Hey, fellow readers. Things are still going the way that they are in the US and elsewhere. The initial stress and shock has died down to a dull roar of anxiety, however, meaning I can a)focus more on real action and b)share some diverse bookish news. Hope you’re all hanging in there as well. (And it sounds lame to type that out, given….everything, but I do mean it. I’m just exhausted and temporarily out of pith.)
- Colleen Hoover may be quitting writing. [Times Now News]
- Just in time for Valentine’s Day: men apparently like romance novels more than women, now. [ThriftBooks]
- I really should have posted about this last week for Lunar New Year, but Valentine season is also a good time to read Gene Luen Yang’s Lunar New Year Love Story. I reviewed it last year, and its exploration of love, romance, and culture still comes to my mind now and then. [Equal Opportunity Reader]
- Just in time for Black History Month; Black writer, historian, and one of my personal faves Michael Harriot has a newsletter now. [Contraband Camp]
- In case you need something to take your mind off of ensuing global chaos…take a look at this pillow. [Svenskt Tenn]
- I had no idea that the first Vietnamese-American woman astronaut is set to go into space later this year. Amanda Nguyen has also written a memoir about her journey towards space and her civil rights work(which resulted in the 2016 Sexual Assault Survivors Act) that’s due out in March.[MacMillan]
- Someone’s gone and written a collection about an infamous perpetual house party on an estate in North Peckham. That someone is Nigerian British poet Caleb Femi and I have to say, this book looks like a good time. [The Guardian]
- Bookshop now has ebooks. NetGalley is launching their own proprietary reading platform. Nobody really seems to be happy with either choice but my take is this–we have to start somewhere. Amazon started in a garage, we’re not going to be able to create platforms that rival it out of whole cloth in a week. Give them a chance, as much as you are able to. I will. (I’m also not getting rid of the many, many Kindle books I have or my Kindle. Progressive, not performative, okay folks?)
- This epic novel by Santanu Bhattacharya about three generations of gay men in India–and how differently that looks, over time–caught my eye as well. [The Guardian]
That’s it for now, fellow readers. If you’re an American and want to know what you can do, check this document issued by Congress. If you’re one of the many international readers–forgive us? And send some good thoughts our way.
As always, anything you buy from a link you find here will result in a commission being paid. Thanks in advance for your visit, and go read something good. Peace!
Equal Opportunity Reader 