BREAKING NEWS: Books (2)

After Rubén by Francisco Aragón

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 04:00:00 +0000

francisco_aragon_page_one.mp3

Francisco Aragón reads from his poetry collection After Rubén, published in May 2020 by Red Hen Press.

Artists and writers warn of an "intolerant climate." Reaction is swift

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 10:00:00 +0000

The killing of George Floyd has brought an intense moment of racial reckoning in the United States. As protests spread across the country, they have been accompanied by open letters calling for — and promising — change at white-dominated institutions across the arts and academia.

But on Tuesday, a different type of letter appeared online. Titled "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate," and signed by 153 prominent artists and intellectuals, it began with an acknowledgment of "powerful protests for racial and social justice" before pivoting to a warning against an "intolerant climate" engulfing the culture...

...On social media, the reaction was swift, with some heaping ridicule on the letter's signatories — who include cultural luminaries like Margaret Atwood, Bill T. Jones, Thomas Chatterton Williams and Wynton Marsalis, along with journalists and academics — for thin-skinnedness, privilege and, as one person put it, fear of loss of "relevance."

“No Presents Please: Mumbai Stories” by Jayant Kaikini

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 00:01:34 +0000

As cities have increasingly become hitching posts for books, both fiction and non-fiction, Mumbai has naturally been subjected to thematic treatment. The city is celebrated for its resilience and its cosmopolitanism; tributes wax eloquent about its trains, its sea, its heritage buildings, or the diverse communities that inhabit it, to the point that its greatness has increasingly begun to sound clichéd.

Literature about the city in English and Marathi abounds. Mumbai is also rendered comprehensible and is aesthetically articulated through Hindi, the language of Bollywood. It is difficult to imagine the city through writers writing in languages other than these three, yet Jayant Kaikini’s book of short stories No Presents Please: Mumbai Stories, is translated from Kannada, one of the many languages spoken in this cosmopolitan city, but an official language of the neighboring state of Karnataka, the capital of which is the hi-tech Bengaluru. Despite the relatively minor status of Kannada in Mumbai, or perhaps because of it, as the stories unfold and lead to more stories, they are refreshing in the way show the city bringing together thousands of people every day.

Kaikini’s stories capture Mumbai as the scattered-omnipresent influence it holds on individuals living here.

No Presents Please: Mumbai Stories, Jayant Kaikini, Tejaswini Niranjana (trans) (Catapult, July 2020; HarperCollins India, December 2017)

The collection comprises sixteen stories written over thirty years; these are either set in Bombay/Mumbai or are about the city. Each number brings together people unknown to each other in unexpected situations—a marriage proposal, a chance encounter in a cinema hall, a quiz competition, a café, and so on—or, more often, turns people known to each other into unfamiliar people.

In “Tick Tick Friend”, a school girl from another city, Bhopal, has come to Mumbai with her father to participate in a quiz competition. A question about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 rattles her; a casual question for the quiz master, for her it’s a traumatic memory. She wants to back off and withdraw, but is helpless in the face of her father’s insistence that she win the competition to fund her higher studies. When she re-enters the show, and the story ends: she prays for a Bollywood actress to appear on the show because a stranger she had just met had asked her to get the actress’s autograph.

By the time she reached the studio with her father, Madhubani’s mind felt cleansed. Who was this Buddhooram? She felt she had just been born, sitting in front of that man, eating her dosa at the canteen table. How immersed he was in what he said!

None of it makes sense and that is the pleasure at the core of the stories—the unfamiliar becomes suddenly familiar.

“Water”, the most beautiful story in the book, brings together three men in a taxi amid heavy rains that are known to flood (water-log is a better description) Mumbai every year. Like the girl from “Tick Tick Friend”, here is a rich man who is also “born” in front of a stranger in the way he breaks open in the confession to the driver.

Santoshan squeezed the driver’s shoulder, saying, “You know why I got this sickness? I was one of the first in this country to sell water. In the 1970s, I was the first to bottle water and sell it. My mind was telling me not to, but I did it all the same. You said earlier that money flows like hidden water, but I sold the water that was before my eyes. The happiness you get from doing what’s right is nothing compared to the unhappiness of doing something even while knowing it’s wrong. That’s a sin. That’s why I’ve fallen sick. It’s my body punishing me for not listening to myself. I now have to experience this—there’s no way out.”

The beauty of all the stories lies in such conversations. Contrary to internationally well-known works about the city which tend to bombast in their explicitly philosophizing, in these works, ironically, the city vanishes in the process of highlighting the city. Kaikini accomplishes through rare descriptive writing; here on a train:

The compartment was plastered with abortion clinic posters, and the women commuters hung grimly on to the rod, clutching handbags to their bosoms. Their right hands looked as though they had been made strong by the daily hanging routine. What a life for a woman, thought Mogri. It was perhaps in that compartment that Mogri outgrew the phase of the hidden treasure, and was catapulted into a different life.

This, then, is a fitting tribute paid to the city through fiction: the microcosms of settings and relationships that allow the characters, and thereby the readers, especially the city dwellers (Mumbaikars as they are called) to be born again, or assume a new life. Kaikini’s stories capture Mumbai as the scattered-omnipresent influence it holds on individuals living here.

Soni Wadhwa lives in Mumbai.

People Round-Up, Early July 2020

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 21:08:44 +0000

PEOPLE

Dana Canedy is the newest EVP and Publisher at Simon & Schuster, succeeding Jonathan Karp, who has taken over as President and CEO. She had been the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes since 2017 and was previously Reporter and Senior Editor at The New York Times.

PubWest has named Forté Business Consulting as its interim executive director team, replacing Kent Wilson, who stepped down earlier this summer. Primary contact will be Michele Cobb, who is Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association.

Niko Pfund, President of Oxford University Press USA, is now President of the Association of University Presses. He succeeds Kathryn Conrad, Director of the University of Arizona Press.

