Make Yourself At Home In Alix E. Harrow's House Of Secrets

Welcome to Eden, a gloomy, decaying former coal-mining town in Kentucky and a misnomer if there ever was one. All known coal deposits are mined out, and thanks to a coal-fired power plant, air quality is poor and the water tastes strange. Some of the denizens would leave for greener pastures, if they could.

Opal is one of those who probably couldn't. A high-school dropout with bad teeth, a menial job, and a history of delinquency, she and her younger brother Jasper have been orphaned for years after their mother died in a car crash that Opal survived. Seeing Jasper's performance in school and talent in filmmaking, Opal strives to pave a way out of Eden for him.


Read the full review of Alix E. Harrow's Starling House here.

Book Marks: Emerging From The Cave (Again) With More Updates

Whew! I didn't expect my new job scope to keep me away from this space for this long but slowly, I'm figuring out how to balance a full plate. While a lot has come to pass, I'll just highlight some of the more recent happenings...

TODAY reported Singaporean writers stating that their literary scene is "healthy" and "energetic", citing the emergence of new writers and the abundance of content being published".

Speaking to the media, The Singapore Book Publishers Association added that the launch of the Epigram Books Fiction Prize in 2015 "was a 'meaningful turning point' that created a substantial increase in the number of novels published" in Singapore. "At the same time, more Singaporean authors (based here and overseas) are being published by UK and US publishers, either directly or after growing their career locally."

From the sound of it, Singapore's lit scene looks lit. Hoping this lead to more eyes on writing from this region.


In other news:

• Under the slogan "Baca Jap" (Read for a While), Silent Book Club JB, an offshoot of the US-founded Silent Book Club, aims to create "a space where book lovers can gather and engage in literary activities at local cafes and recreational parks". Do have a look when you're in the neighbourhood.
• "Our inspiration to set up Sunda Shelves was actually from a bookshop named 'The Borneo Shop' in Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) which also specialises in natural history." If you're in Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya, find your way to The Sunda Shelves, a nature-themed bookstore specialising in "books relating to the environment, nature, natural history, culture and travelling in South-East Asia."
• "Some people tend to wave off comedic writing, saying 'Oh, it's just light fiction or chick lit', like it doesn’t take much effort, but honestly, it takes a lot of skill to write it well." Lauren Ho on writing comedy in her fiction and exploring new genres.
• "I started self-studying Korean when I was 18. At the time, Korean wasn't a very popular language to learn, so I had to be very resourceful. I used anything I could get my hands on, be it from the library or online." Translator Shanna Tan – who recently shared the spotlight with author Hwang Bo-reum in KL – shares some parts of her job and experience translating Hwang's Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.
• James Queally was on a flight to a sibling's wedding when he received news that his publisher, Jersey-based indie crime publisher Polis Books, may be shut down. Not an enviable position to be in, but it's (fingers crossed) not the end of the world. To help others in the same situation, Queally "chatted up a few other writers whose works were previously marooned by industry collapse to put together a survival guide on what to do when your publisher dies."
• The number of titles from authors of colour is increasing. We're getting stories from cultures beyond the nominally white anglosphere, which is great. But is there a tendency to lock these authors into strictly writing about their own cultures? And if they attempt to step out of their pigeonholes, are they being not true to themselves? Sreedhevi Iyer, a lecturer in creative writing at RMIT University, explores the question of authors and authenticity in The Conversation.
• Now that JK Rowling has pretty much fallen from grace, what else can kids look to as an alternative? Perhaps they can have a go at what Katherine Rundell has written? "'Impossible Creatures,' Rundell's sixth novel for middle grade readers, became an instant best seller in her native Britain when it was published last year and has garnered numerous awards, including the Waterstones Book of the Year."
• Speaking about books for kids (or not): I only vaguely recall how unsuspecting parents were misled into buying "explicit" novels for their tweens and kids because of the cartoonish covers, such as the one for Hannah Grace's Icebreaker. But is it intentional? A book designer dishes on how these covers work.
• In the New Yorker, a brief history (as brief as a New Yorker article can manage) of bookstores in the US and where it can go from here. The writer appears to be arguing for bookstores to become "community-building spaces" – warm, welcoming, and not necessarily stocked with or offering every title under the sun.
• Several professionals in Ukraine's publishing industry ponder the future of contemporary Ukranian literature – a heavy topic while the war over there rages on and some of their compatriots are out on the front lines. Every now and then, one hopes for the end to the war so that they can rebuild what they've lost and grow again.
• Occasionally, you will encounter a book you can't bear to finish. What to do then? Like Sophie Vershbow in The Atlantic, Maya Chung says it's okay to DNF a book you don't like, with some caveats. "Of course, if I want to recommend a book widely or rave about it on the internet, I need to complete it, in case the story takes an unexpected turn or something happens in the last few pages that changes my perspective. The same rule applies if I feel like hating."
• "It has been a peculiar and exasperating five years. I'm a writer. I do other things but writing feels like my main reason for being on the planet. Thanks to a triple heart bypass, some underperforming psychiatric medication and long Covid, however, I've been unable to write for most of that period. Much of the time it's been impossible to read as well." As someone who writes but not as often, walking down author Mark Haddon's five-year journey towards recovery is unimaginable.
• "We have this problem in our culture," says Solène Marchand, the female lead in Robinne Lee's The Idea of You "We take art that appeals to women—film, books, music—and we undervalue it. We assume it can't be high art. Especially if it's not dark and tortured and wailing. And it follows that much of that art is created by other women, and so we undervalue them as well. We wrap it up in a pretty pink package and resist calling it art." The same seems to be happening to The Idea of You and Lee has something to say about that and about art for women.
• How many of you have learnt by now of a would-be burglar in Rome who was caught because he was engrossed in a book he found in the place he broke into? "The 38-year-old reportedly gained access to a flat in the Italian capital's Prati district via the balcony but became distracted after picking up a book about Homer's Iliad on a bedside table." The book, by the way, is Giovanni Nucci's The Gods at Six O'Clock – now probably known as the tome that was so good, it stopped a crime. Who needs an ocean of positive reviews on Goodreads?

