Hi book lovers! This week is my reading week and to be quite honest, I haven’t done too much reading! That is, academic reading. I still have three more days so let’s see if I can pull it together and actually catch up on my textbook chapters.
The biggest news that’s been circulating this week is that Twitter troll Milo Yiannopoulos’s book will not be published by Simon & Schuster and its Threshold Editions Imprint ‘after careful consideration.’ Was is really careful consideration? Or is it too little too late for Simon & Schuster? They had spent months defending their decision, even after multiple authors chose to boycott the publishing house and prominent writer, Roxane Gay, pulled her book.
In an article by Independent UK, it’s clear that many publishers who didn’t want to see Milo’s book are having some sort of celebration right now. The article mentions that Roxane Gay, while acknowledging the decision, still will not work with the publishing house in the future. Interestingly enough, the article also mentions that if Simon & Schuster claimed freedom of speech as a defence, can it still be used if they ended up pulling the book?
An interesting article by Vox gives some further insight into why cancelling Milo’s book is not a win for conservative writers. It also outlines why Simon & Schuster’s strategy of just treating Milo like any other author was really to their own detriment. It also asks whether Threshold really care about freedom of speech, or whether they just like what Milo was saying before the video of his views of pedophilia surfaced. Give this article a read if you really want to understand how malicious Threshold was in their decision.
In other news, Tom Hanks has announced he will be releasing his first book this fall! Instead of playing the role of Dan Brown’s character, Robert Langdon, Tom will be writing his own book! The short story collection will be published by Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Interestingly enough, each of the 17 stories in the book will contain a different typewriter because Tom is a huge fan of typewriters and collects them. Who knew? You can check out more about the book and how to pre-order it here.
If you’re trying to squeeze in some Black History reading for the month, consider taking a look at a list The New York Times created. The detailed list provides a book per decade starting from the late 1700s. Check out the list and the reasoning behind the idea here.
A new book created by the Lt. Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, celebrates 150 reasons to love living in Ontario. Stories are shared by 150 different authors, all in under 15o words. This number is significant and ever-present in Canada this year, as the country turns 150 years old (kinda young, actually). Check out some of the stories and more about the book in this article by CBC.
Happy Thursday!