Noreen Tomassi, Executive Director of The Center for Fiction, has retired after sixteen years. Michael Roberts, most recently Executive Director of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, will serve as Interim Executive Director while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement.

At Highlights, Lece Lohr has been hired as President, Consumer Business. Most recently she was President at Justice.

At Book Highlight, Peter Knox joins as VP, Head of Marketing. Previously, he was Senior Marketing Manager at Wiley. Brian Morrison joins as Head of Creative and Strategy; he was previously Creative Director and Digital Advertising and Marketing Operations Director, also at Wiley.

At Audible, Brad Schwartz joins as Chief Content Officer. He was previously President of Pop Media Group.

April Powers is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ inaugural Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. Most recently, she ran her own global inclusion consulting and training firm, First Impression Rx.

Bill Wolfsthal has departed his position as VP at Skyhorse Publishing to work with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. He can be contacted at bwolfsthal@gmail.com.

At the University of Texas Presss, Dawn Durante will join as Editor-in-Chief on August 10. She was previously Senior Acquisitions Editor at the University of Illinois Press.

At the American University in Cairo Press, Michael Duckworth is the new Director, working out of the Cairo office. He was most recently Acquisitions Editor at the University of Cincinnati Press and replaces Dr. Nigel Fletcher-Jones, who retires this summer.

In agency news…Sandy Lu has departed the L. Perkins Agency to start Book Wyrm Literary Agency, bringing her clients with her. Amy Collins, former President at New Shelves, joins Talcott Notch Literary Services as Associate Literary Agent and Director of Foreign Rights. At Jennifer Azantian Literary Agency, Amanda Rutter joins as Literary Agent for adult, YA, and middle grade fantasy and sci-fi. She was previously Agent at Red Sofa Literary Agency. Kelly Van Sant, previously Agent with Red Sofa as well, joins KT Literary as Agent and Contracts Manager. Also joining KT Literary are Chelsea Hensley and Jas Perry, both Associate Agents. At Transatlantic Agency, Chelene Knight joins as Associate Agent. At the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Saritza Hernández, formerly VP and Senior Literary Agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency, joins as Agent and Jemiscoe Chambers-Black joins as Associate Agent.

Stephen S. Power has left his position as Executive Editor at Thomas Dunne Books and can be reached at StephenSPowerEdits@gmail.com.

Tara Gavin joins Alcove Press and Crooked Lane Books as Senior Acquisitions Editor. She was formerly Executive Editor at Kensington.

Ashley Hearn, formerly Acquisitions Editor at Page Street Publishing, joins Peachtree Publishing as Acquisitions Editor.

At subscription box service Literati, Aubrey Poole, formerly Editor at Jimmy Patterson, joins as Acquisitions Editor and Curator for children’s books ages 0-12.

At Astra House, Danny Vazquez joins as Associate Editor. Previously he was Assistant Editor at MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

At Apollo Publishers, Larry Dorfman joins as Trade Accounts Manager. He has previously worked as Trade Sales Manager for Capstone Publishers.

Jonathan Fiedler joins the Book Industry Study Group as Operations Manager. He was previously Client Relations and Sales Operations Associate at Columbia University Press.

At publicity agency Books Forward, Rhodes Murphy joins as Publicist and Rachel Hutchings joins as Digital Marketing Strategist.

MJ Franklin is joining The New York Times Book Review this summer as Assistant Preview Editor. He has been working as Social Editor for The New York Times.

PROMOTIONS

Jennifer Enderlin has been promoted to President of St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Devi Pillai has been named VP and Publisher of Tor, Tor Teen, and Starscape.

At Dreamscape Media, Catherine Zappa is now Publisher, EVP, Film & Television.

At Zondervan Books, Webster Younce becomes VP and Publisher and Paul Fisher becomes VP of Marketing. At Nelson Books, Jessica Wong has been promoted to Associate Publisher.

Michael C. Wright is now VP, Director of the College Department for W.W. Norton.

Shannon Spisak has been promoted to Senior Director of Global Marketing & Communications at Dr. Seuss Enterprises, where Jenna Marson has also been promoted to Manager of Global Marketing & Licensing.

At Beyond Words Publishing, Brennah Hale is now Director of Public Relations.

In agency news…Elizabeth Bennett has been promoted to Senior Agent at Transatlantic Agency and Mariah Nichols is now Literary Agent at D4EO Literary Agency.

Jen Bouvier has been promoted to Acquiring Editor at Entangled Publishing.

At Simon & Schuster, Lexy Alemao is now Junior Designer.

DULY NOTED

Effective January 2021, Penguin Random House Publisher Services will sell and distribute Catapult Book Group worldwide across all sales channels and for all frontlist and backlist titles.

Ingram Publisher Services now sells and distributes books from Liberty Fund in the US and Canada.

Simon & Schuster now sells and distributes Z2 Comics worldwide.

The post People Round-Up, Early July 2020 appeared first on Publishing Trends.

'The Stakes Are Far Higher Than They've Ever Been': Trump's Niece Pens Tell-All

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 19:51:16 +0000

Mary Trump offers a scathing portrait of the president in a book that very nearly was blocked from publication. Now its publisher is bumping up the release date.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Five Things: July 7, 2020

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 18:28:14 +0000

It’s thundering and storming outside, so let’s see if I can get these five things out before my power cuts out on me.

Donald Trump a father-damaged sociopath: Or so suggests niece Mary Trump in her new book about her uncle, and it’s difficult to argue the point. Advance copies of the book have made their way to various news organizations, which sounds slightly nefarious but is in fact just standard practice (review copies of books go out weeks and sometimes months in advance), and in this case has the laudable side effect of making any additional last-minute attempts to forestall the publication of the book irrelevant, since now all the juicy parts are already out there in the world. My own very quick take on the juicy parts that are out there is that this book is very likely not to tell us anything we didn’t already know about Donald Trump, it just adds additional context. And honestly at this point if you don’t know Donald Trump is a terrible person, it’s because you’ve decided you don’t want to know.