Book Marks: Books In Wartime, Authors And Self-Promotion

"Books remain powerful. Amid all the offerings of digital media – from bingeable shows to news blogs and funny videos – reading still has a place for many of us," writes Beth Driscoll, Associate Professor in Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne, in The Conversation. "Adaptable and enduring, books have not been replaced by new media, but sit alongside them: they circulate not only in print form, but as audiobooks and online serials; they are adapted for other media."

In times of crisis, one might turn to books for clarity, if not an escape. A much harder activity for those in Ukraine, where Russian bombardments also target the book publishing industry. According to Voice of America:

"According to the Ukrainian Book Institute, Russian strikes and other aggressive actions have destroyed 174 libraries and almost 2 million books. "The Smithsonian Institution, located in Washington, has also documented the massive destruction of Ukraine's book publishing facilities, some of which are designated as cultural heritage sites, as well as libraries and archives."

Which is perhaps why there's a book boom in the besieged country at the moment. Shelled by an aggressor, Ukrainians have been turning to books for an escape, and perhaps some hope of peace.

Anastasia Yehorova, an IT project manager whose husband is in the military, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that she has bought "five times more books than she used to before Russia's full-scale invasion." However, "the real reason I buy more than I can read is because I am afraid that the Russians will force us to flee again ... and that we won't be there anymore – and neither will Ukrainian books."

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With myriad ways authors can promote their books – often because they HAVE TO – they are increasingly turning to marketers so that they can concentrate (more) on writing than the other stuff. But is what they're paying worth it? Shouldn't their publishers do all that work?

This isn't new, as Maris Kreizman notes. "There are lots of independent publicists who've been working with authors to supplement the work of their in-house teams for years." But she provides some points to ponder when considering shelling out extra for promotions and coverage.


