Breaking news on authors, publishers, and book-related topics

Two inaugural events for indie bookstores - in USA and Canada

May 04 2015: Saturday saw two inaugural events for Indie bookstores, one in the USA, the other in Canada. In the USA, Independent Bookstore Day took off with a bang with about 400 indie bookstores across the country taking part (for background to this event see previous news stories...

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Author Ruth Rendell dies

May 02 2015: Ruth Rendell, one of Britain's great mystery writers, has died aged 85 after a 50-year career. Author of the Chief Inspector Wexford novels and many standalone novels written under her own name, she also penned many writing as Barbara Vine.

To quote The Guardian, "...

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Obama announces major book initiative for low-income students

May 01 2015: President Obama has announced two initiatives intended to "strengthen learning opportunities by improving access to digital content and to public libraries."

In the first initiative, major publishers including Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House,...

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First Independent Bookstore Day this Saturday

Apr 27 2015: Saturday May 2 marks the first Independent Bookstore Day in the USA. 400 bookstores are taking part in an event that grew out of the successful 2014 California Bookstore Day. There will be 16 exclusive books and original art pieces available. One day only. Info ...

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Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Goes to All The Light We Cannot See

Apr 20 2015: Anthony Doerr's richly imagined novel, All the Light We Cannot See, set during WWII, voted by BookBrowse visitors their top fiction choice for 2014, has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The Pope And Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of ...

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The 2014 Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books

Apr 14 2015: Each year the American Library Association publishes its Top 10 Most Challenged Books. Here is the latest list:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling...

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HarperCollins and Amazon agree multi-year publishing deal

Apr 14 2015: Contrary to concern last week that Amazon and HarperCollins were heading for an impasse that would lead to the delisting of all HarperCollins (as happened to Hachette last year), HarperCollins issued a brief statement yesterday saying it had "reached an agreement with ...

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Nobel Prize-winning author Günter Grass dies aged 87

Apr 13 2015: The writer Günter Grass, who broke the silences of the past for a generation of Germans, has died in hospital in Lübeck at the age of 87.

German president Joachim Gauck led the tributes, offering his condolences to the writer’s widow Ute Grass. “Günter Grass moved, ...

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