"I wonder if the fact that Elvis relies on biographical research rather than a novel made it the more successful film for me (and most critics). ... Is the problem with Blonde, Blonde?" - LitHub
Yes, BookTok. But not only BookTok. The woman who self-published her first book while she was earning $9 an hour and whose books outsold the Bible in 2021 says, "It's not me ... The readers are controlling what is selling right now." - The New York Times
"Understanding whether or not Japanese literature is changing also requires defining 'Japanese literature,' and defining the 'Japanese' part of the term is challenging enough. Does writing in other languages by diaspora Japanese qualify? Or writing by non-ethnically Japanese writers living in Japan in Japanese, or other languages?" - Metropolis (Japan)
"Count Dracula — a recluse plagued by yearning, a macabre flair for theatrics and existential loneliness — turned out to be an unlikely patron saint for the uncertain times. ... Serialization made the 125-year-old novel more accessible and created a community of readers when many were looking for connection." - The New York Times
"Ernaux, 82, started out writing autobiographical novels, but quickly abandoned fiction in favor of memoirs. Her more than 20 books, most very short, chronicle events in her life and the lives of those around her. They present uncompromising portraits of sexual encounters, abortion, illness and the deaths of her parents." - AP
The single most influential data in the publishing industry—which, every day, determines book contracts and authors’ lives—is basically inaccessible to anyone beyond the industry. And I learned that this is a big problem. - Public Books
To the eye of an American editor, sometimes the smallest hints of vulnerability, when they don’t service any big and explicit narrative, often end up looking like disposable details. - European Review of Books
This is what the censors refuse to grasp: Librarians are not trying to force your children to read material you don’t want them to read. They are fulfilling their role as information professionals tasked with upholding the constitutional promise of access to information for all. - Washington Post
Among the shortlisted authors are Gayl Jones, Alejandro Varela, Imani Perry, Meghan O'Rourke, John Keene, Sharon Olds, Jenny Xie, Scholastique Mukasonga, Yoko Tawada, and Tommie Smith, one of the Black athletes who raised a fist on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. - NPR
"The other defining aspect of the collected works on Trump is that virtually nothing in any of them – none of the 'bombshells' or details about his character – seems to have substantially changed people's minds about him." - CNN
The news stories coming from the state have been mostly about bannings on a school district or city/county level. This past spring, Gov. De Santis signed a law requiring all Florida school to remove all books considered "pornographic" or "inappropriate." - Salon
The reading world is divided between those who care about covers (specifically paperback covers) and those who find this odder than worrying what packaging sausages come in. These are often the same people who can’t understand why anyone would keep a book they had already read. - Irish Times
Or, at least, some authors who should. "You would think that in this, post-Squid Games, post-BTS world, the Academy would attempt to reclaim relevance by reading and engaging with works outside their comfort zone, by reading outside of Europe and North America." - LitHub
One Irish writer says yes. "It is through the stories passed down by our ancestors that we can learn how best to live sustainably ... and how to navigate a world that presents existential threats on a daily basis." - Irish Times
