Citizen Reader

A weekly selection of reading and book news, sometimes with completely inappropriate commentary. Kind of a slow news week bookwise; evidently there were other things going on.

Waterstone's Book of the Year Award: Shortlist.

Have you seen this Funny Girl anthology book? Looks good.

Wow: 79% of Americans use Facebook.

Dungeons & Dragons has joined the National Toy Hall of Fame (and is 42 years old--wow!).

A new technology to determine a book's genre is right more than 20% of the time! I weary of all things algorithm.

Expect a movie about J.R.R. Tolkien.

Amazon wants to get the kids reading by selling you an app to send them texts. Is it just me or does that sound like the least fun thing ever?

Emma Watson's evidently trying to drum up readers for her Our Shared Shelf feminist book club by leaving its titles in NYC subway stations.

Trainspotting to become a TV series as well?

NONFICTION BOOK NEWS

The School Library Journal is not a fan of nonfiction for kids that blurs the line between fact and fiction. I don't know how I feel about this article. Yes, I believe that items presented as nonfiction, particularly to very young kids, should contain facts. On the other hand, I also believe nonfiction is about more than just the presentation of facts, and even adults need to recognize that all nonfiction is written from somebody's POINT OF VIEW, making it all a bit "made up." But that's probably too tough a distinction for kids to grasp? I don't know.

This history of Bellevue Hospital in New York looks stupendous.

New York Times: a new look at the Indian Wars (from the army point of view?); two new books on two of our favorite animals; 6 books to help understand Trump's win; a new biography of Nelson Algren; the "price we pay for an ad-powered Internet".

I'm interested in this book You Will Not Have My Hate, by a French man whose wife died in the 2015 Paris terror attacks, primarily because of the way the author ended this interview.

This could be good: A Space Traveler's Guide to the Solar System.

BOOK LISTS

Amazon: Ten best books of November

Preview: the Indie Next list for December 2016

IndieBound: The bestselling books the week of Nov. 10

Here's a simple heading for a list: 10 beautifully written books

Ten female writers to "help you understand the world after the election"

Publishers' Weekly best books of 2016

AND NOW, YOUR OBLIGATORY NEIL GAIMAN LINK

A role in the TV adaptation of "American Gods" was declined by Nicolas Cage.