One 17-year-old in the secret book club: "Anne Frank is, like, as a friend for me. ... I mean, Anne Frank is suffering from war, and I am, too. And Anne Frank cannot go to school, cannot, like, go out very freely. And I have the same situation." - NPR
"Sometimes writers draw from older stories—myths, histories, ancient epics—when crafting new ones. One might find in that rewriting an opportunity to recast a celebrated figure." Obvious. but many new (or popular on BookTok) works are strong on the retelling right now. - The Atlantic
Volunteers held the line for a decade, but now local government has stepped in to save and shore up the tower in Dublin where Joyce began Ulysses. - Irish Times
With the cost-of-living crisis taking hold, the publishing industry hopes Truss and her government will bring in a range of measures to ensure people from all backgrounds are able to access books easily. - The Guardian
In announcing this shift, prize founder Scott Griffin said that Canadian poets are capable of competing on the world stage. “Yes, Canadians will not have this automatic prize each year. But in a sense, there is a statement here that’s saying Canadians can hold their own.” - The Globe & Mail (Canada)
"High-level (layoffs) are unusual for any established magazine, and they are unprecedented for National Geographic, which has enjoyed stable editorial leadership since its founding by the nonprofit National Geographic Society of Washington in 1888." - MSN (The Washington Post)
While complaints from junior staffers about crushing workloads and low pay have begun to creep into some industry reporting, publishing veterans are also unhappy. Some say that decades of corporate consolidation and two-plus years of working from home have exposed widening cracks. - Publishers Weekly
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will discontinue its daily print edition and go to a weekend print edition, but it will continue its digital news operation seven days a week, according to interviews with a half dozen people close to the newspaper." - SaportaReport (Atlanta)
"Alan Garner (at 87) has become the oldest author to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and is the only British writer on this year's list. He is joined ... by one Irish writer, two Americans, a Zimbabwean and a writer from Sri Lanka." - The Guardian
"According to a report by the National Literacy Trust, the percentage of children (aged five through eight) who do not have a book of their own at home has risen by 1.9% since before the pandemic and is now at its highest point since 2019." - The Guardian
Traditional-values groups are demanding the removal or restriction of books with explicit sex education, and books that unflinchingly document LGBTQ realities and the Black American experience. Challenges of library books have jumped fourfold, from 416 books in 2017 to 1,597 book challenges in 2021. - NPR
We go straight to “amazing”. Or “awesome”. In both cases, as usual, I think we’re on safe ground blaming the Americans. They too, surely, are behind “thank you so much”. It’s now used so often that the “so much” adds nothing; it’s just a standard thank you. - The Guardian
"People in bayou country have long learned to live under adverse weather conditions. But things have gotten much worse in recent years. Rising sea levels, erosion and storm after storm have flooded entire communities. For some French speakers, Hurricane Ida was the last straw, and now many are moving away." - PRX's The World
