Christopher Paolini really wanted to be a dragon-rider, but that wasn't a job opportunity. So the then-15-year-old wrote a book instead. - The New York Times
For the Inside Literary Prize, inspired by a similar prize in France, "a jury of inmates in prisons across six states will be able to read and debate books, then vote on the winner." - The New York Times
And it's the slightly iffy-sounding, if not meaning, "rizz" (chaRIZZma, get it?). The word even beat out "situationship" and "Swiftie." Why? Because the Gen-Alphas have some rizz. - The New York Times
Lynch has been incessantly (after the prize) "asked for his views on far right movements in Western Europe and about the recent riots in Dublin that were sparked by right wing agitators — an event that he found both shocking and depressingly predictable." - The New York Times
For that matter, the best deal on books, streaming, magazines, newspapers, and a lot more - yes, yes, you already know: A library card. (And for e-books and audiobooks, the app Libby.) "It’s all so easy that it feels like cheating." - Slate
The right-wing account Libs of TikTok claims "Kellogg's wants to indoctrinate your children with breakfast cereal." The Dank Night tweeted "Would you like a side of rainbow commie propaganda with your diabetes, honey?" All because Froot Loops boxes offer access to a free online library with DEI content. - New York Post
"Étienne Cabet's fictional 1840 travelogue, Voyage en Icarie (Travels in Icaria), … was so popular and affecting that it led hundreds of French citizens to leave their homes and journey to the United States to realize the egalitarian paradise he had described." - Smithsonian Magazine
The attack, which took place on 31 October, is continuing to affect its website, online systems and some onsite services, a statement said. The Rhysida ransomware group claim to be behind the attack, have said they will auction off the stolen data. - BBC
Because the technology works on the basis of image analysis, it is in theory applicable to any writing whatsoever, from Egyptian hieroglyphs to copperplate. Ten years after its initial development, some truly exciting consequences of the development of handwritten text recognition (HTR) techniques are becoming clear. - Aeon
"Genre is a confining madness; it says nothing about how writers write or readers read, and everything about how publishers, retailers and commentators would like them to. … Consider the worst offender: not crime, horror, science fiction, espionage or romance, but 'literary fiction', ... ultimately meaningless except as a confused shorthand." - The Guardian
"By adding to the (original) store space piecemeal, the brothers drifted into the 'superstore' concept by accident. Mathematically, the formula they discovered was astounding (and oversimplified): as their bookstore became larger with better selection, it drew from a larger radius, became more exciting, and sales per square foot increased!" - Literary Hub
He's the media executive fronting the bid by RedBird IMI, a joint venture between two investment funds, based in New York and Abu Dhabi, to buy the Tory-supporting newspaper and magazine in a bankruptcy auction. If successful, Zucker intends to expand the outlets into the US market and beyond. - Variety
"Authentic cuisine. Authentic voice. Authentic self. Authenticity as artifice. Lookups for the word are routinely heavy on the dictionary company’s site but were boosted to new heights throughout the year … in (this) age of deepfakes and post-truth." - AP