Elsewhere:

• "Even for a writer who has made a specialism of slim, succinct books, this one is short," writes Claire Armitstead at The Guardian about Raja Shehadeh's book, What Does Israel Fear from Palestine? "Why, he asked in 2016, did Israel not take inspiration from South Africa's journey towards the abolition of apartheid? His conclusion, eight years later, is damning. 'The very high human and material cost of the war in Gaza proves that what Israel fears from Palestine is Palestine's very existence.'"
• "What does the world miss when a beloved author's work is left incomplete? Does the possible loss justify the risk that the finished product isn't what it might have been? ... What does it mean for an author's work to be released into the world without that author's blessing?" Posthumous publications may never go out of style, nor be free of controversy. Somewhere out there though, someone may be happy to read such a publication.
• "I just wanted to 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia' at that time, but later I decided I to write about it. I have a very good memory and so when I look through my photos and FB posts, it is easy for me to write about the things I saw and did then, even though a lot of time has passed in between." Lam Ching Fu returns with the second instalment of My Journey By Bus, which features Pahang, Terengganu, and Kelantan.
• Debut Singaporean author Lee Wen-yi's novel, The Dark We Know, has been picked up by Gillian Flynn Books – yes, that Gillian Flynn – and is expected to be released on 13 August. Like some, she started writing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The young adult novel follows a teenage art student as she unites with an estranged childhood friend and battles a supernatural evil in her small town.
• In an interactive session on 15 June at The Red Bari coffee shop in Kolkata, editors Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri and Maitreyee B. Chowdhury fielded questions from the audience about books, writing, and publishing. Both speak from their experience in India, but their advice may also apply regardless of where you're from or who you're submitting to.
• "Both [Edgar Allan] Poe and the novice printer Calvin F.W. Thomas were just eighteen when the poet handed over his manuscript, presumably at Thomas's shop at 70 Washington Street in Boston, and paid him to make it into a book. The result was forty pages of unevenly printed verse bound in drab tan wrappers the shade of a faded tea stain." The startling story of Tamerlane and Other Poems, Poe's debut collection, which is now a much-sought-after item by bibliophiles.
• Here's an incredible story about a public library in the United Kingdom that's become more than a place to read and borrow books. When you learn of how social safety nets are being gutted here and there, it's no surprise some turn to public libraries for certain essentials.
• During a book event, Librairie Gouraya, a bookshop in the Algerian city of Bejaia, was raided by police who detained an author, the publisher, and several others. No explanation was given, but The New Arab suggests it might have to do with the Koukou publishing house, which "has been subject to censorship in recent years."
• Free online library Internet Archive had to take down half a million titles after a clutch of book publishers sued them for copyright infringement. "To restore access, IA is now appealing, hoping to reverse the prior court's decision by convincing the US Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit that IA's controlled digital lending of its physical books should be considered fair use under copyright law," reports Ars Technica.
• Like an ouroboros: "Ban This Book, a children's book written by Alan Gratz, will no longer be available in the Indian River county school district since the school board voted to remove the book last month," reports The Guardian. Of course it happened in the US state of Florida, and it was because a parent challenged the book. The children's book is about a kid who couldn't borrow a book from a library because it was challenged by, yes, a parent, prompting her to start a library of banned books.

Literature, In Trouble?

"...I don't mean that literature has to always have a meditative and philosophical slant, but when writing descends to levels of serving only the senses and not the spirit, it becomes debauched and demeaning, "goes an op-ed in Khaleej Times. When people write cookie-cut books with the sole intention of adding the suffix of 'author' to their names to fuel their professional lives or to boost their egos, literature falls from grace."

While I agree with this op-ed somewhat, I don't know how writers alone can shift the needle in this when I feel publishers and audiences play a bigger role in what comes out. Is the writer taking aim at books by celebrities or influencers?

The piece seems to exhibit a longing for a time that may not have existed and a dread of an encroaching literary apocalypse that may not be. I recognise bits of my old self in some of these outpourings. Going into writing, one has – and will develop – certain ideas about what the craft is and what purposes it serves, which will be worn down by time and exposure to all sorts of material.

My early takes on certain genres and writing styles have been whittled down in this manner over the years, which is why nowadays I wince when I read takes like this:

I wonder what significance modern writing (I hesitate to categorise today's frivolous bookly endeavours as literature) will have for mankind and its future. Is the era of writing for change, to positively influence societies, to impart courage, to reflect the good and denounce the bad and to comfort a deeply wounded global civilisation over? Is literature now turning into mere candy floss with little gains for the reader except satisfying the senses?

