Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” warns a character in Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision of an America where books are considered so dangerous they must be incinerated. The novel appeared 70 years ago, in the aftermath of Nazi book burnings and amid McCarthyism and Soviet ideological repression. But the urge to ban books has resurged with a vengeance, with the American Library Association (ALA) recording a doubling of censorship attempts in 2022, to 1,269 across 32 states: the highest rate for decades. Pen America, which champions freedom of expression, tallied more than 2,500 cases in the last school year.These attempts are not merely more numerous but are also broadening and deepening. The decisions of school boards and districts take place in the context of politicians grasping electoral advantage and punitive yet often vaguely worded state laws on education – such as the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis’s, Stop-Woke Act. At least 10 states have passed legislation increasing parental power over library stock, or limiting students’ access. In place of spontaneous challenges to single titles come challenges to multiple titles, organised by campaign groups such as Moms for Liberty. The ALA says that 40% of attempts last year targeted 100 books or more. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 17:21:33 UTC ]
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Andrew Miller's Costa-winning Pure (Sceptre) and five Puffin titles have been shortlisted for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC Books is adding to the roster of "Great British Bake Off" titles, with a new July... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Curators of rare books are finding that blogging gives their discoveries greater exposure, an example of how virtual work can support even the most tactile of pursuits. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Further pressure on publishers to fall in line over the use of open access models is set to come... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A lawyer and a caretaker with similar backgrounds follow different paths in contemporary Jerusalem with the same motivation: to leave their small-town Arab lives behind and be accepted for the new personas they have created.Early in the novel, "Second Person Singular," a main character known... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A US district judge has denied a motion to dismiss the civil suits filed against five publishers... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Accent Press is publishing a celebrity baking title, with a foreword by "Great British Bake... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The chance discovery of diaries depicting the horrors of war through the eyes of a boy soldier inspired the book that has won this year's highest honour for children's literature. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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War Horse author Michael Morpurgo and journalist John Pilger are among the guests at this year's London Literature Festival. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A federal judge on Tuesday denied Apple and several major book publishers’ motions to dismiss a class-action lawsuit that accuses the companies of conspiring to control the price of ebooks. In denying the request, Judge Denise Cote of the ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ana Sampson, co-author of The Book Club Bible, tells The World At One's Martha Kearney about the do's and dont's of literary circles. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Los Angeles Times is shutting down its monthly Sunday magazine, LA. The last issue will be June 3rd and the closure comes after attempts to recast the publication through frequency reductions, management shifts and editorial change-ups. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The complaint says that Jobs was enlisted to sell high-ranking officials in the publisher’s parent company on the wisdom of the proposed pricing scheme. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A dozen books a year? Some writers are accelerating the pace in this brave new world of ebooks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books Plus in Penzance has been sold to new owners and will soon change its name to The Edge of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A start-up digital textbook platform has agreed terms with 12 publishers ahead of a 1st September... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Erika Leonard laughs a lot, a deep wheezy chortle. And why wouldn't she? Leonard, a 49-year-old overnight publishing sensation, is laughing all the way to the bank. In the past few months the former TV executive has had her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, dominate the New York Times... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The cookbook has been republished after an initial run in 1947, and her great-granddaughter Elizabeth Gilbert ('Eat Pray Love') reintroduces Potter in the forward. The cookbook is insightful and funny, weaving together practical advice and recipes.At Home on the Range Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author wants American Jews to force changes in Israeli policy to protect the democratic legacy of Labor Zionism. He also explains why that's unlikely to happen.Nearly all the considerable attention generated by Peter Beinart's "The Crisis of Zionism" has focused on its final 81/2 pages.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles and Blackwell are teaming up for the first time to organise a joint Charing Cross Road... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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