Hello, Book Nerds! From now on, Thursdays will be all about book news. Anything that quakes in the book industry in the last week will be featured here, so grab onto your favourite, dog-eared book and enjoy the ride.
Tolkein’s Beowulf Translation Finally Published
J. R. R. Tolkein’s estate has teamed up with HarperCollins to publish his book, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, for the first time. It comes out today.
A Documentary to Why Libraries Matter
The documentary by Julie Dressner and Jesse Hicks examines the topic of the importance of libraries as an institution to millions of people.
PW Launches BookLife and Will Begin to Cover Self-Published Books
At this year’s BookExpo of America (BEA), Publisher’s Weekly will release BookLife, which offers self-published authors knowledge of the book industry and the tools in creating a successful book. They will also review self published books on their site.
Smashwords and Overdrive Make A Deal
Overdrive has struck a deal with the self publish ebook platform, Smashwords, to distribute 200,000 of their titles to public libraries. A big deal to self published authors who want their books to be read by as many people as possible.
Is The Designation, Women’s Fiction, Sexist?
Author Joanne Harris discusses sexism and women’s fiction as a subcategory in the industry.
And you can join! It’s from May 19-23 and you can follow the hashtag for some great discussions.
Should Books Come With A Trigger Warning?
There’s been a discussion as to whether or not books should come with trigger warnings for those who could be effected emotionally by reading a particular subject due to previous trauma. Some say that it could lead to censorship while others believe it’ll cause repeat trauma to an unaware reader.
The Male Rage Against Women Reading Romance Novels
There have been a lot of anger from women on William Giraldi’s article which critiques not only 50 Shades of Grey but romance novels overall. There have been some counter articles/posts from people like Alyssa Rosenberg and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books on male condemnation of women reading romance novels.
Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History is Out
With the discussion of diversity in books at an all time high in the public consciousness, why not divert your attention to a newly released anthology by and starring diverse people?
Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.
The book is now available for purchase and you can find the complete list of authors on the website.