I wonder what kind of "candy floss" literature is the writer referring to. No examples are provided. However, Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali, Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, and Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning were cited as examples of works that "shine a torch on the resilient nature of human beings in the face of hardships" and offer readers hope that they too can prevail, with "the will and mindset."

While there is acknowledgement of the need for chick lit and the like, "but as along as the written word does not bring perspective to our everyday struggles and give us an opportunity for emotional catharsis and empathetic considerations, no writer has done justice to this glorious craft."

It's 2024 and this sort of thinking still exists, steady as a rock in rough seas. I shouldn't be amazed. Silos are meant to be impervious. Either that or it's a slow op-ed day and they're fishing for engagement.


Lit is lit
I doubt there was ever a golden age of literature. Then and now, publishing has been a free-for-all since the masses were taught to write. Institutions can gatekeep but it's futile. Bawdy rhymes, gory horror, spicy smut and the like were the rage back then as they are today, and not all of it polished. Ever heard of the penny dreadful?

Now, it's Fifty Shades of Grey. The Secret. Partisan political punditry. Steamy yet toxic Wattpad romances. All existing side by side with the classics, scholarly works, investigative journalism, memoirs, and other bestsellers. And does "cookie-cut" refer to the slew of Instapoetry tomes in the wake of successes by the likes of Rupi Kaur and Lang Leav?

Authorship carries a certain cachet, so of course some would find it appealing. That aside, writing unserious stuff can be as fun as reading it, so it wouldn't surprise me if the genesis of some "serious" writers involved forays in spheres of mass-consumption such as fan fiction. And if more people are seeking escapes in such stuff, why? If more are writing material that serve "only the senses and not the spirit", why?

And who's to say that "fluff" doesn't "bring perspective to our everyday struggles and give us an opportunity for emotional catharsis and empathetic considerations"? Maybe the authors wrote it into the "fluff", or it's what readers feel after spending an afternoon with some. Surely there are other reasons for their popularity other than the nature of the contents.

For every score of "fluffy" titles that come out, there could be a handful of painstakingly crafted, well-thought-out works of some literary merit. Just about every writer writes for some degree of personal gratification – the most vital being able to eat – regardless of aim or what they tell themselves and interviewers. That their works somehow achieve an altruistic goal is at best happenstance.


Right words, right time
Les mots justes, to paraphrase Gustave Flaubert. When a reader chances upon a title, they could be in some sort of pickle. So if reading that title happens to open a door towards the solution to their woes or solve it outright, all well and good. The merits of such titles or whether they should be written can be discussed, but why toll the bell for something that isn't dying but thriving?

Writing "for change, to positively influence societies, to impart courage, to reflect the good and denounce the bad and to comfort a deeply wounded global civilisation" is a pursuit for the privileged. Who can think big if one is worried about food, shelter, and healthcare? If the highbrow goals of the craft need to be carried, that responsibility should fall to writers who can – noblesse oblige and all that.

In literature, fluff has always co-existed with serious. One does not have to thrive at the expense of another. The amount of fluff doesn't cancel the existence of other works, so they'll always be available. All one has to do is seek.

Book Marks: Power Readers, Being Happy, Middle-Grade Books

"A few weeks back, The Washington Post ran a piece spotlighting 'super readers,' a self-selecting class of book nerds who pride themselves on reading very, very fast. ... Why, I asked the author, who could not hear me in Washington—Why pedestal the reader who goes to books like a buffet, craving quantity? Why is our culture so intent on praising folks for reading not wider or more deeply, but faster and more?"

A Washington Post article about power readers, which I also bookmarked, prompted some questions and a bit of soul-searching. While some books take a long time to create and consume, titles that could have been designed for mass-consumption, like pulp novels, have been produced for a long time and seem to be popular among a chunk of readers.

But what the LitHub piece rails against is the need to devour books by the ton to establish some kind of identity or fulfil a certain life metric, because that's not what books and reading are about. Why do you read? Answer that question – AFTER some thought, please – and your approach to books may change.


