Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book has over 150 contributors from all walks of the industry, including international bestselling authors Anthony Doerr, Roxane Gay, Garth Greenwell, Lisa Ko, R. O. Kwon, Rebecca Makkai, and Ottessa Moshfegh, alongside cult favorites Sarah Gerard, Melissa Febos, Mitchell S. Jackson, and Mira Jacob. Agents, film scouts, film producers, translators, disability and minority activists, and power agents and editors also weigh in, offering advice and sharing intimate anecdotes about even the most taboo topics in the industry. Their wisdom will help aspiring authors find a foothold in the publishing world and navigate the challenges of life before and after publication with sanity and grace.Are MFA programs worth the time and money? How do people actually sit down and finish a novel? Did you get a good advance? What do you do when you feel envious of other writers? And why the heck aren’t your friends saying anything about your book? Covering questions ranging from the logistical to the existential (and everything in between), Before and After the Book Deal is the definitive guide for anyone who has ever wanted to know what it’s really like to be an author.

    This is the story of the girl who stole it.Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

    Growing up she was rarely seen without her nose in a book and read in secret long after lights out. When tragedy struck, books kept her afloat. Eventually they lit the way to a new path, first as a bookseller and then as a writer. No matter what the future holds, reading will always help.Dear Reader is a moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another.

    Wine. Secrets. You'll find them all at The Telephone Box Library, an uplifting story about fresh starts and new beginnings, set in a picturesque Cotswold village, by bestselling author Rachael Lucas.The Cotswolds: the perfect retreat for a stressed-out teacher. And Lucy has found just the right cottage for a bargain rent. All she has to do is keep an eye on Bunty, her extremely feisty ninety-something neighbour...With her West Highland terrier Hamish at her side, Lucy plans to relax and read up on the women of nearby Bletchley Park. But the villagers of Little Maudley have other ideas, and she finds herself caught up in the campaign to turn a dilapidated telephone box into a volunteer-run library.Along the way, she makes friends with treehouse designer Sam, and finds herself falling for the charms of village life. And it seems Bunty has a special connection to Bletchley and the telephone box, one that she's kept secret for decades...

    Hallie Winstone has been fired – and it wasn’t even her fault!Having lost her job and humiliated herself in front of a whole restaurant full of diners, this is absolutely, one hundred percent, the worst day of her life. That is until she receives an email announcing that she is the lucky winner of the Once Upon a Page Bookshop! Owning a bookshop has always been Hallie’s dream, and when she starts to find secret love letters on the first pages of every book, she knows she's stumbled across something special. Things get even better when she meets gorgeous, bookish Dimitri and between them, they post a few of the hidden messages online, reuniting people who thought they were lost forever. But maybe it’s time for Hallie to find her own happy-ever-after, too?

    She immediately starts interviews to fill the position and is thrilled when her favorite fairy tale characters line up to apply. But Sleeping Beauty can't stay awake, the Gingerbread Man steals her book, and Snow White brings her whole team. Shailey is running out of options. Is bedtime ruined forever?

    The Madman's Library delves into its darkest territories to hunt down the oddest books and manuscripts ever written, uncovering the intriguing stories behind their creation.From the Qur'an written in the blood of Saddam Hussein, to the gorgeously decorated fifteenth-century lawsuit filed by the Devil against Jesus, to the most enormous book ever created, The Madman's Library features many long forgotten, eccentric, and extraordinary volumes gathered from around the world.Books written in blood and books that kill, books of the insane and books that hoaxed the globe, books invisible to the naked eye and books so long they could destroy the Universe, books worn into battle and books of code and cypher whose secrets remain undiscovered. Spell books, alchemist scrolls, wearable books, edible books, books to summon demons, books written by ghosts, and more all come together in the most curiously strange library imaginable.Featuring hundreds of remarkable images and packed with entertaining facts and stories to discover, The Madman's Library is a captivating compendium perfect for bibliophiles, literature enthusiasts, and collectors intrigued by bizarre oddities, obscure history, and the macabre.• MUST-HAVE FOR BOOKLOVERS: Anyone who appreciates a good read will love delving into this weird world of books and adding this collection to their own bookshelf.• DISCOVER SOMETHING TRULY UNIQUE: The Madman's Library will let you in on the secret and obscure histories of the strangest books ever made.• EXPERT AUTHOR: Edward Brooke-Hitching is the son of an antiquarian book dealer, a lifelong rare book collector, and a master of taking visual deep dives into unusual historical subjects, such as the maps of imaginary geography in The Phantom Atlas or ancient pathways through the stars in The Sky Atlas.

    Would you know one if you held it in your hand?In Dark Archives, Megan Rosenbloom seeks out the historic and scientific truths behind anthropodermic bibliopegy--the practice of binding books in this most intimate covering. Dozens of such books live on in the world's most famous libraries and museums. Dark Archives exhumes their origins and brings to life the doctors, murderers, innocents, and indigents whose lives are sewn together in this disquieting collection. Along the way, Rosenbloom tells the story of how her team of scientists, curators, and librarians test rumored anthropodermic books, untangling the myths around their creation and reckoning with the ethics of their custodianship.A librarian and journalist, Rosenbloom is a member of The Order of the Good Death and a cofounder of their Death Salon, a community that encourages conversations, scholarship, and art about mortality and mourning. In Dark Archives--captivating and macabre in all the right ways--she has crafted a narrative that is equal parts detective work, academic intrigue, history, and medical curiosity: a book as rare and thrilling as its subject.

    Welcome to MagnoliaMaggie is thirty-six, recently divorced and embarrassingly unemployed. With a bank account nearing zero she does the only thing she can think of: make a business proposition to her gorgeous and successful estranged mother. To Maggie’s utter surprise, her mother agrees. Any funds she can create off the sale of the dilapidated family inn on the island of Magnolia would be hers to invest. So Maggie packs her few belongings and heads off to Rhode Island to make her dreams come true. Clementine has been stuck in Magnolia her whole life. The moment her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s she knew she could never leave. And it was unrealistic for her to rely on her older brother, Archer, who can't seem to outrun the ghosts of his past. So when Maggie blows into town, both Clementine and Archer find themselves intrigued by the new move-in.When they stumble upon an old photograph of Maggie’s grandmother buried up in the attic, Maggie can’t help but be drawn to a woman she’s never met. In an attempt to feel closer to a family she never knew, a book club is revitalized. The Red Stilettos Book Club. What starts out as an act of desperation, soon becomes exactly what the women of Magnolia island were looking for, a sisterhood. The Magnolia Inn will capture you from page one. It is a story chock full of friendship, laughter, and swoon-worthy romance. >

    He raided. And back home, he traded.He always found the greatest treasures.Until one day, Conan found something no barbarian wants:A BOOK.This humorous picture book from sister duo Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie and illustrator Victoria Maderna follows Ronan the Barbarian as he he grows from being just a rough-and-tumble warrior to a rough-and-tumble warrior who loves books.At first, his fellow barbarians are skeptical of his newfound passion for reading, but in the end, even they aren't immune to the charms of a good book.

    No one knows who sent the invitations or why. No one has heard of the literary society. And no one is prepared to bare their deepest secrets to a roomful of strangers.Yet curiosity and loneliness bring them back week after week to the old library. And it’s there they discover the stories of their hearts, and the kind of friendship and love that heals their souls.

    Tackling everything from first love and Soul Train to police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, the authors take up what it means to read challenging literature collaboratively and to learn in public as an act of individual reckoning and social resistance.   Framing their book club around collective secrets, the group bears witness to how Morrison’s works and words can propel us forward while we sit with uncomfortable questions about race, gender, and identity. How do we make space for black vulnerability in the face of white supremacy and internalized self-loathing? How do historical novels speak to us now about the delicate seams that hold black minds and bodies together?   This slim and brilliant confessional offers a radical vision for book clubs as sites of self-discovery and communal healing. The Toni Morrison Book Club insists that we find ourselves in fiction and think of Morrison as a spiritual guide to our most difficult thoughts and ideas about American literature and life.

    Born in 1897 in Mississippi, Faulkner wrote such iconic novels as Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury, creating in Yoknapatawpha County the richest gallery of characters in American fiction, his achievements culminating in the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. But given his works’ echo of “Lost Cause” romanticism, his depiction of black characters and black speech, and his rendering of race relations in a largely unreconstructed South, Faulkner demands a sobering reevaluation. Interweaving biography, absorbing literary criticism, and rich travelogue, The Saddest Words recontextualizes Faulkner, revealing a civil war within him, while examining the most plangent cultural issues facing American literature today.