(Oooooh, the entire house’s electrical system just flickered.)

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus: Which, well, good, since he’s pretty much the only major world leader further into denial about the virus than our own president. It is unkind and uncharitable to hope he dies from the disease, but I have to admit I wouldn’t feel entirely put out if the virus kicked his ass a little, or maybe a lot. Him coming out of this with minimal effect on his well-being would probably be even worse for Brazil than him not getting it at all, since he really does seem like the “see, it wasn’t so bad, fuck you for thinking otherwise” sort. Considering Brazil has the official second highest number of infections and death (after our own dear US of A), this wouldn’t have any upside for that country’s citizens.

Lin-Manuel Miranda with a healthy response to Hamilton criticisms: Now that the show’s out on Disney+, people are rolling up on it on how it portrays and deals with the issue of slavery, and other aspects of the Hamilton and Revolutionary-era story. Miranda’s response is basically “Sure, I had a lot to cover and two and a half hours to cover it all, choices were made, criticize away,” which is a) a very sensible way of dealing with criticism, b) easy to say when the art in question has garnered one Tonys and Pulitzers and literally millions of dollars. The latter point is not a criticism, by the way, since on a somewhat lower scale I feel the same way about criticism about my work — it might sting more if I hadn’t already been significantly materially rewarded for having made it. But as I was, sure, criticize away! Also, bluntly, criticism means the work is still alive in culture. That’s not chopped liver for an artist.

You’re made of starstuff, part the many: A new study suggests that most of the carbon in the universe (that’s the element the solid bits of you are mostly made of, by weight) come from white dwarfs, i.e., the cooling husks of old, dead stars. This is a less dramatic manner of stellar manufacturing than heavier elements, which get pumped out of supernovae and/or more exotic stellar entities, but, look, not everything has to happen dramatically. Also, “less dramatic” is a relative term here, considering what has to happen to a star for it to get to the white dwarf stage anyway. If you don’t know, hang around the earth for another four or five billion years; you’ll see.

New Far Side panels: Well, that only took a couple of decades. There are three new ones today from Gary Larson, two of which gave me a chuckle, and one of which I went “huh?” for. So basically, the same ratio as during the cartoon’s heyday. Can’t complain about that.

(Also, looks like I got through writing this whole entry without the power going ou

Virtual Victories

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 17:02:00 +0000

Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, CrimeFest 2020—which was to have taken place in Bristol, England, from June 4 to 7—had to be cancelled. However, the winners of that convention’s annual prizes (plus a new commendation: the Specsavers Crime Fiction Debut Award) were announced online earlier today.

Specsavers Crime Fiction Debut Award: Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)

Also nominated: The Chemical Detective, by Fiona Erskine (Point Blank); Evil Things, by Katja Ivar (Bitter Lemon Press); The Conviction of Cora Burns, by Carolyn Kirby (No Exit Press); The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides (Orion); and To the Lions, by Holly Watt (Raven)

Audible Sounds of Crime Award: Blue Moon, by Lee Child, read by Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)

Also nominated: Big Sky, by Kate Atkinson, read by Jason Isaacs (Penguin Random House Audio); My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite, read by Weruche Opia (W.F. Howes); Winter Dark, by Alex Callister, read by Ell Potter (Audibe Studios); The Family Upstairs, by Lisa Jewell, read by Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, and Dominic Thorburn (Penguin Random House Audio); The Holiday, by T.M. Logan, read by Laura Kirman (Zaffre); The Man with No Face, by Peter May, read by Peter Forbes (Quercus); and The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides, read by Louise Brealey and Jack Hawkins (Orion)

eDunnit Award: To the Lions, by Holly Watt (Raven)

Also nominated: Worst Case Scenario, by Helen FitzGerald (Orenda); Never Be Broken, by Sarah Hilary (Headline); The King’s Evil, by Andrew Taylor (HarperFiction); The Maltese Herring, by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby); and The Border, by Don Winslow (HarperFiction)

H.R.F. Keating Award: The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of Collins Crime Club, by John Curran (HarperCollins Crime Club)

Also nominated: Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan, by Ursula Buchan (Bloomsbury); and Crime Fiction: A Reader’s Guide, by Barry Forshaw (No Exit Press)

Last Laugh Award: Worst Case Scenario, by Helen FitzGerald (Orenda)

Also nominated: A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself, by William Boyle (No Exit Press); Tidings of Death at Honeychurch Hall, by Hannah Dennison (Constable); Bryant & May: The Lonely Hour, by Christopher Fowler (Transworld); Little Siberia, by Antti Tuomainen (Orenda); and The Maltese Herring, by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby)

Best Crime Novel for Children (ages 8-12): Malamander, by
Thomas Taylor (Walker)

Also nominated: The Great Brain Robbery, by P.G. Bell (Usborne); The Steam Whistle Theatre Company, by Vivian French (Walker); Potkin and Stubbs, by Sophie Green (Bonnier); The Garden of Lost Secrets, by A.M. Howell (Usborne); and The Haven, by Simon Lelic (Hodder Children’s Books)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (ages 12-16): Beauty Sleep, by Kathryn Evans for (Usborne)

Also nominated: Theodore Boone: The Accomplice, by John Grisham (Hodder & Stoughton); The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods, by Samuel J. Halpin (Usborne); Hey Sherlock! by Simon Mason (David Fickling); Heartstream, by Tom Pollock (Walker); and The Boxer, by Nikesh Shukla (Hodder Children’s Books)

I am particularly pleased to see that Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s historical mystery, Blood & Sugar, has picked up the Specsavers Crime Fiction Debut Award, as it was one of my favorite books from last year. But, really, all of the contenders here deserve our applause.