Also:

• "Happiness is not something grand. Aren't you happy when you do what you want to do? But people are creating this mirage by making happiness too grandiose. Happiness is when something small that you want comes true." Eighty-eight-year-old Rhee Kun-hoo, author of "If You Live To 100, You Might As Well Be Happy", has advice on attaining happiness for everyone. The book is shceduled for release this month.
• "...there's one sector of publishing that is in free fall. At least among one audience, books are dying. Alarmingly, it's the exact audience whose departure from reading might actually presage a catastrophe for the publishing industry—and for the entire concept of pleasure reading as a common pursuit." Sales of middle-grade books are declining in the US, along with the number of children aged eight to 12 who are reading for fun. How to get kids back to books?
• "Beyond selling books and dabbling in freelance editing jobs, [Ahmad Luqman Zahari] also runs Pipit Press, which translates and publishes classics in Bahasa Malaysia." An indie publisher and bookseller operating out of an old kampung house in Melaka is bringing classic works in English to local audiences.
• "I think it's important for them to know they can have a book of their own, and it not to be a used book because we're all used to hand-me-downs," Jesse Marez, owner of the Libros Lincoln Heights bookstore in Los Angeles, tells the LA Times. "I think in a neighborhood like this, people need to know that they can get a new book, especially at an early age." Not just a neighbourhood bookstore, Libros is also publishing local stories besides selling books that aren't considered mainstream.
• "I felt a great sense of duty and responsibility to be able to talk about a fictional version of my own lived experience as a Tongan Australian because there are no fiction books written by Tongans in this country." Winnie Dunn, the Tongan Australian author of Dirt Poor Islanders, on her "unapologetically", "fearlessly" autobiographical book, writing, and being an Australian-born Tongan.
• In light of the revelations coming out of South Dakota governor Kristi Noem's book, No Going Back, a reminder that even the big publishers do not fact-check their non-fiction releases. Why not? "From the publisher's perspective, hiring a team of checkers is 'a huge expense,' [journalist Jane] Friedman said—it would 'destroy the profitability' of some books. And there are logistical challenges: Fact-checking memoirs, for example, can be difficult, because you're dealing with people's memories."
• If nine-year-old Lashika Poneswaran, who wrote The Waffle Truffle Adventure, is not Malaysia's youngest book author, then she is one of the youngest. The self-published book "is about a group of friends who enter a waffle competition. The protagonist, Rose, wants to seek out the old woman in the forest, rumoured to make the best waffles," reports Free Malaysia Today.
• "Writing advice is always a little funny because everyone's journey is different and there are really no right or wrong answers. For every piece of advice someone gives, you can find someone who did the opposite and thrived. So below I'm just going to include some subjective tidbits that have worked for me during my four years and three books as a mid-list author." Author Anna Dorn shares some writing advice in Literary Hub.
• Publishing books in Egypt can be like navigating a minefield because you never know what might set the authorities off. This report by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy is a harrowing read. "Book publishing is a very dangerous profession in this country. Publishers can find themselves at the wrong side of the equation at any given moment because nobody knows for a fact what would anger the censoring and security bodies."

Book Marks: BookTok's Future, Graphic Novels, Publishers

As the ban on TikTok looms in the United States, several BookTokers speak to the media about what the ban could mean for them, BookTok, and the publishing industry. At the very least, BookTokers could migrate to another platform, and existing video platforms could make some changes to accommodate the expected exodus.

Rachel Ulatowski weighs in on the issue at The Mary Sue, voicing concerns that some authors would potentially lose a vital lifeline that helps their livelihoods, skipping past hurdles in traditional publishing routes. "Many authors have turned to TikTok because it’s their only option to be able to do the work they love in a flawed industry."

Publishers are in no apparent rush to adapt, noting that the ban is scheduled to go into effect on 2025. As for portability, The Washington Post's director of video, Micah Gelman, noted that "The videos ... are transferable from TikTok to YouTube Shorts." Will the community rebrand as "BookShort" or "BookTube" though?

