Protests continue over ban of memoir in Chicago schools
Mar 19 2013: The controversy over the Chicago Public Schools restricting access to Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of her youth in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, continues to roil the nation’s third largest school district, as free speech advocates weigh in.
Supreme Court decides that books purchased overseas can be sold in USA, with far reaching consequences
Mar 19 2013: The Supreme Court have ruled 6-3 that the "first sale doctrine" applies to books purchased overseas. Specifically, the court decided that Supap Kirtsaeng (who is being sued by textbook publisher Wiley) did not violate copyright when he purchased textbooks overseas to sell to friends and families...
American Academy of Arts and Letters announces 19 winners
Mar 14 2013: The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the names of 19 writers who will receive its 2013 awards in literature. The awards will be presented in New York in May at the Academy's annual ceremony. The literature prizes, totaling $175,000, honor both established and emerging writers...
January 2013 USA bookstore sales up 5.5% versus December
Mar 14 2013: January bookstore sales rose 5.5%, to $2.1 billion, compared to December 2012, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau. Total retail sales in January rose 6.1%, to $382.4 billion, compared to the same period a year...
New award for literary fiction: The $60,000 Folio Prize
Mar 13 2013: A long anticipated rival to the UK's Man Booker Prize is now a reality with the announcement that the Literature Prize has a sponsor, The Folio Society, and will thus be known as the Folio Prize.
Literary agent Andrew Kidd conceived of the new prize in 2011 in response to the controversial 2011...
Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly Orange Prize) longlist announced
Mar 13 2013: The longlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly Orange Prize) has been announced, including Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, Barbara Kingsolver, Maria Semple, Gillian Flynn and fifteen...
More organizations rally to block Amazon from buying .book, .read etc domain names
Mar 12 2013: More organizations, including the Authors Guild and Barnes & Noble, have filed objections to Amazon's request for future domain names such as .book, .author, .read, .app and...
Publishers oppose Amazon's bid to buy .book domain name
Mar 08 2013: In a filing this week with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) the Association of American Publishers came out against a bid by Amazon to buy the .book domain name for its exclusive use, saying such an application would be counter to public...
Law firm investigating Author Solutions and its subsidiaries including AuthorHouse, iUniverse and Xlibris
Mar 04 2013: A New York City law firm is "investigating the practices" of Author Solutions and its subsidiaries AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, Inkubook and Wordclay. The firm said, "Authors using Author Solutions have complained of deceptive practices, including enticing authors to purchase...
Feb 28 2013: Barnes & Noble's third quarter revenues (ending January 26) fell 8.8%, to $2.2 billion, and the net loss was $6.1 million, compared to net earnings of $52 million a year ago. Sales of $2.2 billion were below analysts' estimates of $2.4 million, Reuters reported. As a result, in trading before...
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The best book I've read in a very long time and the first ever Bo Caldwell novel for me. I'd never before read anything about missionaries to China,...
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With a poetic voice, Ratner plunges us into this personal trial of a royal family wrenched from their home in Phnon Penh, Cambodia, during the late...
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First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
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Amazon cuts off 5200 affiliates in Minnesota(Jun 19 2013) With Minnesota's online sales tax law due to take effect July 1, Amazon has played a familiar card by cutting ties with 5,200 members of its Associates...
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