Escape into an audio book this summer

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 16:41:25 +0000

As we continue to feel the challenges of COVID-19 in our daily lives, finding a way to take our minds elsewhere (when our bodies are still stuck at home) is the name of the game. Even for me, reading a book doesn't always pull my mind away from the things I need a break from, but listening to a book on audio works every time. Often I'll have a couple of audio books going at once so I can choose which one to listen to based on what I need in that moment. A novel that's light and fun? A mystery to mull over? Interesting nonfiction? Whatever the mood, there's an audio book for it. Below are five of my recent favorites.

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

This is a really fun book on audio. I painted a bathroom—headphones on, brush in hand—listening to Sex and Vanity, which had me traveling vicariously with Lucie Churchill from the island of Capri to Manhattan and the Hamptons. Kwan's latest novel of romance, rich people, and following your heart—even when it means hard choices—is a delight, and oh-so-perfect for summer.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

I'm listening to A Burning right now and loving it. My colleague Chris calls Megha Majumdar's debut novel "a truly exceptional achievement," and I couldn't agree more. Set in modern day India and told through three different points of view, A Burning incorporates weighty topics—the rise of right-wing nationalism, the cost/benefit of social media, and how power can change a person—into a novel that is bright, hopeful, and had me hooked by the first chapter.

A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper

A July Best Book of the Month pick, I've heard raves about A Most Beautiful Thing from my fellow editors and in her review Al writes, "In some ways this is a memoir of underdogs fighting their way to the top, but it’s also about how an entire population is left out of the opportunity loop and how a seemingly small thing like sports can change lives." Cooper's account of growing up on the West side of Chicago, and what happens after he makes a life-changing decision to join fellow students in forming the nation's first all-black high school rowing crew, is a story I can't wait to hear.

The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

An audio book the whole family will love and you couldn't ask for a better narrator: Danny DeVito! The One and Only Bob is a follow up to Applegate's award-winner The One and Only Ivan but can also be read—or in this case, listened to—on its own. Bob, once a stray, now has his forever home, and is still able to visit his friends from the zoo, Ivan and Ruby. A search for Bob's sister turns dangerous but this tenacious little dog finds untapped reserves of courage to save his friends and himself. The One and Only Bob is a wise and thoughtful tale that will warm the heart of any reader or listener, regardless of their age.

Camino Winds by John Grisham

Grisham's last novel, Camino Island, was a really entertaining audio book, so I've decided to continue with this format for his latest, Camino Winds, especially since it's set on the same idyllic Florida island. The plot is perfect for summer: an author of mysteries is murdered during a hurricane, one of his writing colleagues—who is also a friend—undertakes an investigation of his own, and there is a manuscript on the dead man's computer that may hold the clues to solving the crime. I'll start this one as soon as I've got some time on a lounge chair in the sunshine and can just close my eyes and listen...

Abi Daré on our favorite book of 2020 so far

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 16:37:26 +0000

Our number one pick for the best book of 2020 so far is Abi Daré’s The Girl with the Louding Voice. In this rousing tale of courage and pluck, a 14-year-old Nigerian girl is sold into servitude by her father when her mother—a proponent of education—passes away. You will root for Adunni as she endeavors to escape her sorry—and often harrowing—lot, and applaud the kind strangers who buoy her efforts, and her spirits. When we informed Ms. Daré that we had selected her book, she said the news brought "some laughter and color into [her heart]." That is what her novel will do for you. Here, Abi Daré talks about the genesis of the novel, and the haunting questions that informed her writing.

For most of the two decades I spent growing up in Nigeria, there were always young girls and women who came to work for my family, and for the families around us in our middle-class neighborhood in Lagos. These girls were called housemaids or house girls, and were often brought by one of their family members acting as an agent, and left to work for a year, two years, sometimes longer. The older girls who lived with us would sometimes share, often in broken English, their need to escape poverty, the real sense of loss and sadness from missing home (which was usually a village or neighboring country), the desire to go to school or to start a trade.

The use of underage girls as domestic servants is a common occurrence in many parts of the world, and Nigeria is no exception. Despite the creation of an anti-trafficking agency by the Nigerian government (NAPTIP) in 2003 in an attempt to tackle trafficking of persons across the borders, the issue still persists. There is a lack of clarity around the minimum age requirement for hiring domestic workers, and as a practice that is deeply ingrained in our culture, it is often difficult to challenge.

I remember a girl called Mariam, who lived with and worked for one of our neighbors. She was about eleven and I was about thirteen, and because I spent all of that summer in my neighbor’s house, Mariam and I became friends. Mariam was small, had a shaved head, and when she laughed, which was often, the house would seem to vibrate from the joyous sounds from her mouth. I had no sister and so I found a playmate, a sister, in Mariam. But Mariam was not like me. She worked. She swept and cleaned and dusted and tidied. Every time I was asked to join Mariam in doing some chores, I always came up with an excuse not to help: homework. Mariam had no excuse: she didn’t go to school. Returning to school at the end of summer, I remember watching as Mariam stood behind Aunty. Tears ran down her face. By the time I came back about six weeks later, she was gone—sent to work for another family. Like the maids before her, she was quickly replaced.

I never saw her again.

But I never forgot her.

Often, she would peek out from where she had stayed hiding in my memory. At night, I would lie awake, wondering. Is she all right? Where is she? Sometimes I would hear her laughter. Other times, her eyes, wide and bright, would light up the dark recesses of my mind. Maids were girls like Mariam. Many of them were dressed in tattered, dirty clothes with unkempt hair. They would stand behind a family of well-dressed, well-fed, well-spoken children. Their heads bent. Silent. And in silence, many of them suffered physical and sexual abuse. Even as a young girl, I wondered why they were made to feel like outcasts, when without them, homes simply wouldn’t function? I had questions, questions I never voiced:

Why were they not allowed to watch TV?
Eat at the dining table?
Wear nice clothes?
Go to school?

It wasn’t until many years later, after I had my own children, two daughters, that I was began to deeply reflect on this aspect of my childhood. When my daughter turned eight, I asked her, as politely as possible, “Will you help me load the dishwasher?” Her response was a series of moans. She wanted Haribo sweets before she would lift a finger.

