Author: Sharifah Williams

Was Pablo Neruda Assassinated?

An international group of forensic experts concluded that Pablo Neruda’s official cause of death is incorrect–he did not die of cancer. Instead, after inspecting samples from the prolific Chilean poet’s exhumed remains, they have determined that the actual cause was related to an infection. The experts have said they “can’t exclude nor affirm the natural or violent cause of Pablo Neruda’s death.” But the discovery is already stirring up old questions about whether Neruda was assassinated in his hospital bed, by way of an injection of a mystery substance, as both his nephew and personal assistant attested.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Throws Literary Shade

Newsweek wrote about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s new short story–namely, how it paints the first lady as a casual racist, reluctant wife of the president, and as being envious of Michelle Obama. In the story, “Mrs T” keeps a folder full of pictures of Obama on her laptop. The Americanah author wrote the story for T, The New York Times’ style magazine. Janelle Asked to the Bedroom follows a pre-election short story about Mrs T titled, The Arrangements.

Indigenous Representation On The Thor: Ragnarok Set

The Mary Sue wrote up a piece about all the ways Taika Waititi pushed for indigenous representation on the Thor: Ragnarok set. Waititi, who’s directing the film, is Māori. From shadowing opportunities for indigenous filmmakers to an opening Karakia ceremony to avoiding appropriation, Waititi did the good work for better representation and inclusion. The piece pointed out how rare it is for a movie to be turned over to an indigenous director.

Thank you to 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Inspired by the real psychology study popularized by the New York Times and its “Modern Love” column, this contemporary YA is full of humor and heart. It explores the interactions between Hildy and Paul, two random strangers in a university psychology study, when they ask each other the 36 questions that are engineered to make them fall in love. Told in the language of modern romance–texting, Q&A, IM–and punctuated by Paul’s sketches, this clever high-concept YA will leave you searching for your own stranger to ask the 36 questions. Maybe you’ll even fall in love.

“You Don’t Have To Take My Word For It”

LeVar Burton and WNED reached a settlement in the lawsuit that accused Burton of “theft and extortion” for alleged trademark violations, including his use of the catchphrase, “You don’t have to take my word for it.” WNED has withdrawn its suit. Burton credits his fans for the turn of events–outcry erupted when WNED brought the suit claiming Burton’s contributions to Reading Rainbow and the show’s value could be separated. It’s a complex tale, and I’m sure Burton would encourage you to read the full story.

Violence at the Frankfurt Book Fair

Violence broke out at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair after event organizers invited far-right publishers to participate. Amid protests and event cancellations, Achim Bergmann, director of Germany’s leftist publishing house and record label Trikont, was punched in the face after making comments while walking past an event organized by a right-wing newspaper. Another, Nico Wehnemann who was protesting at a far-right stand, claims he was tackled by a neo-Nazi and beaten by private security forces.

Corduroy’s Comeback

It’s Friday. Let’s end with some happy news. Corduroy is getting a sequel 50 years after its publication, and the book will be written by *drumroll* Oscar award-winning actress Viola Davis! The children’s book will be titled, Corduroy Takes a Bow and it’ll tell the story of the teddy bear’s first trip to the theater. What a delight. Look out for it September 2018.

Don’t forget, we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Click here to enter.

Thank you to Penguin Teen, publisher of Turtles All The Way Down by John Green, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Turtles All the Way Down is about love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship. But at its heart is Aza Holmes. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Obama Wrote College Love Letters You Can Read

How horrified would you be if some school collected your love letters and let the whole world read them? Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library not only obtained Barack Obama’s love letters from the 1980s; the school is making them available to the public. The letters were written to Alexandra McNear, his Occidental College girlfriend. I can just picture Michelle rolling her eyes and smirking.

Australia vs. Amazon

When Amazon announced it would be setting up shop in Australia, readers and indie booksellers did not greet the news with applause according to the New York Times piece covering the story. It sounds like Australia and Portland would get along–they’re all about that local indie experience, and who can blame them? Borders didn’t succeed when they tried to move in, so it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out for the behemoth Amazon.

