Kadokawa to launch English-language version of their online bookstore Japanese company Kadokawa will be launching an English-language version of BookWalker, their online ebook store, this fall. One of Japan’s largest publishing and entertainment companies, Kadokawa will be adding 700+ manga and light novel titles to the etailer in October. Fans will likely recognize some of…
The Thursday Book Beat: Game of Thrones Star Goes Up Against Zombies in New Film
E-book subscription service Oyster to close The Netflix-esque service for books announced it would be shutting down over the next few months, with much of its staff moving to Google Play Books. Oyster had previously offered a million titles to users for $9.95 a month. The departure of Oyster from the subscription field leaves Scribd…
5 Shoujo Manga Characters and the Boy Band Members Who Played Them
If there’s one thing the 90s left me as a legacy, it’s an undeniable weakness for boy bands. My tween existence played out against background music from *NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and a couple one-hit wonders that ended up on mixtapes I’d make on Sunday afternoon. As I’ve grown up, those Sunday afternoons sometimes involved…
Join The Babysitter’s Club: A Review of Kristy’s Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin
The Babysitter’s Club #1: Kristy’s Great Idea Raina Telgemeier/Ann M. Martin Scholastic I, like many other young girls growing up in North America in the late 1990s, identified with a member of the Babysitters Club. Kristy, Mary Ann, Claudia, Stacey, and the rest of the Club were some of the first contemporary literary heroines I…
Feminism Gets Real: An Interview with Kelly Jensen
Call it the power of social media: every day, advocates of diversity, feminism, and intersectionality find their people on networks like Twitter. Librarian and editor Kelly Jensen is just one of the people who have not only found a community on social media, but also created a way to keep those conversations going. She is…
Shinbun Saturday: TOKYOPOP Aims for 2016 Relaunch
TOKYOPOP talks more about its future plans TOKYOPOP sent waves through the industry earlier this year at Anime Expo when they announced their intention to get back into the manga business. Some of it stirred up memories about the company’s influence on the North American manga scene; others raised concerns about their questionable contracts. More…
The Thursday Book Beat: I’ll Take a Short Story with My Chicken Burrito
Chipotle signs on 11 new authors for “Cultivating Thought” line Lois Lowry, Tom Perotta, and Sue Monk Kidd are just some of the authors who’ll be writing for Chipotle’s bags and cups, though Jonathan Franzen’s piece may not exactly be what the chain restaurant was expecting. Chipotle will also be running a “book report” contest…
Reading Diaries: It’s Really Radical!
Angel: I seriously have no idea how it’s already September! I thought I had plenty of time to read all the books coming out this month, but it looks like I’ll just be enjoying them throughout the next 30 days. I’m currently making my way through Randy Ribay’s An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, and…
Fan Expo Celebrity Q&A Highlights
Labor Day Weekend 2015 marked my fourth year of attending Fan Expo, Canada’s version of Comic-Con. It also happened to be–in my opinion–the most intense year yet, what with several well-known celebrity guests packing the North and South Buildings of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Over the course of four days, I managed to stop by…
Shinbun Saturday: Famous Mangaka Bids Twitter Farewell
Bleach creator leaves social media Fans of the series were caught off-guard by Tite Kubo’s sudden departure from Twitter on September 10, sans a specific explanation from the creator. Kubo’s only message was “[Notice] Tomorrow night, after about 24 hours I will delete my Twitter account. Until that time, please direct message me.” His account…
The Thursday Book Beat: Lillith’s Brood to Land on TV Screens
New Zealand sets interim ban on YA novel Into the River A rare interim book ban has been carried out in New Zealand over Ted Dawe’s Into the River over complaints that the book is too explicit in its descriptions of sex and drug use. The ban was issued by the Film and Literature Board…
Shinbun Saturday: Manga Continues Its Digital Expansion
More Manga Hits ComiXology Earlier this week, VIZ Media announced that manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump would now be available on ComiXology. Now English-language speakers can read the latest chapters of One Piece and Bleach on the same day they’re released in Japan. Kodansha Comics also joins the digital platform, adding more than 350 manga…