    H. Auden once wrote that “art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.” In his brilliant and compulsively readable new treatise, Breaking Bread with the Dead, Alan Jacobs shows us that engaging with the strange and wonderful writings of the past might help us live less anxiously in the present—and increase what Thomas Pynchon once called our “personal density.”Today we are battling too much information in a society changing at lightning speed, with algorithms aimed at shaping our every thought—plus a sense that history offers no resources, only impediments to overcome or ignore. The modern solution to our problems is to surround ourselves only with what we know and what brings us instant comfort. Jacobs’s answer is the opposite: to be in conversation with, and challenged by, those from the past who can tell us what we never thought we needed to know.What can Homer teach us about force? How does Frederick Douglass deal with the massive blind spots of America’s Founding Fathers? And what can we learn from modern authors who engage passionately and profoundly with the past? How can Ursula K. Le Guin show us truths about Virgil’s female characters that Virgil himself could never have seen? In Breaking Bread with the Dead, a gifted scholar draws us into close and sympathetic engagement with texts from across the ages, including the work of Anita Desai, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Rhys, Simone Weil, Edith Wharton, Amitav Ghosh, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Italo Calvino, and many more.By hearing the voices of the past, we can expand our consciousness, our sympathies, and our wisdom far beyond what our present moment can offer.

    This is especially so for Meigan, who develops an unexpected friendship with a mysterious borrower of books from her Little Free Library.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    He’s too busy working to become the world’s newest billionaire and avoiding the women who would detract him from his goals.Enter Lyla Santana. Fresh out of Oxford University with a degree in antiques and a relationship that nearly killed her to leave, she’s eager for the isolation and treasure trove that is Danforth Hall. Lyla also is determined to avoid men at all costs. Forever.It was supposed to be a match made on paper. With him halfway across the globe, they’d never have to see each other again.So, what’s Richard doing on Merriweather just weeks after the wedding? And how will his arrival test Lyla’s faith, not to mention stretch their so-called relationship?In a twist on billionaire romance and marriage of convenience, this “Merriweather book” kicks off a new series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.The Independence Island Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

    Tread in Jane's footsteps as you explore her school in the old gatehouse of the ruined Reading Abbey; her perfectly-preserved home in her Chawton cottage, where she spent the last eight years of her life; or her final resting place in Winchester Cathedral.Whether you want to take this book as your well-thumbed guide on a real Austenian pilgrimage of your own, or experience the journey from the comfort of your own living room, Jane Was Here will take you - with a tone as wry as Jane's itself - on an enchanting adventure through the ups and downs of the world of Jane Austen.

    There are no bus seats--instead there are chairs and tables and shelves of books. And there are no passengers--instead there is Pari, who is nervously starting her first day as Mama's library helper. Pari stands tall to hand out notebooks and pencils at the villages and the refugee camp, but she feels intimidated. The girls they visit are learning to write English from Mama. Pari can't even read or write in Farsi yet. But next year she will go to school and learn all there is to know. And that is a wonderful thing. Not long ago, Mama tells her, girls were not allowed to read at all.

    Seuss by Theodor Geisel, The Art of Eric Carle by Eric Carle, and Literary Wonderlands: A Journey Through the Greatest Fictional Worlds Ever Created by Laura Miller

    One day, while wandering the ruined streets of Munich, the children follow a line of people entering a building, thinking there may be free food inside. Instead, they are delighted to discover a great hall filled with children's books --- more books than Anneliese can count. Here, they meet the lady with the books, who encourages the children to read as much as they want. And she invites them to come back the next day. Eventually, she will have a greater impact on the children's lives than they could ever have imagined.This moving picture book, written by beloved and award-winning author Kathy Stinson, is based on the real-life work of Jella Lepman, founder of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and the International Youth Library. Lepman's collection of children's books from around the world traveled throughout Germany after World War II in the hope of building ?bridges of understanding? between countries. Brought to life by highly acclaimed illustrator Marie Lafrance, this book carries an important message about international cooperation that still resonates with world events today. It includes further information about Lepman and her work as well as historical photos. This story of the children who survived the war offers a unique and often unexplored perspective for history lessons. It also makes an excellent choice for character education lessons on resilience. A portion of the author's royalties will be donated to IBBY's Children in Crisis Fund.

    The detective who solves diabolical crimes using his “little grey cells” has enamored audiences not only in the original novels, short stories, and plays, but also across radio, television, and movies.From Agatha Christie’s earliest conceptions and publication history, to forays on the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring. Mark Aldridge tells this story decade-by-decade, exploring and analyzing Poirot’s many and often wildly different appearances, following the detective to present day when he is enjoying a worldwide renaissance. Packed with original research, never-before-published correspondence, and images from the Agatha Christie archives.

    Our “digital convention” features such major bestselling authors as Ken Follett, Matt Haig, Jonathan Lethem, and Sue Miller. Other sure-to-be popular titles are by Rumaan Alam, J’nell Ciesielski, Vendela Vida, and Bryan Washington. At the end of most excerpts, you will find a link to the full galley on NetGalley!Buzz Books has had a particularly stellar track record with highlighting the most talented, exciting debut authors. Simon Stephenson’s novel about a humanlike bot has already been optioned for film, while Finnish sensation Max Seeck’s thriller is due out as a television series. Robert Jones Jr.’s The Prophets and Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club were both sold at auction.Our nonfiction selections include an inspirational World War II story, Three Ordinary Girls: The Remarkable Story Of Hannie Schaft And The Oversteegen Sisters: Teenaged Saboteurs and Nazi Assassins by Tim Brady, a true crime read; We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper; and the incisive Can't Even: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation by BuzzFeed columnist Anne Helen Petersen.

    Danjerous. (Say it fast.)       Principal Noah Memree barely remembers hiring her.      Ten-year-old Reid Durr is staying up way too late reading a book from Ms. Danjerous's controversial "green dot" collection.       The new school board president has mandated a student dress code that includes white gloves and bow ties available only at her shop.  Sound strange? Fret not. Appleton's fifth-grade sleuths are following the money, embracing the punny, and determined to the get to the funniest, most rotten core of their town's juiciest scandal. Don't miss this seedy saga from the creators of the award-winning Three-Ring Rascals and 43 Old Cemetery Road series!

    When he's supposed to be reading, he would rather do anything else. But one day, he gets the scariest homework assignment in the world: find your favorite book to share with the class tomorrow.What's a kid to do? How can Henley find a story that speaks to everything inside of him?Malcolm Mitchell, bestselling author of The Magician's Hat, pulls from his own literary triumph to deliver another hilarous and empowering picture book for readers of all abilities. Through his advocacy and his books, Malcolm imparts the important message that every story has the potential to become a favorite.

    

    In this book, photographer Horst A. Friedrichs opens the door to the world of bricks-and-mortar bookstores, showcasing their variety, quirkiness, and vitality with lavish photography. It celebrates the passion and commitment of the owners with interviews and anecdotes. Explore William Stout Books, a specialty store for architecture and art books in San Francisco, and Baldwin's Book Barn in Pennsylvania, a 5-story bookstore housed in a dairy barn open since the mid-1940s. Discover Gay's the Word, the UK's first and only dedicated LGBTQI bookshop and Livraria Lello, whose Art Deco interior is a temple to reading in the middle of Porto, Portugal. Some of the featured bookstores specialize in a certain genre, some are massive with vaulted ceilings, some are tiny and filled to the brim with books, some are in historic buildings that evoke a different time and place, and some are brand new, hightech, architect-designed spaces. What all the bookstores have in common is that they are all dedicated to spreading the written word to their communities. This is an ideal book for anyone who loves to read, browse, or simply linger in the analog world of books and bookstores.

    This insightful guide offers concrete, witty advice and information to authors, prospective authors, and those curious about the inner workings of the industry. Learn the differences between Big Five and independent presses, and how advances and royalties really work. Discover the surprising methods that actually move books off the shelves. Develop the lingo to make editors swoon, and challenge yourself to find the errors intentionally embedded in the text! Armed with a more transparent understanding of how books are made and sold, readers will be better prepared to publish, promote, and purchase them wisely and successfully.

