They interrupt narrative and disrupt plot – no wonder novelists have been slow to warm to mobile phones. But a new generation is putting technology at the heart of their workWhat do you call a phone when it rings in a fictional world? “Mobile” and “cell” are old, “smartphone” is almost a tautology and “phone” is so intrusive that the word seems to ring out shrilly from the page the instant you type it. This may be because we read fiction partly to escape our phones, or it may be that phones, even fictional ones, seem to demand too much of our attention. Telephones, of the kind we all keep handy, are so much a part of daily life we touch them as often as our faces. But phones in fiction require a sleight of hand: if characters use them as realism dictates, they will feel as interruptive on the page as they do at the dinner table. How can authors navigate this challenge?Like bathrooms and paid employment, it is amazing how often phones are dispensed with by many otherwise realist fiction writers. JM Coetzee famously wrote to Paul Auster (in Here and Now, the 2013 selection of their letters) that he was not prepared “to write novels in which people go around with personal electronic devices”. Because, if “everyone has access to more or less everyone else, what becomes of all that plotting?” He also lamented the impact of mobile technology on the “novel of adultery”, though surely Sally Rooney has proved there was nothing to fear. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-22 10:00:09 UTC ]
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‘Kill the Rich’ by Jack Allison and Kate Shapiro is a lacerating satire of America’s gonzo culture—and no one comes out unscathed. A provocative book title doesn’t always telegraph to readers what awaits inside. When it comes to those self-help books that include a naughty little swear on the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-09-16 03:00:00 UTC ]
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From the dark heart of a misguided follower to the young hand of a diarist whose words outlived her, these novels encompass the full spectrum of humanity. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-09-15 16:58:33 UTC ]
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Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. The ten titles on the longlist were selected from a pool of 496 books submitted for consideration by their publishers; this year’s judges for Fiction are Steph Cha, Calvin Crosby, Silas... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-15 14:15:56 UTC ]
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Looking for a work of science fiction that will make you really think? Welcome to these philosophical sci-fi books! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-15 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Get away from it all with a journey to the most magical libraries in fiction from the Library of Zosma to the Great Libraries of Austmeer. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-12 10:34:00 UTC ]
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The publisher will leave Macmillan's Henry Holt imprint to spearhead the fiction program at Crown Publishing Group. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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From the Pulitzer and Booker to the Walter Scott Prize and more, these award-winning historical fiction books are the best in the genre! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-24 10:36:00 UTC ]
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DeBin previously served as deputy director of Portland's Literary Arts, as well as a national account manager at Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Young Readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Drew Gilpin Faust, former Harvard University president, discusses her memoir “Necessary Trouble,” about her rebellion against sexist and racist strictures of 1950s Virginia. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2023-08-22 16:11:00 UTC ]
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From classics to modern marvels to young adult adventures, here are the bestselling science fiction books of all time. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-08 10:31:00 UTC ]
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These new science fiction and fantasy books out August 2023, including More Perfect by Temi Oh, deal with everything from ghosts to aliens to war machines. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-03 10:33:00 UTC ]
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The string of weeks in which unit sales of print books were down in all major categories reached three last week, leading to a 5.4% sales decline from the comparable week in 2022. Sales of adult fiction fell 7.2%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite winning awards, these little-known beautiful and thought-provoking literary fiction books, like Last of Her Name by Mimi Lok, remain criminally underrated. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-01 10:34:00 UTC ]
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Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto, Patrick deWitt’s The Librarianist, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * Fiction 1. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 09:07:50 UTC ]
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These novels remind us of old-fashioned human connections that can’t be severed, for better or worse. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-07-28 09:01:35 UTC ]
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For a decade while I was drafting it, my debut novel The Peach Seed had a different title, Peach Seed Monkey, which referred to a tiny monkey carved from a peach pit that had been a present to me and my sister when we were children. A book title has power to pique interest, crack […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-27 09:45:33 UTC ]
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History and science fiction collide in these historical science fiction books like Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente, where the future is retro and retro is the future. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-20 10:34:00 UTC ]
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Looking to diversify your reading list? Then this alphabet of SFF authors of color is a great place to start! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-19 10:37:00 UTC ]
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Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Marrying Friends, the forthcoming collection of short stories from Mary Rechner, which will be published by Propeller Books in October. Here’s a bit about the book from the publisher: When her troubled husband dies unexpectedly, mercurial Therese... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-11 15:00:43 UTC ]
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Want to read more historical fiction set in Mexico? We've got you covered with these 20 absolute must-read books! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-11 10:31:00 UTC ]
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