What We're Reading – October 2019

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most of whom identify as female, living in London. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them through my reading and seeing how their lives are linked or overlap in different ways. What I found particularly interesting about this book is how each character responds in their own way to the universal questions of self and identity, particularly the tensions between personal, public and political gender discourse and the effect it has on the relationships the characters have with others. This feels like a very important book, and a must-read if you’re interested in what’s happening in UK fiction today.Rachel Stevens, Director LiteratureCommon People - An Anthology of Working-class Writers (ed Kit de Waal). An exceptional collection of essays, poems, memoir and short stories celebrating working-class life, culture and literature. There are many highlights, but I especially recommend Lisa McInnery’s essay ‘Working Class: An Escape Manual’, which considers how working-class writers and artists are co-opted into other identities when they achieve success. Debut author Adam Sharp’s ‘Play’, a memoir of his relationship with a substance-addicted father, is poignant and deftly handled - he’s a writer to... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "What We're Reading – October 2019"


Gardners strikes deal with ecommerce firm Monwell

Gardners Books has joined forces with ecommerce firm Monwell Ltd in a new partnership that will see the wholesalers take over the Guardian Bookshop account from Bertrams.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-16 23:50:20 UTC ]
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Lakeith Stanfield will star in an adaptation of Kwame Onwuachi’s Notes From a Young Black Chef

Last night, Variety reported that Lakeith Stanfield (also known as the actual best part of Atlanta, there I said it, don’t @ me) to star in a feature film adaptation of Kwame Onwuachi’s Notes From a Young Black Chef—which is an essential cooking memoir that you should go read immediately if you... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-16 14:28:13 UTC ]
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It’s My Story and I’ll Pitch if I Want To

Imagine that you are a character from a classic tale pitching your memoir to a literary agent. You know that it will become the next bestseller. Write your query letter, story synopsis, or elevator pitch to the agent.  The post It’s My Story and I’ll Pitch if I Want To by Cassandra Lipp appeared... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-07-16 09:00:28 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival Edited by Diane Noomin

This excerpt-sampler of work from the anthology ‘Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival’ Edited by Diane Noomin, includes three stories by artists who survived sexual assault: Lee Mars’ “Got Over It,” Carol Lay’s “A Sampler of Misdeeds,” and Ajuan Mance’s... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-07-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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HQ delivers This Lovely City to 50 bookshops in 1950s dress

The HQ team embarked on a nationwide proof tour of more than 50 bookshops in one day, dressed in 1950s costumes, to hand-deliver copies of the imprint’s biggest debut for 2020, This Lovely City by debut author Louise Hare. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-15 16:15:35 UTC ]
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Virago scoops 'eye-opening' memoir from Toksvig

Virago has scooped an "eye-opening” memoir from broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, based around what she sees from the upper deck of a London bus. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-15 11:56:36 UTC ]
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Crazy about books? These 5 L.A. book events offer inspiring stories from Los Angeles and beyond

As we descend into the hazy thick of summer, this week’s book events remind us that one day in a life has the power to change everything. Indeed, it’s all that ever changes anything. In the memoir corner, we have a traumatic encounter at the train station, a knock on the door of a rundown... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-07-12 14:20:00 UTC ]
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Jim Bouton, Author of Tell-All Baseball Memoir ‘Ball Four,’ Dies at 80

A pitcher who had modest success with the Yankees in the 1960s, Bouton revealed the seamier side of baseball in a book that was a best seller. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-07-11 02:47:37 UTC ]
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The Writers Who Left: Cuban Exile and What Comes Next, by Margaret Randall

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[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-10 21:07:28 UTC ]
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Audible launches fiction podcast featuring Johnson, McBride and Little

Audible is launching a fiction podcast featuring original short stories from writers including Daisy Johnson, Eimear McBride and Liv Little. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-10 17:17:09 UTC ]
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Filled with a New Kind of Truth: A Conversation with Samanta Schweblin

SAMANTA SCHWEBLIN’S COLLECTION of short stories Mouthful of Birds opens bleakly: When she reaches the road, Felicity understands her fate. He has not waited for her, and, as if the past were a tangible thing, she thinks she can still see the weak reddish glow of the car’s taillights fading on... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-10 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Jilly Cooper wins inaugural CWIP Lifetime Achievement Award

Jilly Cooper, debut author Laura Steven and screenwriter Kirsty Eyre have been honoured at the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize ceremony, with the award-winning books featuring slut-shaming and dairy farming. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-10 14:48:20 UTC ]
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Pullman and Brandreth join Gardners Trade Show line-up

Philip Pullman will open this year's Gardners Trade Show ahead of the launch of The Secret Commonwealth, with Gyles Brandreth also joining the line-up.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-08 09:53:34 UTC ]
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Eat This Book: A Food-Centric Interview with Amber Scorah

“How was the church food of your youth?” and other questions for Amber Scorah on her new memoir about leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses. Continue reading at The Paris Review

[ The Paris Review | 2019-07-05 13:00:54 UTC ]
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David Cameron 'talks candidly' of memoir ahead of publication

Former prime minister David Cameron will “talk candidly” to mark the publication of his long-awaited autobiography, For The Record (William Collins), in a series of events. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-04 16:12:23 UTC ]
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Before Ta-Nehisi Coates: On James Alan McPherson’s “Crabcakes”

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[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-04 12:30:37 UTC ]
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Bud Selig: By the Book

The former baseball commissioner, whose new memoir is “For the Good of the Game,” was a voracious childhood reader, “mostly about sports,” and especially “novels about the Brooklyn Dodgers.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-07-04 09:00:07 UTC ]
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Headline lands Babalola debut retelling love stories from mythology

Headline has landed debut author Bolu Babalola’s retelling of love stories from mythology and history, celebrating "wildly beautiful and astonishingly diverse tales of romance and desire". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-03 16:39:47 UTC ]
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Dani Shapiro’s bestselling memoir Inheritance to be adapted into a film

Good news, memoir fans: Variety reports that Dani Shapiro’s bestselling memoir Inheritance will be adapted into a feature by Killer Films, with Cami Delavigne (the co-writer of Blue Valentine) on board to write the script. The memoir centers on Shapiro’s discovery, after a DNA test, that the man... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-03 13:43:07 UTC ]
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People of the Books, by Alan Levenson

Book Reviews Alan Levenson Ever since early Islam, Jews have been dubbed the people of the book. The title stuck in European lands too, a deferential nod to the role of the Hebrew Bible in the Western canon, the breadth of Jewish literacy (never... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-02 20:46:30 UTC ]
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