I asked her, “Do you know, that there are girls like you, probably working for families like ours in Nigeria?”

“Working in an office?” she asked, clearly surprised. “Do they get paid? Are they rich? How cool!”

I explained that it wasn’t an office job. It wasn’t cool.

Work meant chores.

It meant no holidays. It meant, for many girls, no school, and no TV and no nice clothes. My daughter was shocked and then saddened. That night, I started my research and discovered that the ill-treatment of young girls was still an issue in Nigeria. I read and absorbed every piece of literature I could find, watched every harrowing video on social media that had documented abuse.

But it was an article about a thirteen-year-old girl who had been scalded with boiling water by the woman who employed her that fueled my desire to start writing. It wasn’t just the horrific injuries in this article that got to me. It was also the fact that her face was blurred out. Almost like a deliberate act to disconnect her from the world, as if to say: here is a nobody. Another statistic to report. I wondered, who is the maid in this article? Where has she come from? Does she have a family? What does she want out of life? What are her hopes and dreams? What were the hopes and dreams of the girls I grew up with? What were Mariam’s dreams? Where was Mariam now?

Each time I saw my daughter, I thought of these young girls. And I thought of Mariam. When I visited Nigeria while I wrote my book, and tried to engage in conversations with some of the domestic workers I met, I again thought of my daughters. And of the girls that served us growing up.

In July 2019, a Nigerian television production company called Salt & Truth released an equally heart-breaking trailer for an upcoming documentary called House Girls, which highlights the experiences, the abuse, of house girls in some Nigerian homes. The young girl in the trailer felt to me like a real life Adunni in many ways. The clip generated over 35,000 comments and was watched and shared by millions, pushing the conversation to an even wider audience and provoking engaging discussions. One thing gives me hope: The rage of the people that watched the clip. Their recognition that this is an issue that needs urgent review and resolution, and most of all, their palpable desire for change.

The Girl with the Louding Voice was born out of my desire for answers. I was desperate to tear away the veil from these young girls who have worked so hard for so little, but above all, I was eager to join those who struggle to shed light on this issue in the hope that we can all start a conversation together that will drive us, collectively, to take a step towards positive change.

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The Girl with the Louding Voice

Abi Daré

Market Your Book Like Ferris, A Rescue Doggy

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 16:37:00 +0000

I adopted a black labrador retriever a little over a month ago. He is more than my quarantine dog. He is a companion and a true family member that I hope to be with for a long time. He also reminds me that perhaps old authors can learn new book marketing tricks.

We named him Ferris after the movie character, Ferris Bueller. He was claimed off the streets as a stray from Lucky Lab Rescue down in Oklahoma. They don’t have any history on him and his foster mom of a month said he is a sweety. We saw a photo online and a ten-second video clip. We basically adopted him knowing nothing, not even getting to meet him until he was ours. I couldn’t be happier.

He seems trained, disciplined, loving, healthy, smart, and playful. I can’t stop gushing about the four-pawed fella. He is a gentle creature with a terrific disposition. Ok, enough gushing over this beautiful dog. Here are book marketing lessons Ferris has taught me:

1. Never give up on your baby.
Ferris was counted out, left on the streets to fend for himself. Put into the system, he could have remained in a cage, not adopted, or worse, he could have been euthanized. But he persevered, got lucky, and now has a fresh start with us. You, too, may have been left behind or felt abandoned, by society or by your own doing. Don't give up. Give yourself a second chance.

2. Get to know your strengths.
Ferris couldn't tell us what he could do -- he had to show us. We had to be patient to see how he acts in certain situations and environments. You too must figure out what you are capable of and good at doing to help your book marketing along.

3. Use your assets well.
Ferris is a good-looking, sleek-looking athletic dog, so he enjoys lots of compliments and gets so many walks with us. You, too, have natural skills and strengths -- or resources -- to help your cause. cash in on whatever you are good at and apply it to your book marketing.

4. Work hard but play hard, too.
Ferris teaches me about play time and the rewards that come from hard work. Ok, he doesn't work hard, though he is dedicated to making me happy, and in return, I offer playtime with him. You, too, should balance your time for working hard -- and then letting yourself feel entitled to play, roll-over, or take a nap at 2 pm.

5. Pace yourself.
He can walk for miles, even in the summer's high-noon heat. But he knows to rest in between these walks, and pants enough to keep up with the elements. You, too, can pace your efforts.

6. Be goal-oriented.
Ferris has simple needs, but he keeps his eye on the prize -- belly rubs, snacks, couch time, chipmunk chasing, and chin scratches. You must be focused on your goals and keep an eye on the prize.

One dog is the same as another and yet they are each unique with their own habits and ways
and breed traits. Many authors are the same as each other, each confronting the book marketing puzzle with their own unique habits, ideas, and assets. You can rescue your book marketing effort, just as we salvaged Ferris. I couldn't be happier.

You will thrive -- just give your self a second chance. And earn a bone!

PLEASE CONSULT THESE TIMELY RESOURCES

How Should Authors Promote Books During A Plague?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/how-should-authors-promote-books-during.html

Is It Essential For The Book World To Re-Open Now?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/is-it-essential-for-book-world-to-re.html

10 Tips For Pitching Books To The Media Now

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/10-tips-for-pitching-books-to-media-now.html

The Right Social Media Strategy For Authorshttps://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-right-social-media-strategy-for.html

Here’s My Graduation Address to the Class of 2020 on A Writing Career

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/my-graduation-address-to-class-of-2020.html

Are You Really Ready To Write, Publish & Market Your book?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/are-you-ready-to-write-publish-market.html

Powerful 2020 Book Marketing Toolkit -- FREE

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-2020-book-marketing-pr-toolkit.html

How Do Authors Promote Books When The Media Is Corona Centric?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-do-authors-promote-books-when-media.html

The Bestseller Code For Book Marketers & Authors

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-bestseller-code-for-authors-books.html

32 Book Deal, Discount & Promotion Sites For You

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/32-book-deal-discount-promotion-sites.html

Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent. This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo

English PEN’s Pinter Prize: Poet and Reggae Artist Linton Kwesi Johnson

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:42:19 +0000

Recognizing his 'colossal and multi-generational' impact, English PEN's Pinter Prize jury honors poet and reggae artist Linton Kwesi Johnson.

