Citizen Reading: 20 February 2017.
20 February 2017
A weekly selection of reading and book news, sometimes with completely inappropriate commentary.
God, I am so sick of the Milo Yiannopoulos story. I am sick of seeing a million links about him, and I am sick of writing about him and having to constantly look up his name because I can never remember how to spell it. I am tired of having to read stories about him because I keep forgetting what it is he even writes or why anyone cares about him in the slightest. I want to do with Milo what I tell everyone about my little CRjrs when they are tantruming for attention: JUST LOOK AWAY, EVERYONE. But I also feel that he and his book and Simon & Schuster publishing it are some of the big literary stories of 2017. How sad. So here's this week's primer, if you feel like you need to know what's going on. For everyone else: just look away.
First: The publication of his book, Dangerous (his autobiography), is being pushed back to June.
Secondly: Last week he appeared on Bill Maher's talk show, where investigative author Jeremy Scahill refused to appear opposite him and Larry Wilmore told him to go fuck himself. Okay. We're done with this story(ies) now.
UPDATE, Feb. 20: Simon & Schuster cancels Yiannopoulos's book deal. Word is the American Conservative Union dropped him as a speaker at their annual CPac conference "following pederasty video allegations."
Has everyone else known about this Five Books site all along?
People of color accounted for 22% of children's book characters last year.
New Star Wars novel will serve as a sequel to Rogue One.
What is Amazon all up to in Seattle?
Harold Moore, author of We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, has died, at age 94.
Dick Bruna, creator of the Miffy books: Has died at age 89.
Finally, we can learn a little bit about Willa Cather. I have got to re-read My Antonia one of these days.
What has Gay Talese learned, after six decades in journalism? I love journalism, I love investigative writing, but I've never been a big Gay Talese fan. Anyone else feel that way?
Margaret Drabble has a new novel out.
Phillip Pullman is releasing a new series (evidently it's a follow-up to his Dark Materials trilogy).
Margaret Wise Brown and the mystery of mood.
Arabic Fiction Prize: Shortlist.
Janice Y.K. Lee's novel The Expatriates to be adapted for TV.
Ursula LeGuin's novela Planet of Exile to be made into a movie.
"Outlander" is coming back for a third series.
Stephen King and J.J. Abrams will work together on Hulu's "Castle Rock."
The BBC is adapted Ian McEwan's A Child In Time...and has cast Benedict Cumberbatch.
HBO's movie adaptation of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" will air in April.
Can booksellers help people combat loneliness?
Normally, the Bookends feature at the New York Times is super dull, but this one is interesting: who got our current dystopia right, George Orwell or Aldous Huxley?
Why do we love to hate grammarians?
The facts about Edward Snowden.
Oh, God, now there's a Mark Zuckerberg Manifesto. If Facebook is the only way left to have community, wow, I'm done with community.
The Reference and User Services Association of the ALA is offering an online course about experiencing genre fiction.
NONFICTION BOOK NEWS
Has Mick Jagger written a memoir...that no one will read anytime soon?
More books on England's queens expected from Brit historian Alison Weir.
Is Sarah Manguso's new book 300 Arguments essays? Or is it poetry?
Tom Brady: husband of Gisele, five-time Super Bowl champ, now subject of a forthcoming book and movie.
A consideration of nonfiction graphic novels.
How can the arts help abuse victims?
New York Times: in the mood for a calm look at global disorder?; I don't know anything about Yiyun Lee, but this book looks interesting; Yiyun Lee book; on the "pet projects of the new billionaires"; a new "devotional memoir" that, I admit, I will probably not read. I am a bit memoired out right now.
BOOK LISTS
Happy Presidents' Day!* 17 great books about American presidents.
IndieBound: bestselling books the week of Feb. 16.
Library Journal's Editors' Picks for Spring 2017. THIS is a super interesting list, y'all. Library Journal is everything that Booklist (totally boring magazine) and the LibraryReads list (totally boring list) is not. And yes, I used to review books for LJ, and no, I am not objective. I have always really enjoyed Library Journal.
Booklist: Spotlight on biography.
Bustle: 11 addictive book series to revisit in 2017.
School Library Journal's February 2017 Popular Picks.
Author Gill Hornby suggests some of the best dating books.
Recently published grade- and middle-school books for Black History Month.
MY READING NOTES
I was so all over the place this week I didn't even read anything worth noting here. I hate weeks like that.
AND NOW, YOUR OBLIGATORY NEIL GAIMAN LINK
TV show "Lucifer," based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, has been renewed for a third season.
*And what I mean is, Happy Presidents' Day to YOU, Unruly Reader. :)