Libraries were once places to access books. They are now places to access everything? The last place to access anything? As the social safety net has frayed, libraries have found themselves filling in the gaps. - The Walrus
Some writers invite haters and court controversy; Gilbert writes books that want to be loved. Being accused of complicity with a regime accused of genocide can’t have felt very nice. But by withdrawing the book, she has set a terrible precedent. - The Atlantic
This language variety came about through sustained contact between Spanish and English speakers, particularly when speakers translated directly from Spanish. - The Conversation
Certain books (Psalms, Song of Songs, Lamentations) are generally understood as poetry, but the historical books, Gospels, and letters all include a great deal of verse. Scholar Michael Edwards argues that awareness of this poetry, more precise and self-conscious than prose, should affect how we understand Scripture. - The Paris Review
A dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, Syriac has been used for centuries for Bibles, church services, and literature as well as everyday speech. But with the war-torn country's Christian community shrinking rapidly due to emigration, many fear that Syriac could go the way of Latin. - Yahoo! (AFP)
"Armed with a bamboo ink pen and a steady hand, … at the Hamere Berhan Institute in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Orthodox priests and lay worshippers work by hand to replicate sometimes centuries-old religious manuscripts and sacred artwork." - Yahoo! (AFP)
"Curators at Hever Castle were conducting research ahead of an exhibition comparing Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn when they realized Cromwell owned a version of the same Christian prayer book. … The Hever Castle curators took their hunch to Trinity College," Cambridge, where the volume was found. - Artnet
The uproar that drove Elizabeth Gilbert’s decision to pull her novel, which is set in 20th century Siberia, suggests that the debate has broadened to include the question of how the country should be represented in fiction. - The New York Times
Events in the U.S. lead to the question. "Following the implementation of legislation prohibiting 'pornographic or indecent' literature in Utah’s public schools, a complaint was lodged against The Old Testament and its less racy – but still occasionally outré – sequel." - Irish Times
The screenwriter had to turn the author's "dense first-person prose, which featured its hero monologuing at length on CB radio and offering long sections of exposition about Klaxon Oil’s sideline in arms dealing, into a screenplay." And then there's the daughter. - LitHub
"The Daily and Sunday Telegraph are to be put up for sale in a deal that promises to reshape the media landscape after the Barclay family lost control of their crown jewel media assets in a bitter row over nearly £1bn of unpaid debts." - The Guardian
The survey by the trade body showed that a third (33%) of people think that books offer them the best form of escapism when they’re having a bad day, coming second only to watching television (54%). - The Guardian
"A May 11 directive established a stringent, months-long approval process … (and) gave prison superintendents the power to block publication of work that violated any of a number of broad rules." The policy was rescinded one day after this publication made it public. - New York Focus
“So I’m going to be brutal and say that I obtained a prize I never wanted. The Nobel prize fell upon me. It fell into my life like a bomb. It was an enormous disruption; since winning it, I cannot write and the act of the writing was always my future." - The Guardian
