July 29, 2016

There’s no way around it: He was squirrely. Hard to read, yet quirky enough to arrest your attention into trying to read him nonetheless. Was he just paralyzingly shy? Tortured… 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

NYPL opens first library in Rikers Island women’s jail

Kait Howard

Situated on 400 acres in the middle of the East River, the Rikers Island complex includes ten separate jails, holding just under 10,000 prisoners at any given time. Facilities include a… Read more »

Hong Kong Book Fair ends in raid on obscene materials

Simon Reichley

Shortly after our recent piece on the close of the Hong Kong Book Fair ran, reports of a massive search and seizure by Hong Kong’s Office for Film, Newspaper and Article… Read more »

Google asks, “Would you like some Hitler with your Crippled America?”

Ever heard of pareidolia? That’s the pheneomenon in which people see familiar patterns in random stimuli. It’s the human brain struggling to make sense of entropy, and it’s a particularly… Read more »

Today is the perfect day to listen to bell hooks

Melville House

Hey, America! Good morning. It’s been an intense couple of weeks, and today may just be the perfect time to spend a half hour with the brilliant bell hooks, scholar, activist,… Read more »

Melville House Books

Hail & Farewell: James Alan McPherson

Dennis Johnson