News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff
Bookish News
- Court Blocks Maryland’s Library E-book Law, granting a preliminary injunction in response to the Association of American Publishers’ motion. The judge seemed to side with the AAP on all counts, and found “the Maryland law is fatally flawed because it is preempted by federal copyright law.” (Publishers Weekly)
- The 2021 Swoon Awards winners were announced on February 14. Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis took the most awards, winning Contemporary Romance, Debut Romance, and Romance Cover. The Swoon Awards is “a readers’ choice award for romantic fiction.” Readers nominate and vote on titles in a variety of categories. The awards are currently in their second year.
- #Audiblegate: Audible adjusts terms after row over ‘easy exchanges’ that cut royalties. (Publishers Weekly)
- ABA Town Hall Focuses on Board’s Commitment to Free Speech, but also discussed the ABA’s work in regard to Amazon. (Publishers Weekly)
Worth Reading/Viewing
- The Most Successful Book Thief in American History (Book Riot)
- Ursula Nordstrom and the Queer Revolution of the 20th-Century Children’s Book (Book Riot) As “editor-in-chief of Harper & Row’s Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973,” Nordstrom had a profound impact on mid-20th-century children’s books, choosing to center children and their feelings and experiences, rather than parents’ values. We have her to thank for Maurice Sendak’s books, Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, Goodnight Moon, Harriet the Spy, and many other classic books.
- Why romance novels, more diverse than ever, are having a moment (Seattle Times)
- How Much Does Annotating Help You Remember What You Read? (Book Riot) I have been considering annotating some of the books I read. It feels like a huge step for someone who has never annotated or highlighted something that wasn’t a textbook, but I am also drawn to the idea.
- Why Is Publishing Plagiarism Still Possible? (Book Riot)
For Writers & Bloggers
- 20 Famous Writers on Being Rejected (Literary Hub)
Books, Movies, and TV
- Where to start with: Agatha Christie (The Guardian) Wondering which Christie novel you should read first? Mystery writer Janice Hallett has some suggestions… most of which I agree with. (I will note that her description of The Seven Dials Mystery is incorrect. A few of the characters appeared in The Secret of Chimneys, but they are not, by and large, the main suspects in The Seven Dials Mystery, and there aren’t all that many dead bodies; in fact, I only recall one. It is, however, a humorous and somewhat madcap adventure.)
Cool, Fun, and Awesome
- These rocks are hand-painted to mimic book covers. Amazing!
Bookish Quote
Mia @ Genre Books and Me
Thanks for an interesting post! Love those stones, looks like incredibly difficult work.
I’m glad diverse romance is trending big recently. It’s a shame it didn’t have a breakthrough moment a lot sooner.
Mia @ Genre Books and Me recently posted…Connect 5 Friday – 2/18/22
Lark_Bookwyrm
I agree, in both cases. Have a great weekend!
Lark
I love that Henry Ward Beecher quote. And those hand-painted rocks that look like book covers are so fun! I wish I had that kind of artistic talent. 🙂
Lark recently posted…Haiku Reviews…
Lark_Bookwyrm
Me too! The artist did a fantastic job. I would have thought they were printed-out covers, decoupaged on, but she says she does them by hand. Amazing!
Lory @ Entering the Enchanted Castle
Interesting about Ursula Nordstrom! The recent biography about Louise Fitzhugh, creator of Harriet the Spy, was also fascinating.
Lory @ Entering the Enchanted Castle recently posted…Beautiful Books: The Color Purple
Lark_Bookwyrm
I didn’t know there was a new biography of Fitzhugh – cool!
Lory @ Entering the Enchanted Castle
Recommended! I did not love the author’s writing style, but it was a really fascinating life.
Lory @ Entering the Enchanted Castle recently posted…#OneWord2022: CONNECTing with my body
Lark_Bookwyrm
I’ll bear that in mind!
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits
I loved seeing that post of the painted rocks on Twitter! 😀
I had wondered about Audible’s return system and how that would hurt authors. Though I will be honest, I only really thought about it after I had returned a couple of books (and it really was SO EASY) because I didn’t like the narrator. I started previewing the books I got after that…
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…2022 Series Priorities