when Sesame Street meets pop culture (or any kind of culture, for that matter.)
Tanya Patrice
Thanks for sharing all these links – I love this weekly post 🙂 I hadn’t realized LJ’s list of Best Books was out already!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I’m so glad you enjoy the post! Thanks for stopping by.
Bea
Oh my gosh, that Sesame Street video is a riot. 😀
I keep seeing links for the Neville Longbottom story, it’s time I read it.
Thanks again for all your links!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I love Cookie Monster! And the Neville Longbottom essay is really good, as well as thought-provoking.
kimbacaffeinate
hehehe..the Sesame Street video made me giggle, and I must read about Neville’s pivotal role. Awesome post Lark!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Thanks, Kimba! Glad I was able to give you a laugh today!
readerholicnotes
I read the Neville Longbottom essay earlier this week. It was really interesting. As always lots of interesting news and links. Hope you have a great week.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I hadn’t thought about the generational parallels, or at least not as thoroughly as the author of the essay. It’s really amazing, the depth that is in those books when you look for it.