Who’s Really Writing Celebrity Novels? “The writers and agents working behind the scenes tell us how it actually works.” “. . . what does it mean when a celebrity decides to write fiction?” Sophie Vershbow interviewed some “ writers and agents working behind the scenes on similar books [to] tell us how it actually works.” […]
How the first National Book Awards reflected 1950s America “In the start of a new series reflecting on 75 years of the awards, Viet Thanh Nguyen writes about how societies and juries read and recognize literature” The National Book Awards will celebrate its 75th anniversary at this year’s ceremony, on Nov. 20. To mark the
Introducing the 2024 Reading Log! I’ve been keeping track of the books I’ve read since May 1, 1991, when we got our first computer. I started with a database program, but, over that many years, software has changed multiple times. Every time a program would bite the dust, I’d export my data, then import it
Usually Notes in the Margin overflows with stories during December that deal with everything book-related. But we were traveling from mid-September to mid-December. In an effort to catch up with everything I missed during that time, here’s a compendium of literary topics. The Ultimate Best Books of 2023 List “Reading All the Lists So You
My Big, Year-End Catch-Up Post Read More »
Levelling up: how Gabrielle Zevin’s gaming novel became the book of the summer I was gratified to read about the popularity in the U.K. of My Most Surprising Read of 2022. Categories: Author News, Book News, Fiction Negative capability “When it comes to our complicated, undecipherable feelings, art prompts a self-understanding far beyond the wellness
8 Surprising Stories to Celebrate World Book Day
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Two sides to a story: why feminist retellings are filling our bookshelves “From Nineteen Eighty-Four’s Julia to Shakespeare’s Rosaline, the trend for a new perspective on a familiar tale is continuing apace. Authors and publishers explain what old stories tell us about today” Writers talk about an important topic. Giving a voice to people who
What Do 10 Years of the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller Lists Say about YA? Because I don’t read a lot of YA literature, I tend not to report on it very often. Here Kelly Jensen, who has been writing about the YA book world for more than 15 years, examines whether the demographics
The Defiance of Salman Rushdie “After a near-fatal stabbing—and decades of threats—the novelist speaks about writing as a death-defying act.” David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, offers background on Salman Rushdie as well as news about the author’s life since he was attacked at a literary event last August 11. Category: Author News 8
Harlem: The Journey Uptown The February 1, 2023, daily newsletter from The New Yorker describes this article from 1981 as follows: Few neighborhoods in New York City—indeed, few neighborhoods anywhere—are as closely linked with a community as Harlem is with African Americans. In literature and music, fashion and film, the area has become synonymous with