    Do you read me? reconsiders the bookshop as a cornerstone of the community, where subcultures have the physical space to thrive. Bookshops are universally recognized as marketplaces of knowledge, curiosity, inspiration, and entertainment. They also promote communication and tolerance across cultures and have become destinations for both local communities and travelers. Within a changing media environment their role has been shifting, leading their overseers to pursue different ways to engage with their customers and build local—and sometimes even regional—support for their businesses. Do you read me? seeks out the most innovative and beautiful bookshops achieving this, sharing their concepts and celebrating book culture in all its glorious forms.

    From the author of On Paper ("Buoyant"--The New Yorker; "Essential"--Publishers Weekly), Patience and Fortitude ("A wonderful hymn"--Simon Winchester), and A Gentle Madness ("A jewel"--David McCullough).In Cross of Snow, the result of more than twelve years of research, including access to never-before-examined letters, diaries, journals, notes, Nicholas Basbanes reveals the life, the times, the work--the soul--of the man who shaped the literature of a new nation with his countless poems, sonnets, stories, essays, translations, and whose renown was so wide-reaching that his deep friendships included Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Julia Ward Howe, and Oscar Wilde.Basbanes writes of the shaping of Longfellow's character, his huge body of work that included translations of numerous foreign works, among them, the first rendering into a complete edition by an American of Dante's Divine Comedy. We see Longfellow's two marriages, both happy and contented, each cut short by tragedy. His first to Mary Storer Potter that ended in the aftermath of a miscarriage, leaving Longfellow devastated. His second marriage to the brilliant Boston socialite--Fanny Appleton, after a three-year pursuit by Longfellow (his "fiery crucible," he called it), and his emergence as a literary force and a man of letters.A portrait of a bold artist, experimenter of poetic form and an innovative translator--the human being that he was, the times in which he lived, the people whose lives he touched, his monumental work and its place in his America and ours.

    F. Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood and Markus ZusakThis story, like so many stories, begins with a gift.The gift, like so many gifts, was a book...' So begins the essay by Robert Macfarlane that inspired this collection. In this cornucopia of an anthology, you will find essays by some of the world's most beloved novelists, nonfiction writers, essayists and poets. 'You will see books taking flight in flocks, migrating around the world, landing in people's hearts and changing them for a day or a year or a lifetime. 'You will see books sparking wonder or anger; throwing open windows into other languages, other cultures, other minds; causing people to fall in love or to fight for what is right. 'And more than anything, over and over again, you will see books and words being given, received and read - and in turn prompting further generosity.' Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of global literacy non-profit, Room to Read, The Gifts of Reading forms inspiring, unforgettable, irresistible proof of the power and necessity of books and reading. Inspired by Robert Macfarlane Curated by Jennie Orchard

    And not just any bookshop. In 1893, Cole’s Book Arcade in Melbourne is the grandest bookshop in the world, brimming with every curiosity imaginable. Each day brings fresh delights for the siblings: voice-changing sweets, talking parrots, a new story written just for them by their eccentric father.When Pearl and Vally learn that Pa has risked the Arcade – and himself – in a shocking deal with the mysterious Obscurosmith, the siblings hatch a plan. Soon they are swept into a dangerous game with impossibly high stakes: defeat seven challenges by the stroke of midnight and both the Arcade and their father will be restored. But if they fail Pearl and Vally won’t just lose Pa – they’ll forget that he and the Arcade ever existed.

    “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” one suggested. “All of this happened, more or less,” the other pointed out. And then, one phrase came immediately to mind: “Call Me Ishmael.” As they talked more, the pair wondered what would happen if they invited readers to call a phone number and ask them to leave a voicemail about their most beloved books. But who would they be calling? Ishmael, of course. Soon, they had set up a working phone number (a 774 area code, a nod to Ishmael’s journey from New Bedford, Massachusetts) and an answering machine greeting. The initial calls they received from family, friends, and coworkers were touching, compelling, and surprising, and the voicemail count grew as word spread. As it did, Logan and Steph decided to take things further: they built actual rotary phones, which could be placed in libraries, schools, and bookstores, allowing readers to customize and listen to pre-loaded voicemails. In the time since, they have received thousands of phone calls from readers, librarians, and students across the United States that share stories about the books that have changed their lives, from The Catcher in the Rye and Beloved to The Sneetches and The House on Mango Street. Now, in The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book, these messages are collected for book lovers everywhere. Designed in the style of the classic Yellow Pages, there is something exciting to discover on each page, from unique phone extensions that have been assigned to each voicemail, as well as transcripts of those calls, literary advertisements, bookstore checklists, bookish Easter eggs, all organized by category. It is a must-have for any bookshelf or nightstand.

    Written by Hank, with cover art by Sara Wong, hand lettered illustrations by Sam Schultz.

    As booksellers gather for the annual Winter Institute convention, where they get to meet the season’s big authors and hope to cart home pre-publication review copies, Buzz Books 2020 presents passionate readers with some of the same insider’s look at 44 books on the way. [Note our previously standalone young adult edition is now folded in to this edition, along with adult fiction and nonfiction.]Our “digital convention” features such major authors as bestsellers Brit Bennett, Sue Monk Kidd, and David Nicholls, along with Veronica Roth, of Divergent fame, with her first adult novel. Other sure-to-be popular titles are by Amy Engel, Debra Jo Immergut, Anna Solomon, and Ellen Marie Wiseman.Buzz Books has had a particularly stellar track record with highlighting the most talented, exciting debut authors. A legal thriller by Erica Katz has already been optioned by Netflix, and novels by Naoise Dolan and Kate Reed Petty were sold at auction. Kawai Strong Washburn has literary bona fides, as does Raven Leilani, Benjamin Nugent, and Ilana Masad.Our nonfiction selections range from comedian Mike Birbiglia’s account of becoming a father to transgender activist and author Jennifer Finney Boylan’s Good Boy: My Life In Seven Dogs. Benjamin Taylor shares his friendship with Philip Roth in Here We Are.Finally, we present early looks at new work from four up-and-coming young adult authors: Laura Bates, Brandy Colbert, Kim Johnson, and Court Stevens.And be sure to look for the next Buzz Books 2020: Fall/Winter in May, just in time for Book Expo.

    On their way, the tours visit beaches, castles, head down coal mines, go to whiskey distilleries, bird watching, hiking, canoeing, to stately homes and the houses of some of Britain’s best-loved historic writers – and last but not least, a host of fantastic bookshops.

    

     From Pickwick to Scrooge, Copperfield to Twist, how did Dickens find the perfect names for his characters?What was Dickens's favourite way of killing his characters?When is a Dickens character most likely to see a ghost?Why is Dickens's trickery only fully realised when his novels are read aloud? In thirteen entertaining and wonderfully insightful essays, John Mullan explores the literary machinations of Dickens's eccentric genius, from from his delight in clichés to his rendering of smells and his outrageous use of coincidences. A treat for all lovers of Dickens, this essential companion puts his audacity, originality and brilliance on full display.

    Eli and his dad must brave the storm to help save the books, and, when the storm is over, the whole town must come together to rebuild the library. Inspired by the residents of Lincoln, Vermont, who rebuilt their library on three separate occasions, Saving Eli's Library showcases one community's bigheartedness, and the power of water and nature.

    Her mother died in a fall, her father has vanished without trace, and now her aunt and cousins treat her viciously. In a freezing, vermin-infested garret, factory girl Kate has only her own brave spirit and dreams of finding her father to keep her going. She has barely enough money to feed herself, or to pay the rent. The factory where she works begins to lay off people and it isn't long before she has fallen into the hands of the violent local money-lender. That is until an unexpected opportunity comes her way – a job cleaning a most unusual bookshop, where anyone, from factory workers to dockers, can learn to read and then buy books cheaply. A new world opens up, but with it come new dangers, too. Based on the true story of the Bermondsey Bookshop, this is the most inspiring and gripping novel Mary Gibson has yet written.

