Both sides have a point, but both sides are also, let's say, a bit touchy. Why? "Coming out against libraries making books more accessible looks miserly, but so does protesting against authors getting paid what they deserve." Meanwhile, the publishers are the problem. - Wired
"I wrote Judy a letter telling her how impactful her work was for me and how passionate I was about Margaret in particular. ... The next day, there was an email from Judy Blume in my inbox. I was so stunned, I almost passed out." - LitHub
"The world after the pandemic just got worse. And I thought, I just want to write something lovely, where the stakes are kind of low, except on a personal level. So I started writing another love story." - The Guardian (UK)
"The venue had the clandestine air of a speakeasy. Notice of its existence was passed along by word of mouth. Guests stuffed cash into a cardboard box marked 'donations' to receive canned Modelo from a fridge. There were readings, screenings and music shows." - The New York Times
If and when machines can “write essays” that are more deftly organized, more thoroughly researched, and more persuasive than our student’s efforts, then writing’s purpose will cease to reside solely in the finished text. It has never solely resided there, of course, but we too often act and teach as if it does. - The Millions
"Three days after voting to cease publication and lay off its journalists, the nonprofit publisher of the Texas Observer said on Wednesday that it would change course and keep the 68-year-old liberal magazine going, following an emergency appeal that crowdsourced more than $300,000." - The Texas Tribune
Reading has always been a very personal thing. Now, however, I have a little percentage tracker on my home page, Goodreads friends applaud my progress each time I finish a book, and it feels … strangely comforting. - The Guardian
After a brutal decline following the Great Recession, print-book sales are up 33 percent in the past 10 years. If the high costs and complexity of the ebook market for libraries pushes more readers to purchase print books (or ebooks), that is a feature, not a bug, for the publishers. - The Atlantic
"Newsletter company Substack, which reportedly struggled to fundraise last year amid a broader downturn in the tech market, wants its next round of financing to come directly from its pool of writers." - Quartz
The question of where a story should begin and end is one that recurs throughout “White Cat, Black Dog,” and is part of what gives the stories a melancholy air of flux and fragility. - The New Yorker
Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries written between 1920 and 1976 have had passages reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins to strip them of language and descriptions that modern audiences find offensive. - The Guardian
Learning how to catalogue properly is an essential part of bookselling, though exactly what constitutes “properly” will change depending on who you ask. - LitHub
"The last decade has seen a flurry of illustrated Korean cookbooks, one-panel satirical comics about South Asian chai, and graphic novels about Japanese-American culinary history. No matter the focus, each cartoon offers vivid depictions of the artists' beloved foods." - Atlas Obscura
“The bad handwriting specifically comes from I’m thinking too fast for my hand. I feel like being able to type as quickly as I’m thinking I have this like great advantage where I don’t have to worry about legibility.” - The New York Times
The culture editors at El País had been considering starting a reading group for several years, but they only went ahead and launched the project in late 2022. In five months, the club had grown to over 1,100 members in Spain and Latin America. - Nieman Lab
