“The [book] review’s pre-eminence is irrefutable: most people are acquainted with far, far more books through reviews than they could ever hope to read. And that is, generally, to the good.” Joseph Mackin explores why we write and read book reviews for the New York Journal of Books.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Books
Jason Reynolds on the Language of Discussing Racism with Kids
Jason Reynolds discusses the goal behind writing a nuanced book on racism for children with Ibram X. Kendi.
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A Definite Orange Theme, It Seems
The Twelve, Justin Cronin’s follow-up to The Passage, now has a cover and release date.
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WTF Amazon?!
Need a good way to start your Monday? Try browsing a repository of the craziest, most confusing things Amazon has on offer.
Raining Granduer
This year is all about #readwomen2014 and #weneeddiversebooks. Faint Promise of Rain, the debut novel from Anjali Mittar Duva, satisfies all these criteria. The book is just out from SheWrites press and is set in the turbulent, caste-driven setting of the Mughal empire. Read an excerpt over at Bloom.
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Hari Kunzru Reads Tonight
Tonight at 7pm, Hari Kunzru will visit WORD bookstore at 126 Franklin Street, Brooklyn, NY for an event co-hosted by The Millions. Visit the WORD website for further details and RSVP. Join us!
Breaking the Binary
Rachel Klein writes on raising a genderqueer, non-binary child. “Being a parent means, at some point, being able to look on as your child writes their own story, a story in which you play a role but which is ultimately not about you.”
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Happy Ministries
Fans of Arundhati Roy are celebrating at the news that the author will publish a new novel, her first in 20 years, reports Electric Literature; The Ministry of Utmost Unhappiness is scheduled for release in 2017. Our own Garth Risk Hallberg maaaaay have poked a bit of fun a few years back at the title of Roy’s first novel, The God of Small Things, but that was all in good fun.