    Inspired by Ferrante's intense depiction of female friendship and women's intellectual lives, four critics embarked upon a project that was both work and play: to create a series of epistolary readings of the Neapolitan Quartet that also develops new ways of reading and thinking together.In a series of intertwined, original, and daring readings of Ferrante's work and her fictional world, Sarah Chihaya, Merve Emre, Katherine Hill, and Jill Richards strike a tone at once critical and personal, achieving a way of talking about literature that falls between the seminar and the book club. Their letters make visible the slow, fractured, and creative accretion of ideas that underwrites all literary criticism and also illuminate the authors' lives outside the academy. The Ferrante Letters offers an improvisational, collaborative, and cumulative model for reading and writing with others, proposing a new method the authors call collective criticism. A book for fans of Ferrante and for literary scholars seeking fresh modes of intellectual exchange, The Ferrante Letters offers incisive criticism, insouciant riffs, and the pleasure of giving oneself over to an extended conversation about fiction with friends.

     There is a book which has shaped the course of history. For thousands of years, a secret society of inventors have guarded it. From the Greeks and Persians to mighty Hannibal and the formidable Caesars of Rome. Viking raiders. Crusaders. Even Genghis Khan and the Conquistadors sought it. Yet none have come close to finding it, until now. Taking a seemingly innocent summer apprenticeship, fifteen-year-old Sam is drawn into the mysterious world of The Few. He and three new friends are chosen to be trained in forgotten arts by this ancient order of inventors, whose existence is shrouded in dark science, marvellous modifications and incredible creations. It’s the beginning of an epic and relentless adventure that will blur the boundaries of their reality – full of action, gadgets and intrigue. The stakes are high and The Few must adapt if they are to survive this new threat, for Ms Keller and Harbinger Robotics are poised for victory. They have learned of a scroll which will lead them to the book and, with it, change the world forever...

    Just as his debut novel becomes a bestseller, his relationship with his girlfriend, Rebecca, begins to fall apart. Robert realizes he must confront his secret demons by fulfilling a youthful promise to solve a mystery surrounding his favorite series the Tremendous Trio.Guided by twelve tattered books and an unidentified but tantalizing fragment of a story, Robert journeys into the history of the books that changed his life, hoping they can help him once again. His odyssey takes him to 1906 Manhattan, a time of steamboats, boot blacks, and Fifth Avenue mansions, but every discovery he makes only leads to more questions.Robert s quest intertwines with the stories of three young people trying to define their places in the world at the dawn of a new and exciting century. Magda, Gene, and Tom not only write the children s books that Robert will one day love, together they explore the vibrant city on their doorstep, from the Polo Grounds to Coney Island s Dreamland, drawing the reader into the Gilded Age as their own friendships deepen.The connections between the authors, their creations, and Robert s redemptive journey make for a beautifully crafted novel that is an ode to the children s series books of our past, to New York City, and above all, to the power of love and friendship.

    From the vast emigration of Jews out of Eastern Europe to the Holocaust to the creation of Israel, the twentieth century transformed Jewish life. The same was true of Jewish writing: the novels, plays, poems, and memoirs of Jewish writers provided intimate access to new worlds of experience.Kirsch surveys four themes that shaped the twentieth century in Jewish literature and culture: Europe, America, Israel, and the endeavor to reimagine Judaism as a modern faith. With discussions of major books by over thirty writers—ranging from Franz Kafka to Philip Roth, Elie Wiesel to Tony Kushner, Hannah Arendt to Judith Plaskow—he argues that literature offers a new way to think about what it means to be Jewish in the modern world. With a wide scope and diverse, original observations, Kirsch draws fascinating parallels between familiar writers and their less familiar counterparts. While everyone knows the diary of Anne Frank, for example, few outside of Israel have read the diary of Hannah Senesh. Kirsch sheds new light on the literature of the Holocaust through the work of Primo Levi, explores the emergence of America as a Jewish home through the stories of Bernard Malamud, and shows how Yehuda Amichai captured the paradoxes of Israeli identity.An insightful and engaging work from "one of America’s finest literary critics" (Wall Street Journal), The Blessing and the Curse brings the Jewish experience vividly to life.

    In Death By Shakespeare, Kathryn Harkup, best-selling author of A is for Arsenic and expert on the more gruesome side of science, turns her expertise to Shakespeare and the creative methods he used to kill off his characters. Is death by snakebite really as serene as Cleopatra made it seem? How did Juliet appear dead for 72 hours only to be revived in perfect health? Can you really kill someone by pouring poison in their ear? How long would it take before Lady Macbeth died from lack of sleep? Readers will find out exactly how all the iconic death scenes that have thrilled audiences for centuries would play out in real life.In the Bard's day death was a part of everyday life. Plague, pestilence and public executions were a common occurrence, and the chances of seeing a dead or dying body on the way home from the theater was a fairly likely scenario. Death is one of the major themes that reoccurs constantly throughout Shakespeare's canon, and he certainly didn't shy away from portraying the bloody reality of death on the stage. He didn't have to invent gruesome or novel ways to kill off his characters when everyday experience provided plenty of inspiration.Shakespeare's era was also a time of huge scientific advance. The human body, its construction and how it was affected by disease came under scrutiny, overturning more than a thousand years of received Greek wisdom, and Shakespeare himself hinted at these new scientific discoveries and medical advances in his writing, such as circulation of the blood and treatments for syphilis.Shakespeare found 74 different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions--shock, sadness, fear--that they did over 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. But how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the science to back them up?

    B. Yeats, arguably the most significant poet in the history of Irish literature. When he died in 2013 the public reaction in Ireland was extraordinary, and the outpouring of feeling decisively demonstrated that he occupied an exceptional place in national life. The words of his last message to his wife, 'Noli timere', 'Don't be afraid', appeared over and over again on social media, while key phrases from favourite poems became and have remained canonical. In this short book, conceived for the Writers on Writers series, historian Roy Foster offers an extended and largley chronological reflection upon Heaney's life, work and historical context, from the poet's origins in Northern Ireland and the publication of Death of a Naturalist in 1966, through the explosive impact of his 1975 collection North, and then into his years as a 'world poet' and an Irish writer with a powerful influence on English literature generally. Foster considers virtually all of Heaney's major output, including later volumes such as The Spirit Level and Human Chain, as well as Heaney's translation of Beowulf and his renderings from Virgil. Throughout the book, Foster conveys something of Heaney's charismatic, expansive and subtle personality, as well as the impact of his work in both the USA and in Europe. Certain themes emerge throughout, such as the way Heaney maintained a deceptive simplicity throughout his writing career, his relations with classical literature and the poetry of dissidence in Eastern Europe, and the increasing presence of the unseen and even spiritual in his later work. Foster also highlights Heaney's importance as a critic and the largely unacknowledged ways in which his own trajectory echoed that of the life and work of Yeats. Though Heaney evaded direct comparisons with his Nobel-prizewinning predecessor, he personified the quality which he attributed to Yeats: 'the gift of establishing authority within a culture'. Both poets made a challenging and oblique use of autobiography and personal history in their work, and both sustained a very particular and sometimes contested relation to the life of their country. Foster shows us that Heaney, like Yeats, came to personify and express the Ireland of his time with unique force and resonance"--

    Drawing unusual connections, this ingenious guide will show you what Hamlet’s Ophelia has to do with The Tempest and Twelfth Night, and how a stage direction speaks to Elizabethan treatment of bears. With entries ranging from “apothecary” to “zephyr,” this succinct book is full of captivating details illuminating all corners of Shakespeare’s world.The volume is illustrated throughout with images taken exclusively from the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Readers will quickly gain a vivid, authentic sense of Shakespearean times, from the fascination of falconry to the elegance of eglantine and the resonances of ring-giving.Accessible yet also full of expert insight and knowledge, this is a wonderful window on the ideas and influences that may have informed Shakespeare’s work. A perfect gift for theater lovers, anglophiles, and all those fascinated by the life and work of the playwright.

    But headstrong, passionate Laura wants more, and when she takes a leap of faith and applies to the Columbia Journalism School, her world is cracked wide open. As her studies take her all over the city, she finds herself drawn to Greenwich Village's new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club--a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women's rights. Soon, Laura finds herself questioning her traditional role as wife and mother. But when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she's forced to confront her shifting priorities head on . . . and may just lose everything in the process.Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan struggles with the legacy of her grandmother, the famous essayist Laura Lyons, especially after she's wrangled her dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. But the job quickly becomes a nightmare when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for the exhibit Sadie's running begin disappearing from the library's famous Berg Collection. Determined to save both the exhibit and her career, the typically risk-adverse Sadie teams up with a private security expert to uncover the culprit. However, things unexpectedly become personal when the investigation leads Sadie to some unwelcome truths about her own family heritage--truths that shed new light on the biggest tragedy in the library's history.

    fantastic! The possibilities are endless, the perils enormous--good thing it's just a story.A boy happens upon a discarded book that transforms a library into an escalating series of near misses and close encounters with dastardly pirates, a herd of scooter-riding elephants, a big blue whale, and is that an alien in an Elvis wig?But surprise, he escapes without a scratch, because it's just a story...With an exuberant art style reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, illustrator Jeff Mack brings imagination to life in this riotous tale about the power of reading.

