Book Publishers Scramble to Make Sense of Trump’s Rise to Victory – We talk a lot about what direction publishers are taking, especially traditional publishers, and for the next months, at least, one significant focus may be politics. This isn’t surprising, of course, because commercial publishers are always engaged in capitalizing on ... more >
WRITING ON THE WALL: DISAPPEARED BOOKSELLERS AND FREE EXPRESSION IN HONG KONG – PEN America has weighed in on the relationship between China and Hong Kong publishing, and in particular the recent case of the disappearing booksellers. The report “examines the wide-reaching impact for Hong Kong as an international publishing center ... more >
THE “GOOSEBUMPS” CONUNDRUM: WHAT MAKES A CHILDREN’S BOOK GOOD? – We talk a lot about so-called “good” or “quality” books for adults, but Adam Gidwitz puts the same basic questions to kids books, and the psychological, moral, and behavioral implications people often assign to these judgments. Does this application make help ... more >
Top 5 Ancient And Medieval Censored Books To Read During Banned Book Week – As long as people have been writing, others have been banning. From Abelard to Sappho to Ovid and beyond, censorship has been publicly ritualized to emphasize its (alleged) moral and cultural authority. 4. Ovid (Exiled in 8 CE): Although ... more >
Researcher finds evidence that the ‘world’s most mysterious book’ is an elaborate hoax – A researcher from UK’s Keele University is claiming that the as-yet untranslated Voynich Manuscript may be a hoax, based in part on its similarity to word patterns in “natural language texts.” However, another scholar from the University ... more >
The Man Booker Prize 2016 Shortlist – If you want to catch up on the Man Booker nominees, check out Rosario and Liz’s blogs, as both are working their way through the longlist. The list is disappointingly narrow in its geographical scope, but overall, what do you think? Paul Beatty (US) The ... more >