Chiwetel Ejiofor Leads Adaptation Of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

What would a bookish day be without bookish adaptation news? Chiwetel Ejiofor, perhaps best known for his starring role in 12 Years a Slave began production on his adaptation of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. The story follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba who has to leave his beloved school when his family can no longer afford to send him. Thanks to his resourcefulness and the school library, the boy finds a way to build a windmill that saves his village. Ejiofor will direct, write, and star in the film.

Thank you to Penguin, publisher of Warcross by Marie Lu, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

For millions, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But as she becomes more entangled, Emika uncovers a sinister plot with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

In this sci-fi thriller, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu conjures an immersive, exhilarating world where choosing who to trust may be the biggest gamble of all.

Dixie District Schools Issue Administrative Directive To Ban “Inappropriate” Books

The National Council of Teachers of English reported on an Administrative Directive sent by the superintendent of the Dixie District Schools to all the district school directors and principals. The directive stated that books and school materials containing any profanity, cursing, or inappropriate subject matter will be barred from the schools. This piece of work claims to reflect the values of the community, but the community said WTF. The Dixie County Advocate Facebook page is teeming with comments from community members who do not agree with, and are incensed by the ban. Did we all accidentally fall into a time machine?

The 2016 VIDA Count Is Out

I’m not even going to pretend I already read through the extensive 2016 VIDA Count published today. There’s so much to dive into, and also some infographics to ease the data analysis. The VIDA Count, which tallies the gender disparity in major literary publications and book reviews, feels particularly important right now. This year’s introduction begins, “When Donald Trump kicked off his campaign with ‘Make America Great Again,’ every person in the country knew the coded message he was selling: Let’s get back to a time when queers were in the closets, segregation ruled public spaces, poor people were victims of their own failings, and moreover, white men determined the course of the country.”

California Says, Never Mind About That Autograph Mandate For Booksellers

Because booksellers were understandably not cool with it. The state’s mandate required booksellers to get a certificate of authenticity before they could sell autographed books priced at more than five dollars. It should be noted that the law didn’t exclusively apply to books, but to all autographed items. A few months ago, Book Passage owner Bill Petrocelli filed a lawsuit arguing that guest author lectures and book signings “are fundamental to First Amendment freedoms.” Facing the wrath of booksellers across the state, California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill exempting books from the law.

We’re giving away $500 to spend at the bookstore of your choice! Click here, or on the image below to enter:

Man Booker Prize Awarded To Lincoln In The Bardo

The results are in! George Saunders has been awarded the Man Booker prize for his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. This is the second time in a row the Man Booker has been awarded to an American; Paul Beatty won the 2016 prize. Saunders is the author of six collections of short stories, but he broke out of that format to write an imaginative novel surrounding the burial of Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son. The story’s unique, screenplay-esque format seems to have played a big role in the decision to award the prize to Saunders. If you haven’t listened to the audiobook, it is an experience (with a cast of 166 narrators).

Hogwarts Express To The Rescue!

In odd, jealousy-inducing news, a family was rescued by the Hogwarts Express. Alright. It’s unlikely that staff came around with a cart of pumpkin pasties and Bertie Bott’s, but it was the Jacobite steam train used to depict the Express that picked up a stranded family from Scotland’s West Highlands. Now, I wouldn’t necessarily want to lose my canoe and find myself imperiled, but how do I arrange a pickup departing for Hogwarts?

Students Harass An Indigenous Australian Poet

After Australian high school students read a poem by an Indigenous Australian author in their English exam, they used a Facebook group of almost 70,000 to share memes ripping the poem and poet apart. The Facebook groups, which were open for discussion of the Higher School Certificate, became a breeding ground for videos, messages, and memes of the ugliest sort. The horrors prompted Australian authors and poets to defend award-winning Ellen van Neerven and her poem Mango, from her latest collection Comfort Food. I sincerely hope these children aren’t our future.

And don’t forget, we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Click here to enter.

Thank you to Kiss Me in New York by Catherine Rider from KCP Loft for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Fans of Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist will love this sweet, satisfying meet cute. It’s the perfect book for anyone who sees the romance in a swirl of snowflakes at the top of the Empire State Building, or anyone who’s wondered if true love was waiting at the other end of the airport ticket counter.

Marvel Drops New Black Panther Trailer

There isn’t much to say here except watch it! The Black Panther film, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Lupita Nyong’o, arrives in theaters on February 16. We’ve been getting glimpses of the stunning visuals and excellent cast since the adaptation’s announcement. Today’s trailer did not disappoint.

