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
- Trump lawyers threaten Simon & Schuster over imminent publication of Omorosa Manigault-Newman tell-all book (Publishers Weekly)
- ‘Spotify for Cookbooks’ Prepares to Launch (Publishers Weekly)
- Snakes in Stacks Put DC Library Briefly Out of Circulation (News 4, NBC Washington)
Literary Losses
V.S. Naipul, the controversial Nobel Prize-winning author and pioneer of postcolonial literature, died Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018 at the age of 85. Born in Trinidad to Indian parents, Naipul moved to Britain after winning a scholarship to Oxford. His books explored colonialism and the postcolonial world, often as critical of the colonized as the colonizers. His work has been widely praised for its sharp clarity and honesty, and as widely criticized for its harshness, racism, and misogyny. He wrote over 30 books, in between bouts of writer’s block.
Obituaries & tributes: BBC; The Guardian; NPR; Vulture
Bibliography & Biography: Goodreads; Wikipedia
Worth Reading/Viewing
- Reading a Book Takes Time—Deal With It: New startups try to make reading fit your commute, but books deserve better (Electric Lit)
- Jason Reynolds: ‘What’s unusual about my story is that I became a writer (The Guardian) YA author Jason Reynolds talks about how he became an author, his response to a friend’s death, why it’s so important that kids see him as a writer, and the life lessons of crochet.
- Fairy Tales, Princesses, Gothic Witches, & Popular Fiction (Fran Laniado, Author – blog) A thought-provoking piece on popular fiction novels inspired by fairy tales (as opposed to fairy tale retellings), and how women are portrayed in them.
- Ready For A Linguistic Controversy? Say ‘Mmhmm’ explores the influence of African languages on English. (NPR)
- What Is Walden Pond?: Its cultural meaning may be calcified—but off the page, it’s changing fast. (Atlas Obscura)
Great Blog Posts
- Some Thoughts on Book Blogging. Greg at Book Haven shares his observations on book blogging and the blogger community, and the ways in which blogging has impacted his life.
Awesome Lists
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
Rita @ View From the Books
Great thought-provoking links, as always! I enjoyed reading about Jason Reynolds, and the fairytale influence in writing. Of course I liked Greg’s link, because that’s what made me realize that even though I’m not feeling 100% of my “real me” lately, I can be comfortable here in the blogosphere with bookish friends. Have a good weekend and fun choir practices.
Lark_Bookwyrm
I’m glad you enjoyed them! And I’m sorry you haven’t been feeling 100% yourself recently; I hope you feel better soon. [hugs]
Fran
Thanks for including my post! I’ll have to check out some of the pieces you linked
Lark_Bookwyrm
You’re welcome! It’s an excellent post, and really made me think.
Nicole
Oh man, I have no shelf control either…
Great links!
Nicole recently posted…The Cookie Book Tag
Lark_Bookwyrm
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them.
Northwoman
Interesting links. Who needs shelf control? Anne – Books of My Heart
Lark_Bookwyrm
LOL! Well… with our 19 or 20 bookcases full to overflowing, I probably need to start exercising at least a little shelf control!
Northwoman
Nooo, I have 19 bookcases jam packed, some double stacked. So I moved to Kindle. I’m slowly replacing ones which I have to have with Kindle or Audible, especially if they are unsigned. Of course, some can’t go. Plus I prefer cookbooks and knitting books in print. Anne – Books of My Heart
Lark_Bookwyrm
I’m doing that, too. I’m replacing some of my favorite mass-market paperbacks with Kindle, and duplicating some of favorite hardcovers (because I love to be surrounded by them.) For new releases, I’m only buying what I know I will want to keep. And I’m slowly but surely pruning out books I probably won’t read again, or haven’t ever read. I’m with you on the physical cookbooks and knitting books.
Northwoman
yes. I have an entire bookcase of cooksbooks 150 – down from the 600 I had before I moved in 2015. I also have a full shelf of knitting books and another full of sewing and quilting books. 🙂 Anne
Lark_Bookwyrm
Wow, that’s a lot of cookbooks! I only have about 20 or so. And maybe 30 knitting books, after I pruned the really dated ones.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
Love all the links as usual. I was watching a video on YouTube where the woman was talking about organizing time and one of the things she mentioned was an app that essentially condensed books down into about 15 minutes – I think they were mostly self help – and I just thought what’s the point. I definitely agree the books deserve better!
Lark_Bookwyrm
Oh, I agree. I can see condensing a business book, or some self-help books, but not the books I read for pleasure. I read them fast enough as it is!