In the end, it doesn't matter where the community migrates to. BookTok is apparently here to stay and it'll continue doing its thing, as always. Meanwhile, TikTok has filed a suit to block the law that would ban the app in the US. What's next? Staying tuned.

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Graphic novels and comics appear to be getting kids to read in Australia. The growth in the graphic genre hints at its growing popularity, but it's not just because the pictures are pretty.

Comic creator and illustrator Marcelo Baez, considers comics and graphic novels "the gateway to literacy", adding that "I talk to parents ... of the kids that I teach in the workshops ... and it's comics that gets them interested in reading," he told Cairns Post.

The portal also quotes Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) CEO Cathie Warburton: "At a time when the number of people reading for pleasure in Australia is declining, and when the health and wellbeing benefits are proven, getting kids excited by reading is more important than ever."

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"The article ['No One Buys Books' by Elle Griffin] paints a nearly apocalyptic portrait of traditional publishing, in which nothing works, few make money, nobody reads, and the whole industry might go poof at any moment. ... The only problem is, the picture isn't true." Lincoln Michel at Slate unpacks Griffin's viral article and provides some facts to counter some of the claims in it.

I think this article was (also) mentioned by someone writing in Daily Kos. The data Griffin uses comes from a court trial regarding Penguin Random House's merger with Simon & Schuster, where PRH tried to justify the move. "The problem is, [Griffin] is relying on bad data and a mindset from a trial where it was in the publishers' best interests to downplay their market power."

Publishing is tough, but perhaps not as tough for the likes of PRH and the other major international publishers. They're less vulnerable to market forces compared to smaller publishers. Still, wouldn't operating costs for behemoth corporations that arise from mergers be astronomical? Especially when the suits at the helm are more concerned with P&L than the quality of the output and the welfare and well-being of authors and employees? Perhaps putting more emphasis on the latter two would be better for the industry than shareholder-pleasing moves that tend to end up gutting the enterprise.


Also:

