Citizen Reading: 30 October 2017.
30 October 2017
A weekly selection of reading and book news, sometimes with completely inappropriate commentary.
First things first: this post marks my last for a while. I am taking the month of November off to write, read for fun, and generally look at the Internet less. (I made the mistake of looking at some comments attached to an article about Harvey Weinstein the other day. SHUDDER.) I will still be posting at The Great British TV Site, so please do consider visiting me there.
I also leave you in great nonfiction hands: do check out the group book-blogger effort that is Nonfiction November!
As ever: thanks for reading, and I very much look forward to being back with you, post-December 1.
Library Journal offers a new way to keep up with book news, written by Neal Wyatt: Book Pulse! It looks to be a great new resource, and thanks, Neal, for the shout-out to (our sadly now defunct) Reader's Advisor Online.
Best Books of the Year season begins!
Journalist Mark Halperin is facing accusations of sexual harassment. (Penguin Press has canceled his forthcoming book.)
Bill O'Reilly has also been dropped by his literary agent.
Roy Price (former head of Amazon Studios) has left Amazon due to harassment allegations.
The state of sexual harassment in the library.
8 ways to make your (school) library more visible right now.
Kirkus Reviews and the "plight of the 'problematic' book review." That's not an eye-catching headline, really, but this is an interesting article about what all goes on behind the scenes of book reviews.
Amazon's new Kindle app is "inspired by books."
When British authors write American dialogue, or "try to."
Donald Bain (who wrote a LOT of Murder, She Wrote novels): Obituary.
"Checking in on J.D. Salinger's unpublished works."
A whole bunch of Marcel Proust's letters are about to be published online.
Must an author's wishes be honored after death?
Hurston/Wright Literary Fiction Award winner: Colson Whitehead.
Jane Addams Awards: Winners.
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence: Shortlists.
My Friend Dahmer (based on the graphic novel with the same title): Film clip.
Dora the Explorer: Now a live-action film!
Warner Bros. is bringing its recent release of Stephen King's It back to theaters for Halloween. (Wow. Was it gone already? Movies come and go in a blink these days, don't they?)
NONFICTION BOOK NEWS
"Stellar nonfiction featuring women."
Matt Taibbi has a new book out about police brutality.
A new book about rising water levels (that I happen to be reading right now!). It's good. Scary, but good.
There's a new biography out about Joni Mitchell.
Have you seen this new career guide for misfits?
Looking for a guide to how to train your kitty? (Excuse me while I go laugh about the very idea of training your kitty.)
New York Times: the best new true crime; here's the Times's review of Sarah Perry's After the Eclipse; Calvin Klein's new 400+-page coffee table book; a closer look at "our cheating hearts"'; about a photographer of ghosts, by Peter Manseau; the Caitlin Doughty book on death rituals worldwide; the story of a man wrongfully accused of a crime (and who served prison time for it).
BOOK LISTS
5 new books you don't want to miss this week.
Brightly: Best Grown-Up Reads of November.
HarpersBazaar: 8 new books to read in November.
Spiritual and self-help books of 2017-2018.
The Week Magazine: 10 terrifying horror books you've never read.
Adult Books 4 Teens: 7 nightmarish reads.
3 books on monsters, ghosts, and fear.
MY READING NOTES
I am in the middle of Jeff Goodell's The Water Will Come, about sea-level rise, and am finding it about as horrifying as you would guess someone who can't swim would find it.
The eldest CRjr continues to consume football books at an alarming pace. Football is interesting, and all, but I must say I do kind of miss the shark fixation.
AND NOW, YOUR OBLIGATORY NEIL GAIMAN LINK
Have you ever heard of "impostor syndrome"? Evidently Neil Gaiman has struggled with it.