    Join Book Artist Liz Constable in her studio where she demonstrates how to create funky, fun book projects, using easily sourced items that won’t cost the earth or be a cost to the earth. Re:Create is an easy to follow, how-to guide to making unique and personalised books by hand. With a focus on repurposing, reusing and recycling, Liz approached the projects in Re:Create with a budget of NZ$35. She visits her local flea markets and charity shops to source tools and materials that catch her eye, adding incidental treasures from her collage trolley to really bring her book projects to life. LEARN HOW TO:Spot everyday items that can be repurposed into books, covers and/or pages.Use collage, found objects and stamps to customise your covers and contents. Turn a disaster into an opportunity to create a truly unique piece of work.

    Certain factions in Rome, however, believe humanity is not ready to accept the revelations in the document, and are prepared to destroy it, and silence any who know its contents. She's thrown into a power struggle within the Vatican that leads to the death of one colleague and the madness of two others. Undeterred by the danger, Miriam goes on a pilgrimage with a Jesuit companion who walks the fine line between reality and mental chaos. Their goal? To retrieve the original manuscript from the archives of Saint Catherine of Siena. After her Jesuit companion is kidnapped, she joins forces with a rogue Vatican Cardinal, his lifelong linguist companion, and her son, a Franciscan friar. Her quest takes her through Italy's holiest shrines and the ruins of a Knights Hospitaller monastery on the Island of Rhodes. But the most dangerous path takes her along the fourth dimension of time.

    From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.Susan’s search for her father begins with her mother’s possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan’s. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.

    Discover what it was like to build a pyramid, sail the seas with Magellan, travel into the heart of Africa, or serve on the Western Front. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces, and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories.Great Diaries takes you into the pages of the world's greatest diaries and notebooks, including those of Samuel Pepys, Charles Darwin, Henry-David Thoreau, the Goncourt brothers, Virginia Woolf, and Anne Frank, and shows you what they looked like. Stunning images of the original notebooks and manuscripts are complemented by key extracts and close-ups of important details. Feature boxes provide additional biographical information and set the works in their cultural and historical context.Essential reading for everyone who is passionate about history and literature, Great Diaries provides an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of some of the most interesting people of the last 2,000 years.

    by Katie Orphan (former long-time manager of the famed Last Bookstore in Los Angeles) is an illustrated guidebook to all things literary L.A. past and present, featuring interviews with current Los Angeles writers, maps, day trips to follow the paths of your favorite fictional characters from Marlowe to Weetzie Bat, lists to expand your L.A. reading horizons, and a look at where writers have lived and worked in the City of Angels.

    Open The Cabinet of Calm to discover a comforting word that's equal to your troubles.The Cabinet of Calm has been designed to be picked up whenever you need a moment of serenity. Just select the emotion listed that reflects whatever you're feeling and you'll be offered a matching linguistic remedy: fifty-one soothing words for troubled times.From 'melorism' to 'stound', 'carpe noctem' to 'opsimathy', these kind words - alongside their definitions and their stories - will bring peace, comfort and delight, and provide fresh hope.Written with a lightness of touch, The Cabinet of Calm shows us that we're not alone. Like language, our emotions are universal: someone else has felt like this before and so there's a word to help, whatever the challenge.So much more than a book of words, The Cabinet of Calm will soothe your soul and ease your mind. It's the perfect gift.

    It inspired the largest pilgrim site in medieval Europe and many works of literature from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral and Anouilh's Becket.In a brilliant piece of historical detective work, Christopher de Hamel here identifies the only surviving relic from Becket's shrine: the Anglo-Saxon Psalter which he cherished throughout his time as Archbishop of Canterbury, and which he may even have been holding when he was murdered.Beautifully illustrated and published to coincide with the 850th anniversary of the death of Thomas Becket, this is an exciting rediscovery of one of the most evocative artefacts of medieval England.

    It highlights the print industry’s inequalities and proposes a takeover of the history of the book.Edited by feminist graphic design collective MMS (Maryam Fanni, Matilda Flodmark and Sara Kaaman), Natural Enemies includes several new essays and poems by Kathleen Walkup, Ida Börjel, Jess Baines and Ulla Wikander. It also offers conversations with former typesetters Inger Humlesjö, Ingegärd Waaranperä, Gail Cartmail and Megan Dobney as well as reprints of the original book.The Natural Enemies of Books is funded by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee and through an artist-in-residence period at Grafikens Hus, in collaboration with the Södertälje Konstnärskrets.

    In this deeply insightful and intimate work, Daylight describes how her reading has nourished her life, and how life has informed her reading. In both, she shows us that it's the small points of connection - the details - that really matter: what we notice when someone close to us dies, when we give birth, when we make friends. In life's disasters and delights, the details are what we can share and compare and carry with us. Daylight writes with invigorating candour and compassion about her mother's last days; her own experiences of childbearing and its aftermath (in her celebrated essay ‘Vagina'); her long admiration of Helen Garner and George Saunders; and her great loves and friendships. Each chapter is a revelation, and a celebration of how books offer not an escape from ‘real life' but a richer engagement with the business of living. The result is a work that will truly deepen your relationship with books, and with other readers. The delight is in the details.

    Inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, Jefferson hoped to reconcile Christian tradition with reason by presenting Jesus of Nazareth as a great moral teacher--not a divine one. Peter Manseau tells the story of the Jefferson Bible, exploring how each new generation has reimagined the book in its own image as readers grapple with both the legacy of the man who made it and the place of religion in American life.Completed in 1820 and rediscovered by chance in the late nineteenth century after being lost for decades, Jefferson's cut-and-paste scripture has meant different things to different people. Some have held it up as evidence that America is a Christian nation founded on the lessons of the Gospels. Others see it as proof of the Founders' intent to root out the stubborn influence of faith. Manseau explains Jefferson's personal religion and philosophy, shedding light on the influences and ideas that inspired him to radically revise the Gospels. He situates the creation of the Jefferson Bible within the broader search for the historical Jesus, and examines the book's role in American religious disputes over the interpretation of scripture. Manseau describes the intrigue surrounding the loss and rediscovery of the Jefferson Bible, and traces its remarkable reception history from its first planned printing in 1904 for members of Congress to its persistent power to provoke and enlighten us today.

    An insatiable reader, Van Gogh spent his life hungrily consuming as many books as he could. He read, reread, and copied out books in Dutch, English, and French. He knew many passages by heart from works by Dickens, Zola, Shakespeare, and Maupassant, among many others. As he wrote to his brother, Theo, in one of their hundreds of letters: “I have a more or less irresistible passion for books.”   In Vincent’s Books, Mariella Guzzoni explores Van Gogh’s life as a voracious bookworm, noting what he read, what he wrote about, and how his love of reading influenced his art. She walks us through his life, chapter by chapter: from the religious aspirations of his early adulthood, to his decision to be a painter, to the end of his tragically short life. He moved from Holland to Paris to Provence; at each moment, ideas he encountered in books defined and guided his thoughts and his worldview. Van Gogh wrote with eloquence and insight about what he was reading in his letters to Theo, referring to at least two hundred authors. Books and readers are frequent subjects of his paintings, and Guzzoni highlights over one hundred of these works, such as Still Life with Bible in the Van Gogh Museum and his vivid paintings of l’Arlesienne.   A gorgeously illustrated biography that will appeal to any booklover, Vincent’s Books takes us on a fresh, fascinating journey through the pages of a beloved artist’s life. Explore Van Gogh’s musings on his favorite writers, including Thomas à Kempis, Charles Blanc, Honoré de Balzac, Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens, Erckmann-Chatrian, Homer, Victor Hugo, Pierre Loti, Jules Michelet, William Shakespeare, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Émile Zola

    Readers will be exposed the world of horror literature, a truly global phenomenon during the 20th century.Beginning with the modern genre's roots in the 19th century, the book proceeds to cover 20th century horror literature in all of its manifestations, whether in comics, pulps, paperbacks, hardcover novels, or mainstream magazines, and from every country that produced it. The major horror authors of the century receive their due, but the works of many authors who are less well-known or who have been forgotten are also described and analyzed. In addition to providing critical assessments and judgments of individual authors and works, the book describes the evolution of the genre and the major movements within it.Horror Fiction in the 20th Century stands out from its competitors and will be of interest to its readers because of its informed critical analysis, its unprecedented coverage of female authors and writers of color, and its concise historical overview.

