Can I be honest with you for a minute here? These colloquially updated Bible passages at The Toast are pretty funny. You could also read a brief history of colloquial titles.
Just Being Honest
Early Bird
Ready to feel bad about yourself? Good: a writer named Daisy Ashford wrote her first novel -- a 1919 bestseller -- when she was nine years old.
Self-Knowledge
At Electric Literature, on knowing that it's time to give up your novel.
“Alayne”
Tired of waiting for The Winds of Winter, the latest installment in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire? The author has posted an excerpt on his website, as a reward for your continued patience.
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A New Award for the Promotion of Irish Literature
A new laureateship award worth €150,000 was created by Ireland's Arts Council in conjunction with University College Dublin and New York University. The award will be given to "an outstanding Irish writer of fiction" with hopes that the author will "promote [Irish] literature around the world" and "inspire the public to engage with the best Irish fiction." The first appointment will be made in 2014.
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Steve Jobs
60 Minutes aired a great overview of Walter Isaacson's bestselling (yet just released today) Steve Jobs biography. The book was also reviewed by Janet Maslin for The New York Times.
Harry Potter and the Depressing Play
For a boy wizard whose saga ended six years ago, Harry Potter is in the news a lot lately. The Chosen One got a makeover by Jim Kay, and now J.K. Rowling is working on a stage play based on Potter. Don't expect a stage set of Hogwarts because the play will focus on Harry's early years at 4 Privet Drive.
Back to the Bookstore
The Guardian reports that Kinokuniya, a Japanese book chain, has bought 90 percent of the print run of Haruki Murakami’s latest essay collection, Novelist As a Vocation, to be released September 10th in Japan. The company hopes to bring more customers back into bookstores. Need more Murakami? Read our review of The Strange Library.
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