"Well, friends, another grim and grueling plague year is drawing to a close, and that can mean only one thing." Reading - but why not the best reviewed books in translation of 2021? Why not, for instance, Jhumpa Lahiri translating herself? - LitHub
"Whether owing to regional or racial bias, or to the author’s deeply ingrained humility and privacy, Kenan has not taken his rightful place in the postmodern canon, though his fictional town of Tims Creek proved as generative as any Macondo or Yoknapatawpha." - The New York Times
"Patrons savor the chance to browse aisles of paperbacks and hardcovers stacked on tables in pavilions from different countries. ... To revel in what to many Iraqis is the true, enduring character of Baghdad." - The New York Times
Owner Lucy Yu made the decision "to embark on this journey—now, in the midst of a pandemic, on the heels of so much anti-Asian hatred" because what else has kept people going during the pandemic but stories - and community? - LitHub
Mind, it's not a sequel. Dickens published a series of five Christmas novellas; A Christmas Carol was the first. London's Dickens Museum hopes to get some attention for the third, The Cricket on the Hearth, with an exhibition of the original illustrations. - The Guardian
The site has no paywall; the model is like that of public radio in the US: convince visitors to contribute. Now more than 1 million people worldwide make recurring donations, nearly double the number three years ago. (The Guardian also has 100,000 print subscribers.) - Axios
Literature professors have often had significant difficulty acknowledging their expertise and corresponding difficulty in justifying their status to skeptics, for broadly two reasons. - Public Books
A self-described “cockeyed optimist,” Tom Lutz admitted he underestimated the volume of work required to launch the publication — not to mention the costs of doing so, both financial and psychological. - Los Angeles Times
The Mosul Book Forum, which offers concerts and events along with books, opened three months after the city was liberated. Said cofounder Fahad Sabah, "If we have to rebuild our city, we need to rebuild our minds as well as our buildings and streets." - Literary Hub
"Could the new wave of Zen editors and e-ink tablets, tempering tech solutionism with analog nostalgia, reverse this trajectory — and give writers a dedicated device of our own?" Julian Lucas gives some of them a try. - The New Yorker
Mary's final letter was to her cousin Henry III of France. "An international team of researchers have found that Mary used a delicate folding process to seal the letter, ensuring that any tampering would be immediately obvious to its recipient." - The Guardian (UK)
Sometimes it's better to read than to experience. "I think I like winter weather best when it’s on the page and not the thing standing between me and the closest bar or the corner bodega when I’m out of popcorn." - LitHub
