-
Reviewing Hillsdale’s most checked-out books
Some say, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but one could judge Hillsdale students by their books. Since July 2021, Hillsdale students, faculty, and staff have checked out 49,703 books from the library’s catalog of more than 262,000 volumes, revealing data about student reading habits, or at least the students who refuse to buy…
-
How SWANA artists treat the book as a carrier of experience
The exhibition ‘Artists Making Books’ at the British Museum looks at the history of Arab and South Asian artists using the book medium as a source of poetic inspiration. Artists making books: poetry to politics, is a new publication by Venetia Porter, former Curator of Islamic and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at the British Museum.…
-
Lindsay Hunter Never Intended to Write a True Crime Novel
True crime is hot right now. It’s a genre seen across every media you can think of, from podcasts to TV shows to movies and even books. The idea of crime and mystery, of violence against a neighbor or family member—these narratives captivate and fascinate us, for better or for worse. But after the Dateline…
-
If you can stomach only one COVID closure novel, make it Michael Cunningham’s ‘Day’
Review Day By Michael CunninghamRandom House: 288 pages, $28 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. Michael Cunningham is possessed by a spirit, one whom a good deal of contemporary writers find it hard to shake: Virginia Woolf walks the hallways…
-
What’s the Future of Books?
The publishing industry is in flux. One major publisher has been acquired by a private equity firm, editors are departing (and getting laid off) from others, there are fewer book media outlets than ever, and most literary discourse is happening online. But what does it all mean for the books themselves, and the ways that…
-
‘Fear of Flying’ Is 50. What Happened to Its Dream of Freedom Through Sex?
Fifty years ago last month, Erica Jong published a debut novel that went on to sell more than 20 million copies. “Fear of Flying,” a book so sexually frank that you may have found it hidden in your mother’s underwear drawer, broke new ground in the explicitness of writing by and for women. Jong’s heroine,…
-
My Take: Graphic novels are for readers of all ages
The 10th annual NEA Big Read is off and running and, for the first time ever, one of the 2023 chosen books is a graphic novel. The Middle Read book this year is “New Kid” by Jerry Craft. Published in 2019, it has won three major awards, including the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author…
-
5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week
Our smorgasbord of sumptuous reviews this week includes Alexandra Jacobs on Barbra Streisand’s My Name is Barbra, Becca Rothfeld on Tracy K. Smith’s To Free the Captives, Kevin Lozano on Dan Sinykin’s Big Fiction, Fiona Maazel on Paul Auster’s Baumgartner, and Jess Bergman on Elsa Morante’s Lies and Sorcery. Brought to you by Book Marks,…
-
Publicists ‘under pressure’ as reviews landscape shifts
Publicists are having to be “more and more creative” as they look to manoeuvre changing print and online opportunities for their titles, industry professionals have told The Bookseller. While some newspaper literary editors say their print coverage is holding steady after cuts to pages during the Covid-19 pandemic, publicists say competition is tougher than ever…
-
From Hong Kong to Honeoye Falls: independent bookstore Bleak House Books turns the page
It is unusual to find a bookshop with a story that deserves space on its own shelves. One such place is Bleak House Books, a new independent bookstore in Honeoye Falls that will have its grand opening Saturday. Its narrative arc is positively novelistic: from humble beginnings to well-earned success before an unforeseen downfall. Then,…
