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 ]
I always imagined, that, given the choice, I would read my own audiobook. I had heard memoirs often sounded best in the author’s throat—something about the familiar tang of the hardship unspooled. But had I written a memoir? A bookseller acquaintance asked me that a year before the publication... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-22 09:54:39 UTC ]
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Job cuts add to costs for streaming service but it gains 10m premium subscribers in fourth quarterSpotify’s push beyond music has tipped the streaming service into the red again, after it acquired the rights to 200,000 audiobooks for premium subscribers, with Prince Harry’s autobiography and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-06 15:45:35 UTC ]
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The streaming company says its payout model is competitive, but the Society of Authors has raised doubts about whether authors ultimately benefit Spotify has said that it has paid audiobook publishers “tens of millions” since allowing users 15 hours of audiobook listening in its Premium... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-01 16:08:34 UTC ]
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N. Scott Momaday was the first Native American author to win a Pulitzer Prize. He passed away on January 24th at age 89. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-01-30 20:02:44 UTC ]
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There are early signs that Spotify’s addition of audiobooks to its streaming service is helping drive audiobook consumption — already a growing market. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-01-29 17:00:09 UTC ]
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HarperVia will publish 'The Last Dream,' the debut collection of short stories by Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar, translated from the Spanish by Frank Wynne, on September 24, in print and audiobook formats. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook publisher RBmedia has acquired Berrett-Koehler’s audiobook publishing business, including its backlist, and will publish audiobook editions of new Berrett-Koehler titles under its business audiobook brand, Ascent Audio, beginning this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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On January 25, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance hosted a streaming award ceremony honoring “the most distinguished books written and illustrated by creators who have made California their home.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A UK-US deal, the Open Road-owned Bloodhound in the UK is to see Dreamscape produce at five audiobooks from its list monthly. The post UK-US: Open Road’s Bloodhound Books in Audiobook Deal With Dreamscape appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-01-19 20:47:58 UTC ]
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The independent audiobook publisher's catalog topped 70,000 titles last year as it entered into more partnerships. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The audiobook might be less, well, useful than it is entertainingly honest, unfiltered and even bizarre. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-01-12 10:00:27 UTC ]
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Amazon-owned online audiobook and podcast service Audible is laying off about 5% of its workforce Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2024-01-11 22:47:05 UTC ]
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If you thought Big Tech’s dreadful year of layoffs would be confined to 2023, you’re (sadly) mistaken. Audible laid off around five percent of its employees on Thursday, which Variety reports is “just over 100 staffers.” The cuts in the audiobook division are part of parent company Amazon’s most... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-01-11 22:00:11 UTC ]
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With such an incredible range of choices of new audiobooks out in January, you’re sure to find an audiobook perfect for you. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-01-11 11:31:00 UTC ]
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The 2024 edition of the German Audiobook Prize issues its shortlists in seven categories, covering books, radio plays, and podcasts. The post The German Audiobook Prize Names Its 2024 Shortlists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-01-10 12:31:32 UTC ]
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How many stories does it take to get to know a place? Lifelong residents may write confidently of their homeland, but among the travelogs and novels and poems and memoirs that give shape to a city, I’m partial to books written from the perspective of those still calibrating their relationship... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-01-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading her audiobook memoir, “How to Say Babylon,” the poet gives voice to her Jamaican roots, her early ambition and the Rastafari father who would have quashed it. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-01-05 13:11:49 UTC ]
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By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Kaleidoscope’ is a short story by the American author Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), included in his 1952 collection of interlinked tales, The Illustrated Man. ‘Kaleidoscope’ deals with the theme of death, and how human beings respond to their imminent... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-12-29 15:00:31 UTC ]
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Greta Livraria in Lisbon and Rare Birds in Edinburgh are among the new stores dedicated to women’s writingWith its neatly arranged tables and shelves laden with books written by women, Greta Livraria’s small space masks its big ambitions. Since opening earlier this year, the bookstore in Lisbon... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-12-28 05:00:25 UTC ]
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With El Niño slated to drop a warm, wet winter on most of the US in the coming months, everybody’s going to need something good to read while the weather outside is frightful. Engadget’s well-read staff have some suggestions: our favorite books of 2023! We’ve got a phenomenal assortment of... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-12-25 16:30:28 UTC ]
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