Happy February, readers! There’s lots happening in publishing this week–let’s get started! My memories of elementary school reading lists are dominated by To Kill a Mockingbird, The Giver, and Shiloh, and it doesn’t take a genius to see what they all have in common: white main characters. When faced with a similar reading list at…
The Thursday Book Beat: Diversity Discussions in Publishing Take the Transcontinental Stage
Welcome back to Book Beat, readers! It’s been a pretty busy week for the book industry, and leading the news charge is the release of Lee & Low’s diversity baseline survey results. 34 publishers and 8 literary review journals participated, including Big Six publishers Penguin Random House, Scholastic, and Macmillan. Unsurprisingly, the results of the…
The Thursday Book Beat: Coloring Books Aren’t the Only Revolution in Publishing
Happy Thursday, readers! With one more day left to the weekend, are you already thinking about settling in with a warm blanket, and your favourite adult coloring book? Neuroscientist Jordan Gaines Lewis examined the phenomenon for NY Magazine, having recently purchased a coloring book of her own. She is both skeptical and intrigued by how…
The Thursday Book Beat: New Nancy Drew TV Series to Feature Diverse Cast
Winter is well and truly here, if this week has been anything to go by, but some bits of book news might warm your hearts and shelves right up! Those of us looking for the lost sunshine might be tempted to tap beloved teen detective Nancy Drew for her sleuthing skills, and CBS has announced…
The Thursday Book Beat: Gene Luen Yang Named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
Another year and a brand new Book Beat. It might only be January 7th but book news sleeps for no one! We started off the new year with sad news that George R.R. Martin missed his New Year’s Eve deadline for the Winds of Winter; the sixth book in the Game of Thrones series. This means the…
A Fan-Curated Taylor Swift Book
I thought I’d seen mainstream publishing attempt some strange things, but Simon & Schuster’s ambitious Taylor Swift book is probably the most interesting. Set to release in October 24, 2016, the book will be a massive collection of photos, fan art, and the best written works on the singer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tswift’s first record release….
The Thursday Book Beat: Chicago Students Protest Library Closure
Simon & Schuster to publish Taylor Swift “scrapbook” Fans will get a chance to help create the book, a collection of magazine articles and other memorabilia documenting Swift’s career. An honourary author will be named from the winners of a video contest hosted by the publisher, and fans can also enter to suggest titles for…
The Thursday Book Beat: The World Does Not Need Hunger Games Prequel Movies
Expect Hunger Games movie prequels, says Lionsgate Vice Chair, missing the point completely I don’t know about you, but another set of movies about kids killing each other for absolutely no good reason isn’t something I look forward to, or want to expect. And yet, Michael Burns (Vice Chairman of Lionsgate Studios) says that we…
The Thursday Book Beat: Learning Why ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ in Sweden
Newspaper leaks Haruki Murakami’s elementary school library records Borrowing records are sacrosanct in library systems around the world, and Japanese librarians have spoken out about the Kobe Shinbun’s list of books Murakami borrowed as a teenager. The record was gathered from cards where library users’ names were listed underneath specific authors. All Swedish teens to…
The Thursday Book Beat: Come Get Your #MorallyAmbigiousYA Here
#MorallyAmbigiousYA calls out sexism and genre dismissal Tuesday afternoon found the YA book world in disbelief over the announcement of a six-figure deal and movie for a YA novel by former ad executive Scott Bergstrom. It wasn’t the money at stake that stunned authors and readers alike, however, but the description of the book (“a…
The Thursday Book Beat: Rankine’s “Citizen” Gets Sales Boost Thanks to Trump Rally
Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric Gets Sales Boost Thanks to Trump Rally Twenty-three year-old Johari Osayi Idusuyi was reading the critically acclaimed book of poetry at a Trump rally and caused it to soar #21 from #646 on Amazon. She explained that she had no intention of doing that when she was invited to attend…
The Thursday Book Beat: Harry Potter Coloring Book, Bangladesh Publishers, Bloggers and Writers Are Targets of Violent Attacks
The Harry Potter Coloring Book For Grown Ups Also known as the only adult colouring book that matters. I’ve wanted to join in on the popularity of adult colouring books because colouring is just so relaxing but I didn’t fine the colouring book for me. Despite my personal fatigue of all things Harry Potter in…