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 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on Monday. Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch is this year’s fiction winner; click the link for the full list.
- The ALA’s annual State of America’s Libraries report is out. It highlights the difficulties facing school libraries and includes the Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged books. (ALA press release)
- The Los Angeles Times 2013 Book Prizes were awarded on April 11. Winners include John Green (2013 Innovator’s Award), Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being (fiction), NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (first fiction), J. K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith’s The Cuckoo’s Calling (mystery/thriller), and Gene Luen Yang’s Boxers & Saints (YA literature.) Click the link to see the full list.
- Goodreads now lets you add your Amazon purchases to your bookshelves. As far as I can tell, it’s live for US Goodreads users, and is either live or coming soon for Canadian and Australian members. (Goodreads blog)
- Almost 2/3 of (British) men rarely read, according to a OnePoll survey for the UK-based Reading Agency. Many admit they’d rather watch a TV or movie adaptation. Almost 30% say they haven’t picked up a book since leaving school. I suspect numbers may be similar in other countries, such as the US. (The Bookseller)
- B&N CEO Leonard Riggio sells 3.7 million shares of B&N stock, but still holds 20% of the company. (GalleyCat)
- Riggio also says smaller B&N stores may happen. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Authors of defunct MacAdam Cage publishing house are a step closer to reclaiming their rights. (Calvin Reid, Publishers Weekly)
- “New Poll Shows the Majority of American Read eBooks – or Does It?” (Nate Hoffelder, The Digital Reader)
- J. K. Rowling is covering the (fictional) 2014 Quidditch World Cup on Pottermore, the official Harry Potter website. Writing as Mrs. Harry Potter (Ginny Weasley) for The Daily Prophet, Rowling is sending dispatches from the World Cup, held this year in Patagonia. To read the dispatches, you have to sign up for Pottermore. (The Los Angeles Times)
Worth Reading:
- “Is reading anti-social?” (Laura Miller, Salon)
- “Students Reading E-books Are Losing Out, Study Suggests”. Annie Murphy Paul looks at what features are most distracting and how parents can help students maintain focus and concentration when reading ebooks with multimedia features. (New York Times parenting blog)
- “Stacks of Possibilities” – Ann Patchett reflects on libraries. The essay is accompanied by a gallery of library photos. (Parade)
- Six Independent Bookstores That Are Thriving — and How They Do It looks at 6 successful NY bookstores. (Boris Kachka and Joshua David Stein, New York Magazine)
- “Yankee Ingenuity: Bookselling in New England” looks at innovation by various indie bookstores that is increasing their sales and helping them stay afloat.
For Writers & Bloggers:
- Alice Hoffman: Five amazing tips to help you write your novel (Salon)
- Ways to Publish and Sell Your E-Book (Infographic) (Bookwhirl.com)
- “When an author should self-publish and how that might change” (Mike Shatzkin, The Idea Logical Company)
Literary Losses:
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel Prize-winning Latin American author widely known and loved for his use of magical realism, died Thursday, April 17, at the age of 87. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez’s best-known work, influenced writers around the world and is frequently taught in college literature courses. (Obituaries: NPR; BBC News; The Guardian)
Book and Movie Announcements:
- New England School of Communications students to adapt J. K. Rowling’s short story, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” Warner Brothers has granted the students permission to make their short film. The 20-minute film will be available next year. (GalleyCat; The Harry Potter Alliance FB page)
- Unbroken (Hillenbrand) will be adapted as YA book (GalleyCat)
- The Gone Girl movie trailer is out.
- MTV unveiled a clip from The Fault in Our Stars movie. (MTV, via GalleyCat)
- Disney to put out 4 children’s books tied to the original Star Wars trilogy. They will be written by bestselling authors, including R. J. Palacio. The article includes a video. (Publishers Weekly)
Awesome lists:
- The 9 Agonizing Stages Of Waiting For The Next Book In A Series To Come Out (Huffington Post Books)
- Famous Literary Meals – article and slideshow (Laura Miller, Salon)
Really cool:
- An interactive Game of Thrones map
- Imogen Heap’s Magic Gloves Create Music Throuh Music (The Hub). Make sure you click through to the Vimeo video, too. Science fiction come true!
Just for fun:
To celebrate National Poetry Month, here’s Jack Prelutzky performing
“Today is a Very Boring Day” on the PBS children’s television series Arthur.
Bookish Quotes:
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.