    But her idyll is broken when a ruthless gentleman learns of a book by the elusive Albert Price - and uncovers Elise’s secret.The book is hidden somewhere in Victorian London. Elise must not only find it before her enemies, but also face her own destiny - in a world where the secrets of alchemy are in greater danger than ever before.Meanwhile as auction day approaches in modern London, and the book is in peril again, can Ellie unravel the Victorian mystery in time?The second book in The Alchemist of Paris series.

    Stephen King’s IT. Hellraiser. The Thing. The Wasp Factory. Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds. Hillsborough. Welding childhood recollection with adult insight and analysis, Power digs deep into his personal reactions and feelings as he attempts to understand his continued fascination with the genre - and the emotion - of Horror. Collecting the first three years of his work for the 12-time BFS nominated review site Gingernuts Of Horror, with each essay revised and expanded, My Life In Horror: Volume One represents one fan’s journey through genre - an autobiography via the medium of pop culture.

    Russell’s collected essays range from a discussion of authors from Arthur Machen to Donna Tartt, from Robert Aickman to Alain-Fournier, and from Denton Welch to Katherine Burdekin, taking in classic supernatural fiction, erotic decadence, biographical and dystopian fiction, though to poetry, bibliography and reference books.Russell also deals with books themselves—as physical objects to be collected and whose individual histories may be speculated upon. There are essays on book collecting, book-shops, bookdealers and bibliographers, through to the tiny booksellers’ labels that can often be found stuck in the front of older books.Past Lives of Old Books is an evocative exploration of books and book collecting, with occasional forays into authors and characters who may not exist, music and films.Contains: ‘Introduction: Less Frequented Paths’, ‘Rolfe’s Revolver: The Baron Corvo Archive at the Brotherton Library’, ‘In the “Virtual” Footsteps of Arthur Machen’, ‘ “Find the Happiness They had Never Noticed”: Alain-Fournier’s Le Grand Meaulnes, ‘Correspondence, or Otherwise: Aickman and L.T.C. Rolt’, ‘Brocard Sewell: A Black Swan’, ‘Alastair’, ‘Pierre Louÿs: Pagan Sensuality’, ‘Bibliography of Pierre Louÿs’, ‘Robert Aickman’s “Holiday Photographs”’, ‘Alternative Lives: Arthur Machen’s “A Fragment of Life” and Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes’, ‘Roman Polanski’s The Tenant’, ‘The Connoisseurship of Count Stenbock and Phyllis Paul’, Count Stenbock Bibliography’, ‘Phyllis Paul Bibliography’, ‘Booksellers’ Labels’, ‘Walter J.C. Murray and Copsford’, ‘Immortal Creations: The Brontës Went to Woolworth’s’, ‘Chapman Winston Blubberhouse, and How He Returned to Haunt Me’, ‘The Moon and the Sledgehammer’, ‘Fragile Ivory Towers: The Critics and Donna Tartt’, ‘Denton Welch and Jocelyn Brooke: Kindred Spirits’, ‘Denton Welch Bibliography’, ‘Jocelyn Brooke Bibliography’, ‘George Locke: The Passing of a Legend’, ‘Collecting Arthur Machen Rarities’, ‘Visiting Chydyok’, ‘Past Lives of Old Books’, The Cocteau Twins’, ‘Christopher Millard: Posthumous Friend of Oscar Wilde’, ‘Bibliography of Stuart Mason/Christopher Millard’, ‘Frank Baker: Master of the Absurd’, ‘N.F. Brookes: International Man of Mystery’, ‘Addendum’, ‘Literary Revelations’, ‘The Dangers of Nostalgia’, ‘Pruning a Book Collection’, ‘Down the Literary Rabbit Hole’, ‘Asking About the Weather’, ‘Quentin Crisp Bibliography’, ‘Internal Narrators’, ‘Reference Books’, ‘Outsider Literature’, ‘The Most Frightening Book, Ever’, ‘Katherine Burdekin Bibliography’, ‘Memento Amori: The Poetry of John Sewell’, ‘John Sewell Bibliography’

    They introduce English readers to a number of major Hebrew authors of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries whose work forms an important part of the literary response to the modern Jewish experience. These essays also explore the reciprocal relationship in this period between Hebrew literature, the evolution of the modern Hebrew language, and the emergence of Zionism as a historic force in Jewish life.

    It would appear that we are making progress--recovering marginalized voices and including those who were for far too long ignored. However, is this celebratory narrative borne out in the data?Richard Jean So draws on big data, literary history, and close readings to offer an unprecedented analysis of racial inequality in American publishing that reveals the persistence of an extreme bias toward white authors. In fact, a defining feature of the publishing industry is its vast whiteness, which has denied nonwhite authors, especially black writers, the coveted resources of publishing, reviews, prizes, and sales, with profound effects on the language, form, and content of the postwar novel. Rather than seeing the postwar period as the era of multiculturalism, So argues that we should understand it as the invention of a new form of racial inequality--one that continues to shape the arts and literature today.Interweaving data analysis of large-scale patterns with a consideration of Toni Morrison's career as an editor at Random House and readings of individual works by Octavia Butler, Henry Dumas, Amy Tan, and others, So develops a form of criticism that brings together qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of literature. A vital and provocative work for American literary studies, critical race studies, and the digital humanities, Redlining Culture shows the importance of data and computational methods for understanding and challenging racial inequality.

    Amy Hildreth Chen offers the history of how this multimillion dollar business developed from the mid-twentieth century onward and considers what impact authors, literary agents, curators, archivists, and others have had on this burgeoning economy.The market for contemporary authors’ archives began when research libraries needed to cheaply provide primary sources for the swelling number of students and faculty following World War II. Demand soon grew, and while writers and their families found new opportunities to make money, so too did book dealers and literary agents with the foresight to pivot their businesses to serve living authors. Public interest surrounding celebrity writers had exploded by the late twentieth century, and as Placing Papers illustrates, even the best funded institutions were forced to contend with the facts that acquiring contemporary literary archives had become cost prohibitive and increasingly competitive.

    In short, readable excerpts she presents the essence of the great novelist’s prodigious output, teasing out dozens of the most memorable scenes to reveal the Christian vision and values that suffuse all his work.Dickens can certainly entertain, but his legacy endures because of his power to stir consciences with the humanity of his characters and their predicaments. While he could be ruthless in his characterization of greed, injustice, and religious hypocrisy, again and again the hope of redemption shines through.In spite of – or perhaps because of – his own failings, Dickens never stopped exploring the themes of sin, guilt, repentance, redemption, and restoration found in the gospel. In some passages the Christian elements are explicit, in others implicit, but, as Dickens himself said, they all reflect his understanding of and reverence for the gospel.The Gospel in Dickens includes selections from Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Sketches by Boz – with a cast of unforgettable characters such as Ebenezer Scrooge, Sydney Carton, Jenny Wren, Fagin, Pip, Joe Gargery, Mr. Bumble, Miss Havisham, Betsey Trotwood, and Madame Defarge.

    With her trusty German Shephard RBG-'Ruff Barker' Ginsburg by her side, what can go wrong? Okay, sure, bumping into her ex, Scott, or her former high school nemesis, Tricia, is a drag. It certainly doesn't help they have acquired the new hobby of shoving their recent engagement in her face every chance they get. But that doesn't mean Quinn wanted to find Tricia dead in the road. So why does half the town think she may have done it?Quinn is determined to find Tricia's killer, even if it means partnering with her cousin-turned-nun, Sister Daria, and Detective Aiden Harrington, her older brother's too-movie-star-handsome-for-his-own good, best friend. They believe she's innocent, but of course that doesn't influence the police, who peg her as their prime suspect. Or, at least until she's poisoned.But there is no way Quinn is going to stop now. Vienna is her town and-for better or worse-Tricia was one of their own. Someone may have killed the mocking girl, but no one's going to stop the notorious QVC.

