News & Notes – 9/26/15

September 26, 2015 News & Notes 6

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

 

Jackie CollinsLiterary Losses

Jackie Collinsthe best-selling novelist whose books featured strong, independent women, sex, and scandal among the rich and powerful, died this week of breast cancer at the age of 77. The Santangelos, her latest book, was published earlier this year. (Obituaries: The Guardian, LA Times, Washington Post; The Guardian also offers up a list of her top five novels.)

C. K. Williams

 

C. K. Williams, whose poems range from deeply personal to political and whose career spanned nearly 50 years, died this week at his home in Hopewell, New Jersey. He was 78. (Obituary: Slate; you can read more of his poems in The New Yorker and The Paris Reviewand listen to his TED talk on poetry of youth and age.)

 

Worth Reading

 

For Writers & Bloggers

  • Scrolling Text Box: Ashley at Noze Graze explains the CSS you need to create a scrolling box for text inserts (like book excerpts.) And if you’re not comfortable with doing that, she has a totally free plug-in for wordpress.org.
  • Why Writing by Hand Is Underrated (The Freelancer on Contently) I’m not sure I agree with Gelber’s comment about writing without editing being easier when writing by hand. I do a lot of editing-on-the-fly when I write by hand, whether I’m drafting a review, writing in my journal, or writing a creative piece. From that point of view, I think it’s less the medium than the mental practice of silencing the editor. However, I do see lots of benefits to writing by hand, particularly when it comes to taking notes.
  • How to Use Mind Maps to Unleash Your Brain’s Creativity and Potential (Melanie Pinola, Lifehacker)

 

 Book & Movie Announcements

  • A. G. Howard is writing a Phantom of the Opera retelling to be called RoseBlood. It’s due out in January 2017. (Howard’s blog)
  • St. John’s Abbey and University gave an edition of the St. John’s Bible to the Library of Congress on Thursday in honor of Pope Francis’s visit to the U.S. The St. John’s Bible is the first fully handwritten and illuminated edition of the Bible commissioned since the advent of the printing press. The version given to the Library of Congress appears to be a full-scale fine-art edition. The original, hand-calligraphed and illuminated pages are owned and curated by St. John’s Abbey and exhibited there and at other instutitions across the country. The Library of Congress will be exhibiting its photographic copy for several months, beginning today.
  • J. K. Rowling released the Potter family backstory on PottermoreUnfortunately, as miraniel points out on Tumblr, the new information is inconsistent with canon already in the books. The new “story” has James inheriting the cloak at age 19 when his father dies, while the books clearly show he had it at Hogwarts. Maybe Rowling should leave well enough alone?

 

Awesome Lists

 

Banned Books Lists

 

Bookish Quote

Ray Bradbury quote: You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

That’s it for this week!

6 Responses to “News & Notes – 9/26/15”

  1. Bea @Bea's Book Nook

    Actually, Banned Book Week starts tomorrow; it runs Sept. 27th through Oct. 3rd. My post will be up tomorrow. 🙂

    I haven’t read Collins in years but she was so influential I may need to hit the library and check out a couple of her books.

    Love the lists you posted; I could lose the day reading them. 😀
    Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…October Blog Ahead ChallengeMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Thanks; you’re right, of course, and I’ve fixed it. 🙂 I’m running a Why I Read Banned Books post on Monday, and putting up some images on Tumblr throughout the week. Glad you enjoyed the lists!

  2. Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library

    I had heard about Jackie Collins. I haven’t read any of her books but she’s one of those names that has such a presence. I had also kind of heard about Oyster and I’m really curious to see what they do next. It definitely sounds like something’s in the works. I love all the lists and now need to go see how many banned or challenged books I’ve read!
    Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…The School of Essential Ingredients and The Lost Art of Mixing – ReviewMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I was surprised at how many I haven’t read, especially on the classics list. But I plan to read some more over the next few years…