From J.R.R. Tolkien‘s High Elvish to Anthony Burgess‘s Nadsat: the BBC takes a survey of fictional languages and the invented words that made it into our everyday speech, like Dickens‘s “butterfingers” and Shakespeare‘s “scuffle.”
Inventing Language
#ReadMoreWomen
We encourage you to join Electric Literature’s #ReadMoreWomen campaign. Their aim is to “challenge you to increase your consumption of women and nonbinary authors, and tweet at @ElectricLit with the hashtag #readmorewomen to tell us what you’re reading or recommend a book.” Sounds good to us!
The Holiday Bookstore Boogie
“So, each year, I can’t help but ask: Is there a political point to be made for calling non-book related detritus, tchotchkes, sparkly twinkly things, sidelines instead of gifts, as many of my esteemed colleagues insist on calling all things?” When it comes to the pressures of running an independent bookstore during the holidays, Lucy Kogler at The Literary Hub gets it very right. Our own Janet Potter has waxed poetic about bookstores, as well.
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Fiction Vs. Autobiography
“The unverifiable world is vast and accommodating.” From Robert Atwan’s essay (pdf) “A Remarkable Orgasm, A Dying Pig, and A Scarlet Letter: Is It Truth, Fiction, or… Autobiography?” (via @maudnewton)
NASA’s Science Fiction
Science fiction is about to get a lot more scientific. Tor and NASA will be collaborating on some book projects.
Libraries Pitch In
Libraries are doing double-time. At NPRs Planet Money, a librarian writes in about how her local library is offering recession resources to those most affected by unemployment.
Williams on Writing
In an interview with Vice, Joy Williams explains that writing gives her “no happiness”. Pair with an interview with our own Hannah Gersen, who “would have stopped [writing] a long time ago” if she didn’t love it. You could also read Nick Ripatrazone’s recent article on fifty reasons to read Williams.
Inseparable
Male bonding can take many forms, among them the rarely-seen joint book tour, which Mike Harvkey and Josh Weil decided to undertake in support of their new novels. The two write about meeting each other, travelling around America and bouncing ideas off trusted friends in a Salon essay. FYI, our own Bill Morris wrote a piece about his own book tour for The Daily Beast.
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