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 ]

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Christie Tate Wrote a Best Seller About Group Therapy. Fellow Members Approved.

She tried her hand at fiction, to no avail. So she wrote a memoir about a circle of strangers instead. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-11-12 10:00:04 UTC ]
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Macmillan Children’s to publish 'empowering' retelling of classic fairytales

Macmillan Children’s Books has acquired two illustrated middle-grade fiction titles by debut author Radiya Hafiza.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-12 03:46:46 UTC ]
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'Heartwarming' debut Mothering Sunday to Orion

Orion has snapped up Mothering Sunday from debut author Sara James, in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-12 01:18:12 UTC ]
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Has Donald Trump already landed a $100m book and TV deal?

While books about the outgoing US president have been bestsellers for the last four years, Trump might be a step too far for some publishersFact-checkers are quaking in their boots amid reports that Donald Trump could be being “courted for a new tome on his time in the White House”. The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-11-11 14:24:45 UTC ]
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A Monumental and Rapturous New Anthology of Black American Poetry

“African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song,” edited by Kevin Young, contains an overwhelming amount of variety and history. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-11-10 20:51:39 UTC ]
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Review: Celia Paul is finally her own muse in the dazzling memoir 'Self-Portrait'

The painter known to many as Lucian Freud's one-time muse writes of her own muse, her mother, and provers herself a masterful writer as well. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-11-10 18:28:13 UTC ]
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Post-election, Kamala Harris’s books are more popular than ever.

Kamala Harris-related books have seen a sharp increase in popularity post-Biden/Harris presidential win. On Sunday, a whopping four books on Amazon’s Top 10 bestsellers list were either about or penned by the vice president-elect. The books in question: Harris’s memoir The Truths We Hold: An... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 17:37:24 UTC ]
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The inspiration for Maisie Dobbs? Jacqueline Winspear’s memoir offers charming clues

In “This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing,” Jacqueline Winspear recalls her upbringing in the British countryside. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-11-10 14:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood,’ by Christa Parravani: An Excerpt

An excerpt from “Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood,” by Christa Parravani Continue reading at The New York Times

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This Medical Memoir Reads Like a Detective Story

A young woman’s diagnosis is only the beginning of the mystery in “Lightning Flowers.” As Katherine E. Standefer tried to make sense of her heart condition, her conscience sent her on a trip across the world. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-11-10 10:00:08 UTC ]
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Why I Went Into Debt to Buy Back the Rights for Two of My Books

Yesterday, I attended a virtual book club where Heavy: An American Memoir was being read. When I clicked the link to join the Zoom, I saw the faces, necks, and shoulders of seven beautiful pixelated Black women from as far west as Las Vegas and as far east as Long Island. I assumed from their... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 09:49:30 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers

The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: * Danielle Evans (The Office of Historical Corrections)  Éireann Lorsung (The Century) Christa Parravani (Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 09:48:28 UTC ]
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Souvankham Thammavongsa Wins 2020 Giller Prize

In a ceremony streamed live on Facebook, Souvankham Thammavongsa was awarded the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize for her collection of short stories 'How to Pronounce Knife.' It comes with a C$100,000 prize. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Tinder Press wins Patterson's 'heartbreaking yet joyful' memoir

Tinder Press has won at auction Christina Patterson’s next book, Outside, the Sky is Blue: A Memoir of Faith, Hope and Loss. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-09 23:01:40 UTC ]
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HarperVoyager wins four-way auction for 'delicious' Dean debut

HarperVoyager has won a four-publisher auction for three titles, including horror fantasy The Book Eaters, from debut author Sunyi Dean. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-09 22:52:36 UTC ]
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America Starts Here: On “When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry”

2020 WORKED HARD to be one of the worst years in recent memory, but for readers of Native American literature, this era is proving to be among the most exciting in the history of Indigenous writing, especially for poetry. To wit: Joy Harjo has just begun her second term as poet laureate of the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-11-09 18:00:17 UTC ]
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Higher education technology company Anthology acquires xRM software

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[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-11-09 17:38:19 UTC ]
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Toppings bookshop to expand in move to listed building

Bath bookshop Toppings & Company is to move to a listed Georgian building, and will begin expansion building works next year.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-08 18:39:07 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Weekly: November 2 – 6, 2020

“The Babur Nama is an oddly modern text, almost Proustian in its self-awareness.” William Dalrymple on the 16th-century memoir far ahead of its time. | Lit Hub Biography “We have had no truth and reconciliation process.” On the renaissance of American white supremacy, a conversation with Isaac... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-07 12:30:24 UTC ]
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Megan Rapinoe Has a Lot More to Say

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[ The New York Times | 2020-11-06 10:00:28 UTC ]
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