January 21, 2015

After six years and 2,500 redactions, the first book by an imprisoned detainee is in print. Mohamedou Ould Slahi, also known as prisoner number 760, has unveiled the details of his experience… Read more »

Authors

Salman Rushdie, Ian Rankin and Joanne Harris amongst those recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours list — Nikki Griffiths
Joanne Harris suggests some "parents, largely fathers" perceive reading as "girly" — Tom Clayton
Waterstones appeal aims to raise £1m for Ukraine disaster fund — Tom Clayton
Returning an ebook after reading: is Amazon's return policy damaging to authors and publishers? — Nikki Griffiths

Anxious governments: Japan seeks to remove “comfort women” from textbooks and history

Zeljka Marosevic

Last week we covered the removal of nature words from Oxford Junior Dictionary and Oxford University Press’s new policy regarding culturally sensitive subjects; discussing the week’s news yesterday, Alex Shephard… Read more »

The Art of the Novella challenge 11: The Awakening

Jonathan Gibbs

Title: The Awakening Author: Kate Chopin First published: 1899 Page count: 214 First line: A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and… Read more »

Contextless answers from Haruki Murakami’s advice column

Julia Fleischaker

“I’ve wished that I could be the wind, but I’ve never wanted to be a cat. I’ve also never wanted to be a chikuwabu.” “I saw when the Chili Peppers took… Read more »

Vancouver’s flagship Chapters store to close, with plans to reopen

Nick Davies

In the face of increasing rents for retail space, the flagship location of a major Canadian book chain has announced that it will shut down as of this summer. Mike… Read more »

Melville House Books

Guantanamo Bay prisoner’s book released

Kirsten Reach