    

    A preface by Booker Prize-nominated author Elif Shafak reflects on the importance of literature and its capacity to transcend language and borders. The introduction from Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, positions the artwork within the wider context of the Museum's collection, highlighting the dialogue between objects from across time and throughout history and the contemporary. Finally, de Waal concentrates on the work itself, its journey to the British Museum via Venice and Dresden, and its future role in the foundation of the New University Library in Mosul.

    

    It is both an experiment in the attentive form of the essay - asking what happens, and where one might wander, when as readers and writers we pay minute attention to the language before us - and a polemic for certain kinds of experiment in prose. In a series of essays, each taking a single sentence as its starting point, the book explores style, voice and context. But it also uses its subjects - from George Eliot to Joan Didion, John Donne to Annie Dillard - to ask what the sentence is today and what it might become next.

    The faith once and for all delivered unto the saints is remarkable in its combined emphasis on embodied particularity and meaningful transcendence. This unique combination makes it the perfect starting place for art that speaks to who we are as creatures made for eternity.

    Discover the inspiration behind each book through an original essay by the author. Then enjoy an excerpt from each novel or short story collection. The books featured in this issue are:Afterlife by Julia AlvarezOn Sale April 2020The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế MaiOn Sale March 2020Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkleOn Sale June 2020The Falling Woman by Richard FarrellOn Sale June 2020The Lives of Edie Pritchard by Larry WatsonOn Sale July 2020A House Is a Body by Shruti SwamyOn Sale August 2020With or Without You by Caroline LeavittOn Sale August 2020

    Decades later, it was reassembled and returned to The Mount, her historic Massachusetts estate. What a Library Means to a Woman examines personal libraries as technologies of self-creation in modern America, focusing on Wharton and her remarkable collection of books.Sheila Liming explores the connection between libraries and self-making in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American culture, from the 1860s to the 1930s. She tells the story of Wharton’s library in concert with Wharton scholarship and treatises from this era concerning the wider fields of book history, material and print culture, and the histories (and pathologies) of collecting. Liming’s study blends literary and historical analysis while engaging with modern discussions about gender, inheritance, and hoarding. It offers a review of the many meanings of a library collection, while reading one specific collection in light of its owner’s literary celebrity.What a Library Means to a Woman was born from Liming’s ongoing work digitizing the Wharton library collection. It ultimately argues for a multifaceted understanding of authorship by linking Wharton’s literary persona to her library, which was, as she saw it, the site of her self-making.

    The Book of Old Ladies introduces readers to thirty stories featuring fictional “women of a certain age” who increasingly become their truest selves. Their stories will entertain and provide insight into the stories we tell ourselves about the limits and opportunities of aging. A celebration of women who push back against the limiting stereotypes regarding older women’s possibility, The Book of Old Ladies is a book lover’s guide to approaching old age and dealing with its losses while still embracing beauty, creativity, connection, and wonder.

    Most entries are non-fiction works originally published in English (translated Chinese-language books will be covered in a separate upcoming title).Relive Taiwan's most dramatic historical event in Lord of Formosa and Lost Colony. Learn about the White Terror in A Pail of Oysters, Green Island, and Formosa Betrayed. Discover dated time capsule accounts such as Flight to Formosa and Taipei After Dark, and others like John Slimming's Green Plums and a Bamboo Horse that have stood the test of time. Turn the pages of obscure books such as The Jing Affair and Dragon Hotel, undeserved best-sellers like the The Soong Dynasty, and some of the best academic works. Experience unique facets of life in Taiwan in Shots from the Hip: Sex, Drugs and the Tao and Barbarian at the Gate: From the American Suburbs to the Taiwanese Army. Follow authors on their quests, whether conservationists going undercover to expose the illegal wildlife trade, adoptees returning to find their biological parents, or foodies in search of the perfect beef noodle soup.Taiwan in 100 Books is an accessible introduction to works on the country and and an enjoyable shortcut to understanding the country's history and culture. It's also a bibliophile's elixir packed with the backstories of the authors and the books themselves; there are tales of outrageous literary fraud, lost manuscripts, banned books, and publishing skulduggery.

    In his Foreword, Dewey noted, "It would require less than the fingers of the two hands to enumerate those who from Plato down rank with [George]. No man, no graduate of a higher educational institution, has a right to regard himself as an educated man in social thought unless he has some first-hand acquaintance with the theoretical contribution of this great American thinker." Fifteen brief chapters feature passages from George's highly influential book and examine why poverty persists throughout periods of economic and technological progress as well as the basis for economic cycles of boom and bust.

    

    The former barista turned bookstore owner has his work cut out for him. His opening day during Memorial Day Weekend turns out to be better than expected. That is until one of his customers, local curmudgeon and drunk, Jed Nelson, turns up dead. Jed decides to leave Riley his dog and house in his will, making him the prime suspect. Of course there are lots of people that wanted Jed dead, from one of his Ex-Wives to a property developer looking to cash in on his land. Riley with the help of his childhood friend, and newfound canine companion, and his high school crush turned cop, decided to catch the Killer before they added another deadly chapter to this mystery?..This is a 70,000 word cozy mystery that has no sex, swearing or, gratuitous violence

    Within a matter of weeks, the encampment had become a tiny model of a robust city, with its own kitchen, first aid station, childcare services—and a library of several thousand physical books. Since that time, social movements around the world, from Nuit Debout in Paris to Gezi Park in Istanbul, have built temporary libraries alongside their protests. While these libraries typically last only a few weeks at a time and all have ultimately been dismantled or destroyed, each has managed to collect, catalog, and circulate books, serving a need not being met elsewhere.Libraries amid Protest unpacks how these protest libraries—labor-intensive, temporary installations in parks and city squares, poorly protected from the weather, at odds with security forces—continue to arise. In telling the stories of these surprising and inspiring spaces through interviews and other research, Sherrin Frances confronts the complex history of American public libraries. She argues that protest libraries function as the spaces of opportunity and resistance promised, but not delivered, by American public libraries.

    Interviews • Janice Law (Madame Selina series AHMM) • Paul D. Marks (Bunker Hill series EQMM) • Jeff Vorzimmer (The Best of Manhunt) Articles • Peter Enfantino summarizes 1954’s final issues of Manhunt. • Vince Nowell, Jr. grapples with Beyond Infinity. • Richard Krauss spotlights Leo Margulies: Giant of the Digests. • Steve Carper dissects a Classic error. • Ward Smith quantifies Astounding’s formats. Fiction • Fiction by John Kuharik, Vince Nowell, Sr., and Joe Wehrle, Jr. with artwork by Rick McCollum, Marc Myers, and Michael Neno. Also includes • Reviews of Homicide Hotel from Gary Lovisi, Tough 2, and Paperback Parade No. 104. • News updates from the newsstand giants and the digital darlings of today’s genre fiction digests, straight from their editors and publishers. • Plus nearly 150 digest magazine cover images, cartoons by Bob Vojtko, first issue factoids, and more. • Cover by Rick McCollum, 160 pages, published in full color by Larque Press.

    At each step of this evolution, technologies are examined and evaluated to show how these ideas are present from the very beginning of written communication.Moving chronologically from the ancient world to the present, the book shows how written communication media evolved from cuneiform to the Kindle. Focusing on key technologies and vital periods of historical transition, it traces an evolution that elucidates the history of the written word, at each step examining and evaluating such aspects of technologies as memory capacity, readability and writability, durability, recyclability, information security, ease and mode of access, and cost. Additional attention is paid to how these technologies were made, how they were circulated, and who was reading them.

    Barrie’s manuscript letters to Robert Louis Stevenson were presumed lost.Since Michael Shaw discovered them, he has been enchanted by the correspondence, and has now compiled this first ever edition bringing both writers’ letters together. The introduction to this fascinating exchange shows why they developed such an intense bond (despite never meeting) and the deep impact their correspondence had on Barrie’s life and work.

