BNA_Daily | January 28, 2010
Learn why Wednesday, January 27th will be forever remembered as one of the saddest days in modern literature and then cheer yourself up by discovering 10 rock’n’roll novels, the bookish side of the Apple iPad, and the latest Costa Book Award winner. Also, the New York Times‘ Jennifer Schuessler gives us permission to get bored. [...]
BNA_Daily | January 28, 2010
In addition to sparking the English Reformation, Henry VIII provided some of the 16th century’s hottest gossip, with Anne Boleyn at its center. Experts have long disagreed about the real reasons behind Anne Boleyn’s execution, and historian Alison Weir attempts to uncover the truth in her new book The Lady in the Tower: The Fall [...]
BNA_Daily | January 26, 2010
In today’s news, read about the decade’s most influential YA authors, speculate on the latest Apple gadget, and ask yourself, “What the *$%# was Bloomsbury publishing thinking?” Details below.
Over the last ten years, young adult book sales have taken off while other areas of publishing have declined, and Omnivoracious gives us some reasons why. Noting [...]
BNA_Daily | January 26, 2010
Unfortunately, today’s news isn’t very cheery (except for Twilight fans). Both Robert B. Parker, a prolific crime writer, and Erich Segal, oft-quoted author of Love Story, passed away earlier this week in their 70s. Many blogs, newspapers, and magazines are celebrating their work and lives.
Crime novelist Robert B. Parker died suddenly last Monday at his [...]
BNA_Daily | January 21, 2010
There are few writers who can successfully incorporate a talking, severed head into a story collection, but Sam Shepard is one of them. An award-winning playwright and short story writer, Shepard explores the American West in his latest story collection, Day Out of Days. Note that the term “story collection” is used loosely, since only [...]
BNA_Daily | January 19, 2010
While many of us were relaxing over the 3-day weekend, authors, librarians, and publishers were busy at ALA Midwinter, the American Library Association’s 4-day, nonstop bookfest filled with meetings, events, and awards. While the meetings were no doubt exciting, we’ll ignore those and focus on the major awards: the John Newbery Medal, the Randolph Caldecott [...]
BNA_Daily | January 14, 2010
Today’s news will thrill short story fans, political junkies, and children’s lit lovers alike, giving you plenty of conversation ammo to power through the weekend. Enjoy!
Finalists were announced this week for the 2009 Story Prize, a cash award given annually to a collection of short stories. All three of this year’s finalists are first-time authors, [...]
K_Ramsdell | January 14, 2010
Although most of the news of 2009 centered on the ongoing military conflicts and the current economic crisis, fortunately for our sanity, everything was not just about war and money; there was a lot going on in the romance fiction world, as well. The details could easily fill a book, but in the interests of [...]
BNA_Daily | January 13, 2010
Believe it or not, Unfinished Desires is not a romance novel turned murder mystery–it’s a story about a nun. Mother Ravenel, to be exact, an aging woman writing the history of the Catholic school she attended and eventually ran. Author Gail Godwin uses Mother Ravenel’s history to portray the complicated dynamics of packs of teenaged [...]
BNA_Editor | January 13, 2010
1. More Reading, Fewer Books Sold:
In January of this year, the National Endowment for the Arts published a report titled “Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy” that pronounced this seemingly contradictory message: Americans are reading more (more than half of adults surveyed said they had read one work of literary [...]
