Category: words

In response to a proposed law banning any books by, or even “concerning,” the late author of A People’s History of the United States, two nonprofits offered to send the book and related classroom materials to any Arkansas middle or high school teach or librarian who asked. Hundreds of them did.

“The Pulitzer comes after The Underground Railroad won the National Book Award, after it was selected for Oprah’s Book Club, and after Moonlight director Barry Jenkins signed on to adapt it for television.”

Henry Grabar: “In short, Evicted the book that everyone who thinks about housing for a living has been reading or giving to their friends.”

“Matar’s latest book details his return to Libya in 2012 as he sought the truth [of] his father’s fate, decades after he was kidnapped by Colonel Qaddafi’s secret security [forces]. … His first novel, In the Country of Men, was nominated for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.”

“Thompson’s book explores an infamous [1971] riot at the Attica Correctional Facility [in New York state] that involved 1,300 prisoners and ultimately led to the deaths of 39 people. … [Jess’s volume] tells the stories behind America’s blues, work songs and church hymns.”

“To run a business, you have to be deeply involved in all the minutiae, from strategy to product to hiring. Diving into the story, identifying with the characters, and trying to solve the mystery has two effects on me. First, it is a very efficient way to disconnect from all the problems I face in the business. Second, it immediately unlocks my creativity. My mind has no limits while I’m reading, and it shouldn’t while I’m conducting business.”

Lincoln Michel attacked the concept in an essay last week; here, Emily Temple defends it. But she extends her defense: “No one should feel compelled to create lists of irrelevant details because of some oppressive Internet overlord. Actually, I have good news: literally nothing is required from fiction.”

Other interesting statistics from Britain and the Republic of Ireland: “The highest levels of library use were in Scotland and Ireland, with the lowest in Northern Ireland.”

What happens if you start looking up the word ‘mondegreen’? “The churning sea of language raises its watery head to look around and then dives back into itself, splashing out words like litotes, genericide, and yes, metaphor. I collect these terms like Easter eggs, thrilled to have names for the ways we outfit our messages with color, rhythm, and nuance.”

Whoa: “Elling O. Eide decided to bring the world of Sinology to Sarasota. Already a voracious collector, he doubled down on his passion, buying entire collections of academic journals and books. His research specialty had been China’s most famous poet, Li Po, who lived during the Tang dynasty of the seventh to 10th centuries, often called China’s greatest. That dynasty became his focus. He amassed 75,000 volumes, including 50,000 in Chinese.”