    The Passover Haggadah provides the script for the meal and is a religious text unlike any other. It is the only sacred book available in so many varieties--from the Maxwell House edition of the 1930s to the countercultural Freedom Seder--and it is the rare liturgical work that allows people with limited knowledge to conduct a complex religious service. The Haggadah is also the only religious book given away for free at grocery stores as a promotion. Vanessa Ochs tells the story of this beloved book, from its emergence in antiquity as an oral practice to its vibrant proliferation today.Ochs provides a lively and incisive account of how the foundational Jewish narrative of liberation is remembered in the Haggadah. She discusses the book's origins in biblical and rabbinical literature, its flourishing in illuminated manuscripts in the medieval period, and its mass production with the advent of the printing press. She looks at Haggadot created on the kibbutz, those reflecting the Holocaust, feminist and LGBTQ-themed Haggadot, and even one featuring a popular television show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Ochs shows how this enduring work of liturgy that once served to transmit Jewish identity in Jewish settings continues to be reinterpreted and reimagined to share the message of freedom for all.

    The Insightful Reader will help you to choose the right books to read, get more out of what you read, create a better life through reading, and ultimately to become an insightful reader, learner, and thinker. Whether you read hundreds of books or just a few per year, you will benefit from this book.Inside, you will discover how to:- Find high quality, interesting books efficiently- Hunt for insights instead of meaningless facts- Make more time to read and stop making excuses- Take notes adaptively, depending on your goals- Stop getting distracted while reading- Read different books differently, depending on your purpose- Learn more effectively from very challenging books (e.g., college textbooks or highly technical texts)- Apply what you read

    

    The author Cathy Lynn Gregory teaches us to enter into relationship with God who meets us where we are in every season of our life. She leads us on a journey of the heart by sharing raw, honest and transformational stories of her life as a Christian mother, and entrepreneur. Rich with scripture, Into the Garden is soul food for the heart and a must for every Christian wanting to deepen their relationship with God.• Learn the power of preparing, planting and cultivating God’s word• Learn the spiritual meaning of pain and suffering• Learn to rejoice in the Lord always!• Learn the benefits of prayer and faith• Learn the danger of temptation, and how to overcome it• Learn the healing power of forgivenessThis book delivers powerful messages by use of the seasons as outlined in Ecclesiastes. The universal themes of human experience such as faith, worry, hope, courage, forgiveness, pain, suffering, preparation, healing, love and renewal, are presented in easy to read essays. Cathy shares with her readers practical down to earth spiritual messages just as God shared them with her while gardening in her east Texas home many years ago.

    For most of the history of printing, paper was made primarily from recycled rags, so this is a story about using old clothes to tell new stories, about plants used to make clothes, and about plants that frustrated papermakers' best attempts to replace scarce natural resources with abundant ones. Because plants, like humans, are susceptible to the ravages of time, it is also a story of corruption and the hope that we can preserve the things we love from decay.Combining environmental and bibliographical research with deft literary analysis, Calhoun reveals how much we have left to discover in familiar texts. He describes the transformation of plant material into a sheet of paper, details how ecological availability or scarcity influenced literary output in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and examines the impact of the various colors and qualities of paper on early modern reading practices. Through a discussion of sizing--the mixture used to coat the surface of paper so that ink would not blot into its fibers--he reveals a surprising textual interaction between animals and readers. He shows how we might read an indistinct stain on the page of an early modern book to better understand the mixed media surfaces on which readers, writers, and printers recorded and revised history. Lastly, Calhoun considers how early modern writers imagined paper decay and how modern scholars grapple with biodeterioration today.Exploring the poetic interplay between human ideas and the plant, animal, and mineral forms through which they are mediated, The Nature of the Page prompts readers to reconsider the role of the natural world in everything from old books to new smartphones.

    You can share your thoughts in a social setting and enjoy interesting conversations that might open your eyes to other opinions about the book. But all too often we forget the best details once the book is finished and put back on the shelf. With The Book Club Journal, you can collect and remember all your important thoughts and feelings so that you can reflect on them for future meetings or rereadings. Made specifically for book club members, this journal has prompts for all the basic book stats, such as the title, author, and who suggested the book, along with book club specific questions like “How does this book compare with the titles we have read previously?” This fun and useful journal also includes reference pages with lists of classic book club must-reads, and room for you to create your very own to-read list.

    This timely allegorical tale, now in Spanish, will be a useful tool for starting conversations with children about the power of activism and the written word.

    

    The Fastest Man Alive. The Scarlet Speedster. Whatever you call him, his most iconic comic book adventures are celebrated in Flash: 100 Greatest Moments.   First appearing in 1940 and represented by a slew of different speedsters, the Flash has been a DC mainstay for most of their publishing life.  He’s been part of the Justice League, Justice Society of America, and Teen Titans. Able to break the barriers between dimensions and to reverse time when he’s runs fast enough, to say that the flash is going (and has gone) places doesn’t even cover it.   Speedsters are powered by the speed force and while there are a slew of superheroes faster than the average man in the DC Universe, the particular mantle of ‘The Flash’ has been donned by Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart Allen. Each of them are represented with their own moments to shine and they each bring a new perspective to the character over the Flash’s decades long run. Enclosed in these pages are 100 moments that chronicle all of the Flash’s greatest feats. Flash’s loves, his children, the allies like Batman and Superman that help him out in his time of need, the Rogues that give him the most trouble, other nefarious speedsters villains like Reverse Flash and Professor Zoom, and many more key characters are paid homage. Flash has been a key player in events like Flashpoint and Crisis on Infinite Worlds, making him integral to understanding the worlds built by DC Comics.   Although Flash has been on the big screen, syndicated television, and cartoons, a lot the iconic moments seen on screens found their origin in his comic books. Whether you need a recap (in a flash) or you’re curious about the comic book events that inspired your favorite TV and movie moments, Flash: 100 Greatest Moments will guide you through all of the Scarlet Speedster’s history:FlashpointWally West winning the lotteryReturning from the deadMarrying Iris WestThe Cosmic TreadmillMeeting Editor Julius SchwartzRed Flash vs. Black FlashDefeating ZoomHouse of HeroesBarry Allen fights Godspeed for the first timeReturning Wally West rom the Speed ForceRun ins with the TricksterLace up, strap in, and enjoy Flash: 100 Greatest Moments. This gift edition comes in a convenient portable size, perfect for catching up with your favorite speedster when you're on the go. The 100 Greatest Moments of DC Comics series from Chartwell is the perfect series for any comic book lover. Now you can find the greatest, most memorable moments of your favorite comic book characters all in one beautiful book. From super heroes to super-villians, each book in this collection covers some of the greatest DC comic book characters.  No comic book nerd's collection is complete without a 100 Greatest Moments of DC Comics book with your favorite characters. Also available from the 100 Greatest Moments of DC Comics series, explore the greatest moments of: Justice League, Super Heroines, Super-Villains, and Batman.

    It enables readers to gain increased imaginative access to the works in question through seeing how they have intensely affected equivalent readers--a novelist, a poet, a doctor, a teacher, an anthologist, but also non-specialists, ordinary people within shared reading groups in many different settings, finding help from literary texts in times of often painful personal need. It is the story of the work done by Philip Davis' research unit, the Centre for Research into Reading, Literature and Society (CRILS), at the University of Liverpool, in a ten-year partnership with the outreach charity The Reader, taking serious literature to often neglected communities and struggling individuals through the shared reading--alive and aloud--of literature from all ages.Reading for Life is a detailed account of what reading literature can do for a wide variety of individuals in relation to a wide variety of texts: it will be of interest to serious readers in the wider world as much as to scholars working within literary studies, and to all those involved in thinking about the therapeutic interactions of literature and life in psychology, medicine, and mental health support settings.

    It focuses on topics that can be challenging or sensitive, yet are significant in order to build understanding of social justice, diversity, and equity. Racism, Homophobia, Bullying, Religious Intolerance, Poverty, and Physical and Mental Challenges are just some of the themes explored. The book is rooted in the belief that by using picture books, novels, poetry, and nonfiction, teachers can enrich learning with compassion and empathy as students make connections to texts, to others, and to the world.

    Historical context proves itself to be key in the chronologically ordered chapters, while the thematically arranged ones provide a place to discuss islands, reality, doubles, and the arts. This duality provides an excellent space for Kincaid to use his incisive powers of critical thinking to capture the evanescence and ambivalence of Priest's writing.