The post English PEN’s Pinter Prize: Poet and Reggae Artist Linton Kwesi Johnson appeared first on Publishing Perspectives.

The backlash against the Harry Potter creator is a growing pain of her fandom

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:41:10 +0000

In an opinion piece for The Atlantic, Helen Lewis examines the backlash against J. K. Rowling, including two fan sites distancing themselves, after Rowling argued last month that "woman" should remain a biological category:

... The difficulty of adulting also includes the acknowledgment that people are fallible, and the world is complicated. Parents, and heroes, have feet of clay. Call it a loss of youthful idealism, or call it pragmatism, it is what allows us to survive in the adult world. And this is the struggle facing Harry Potter fans. They have long resented Rowling's continued involvement in the Potter universe, which pollutes their pristine childhood memories of the work...

...Some of the social-media reaction to Rowling has been vicious, and many of the most outraged posts have shown a notable lack of interest in her disclosure of sexual assault. Hurt feelings have trumped Rowling's physical injuries. Admitting that Rowling's views are influenced by her status as a survivor of male violence—and admitting that many women have similar experiences—complicates the easy division of oppressor and oppressed. "Victim blaming" is taboo among progressive activists, but so is questioning someone's gender identity. Instead of being confronted, though, this conflict was made simply to disappear...

The Girl Dream

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:20:10 +0000

D. Colin - "the girl dream" @WANPOETRY

“My mother carries three girls and a boy, like the tethered, like a reckoning.” In this Write About Now Poetry video, D. Colin reads her poem “The Girl Dream” at the unofficial Women of the World Poetry Slam cypher in Dallas.

Tags:

D. Colin

Write About Now Poetry

Women of the World Poetry Slam

Black Lives Matter

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:52:27 +0000

Join us as we look back through the years into our Best Of lists. We aim to find titles on specific topics to create starter book lists for you and your kids!

The Best Of Lists provide recommendations to educators, librarians, parents, guardians, and kids for the best children’s books each year. Some are selected by kids across the US and others by educators, check them all out.

A Collection of Black Creators and Stories from our Best Of Lists

Children’s Choices List (CHC):

Booked by Kwame Alexander (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers) – ChC 2017
Odell Beckham Jr. by K.C. Kelley (Bearport Publishing) – ChC 2017
Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes (Boyds Mills Press / Wordsong) – ChC 2017
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia. Ill. Frank Morrison. (HarperCollins / Amistad) – ChC 2018
Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers. Ill. Floyd Cooper. (HarperCollins) – ChC 2018
Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out! Games, Songs, and Stories From an African American Childhood by Patricia C. McKissack. Ill. Brian Pinkney. (Random House Children’s Books / Schwartz & Wade) – ChC 2018
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) – ChC 2019
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. Ill. Laura Freeman. (HarperCollins Children’s Books) – ChC 2019
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard; illus. by Jennifer Zivoin. (Magination Press) – ChC 2019
New Kid by Jerry Craft (HarperCollins / Quill Tree Books) – ChC 2020
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander. Ill. Kadir Nelson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / Versify) – ChC 2020

Young Adults’ Choices List (YAC):

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (Scholastic) – YAC 2016
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Random House Children’s Books / Delacorte) – YAC 2017
Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson (HarperCollins) – YAC 2018
How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana with Abigail Pesta (HarperCollins) – YAC 2018
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing / Atheneum) – YAC 2018
Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell; illus. By Shadra Strickland (Chronicle Books) – YAC 2018
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) – YAC 2018
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray) – YAC 2018
Rebound by Kwame Alexander (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) – YAC 2019
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe (HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray) – YAC 2020
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray) – YAC 2020
Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan (Bloomsbury YA) – YAC 2020

Notable Social Studies Trade Books List (NSSTB):