• "Ultimately, The Last Man seems to celebrate the notion of life itself as worthy, whatever form it takes. Of course, we should attempt to reverse the damage we've wrought on the planet. But it might also behoove us to practice humility in the face of nature's awesome forces." What lessons can a novel by English author Mary Shelley teach us about our impact on and our relationship with Earth?
• "I often have thoughts like why can't we have a prettier subway logo? Why are our government websites so cheap looking? Why do 'Ah Bengs' like changing LED lights so much?" Graphic designer Jun Kit's Ugly Malaysiana catalogues and champions Malaysian kitsch as a celebration of "the underdogs, the undocumented, the unimpressive, and of course, laughing about the craziness of it all."
• Daryl Yeap, great-granddaughter of businessman and philanthropist Yeap Chor Ee and author of the book about him, returns with the story of three women and their ties to Java's sugar tycoon, Oei Tiong Ham. The book, As Equals: The Oei Women Of Java, "begins in the late 1880s in Semarang, Java, the year that Tiong Ham's daughter Oei Hui Lan was born – an auspicious year for Tiong Ham, who made his first million that same year," reports The Star.
• National libraries across Europe have been pillaged of antique books written by renowned authors, which have found their way to auction houses in Russia, the Guardian reports. This gang had pilfered at least 170 books in what amounted to an international operation. "The books were stolen in 2022 and 2023 from national and historical libraries in France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Switzerland."
• The Lion Above the Door, a children's book by Onjali Rauf, was inspired by a Singaporean World War II pilot who flew with the British RAF. The author was recently in Singapore for speaking engagements in several schools and expressed a wish to meet the airman's family "so that they know what he means to not only her, but also to the thousands of children now learning and wanting to find out more about his story," reports the Straits Times. Rauf got her wish.
• "For my own writing, I always choose authenticity over commercial stuff. I tell my agent I don't want to hear any sales numbers or reviews. I don't want to let external factors beyond my control affect my creative mindset. I wouldn't fault anyone for doing so though – I don't consider it selling out. At the end of the day, writing is work." A profile of Singaporean author Kyla Zhao in Her World. She also gives a good piece of writing advice: "... it's never going to be a good time. So you should just start now."
• Who'd guess that Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Valley of Amazement, among others, would write, illustrate(!) and publish her nature journal about birds in her backyard? The illustrations alone are enough to send one into another valley of amazement. As with many, she seems to have picked up the hobby and drawing skills during the pandemic lockdowns.
• "There is no proper form or proper time for grief. There is no need to be hard on ourselves if our grieving process doesn't match what other people expect. Grieving feels different for different people, and there are infinite permutations for what it might look like." Grief and sibling relationships are among the topics explored in Malaysian-born author Yeoh Jo-Ann's novel, Deplorable Conversations with Cats and Other Distractions.
• Some tips on writing and storytelling for journalists and writers of narrative non-fiction, from the book Truth Is The Arrow, Mercy Is The Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories by author and essayist Steve Almond and an interview with the author.
• "Over the last few years, Indian publishers have taken a cue from their counterparts in the West as they increasingly consult social media influencers to create a buzz around the latest releases. But what we are now seeing are influencers trying out the role of author themselves and often creating bestsellers." In India, influencers are diving into authorship, with encouraging results. Having a reputation and substantial viewer base helps.
• Say "hi" to the world of private book collections and learn what motivates collectors, what makes for a rare book, and the future of the hobby. This article is too brief for a deep dive into the subject, and it doesn't seem to address or acknowledge how some of these rare books in collections might have been stolen from elsewhere. Many reasons compel one to collect, and for many private collectors proud of their efforts, caretaking is usually the goal, as rare-books collector Tom Lecky states in the article.
• "Once a dream, [author Lauren] Groff's vision of a bookshop with purpose acquired new urgency as she observed what she calls 'authoritarian creep.' Florida led the country in attempted book bans last year, with 2,672 challenges, the American Library Association reported." Groff may not be from the Sunshine State, but she seems determined that her bookstore The Lynx be a stronghold against the wave of authoritarian bans on books and restrictions on what can be taught at schools and institutions of learning.
• "Why is Tan Twan Eng in the running for all the prizes?" some might ask when they get wind of his inclusion in the shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Which, admittedly, he qualifies for and has won in 2013 for The Garden of Evening Mists. "Why does Tan Twan Eng win all the prizes?" some might ask when they hear about the latter. Here's my take on that. TL;DR: no, he does not win nor qualify for "all the prizes".

Finally, something that's not about books: a piece about powder supplements by novelist Rachel Khong who subjected herself to some of the remedies she wrote about. She also weaved some history and family stories into it, making it more compelling.

(Interestingly, Khong has Malaysian roots, and the book tour that stressed her out enough for her to try ashwagandha was for her first novel, Goodbye, Vitamin. Funny, how things fall into place.)

Dodgy-looking and -sounding supplements aren't exclusively American – plenty has been said and written about their healthcare system, so one shouldn't be surprised Americans are turning to alternatives. We have these here too in Malaysia and in some instances, consumption has had dire consequences. Man, the lengths we go – from an apple a day to expensive mystery powders – to stay healthy.

Book Marks: Author Angst, Pondering Publishing

Blockbusting authors aside, most authors tend to be paid peanuts in comparison. This guy Ian Winwood, writing in The Telegraph, seems to have realised that being number one in an Amazon subcategory or rave reviews doesn't boost sales, and how the publishing sector treats authors (and its employees) needs to be improved. Is an authorpocalypse looming ahead?

I'd like to think this piece is more than just an ad for Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World by Dorian Lynskey, a book about doomsday tropes and the stories based on them. After all, Winwood isn't the only author who has things to say about, for instance, how advances are paid in instalments that leave one a bit short on cash for an amount of time.

But as long as suits are more concerned with shareholder equity than making good content and taking care of employees and authors, little will change for authors, if at all. One silver lining is that we will keep telling stories all the way to the end.

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"Books don't sell"? "Everyone would be better off on Substack or similar platforms"? Not entirely true, apparently. Publishing is difficult, but the writer of that piece seems to believe publishers are good at their jobs but are downplaying their capabilities so they don't need to make the changes they need to get better.

