Dreaming of escaping to outer space during this time? We don’t blame you. Christopher Wanjek at the Guardian lists some of the best books that imagine a future on other planets. The list includes works by Martha Ackmann, Mary Roach, and Jules Verne. “The next few centuries may see us travel to Mars and beyond,” Wanjek writes, “but human explorers will find that writers have already planted the flag of the imagination on all these new horizons.”
An Intergalactic Reading List
Or, Like Something Out of Kafka
In their latest Trend Watch, Merriam-Webster announced they’ve been seeing more searches for “Kafkaesque,” a spike they attribute to British publishers writing about Booker winner Han Kang. Since the word is so overused, it’s worthwhile to ask: just what does it actually mean now, anyway? Allison Flood tries to pin it down at The Guardian.
Books, Charity, and Africa
The Hipster Book Club is doing a literary-themed charity drive for the famine in the Horn of Africa.
Self-Publishing like a Woolf
“History is littered with poets… who set up their own presses to publish their work, because it was so different from the normal forms of the time. Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard are one example- they started their own press called the Hogarth Press (it is still going today) to publish collections of their work.” Self-publishing is something we’ve written about many times before, but Sarah Gonnet raises a good point – self-publishing isn’t truly a new phenomenon, and it does allow for a great deal of creative freedom.
The Grenadier
Recommended Reading: Leo Robson’s review of a new book of essays by Craig Raine.
The Millions on Facebook
Hey! Are you a fan of our Facebook page? If not, you’re missing out on some unique, international Millions content – like this shelf section Nick Moran spotted in a Kaohsiung bookstore, or this brand of “literary” whiskey discovered by Thom Beckwith in Ireland.