A Thirst for Home by Christine Ieronimo; illus. by Eric Velasquez (Bloomsbury Children’s) – NSSTB 2015
Freedom Summer: The 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi by Susan Goldman Rubin (Holiday House) – NSSTB 2015
Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela DePrince and Elaine DePrince (Random House Children’s Books) – NSSTB 2015
28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith Jr.; illus. by Shane W. Evans (Roaring Brook Press) – NSSTB 2016
The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch by Chris Barton; illus. by Don Tate (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing) – NSSTB 2016
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (Simon & Schuster) – NSSTB 2016
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer; illus. by Elizabeth Zunon (Penguin Young Readers / Dial Books) – NSSTB 2016
The Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can: A True Story by Tererai Trent; illus. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Penguin Young Readers / Viking BYR) – NSSTB 2016
Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Coope (Capstone Young Readers) – NSSTB 2016
Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter; illus. by Shane W. Evans (Schwartz & Wade) – NSSTB 2016
Mixed Me! by Taye Diggs; illus. by Shane W. Evans (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group) – NSSTB 2016
Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip through Motown Sound by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Roaring Brook Press) – NSSTB 2016
This Side of Home by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury) – NSSTB 2016
Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews; illus. by Bryan Collier (Abrams Books for Young Readers) – NSSTB 2016
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Elspeth Leacock, and Susan Buckley; illus. by PJ Loughran (Penguin Young Readers / Dial Books) – NSSTB 2016
X: A Novel by Kekla Magoon and Ilyasah Shabazz (Candlewick) – NSSTB 2016
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) – NSSTB 2017
Baby Goes to Market by Antinuke; illus. by Angela Brooksbank (Candlewick Press) – NSSTB 2018
Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome; illus. by James E. Ransome (Holiday House) – NSSTB 2018
Hey Black Child by Useni Eugene Perkins; illus. by Bryan Collier (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) – NSSTB 2018
Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song by Kathryn Erskine; illus. by Charly Palmer ( Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR) – NSSTB 2018
The March Against Fear: The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power by Ann Bausum (National Geographic Children’s Books) – NSSTB 2018
Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin; illus. by Evan Turk (Simon & Schuster) – NSSTB 2018
Now or Never: 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery by Ray Anthony Shepard (Boyds Mills Press/ Calkins Creek) – NSSTB 2018
The Quilts of Gee’s Bend by Susan Goldman Rubin and various illustrators (Abrams Books for Young Readers) – NSSTB 2018
That Is My Dream! by Langston Hughes; illus. by Daniel Miyares (Random House Children’s Books / Schwartz & Wade) – NSSTB 2018
Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961 by Larry Dane Brimner (Boyds Mills Press / Calkins Creek) – NSSTB 2018
Shackles from the Deep: Tracing the Path of a Sunken Slave Ship, a Bitter Past, and a Rich Legacy by Michael H. Cottman (National Geographic Children’s Books) – NSSTB 2018
Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song by Gary Golio; illus. by Charlotte Riley-Webb (Lerner Publishing Group / Millbrook Press) – NSSTB 2018
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson; illus. by Vanessa Brantley Newton (Simon & Schuster / Atheneum BYR) – NSSTB 2018
Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City by Phillip Hoose (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR) – NSSTB 2019
Between The Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery by Sandra Neil Wallace; illus. by Bryan Collier (Simon & Schuster / Paula Wiseman Books) – NSSTB 2019
Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renée Watson (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR) – NSSTB 2019
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books) – NSSTB 2019
Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin by James L. Swanson (Scholastic / Scholastic Press) – NSSTB 2019
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker; illus. by Dow Phumiruk (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Henry Holt and Co. BYR) – NSSTB 2019
Finding Langston, by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Holiday House) – NSSTB 2019
Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams by Lesa Cline-Ransome; illustrated by James E. Ransome (Simon & Schuster / Paula Wiseman Books) – NSSTB 2019
History vs Women: The Defiant Lives that They Don’t Want You to Know by Anita Sarkeesian & Ebony Adams (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Feiwel & Friends) – NSSTB 2019
Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice Bryan Stevenson (Random House Children’s Books / Delacorte Press) – NSSTB 2019
Martin Rising: Requiem For a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illus. by Brian Pinkney (Scholastic / Scholastic Press) – NSSTB 2019
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968 by Alice Faye Duncan; illus. by R. Gregory Christie (Boyds Mills Press / Calkins Creek) – NSSTB 2019
Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow; illus. by Ebony Glenn (Simon & Schuster / S&S Books For Young Readers) – NSSTB 2019
No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas by Tonya Bolden; illus. by Don Tate (Random House Children’s Books / Alfred A. Knopf BFYR) – NSSTB 2019
Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-ins by Olugbemisola Rhuday -Perkovich; illus. by Jade Johnson (The Quarto Group / Walter Foster Jr.) – NSSTB 2019
So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary D. Schmidt; illus. by Daniel Minter (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Roaring Brook Press) – NSSTB 2019
Struttin’ With Some Barbecue: Lil Hardin Armstrong Becomes the First Lady of Jazz by Patricia Hruby Powell; illus. by Rachel Himes (Charlesbridge) – NSSTB 2019
Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present by Jamia Wilson; illus. by Andrea Pippins (The Quarto Group / Wide Eyed Editions) – NSSTB 2019
The Boy Who Grew A Forest: The True Story of Jadev Payeng Sophia Gholz; illus. by Kayla Harren (Sleeping Bear Press) – NSSTB 2020
Black Enough: Stories of

The best history books of July

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:26:29 +0000

There's a little something for everyone in the best history books of July. Starting off, we have A Most Beautiful Thing, which is our spotlight pick for best of the month. The book is inspiring and uplifting, and will leave you having mostly warm thoughts about the human spirit. That's not quite true for the other three books listed below—where you will find true crime, the life of a notorious Senator, and an examination of a train robber whose story is woven into the lore of the West. One thing that these four books do share, however, is that they all tell great stories. It takes all types to fill life's rich tapestry. Happy reading, and you can find all of our picks for best history of the month here.

A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper by Arshay Cooper

Our spotlight pick of July, The Most Beautiful Thing is the story of the first all-Black high school rowing team, told by a member of that team, Ashay Cooper. Amazon editor Al Woodworth quotes Arshay in her best of the month review: "I am done with my old life. I choose rowing. I choose a future." Al goes on to say, "And so begins the pursuit of rowing in unison, which would expose Cooper and his teammates to college campuses, different states, internships and jobs. In some ways this is a memoir of underdogs fighting their way to the top, but it’s also about how an entire population is left out of the opportunity loop and how a seemingly small thing like sports can change lives."

The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice by David Hill

There's nothing like a little bit of true crime as the summer grows hot. And if it has a hint of Southern Gothic to it, all the better. Hot Springs, Arkansas has a past that's way more sordid than most realize, and author David Hill is here to tell us about it. Horse racing, casinos, brothels, and the mob found their way to the little southern town, and Hill focuses on three characters—a bar girl, a mob boss, and a talented gambler who was the son of a Cherokee bootlegger—to weave their opportunistic, backstabbing, dark, dangerous, and rousing tale from a bygone era.

Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy by Larry Tye

Larry Tye has written some great histories in his career, and he continues the trend with Demogogue. While the word "McCarthyism" is known to most, what isn't known is just how little time it took Senator Joe McCarthy to rise and fall, destroying careers and lives, before he ultimately died in of alcoholism. This is the fascinating story of a war hero who made it to the Senate and wanted to find a cause. What followed is history, but not one that remembers him very kindly.

