The most ambitious, irritating, hopeful and overrated books of 2016 — and the best one, too – With all the “best of” booklists you see at the end of the year, I appreciated the range of Carlos Lozada’s list, from most hopeful to saddest to laziest to “most overrated book I read ... more >
Book Debate Raises Questions of Self-Censorship by Foreign Groups in China – While there has been ample discussion about censorship by the Chinese government, the behavior of foreign entities – in this case the American Bar Association – has not been widely scrutinized. However, when the ABA rescinded an offer to ... more >
DISNEY SUED Man Says ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ STOLE HIS IDEAS – Disney, which is responsible for some of the most onerous copyright provisions — because we need to respect the rights holders, right?! — is being sued for — you guessed, it — INFRINGEMENT! The case has been filed in federal court in Texas ... more >
Ta-Nehisi Coates Wins National Book Award – The least surprising, but nevertheless moving, win of the night was Ta-Nehisi Coates for his non-fiction work, Between the World and Me. Adam Johnson won the award for Fiction, Neal Shusterman for Young People’s Literature, Robin Coste Lewis for Poetry, James Patterson won the Literarian Award, and Don DeLillo won ... more >
Awarding the Nobel Prize for Literature to Belarusian Svetlana Alexievich is a bold decision – I like this piece by Arifa Akbar because it focuses on the way Alexievich’s win “recalibrates the status of ‘non-fiction’ in the literary canon. I agree that there remains a perception that non-fiction is somehow less ... more >
The Secret of Nigerian Book Sales – It is so difficult to sell books in Nigeria that publishers say it can take years to sell off a couple thousand print copies. Programs have been established to encourage reading and assuage the challenges associated with book sales in Nigeria. And yet, one man, ... more >