Interviews Weina Dai Randel burst onto the literary scene a number of years ago with her duology about Empress Wu Zetian, China’s first woman leader. After winning the prestigious Rita Award in 2017 and seeing her novels translated into seven languages, she is back now with a new historical novel set in 1940s Shanghai. Keeping with her love of strong women characters, her new book, The Last Rose of Shanghai, centers on a nightclub owner named Aiyi Shao who falls for a Jewish refugee who had recently escaped Nazi Germany. Through their love of jazz, they develop a forbidden bond set during one of Shanghai’s most volatile and exciting eras. Randel is the first Chinese American author to write about Shanghai Jewish refugees, although there have been dozens of memoirs, narratives, and novels about this phenomenon from Jewish authors. We recently spoke over Zoom about what made Shanghai so special and why it matters now, along with the reasons Jews escaped to Shanghai during World War II and how Chinese and Jewish traditions are so similar. Susan Blumberg-Kason: It seems that the popularity of 1930s and ’40s Shanghai rose both in China and the US about twenty-five years ago. Can you talk about the appeal of this time and why it’s so special, both to people in the US and China? Weina Dai Randel: I think many aspects of Old Shanghai appeal to us today. From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, the period of Old Shanghai was a symbol of... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-20 14:33:49 UTC ]
FutureBook has launched an audio originals writing competition, which will see the winning work published as an audiobook and the successful author hosted at the FutureBook Conference. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-03 00:18:49 UTC ]
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Enter to win a a digital audio download of THE FLIGHT GIRLS Audiobook by Noelle Salazar. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-08-31 10:33:52 UTC ]
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Amazon's audiobook company Audible has agreed to delay parts of its disputed speech-to-text feature until permission and licensing issues are resolved. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-29 22:46:55 UTC ]
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Independent science fiction and fantasy publisher Baen Books has partnered with audiobook company RBmedia for an audiobook program. Under the agreement, the two companies will publish more than 170 audiobooks over the next three years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild is supporting the Association of American Publishers (AAP) as the organisation sues Amazon’s audiobook company Audible over a new speech-to-text feature. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-27 10:51:31 UTC ]
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Major US publishers have filed a lawsuit against Amazon's audiobook company Audible in a row over a new speech-to-text feature which they say is a violation of copyright law. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-26 15:42:06 UTC ]
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Actor Hayley Atwell will narrate the audiobook for The Confession by Jessie Burton, as Picador reveals plans for the launch campaign. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-22 03:35:34 UTC ]
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Actor Russell Tovey will read the audiobook for terminally ill playwright Joe Hammond’s forthcoming memoir, A Short History of Falling: Everything I’ve Observed About Love Whilst Dying. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-21 21:12:16 UTC ]
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Taron Egerton will narrate the audiobook edition of Elton John's forthcoming autobiography, Me. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-21 12:02:50 UTC ]
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Do you like criminals in your manga? What about criminals as the main characters? If so, check out this list of crime manga! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-08-15 10:34:10 UTC ]
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Audible's push into original content now includes a team-up with a company best-known for its comic books and TV shows. The Amazon-owned audiobook service has struck a deal with Skybound, the team behind The Walking Dead, to create multiple Audible... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-08-13 18:43:00 UTC ]
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In her creative and critical work, Toni Morrison sought to remap the contours of American literature and culture. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2019-08-07 06:00:28 UTC ]
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Listen to an exclusive audiobook excerpt of Ruth Ware's new psychological thriller, THE TURN OF THE KEY, narrated by Imogen Church! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-08-06 10:33:59 UTC ]
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Audiobook and large-print publisher W F Howes has acquired the Dr Alexander Gregory trilogy by self-published author Louise Ross. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-04 18:27:22 UTC ]
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Nearly 100 million Americans will be hopping in the car for a road trip this year, according to AAA, with most of us embarking in the summer. A recent survey commissioned by the Audio Publishers Association reveals that 74 percent of audiobook readers prefer to read them in cars. Given those... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-02 08:50:47 UTC ]
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The quintessentially American author wrote pieces for a Paris newspaper in the 1950s. Now, one of those — about a nervous chef and a magnificent cat — is being published in English for the first time. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-07-31 09:00:06 UTC ]
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Carcanet Press is launching an audiobook series featuring recordings of poetry collections read by the authors themselves. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-30 14:17:40 UTC ]
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Authors Jenny Eclair, Kit de Waal, Sally Gardner and Bali Rai have been made ambassadors for national audiobook charity Listening Books as it marks its 60th anniversary. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-29 18:56:21 UTC ]
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Scrolling book-reveals for Lit Hub’s Climate Change Library I sighed, “Here we go again.” On the first day, “Part One: The Classics” listed 48 books written by mostly white authors. The four exceptions, Robert D. Bullard, a Black American and Winona LaDuke, an Indigenous North American, along... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-26 08:50:12 UTC ]
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Only 37% of books published in Scotland over the course of 2017 were written by women, showing gender inequality is still “structural and persistent”, according to new research shared by pressure group ROAR. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-26 05:14:33 UTC ]
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