Butch Cassidy: The True Story of an American Outlaw by Charles Leerhsen

A biographer is best who can take a historical character, snip away at the legend, and portray that character in their full humanity. That's what Charles Leerhsen does here. Cassidy comes off as a man of many facets—yes, he was a criminal, and a very talented one; but he was thoughtful and he was gifted with talents that shouldn't necessarily have led him to robbery. He didn't need to do it, but he did. Leehrsen leads us to ask why.

July is a great month for history books.

editors_picks

best-books, nonfiction,

WLT Student Translation Prize – Poetry

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:36:04 +0000

Poetry

Lucía Estrada

Photo by Richard Lee / Unsplash

[A flock of cranes]

A flock of cranes

crosses an ashen sky

            the prophet is first to rise

black lines
cleave through the black air

            a closed alphabet

dead trees

            reappear

their roots raise cathedrals

my hands translate
the songs of a single stone

I was born
not to lose
the movement of their scripture

their priests are a fleeting mist

            they light the flame

take wing

            & vanish.

Translation from the Spanish

Frankfurt: Canada Postpones Its Physical Guest of Honor Program to 2021

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 12:42:03 +0000

With Spain, Slovenia, and Italy all pushing back a year to accommodate the change, Frankfurter Buchmesse announces that Canada will be Guest of Honor at the 2021 book fair.

The post Frankfurt: Canada Postpones Its Physical Guest of Honor Program to 2021 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives.

Humble Bundle rises to new challenges

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 10:00:00 +0000
Humble Bundle's mission is to support charity while providing awesome content to customers at great prices. Under the Humble Bundle model, consumers can pay what they wish for DRM-free digital content, with some of the proceeds going to nonprofits.

In partnership with the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), it has helped raise more than $450,000 to support independent booksellers and comics retailers since the beginning of 2020.

In addition, this year it has helped raise more than $70,000 for the Hero Initiative, a fund that supports comics creators in need and $40,000 for EveryLibrary, a political action committee that supports initiatives related to library funding.

In April, with the help of e-book and graphic novel publishers, Humble Bundle raised more than $6.5 million via its Conquer Covid bundle to support those affected by and responding to the pandemic. And in May it raised more than $4.3 million via its Fight for Racial Justice bundle, with all proceeds going to three organizations: the Bail Project, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Race Forward.

Melania Trump's former aide to release 'explosive' memoir

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 10:00:00 +0000
A former senior aide to Melania Trump who helped oversee Donald Trump's inauguration has written an "explosive" memoir detailing her 15-year friendship with the first lady, according to reports.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was appointed as an unpaid adviser to the first lady shortly after Donald Trump won the 2016 election ... But in February 2018, Winston Wolkoff was forced out after reports that her firm had received $26m in payments to help plan Trump's lavish inauguration ceremony in 2017 and related events. At the time, Winston Wolkoff said the firm had "retained a total of $1.62m" that was divided among staff. She has since challenged the notion that she was dismissed and claimed that she was "thrown under the bus".

Top Ten Tuesday: My Most Read Authors

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 08:00:00 +0000

All of us have favorite auto-buy (or at least auto-read) authors. Some of them publish dozens of books, all of which we clamor to consume. This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic—Top Ten Authors I've Read the Most Books By—made me think about the writers I've loved over my 44 years of life and how many of their books I've read. Using Goodreads, Fantastic Fiction, and my not-very-reliable memory, I managed to come up with a list that's fairly accurate (I think).

Before we get to that, though, I want to encourage you to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our host, Jana, a little love. If you want to join in the TTT fun, her blog has all the deets.

Top Ten Authors I've Read the Most Books By

1. Mary Higgins Clark (20+ books read)—I've mentioned this grand dame of mystery many times on my blog. My dad is a big MHC fan; he's the one who introduced me to her. As a junior high/high schooler I inhaled her engrossing suspense novels (many times late at night, long after I was supposed to be asleep). I haven't been as impressed by her more recent offerings and haven't actually read her for a number of years. Still, the recent passing of this mystery maven made me sad.

2. Jodi Picoult (21 books read)—Picoult's books rarely fail to engage me, so it's no wonder I've read almost everything she's ever written.

3. Kathy Reichs (19 books read)—I love Reichs' forensic mysteries starring Temperance Brennan and have read every book in the series. As of yet, I haven't tried her YA series, Virals, which she pens with her son, Brendan.

4. Maeve Binchy (15+ books read)—Binchy's recent-ish death is another I was saddened by. She was a wonderful Irish writer whose novels I've enjoyed greatly over the years.

5. Judy Blume (12+ books read)—Like many girls of my generation, I grew up reading books like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Super Fudge; Deenie; and Blubber. Although I haven't read a Blume book in decades, I zoomed through a whole bunch of them as a kid.

6. Adriana Trigiani (13 books read)—It's been a little while since I've read anything by this Italian-American author, but I've enjoyed a number of her books. Her Big Stone Gap series is my favorite.

7. Sharon Bolton (12 books read)—Although her British crime novels can be super dark and disturbing, I can't resist Bolton.

8. Jane Casey (12 books read)—Ditto this Irish author of crime fiction. I'm especially enamored of her Maeve Kerrigan series.

9. Stephen King (11 books read)—Reading wasn't considered very cool when I was a teen, so I generally hid my bookwormish tendencies from anyone who wasn't family. If I did risk being seen reading in public, I made sure it was with a socially acceptable author, of which King was definitely one. I'm a lot wimpier now than I used to be, so I haven't read anything from the "Master of Horror" in a decade or so. Still.

10. Christopher Pike (10+ books read)—Pike is another author I loved as a teen. His YA thrillers kept me up way past my bedtime on many a night.

There you go, the top ten authors whose books I've read most throughout my life. What do you think? Do we have any in common? Whose works have you consumed most? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I'll return the favor on yours.

Happy TTT!