The New York Public Library released more than 180,000 of its public-domain items, ranging from maps and manuscripts to ancient texts and sheet music. The files can be downloaded on the library’s website, available to the public without restriction.
Digital Collections
A Conversation with Morgan Parker
On his podcast, David Naimon spoke with poet Morgan Parker about her new collection, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé. It's a book "at the intersections of mythology and sorrow, of vulnerability and posturing, of desire and disgust, of tragedy and excellence," Naimon says. (Bonus: Parker's book was recently featured in Nick Ripatrazone's list of five poetry collections you should buy.)
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Suitor by Suitor
At Salon, Bird by Bird author Anne Lamott recounts her year in the online dating world, a year which she says was complicated by the fact that “91 percent of men snore loudly.”
Woody Allen’s Favorite Books
The ever-irreverent Woody Allen weighs in on his all-time faves, among other things. A Catcher in the Rye unsurprisingly makes the list, as do more obscure picks like The World of SJ Perelman.
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The Lonely Writer
What's the best part of writing for Sue Monk Kidd? The solitude. What's the hardest part for her? The solitude. Kidd acknowledged the challenges of writing in a "By the Book" interview with The New York Times. "For me, writing a novel goes on for years, and the solitude goes on, too. It tends to swallow me at times. I know it’s a problem when my husband sends the dog in to retrieve me." Her latest novel, The Invention of Wings, came out on Tuesday and was part of our 2014 book preview.
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Neil Gaiman Lane
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is now an actual lane. Neil Gaiman's hometown, Portsmouth, England, named a bus lane after his novel last Sunday. Sadly, the magical Hempstock family doesn't live at the end of it.
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