Rebooting The Nancy Drew Reboot

NBC is picking up after CBS by developing a new series based on Nancy Drew (the pilot for CBS’ series Drew was not picked up). CBS will still produce the series, and the writers and executive producers of Drew also remain on board, but the NBC series will follow a completely different storyline. Rather than focusing on an adult Nancy Drew, the series will focus on the author of the female teen detective books who turns to her two friends and muses when she gets swept up in a real-life murder mystery. Now who will they cast?

The Animated Legacy Of Virginia Woolf

Woolf scholar and doctoral candidate Iseult Gillespie outlined Woolf’s biography, and her innovative literary techniques and thoughts, through a TED-Ed video. The video also talks about Shakespeare’s sister who represents every woman hindered by domesticity in contrast to her male counterpart who pursues his goals unhindered. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the great writer and her contributions to literature and progressive thought, this is a fun way to get that insight.

Also, good news: we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Click here to enter.

Thank you to Workman Publishing, publisher of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

What won’t we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth?

Looking back with fascination, horror, and a dash of dark humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are 67 outlandish, morbidly hilarious “treatments”, exploring their various uses and why they thankfully fell out of favor. With vintage illustrations, photographs, and advertisements throughout, Quackery seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.

Next Fantastic Beasts Film Reveals New Characters

It looks like the big news is that Nicolas Flamel will appear in the new Fantastic Beasts. The alchemist will be played by actor Brontis Jodorowsky. And remember how I was raving about Jessica Williams a while back when we learned she’s getting her own series? Probably not. Well, the comedian will also appear in the next Fantastic Beasts, although her role hasn’t been revealed. No mention of Johnny Depp in this Pottermore news announcement…

Leonard Cohen’s Book Will Be Published Next Year

Cohen’s manager announced that a book of the singer-songwriter’s final poems will be published in October 2018. The Flame was reported to have been completed in the months leading up to his death. His manager said the collection tackles “the flame and how our culture threatened its extinction” (I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds legit), and the book’s publisher, Canongate, described the collection as “an enormously powerful final chapter in Cohen’s storied literary career.” The collection will include a wide selection from Cohen’s notebooks.

Watch The Trailer For The Philip K. Dick Adaptation

Not Blade Runner 2049… Amazon Video released the official trailer for their new, Philip K. Dick anthology series, Electric Dreams. The series will be 10 standalone episodes exploring fantasy, humanity, and of course a totally sci-fi future. The cast includes Anna Paquin, Janelle Monáe, Steve Buscemi, and Greg Kinnear.

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Calling all listeners—audiobooks are now available from Kobo. Find all your eBooks and audiobooks together in the FREE Kobo App for iOS and Android. Save with a subscription for the best deal on audiobooks—your first 30 days are FREE.

Kazuo Ishiguro Takes The Prize

That’s right. The Nagasaki-born British author of The Remains of the Day received this year’s Nobel prize in literature, and I doubt Kazuo Ishiguro will be a Bob Dylan about it. The Guardian called Ishiguro “a surprise choice” with names like Margaret Atwood, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Haruki Murakami leading the odds. But the Swedish Academy had high praise for the writer’s work, saying his novels have “uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”

Bestselling Novel Sweetbitter Is Coming To The Small Screen

What’s that? A television adaptation of a book about the world of fine dining? Hedonism, you say? Sign me up! Starz greenlighted Stephanie Danler’s bestselling debut novel, Sweetbitter, which follows 20-something Tess as she comes of age in New York City. There, she gets a job as a backwaiter at a high-end restaurant and excitement (and, presumably, bad decisions) ensues. Let the dream casting begin.

Saladin Ahmed To Write ’70s Supernatural Crime Noir Comic

It’s comics industry announcement time with New York Comic Con happening this week, and BOOM! Studios gave us the news that Hugo-nominated writer Saladin Ahmed will work on an original comic series with artist Sami Kivelä. The series, Abbott, will feature a hard-boiled black reporter for a tabloid rag. When she happens upon a string of murders that bear an uncanny resemblance to the murder of her husband, she begins an investigation that launches her into a world of danger. Abbott will launch in January 2018.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, publisher of The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

A young girl forms forbidden friendships to produce an elusive — and lucrative — dye to save her family fortunes in colonial South Carolina. Based on the true story you’ve never heard.