This is in relation to the Penguin Random House–Simon and Schuster monopoly trial, where I think the two companies are trying to justify the merger by claiming it will make them work better. Do big firms have to do a merger every time they feel they're not performing? Can't they just, well, change? In the words of the writer: "Change, however, is only possible if we don’t just accept that self-interested words of people who were trying to get paid in a big merger."


Elsewhere:

• Considering how bookworms tend to grow their to-be-read piles, is it okay to throw away books when it's time to? Michelle Cyca seems to think that's fine, and has no problems using a book until it falls apart because books are, well, books. "At the end of the day, a book is just paper and ink and glue. Its soul is something else entirely, less tangible but more enduring than an object on a shelf."
• "Other than as a cautionary tale about hubristic zealotry, I doubt many people want to relive the reign of Mad Queen Liz and even fewer will want to hear her rant to them that none of it was her fault. So who on earth is this book intended for?" This review of former British prime minister Liz Truss's book will make you wonder how she managed to last as long as she did. Lettuce not do that again, please.
• "A 2023 study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, of more than 10,000 young adolescents in the U.S. concluded that children who start reading for pleasure from an early age tended to fare better in cognitive testing and had better mental health in their adolescent years." A dad featured on Newsweek may not have heard of this study, but his practice of giving books to his kid instead of a phone seems to be paying dividends.
• Publishers may be fighting back on book bans, but I'd say it's more to do with optics than it is about doing the right thing, although a bit of the latter is a plus. More diverse points of view means more stuff to sell, and publishers seem to be aware that bookworms tend to be more interested in diverse material. Only a handful are pushing for books to be banned across the US, and shame on conservative figureheads riding high on this ripple sparked by frivolous reasons.
• "The Malaysian Indian community is central in a lot of my stories because that is my community, my voice. If I have other voices I want to write about, I take it upon myself to research and get input from members of that community. What's important is that we debunk the myths and misconceptions we have of one another." Malachi Edwin Vethamani has something to tell you in his new collection of stories.
• "Whenever I travel abroad, I am invariably introduced as China’s most controversial and most censored author. I neither agree nor disagree with this characterization—I’m not bothered by it, but neither do I feel particularly honored by it." Read an excerpt from Sound and Silence: My Experience with China and Literature by Yan Lianke, where he talks about state censorship, artistic integrity, and the market forces behind publishing.
• According to journalist and author Tracie McMillan, the advantages of being White all her life (thus far) came up to US$371,934.30. CNN interviews her, where she speaks about how she benefitted from "policies and practices that have systematically hurt Black Americans" – a topic she tackles in her book, The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America.
• Kristen Arnett at Literary Hub answers questions about what to do when someone sends you unsolicited writing for comment, putting summaries of books in book reviews, and paying for blurbs. Useful advice.
• "It's not the first time I've gotten irritated at book recommendations on social media," writes Danika Ellis on Book Riot. Someone will ask for recommendations for a very particular kind of book and receive replies recommending books that have no relevance to the original request. ... TikTok, Reddit, X/Twitter, and other social media are notorious for recommending the same books over and over again, regardless of whether they're relevant to the request. " So who does Ellis recommend for book recommendations?
• "The book preview list is a highly imperfect form of coverage that seems to be, along with best-of the year lists, the most widely used kind of book reportage in media. With overall book coverage being pared down at most outlets, such lists have grown widely outsized in importance for authors and publishers and readers, as well as the writers who contribute punchy blurbs to them." So how does Maris Kreizman put together a preview list of "titles to look out for"?
• "His reaction to The Magic Eye showed Kubrick's image-control obsessions taken to extremes. He didn't just make edits – he erased the entire project. Now, almost 55 years after Neil Hornick completed it, readers can finally make their own judgments about the book Kubrick was so implacably determined to keep from public view." The book Stanley Kubrick didn't want published will be released at the end of April. What's a film director who can't handle criticism?
• Since 2018, a schoolteacher in India has been issuing a call for book donations ahead of World Book Day on 23 April for the school's library. But his efforts don't stop at cultivating the reading habit among students. "Following his efforts to collect books for students and cultivate a reading habit in them, students have even begun writing their own stories," reports The Times of India.