Author J.K. Rowling unveils her latest project, Pottermore: J.K. Rowling has created Pottermore, a free to use Web site taking readers right into Hogwarts, as a way of thanking her fans and paying them back for their contributions to the book. Rowling announced the news in a press conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum […]
Pottermore Web Site to Sell E-Books in October Read More »
Are Teen Novels Dark and Depraved–Or Saving Lives? OK, one more article in response to the recent brouhaha over the state of YA (young adult) literature. This one is from Publishers Weekly, and of course you’d expect a publication aimed at the publishing industry to denounce any cries for censorship and to support writers and
Are Teen Novels Dark and Depraved — or Saving Lives? Read More »
In an earlier post I discussed the furor in the book world caused by the publication over the weekend in The Wall Street Journal lamenting the sad state of YA (young adult) fiction. Here are a couple of responses that get at the heart of the matter. Has Young Adult Fiction Become Too Dark? Over
YA Fiction is Too Dark: Some Responses Read More »
Tea Obreht won the Orange Prize for Fiction on Wednesday for her debut novel, “The Tiger’s Wife,” making her at 25 the youngest person to win the award.
Tea Obreht Wins Orange Prize for Fiction Read More »
Britain’s Orange Prize was established 16 years ago to promote women’s fiction in English. The judges look around the world for “excellence, originality, and accessibility” (and no, the first criterion isn’t automatically canceled out by the third). Three of this year’s shortlisted novels deal with imprisoned women, three with the aftermath of war, and three
Darkness Too Visible Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea? Authors and publishers are all atwitter about this article that appeared over the weekend in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. Meghan Cox Gurdon, who writes regularly about children’s books for
Darkness Too Visible Read More »
Author Michael Cunningham writes about how, as a teenager, he discovered Virginia Woolf through a reading of her novel Mrs. Dalloway, and how his own mother figured in his attempt to write about Woolf in his novel The Hours. As a woman, Woolf knew about the sense of helplessness that can afflict women given too
Virginia Woolf, my mother and me | Books | The Guardian Read More »
If you’re looking for something to read this summer, NPR has 15 suggestions. And it looks as if there should be at least one something for everybody here.
Books Preview: Spotting Summer’s High Fliers : NPR Read More »
Seattle Times book editor Mary Ann Gwinn writes about a “print isn’t dead” report from Bowker, the company that produces Books in Print. Some of the numbers may surprise you.
Books still big business in 2010 Read More »
On this, the final day of Oprah’s long-running network TV show, I have a confession: I have never watched an Oprah show, not even one of her famous book discussions. But so many other people have watched Oprah’s show that publishers are wondering what their fate will be with the loss of “the Oprah effect,”
What Oprah has done for books Read More »