This is a historical fiction account, based on documents and letters, of how Eliza Lucas produced indigo dye, which became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina, an export that laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families who still live on today. Although largely overlooked by historians, the accomplishments of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history. When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

Enter for your chance to win a hardcover copy of the book, an audiobook download, AND a Beats by Dre wireless headphone set.

And The 2017 National Book Awards Finalists Are…

The judges have whittled down the longlist and selected the 20 National Book Awards finalists. The finalists include American Street by Ibi Zoboi in the Young Adult category, Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith in Poetry, and Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean in Nonfiction. Also, Annie Proulx, author of The Shipping News, will receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and Dick Robinson, president and CEO of Scholastic, will receive the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. The rest of the winners will be announced on November 15.

La Borinqueña Steps In For Puerto Rico Relief Efforts

This evening, comic book creator Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez is selling original artwork to benefit Puerto Rico. Miranda-Rodriguez is the creator of La Borinqueña, an Afro-Latina, environmentally powered superhero. After hearing about the devastation left by Hurricane Maria, unable to reach his friends and family in Puerto Rico, and inspired by relief efforts by individuals, organizations, and public figures across the nation, he decided to sell La Borinqueña artwork to benefit the U.S. territory; more comic book industry artists joined in to donate. All proceeds from the event, “Arte de La Borinqueña/Fundraiser for Puerto Rico,” will go to La Corporación Piñones Se Integra.

Hemingway’s Earliest Work of Fiction

It turns out Hemingway has been writing fiction since he was at least 10 years old. Scholars found what at first appeared to be a travelogue (of course) by 10-year-old Ernest, but it turned out to be a complete work of fiction. The notebook, found wrapped in a freezer bag in an ammunition can, recounted a trip through Ireland and Scotland, complete with diary entries and letters sent to his parents. Except Hemingway didn’t travel to Europe until much later in life. Hemingway scholar Sandra Spanier described it as “an intelligent piece of work.” The kid apparently did his homework.

Thank you to Provenance by Ann Leckie for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Following her record-breaking debut, award winner Ann Leckie, returns with a new novel of power, theft, privilege and birthright.

A power-driven young woman has one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artifacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.

Ingray and her charge return to her home and find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. They must make a new plan to salvage her future, her family, and her world, before they are lost to her for good.

Ex-FBI Agent Opens Cold Case On Anne Frank Betrayal

Retired FBI agent Vince Pankoke launched a cold case review to identify the individuals who gave up the secret of the Frank family’s hiding location to the Gestapo. I (and I’m sure many others who read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl in school) have always wondered how their location was discovered. Using current investigative techniques, the skills of 19 forensic experts, and the archives of the Anne Frank House, Pankoke and his team hope to unveil the project’s findings next summer on the 75th anniversary of the arrest of the Frank family.

Nnedi Okorafor Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Nnedi Okorafor is writing a new Black Panther story! The award-winning author of Binti will be working on Black Panther: Long Live the King, to be released on comiXology and Kindle bi-weekly, starting this December. Writers Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay also worked on Black Panther stories before Marvel cancelled their comics. I’m wishing this one all the luck (and sales), and I can’t wait to see what Okorafor does with the world of Wakanda.

Sylvia Plath’s Bikini Book Cover

There’s an ongoing argument in the literary community about the U.K. cover of The Letters of Sylvia Plath. Here’s the thing: the U.S. cover shows a brunette Plath in a coat while the U.K. version features a blonde Plath in a bikini. Some, like Plath scholar Cathleen Allyn Conway, argue that this depiction of Plath in semi-undress disrespects her literary contributions, and others, like writer and feminist Anne Thériault think it’s all a lot of pearl clutching.

Thank you to Bethany House, publisher of Blind Spot by Dani Pettrey, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

When a terrorist investigation leads FBI agent Declan Grey to a closed immigrant community, he turns to crisis counselor Tanner Shaw for help. Despite the tension between them, he needs the best of the best on this case. Under imminent threat, they’ll have to race against the clock to stop a plot that could cost thousands of lives—including theirs.