The Past Few Week in Books 9/19/14

Photo by me. I’m on Instagram here.

Links!

First up, friend of the blog Stephen Parrish is conducting a fundraiser to establish a fellowship in honor of Christine Eldin, a beloved member of the writing community who passed away a few years ago. Please check out the fellowship page, as well as the fundraising page on Indiegogo, where there are many quality items up for bid.

Now that Amazon has launched Amazon Unlimited, the Netflix-for-books-ish subscription service, should self-published authors opt their books in? David Gaughran investigates.

Speaking of Amazon, they recently launched a new program aimed at making it easier for children’s book authors to self-publish, with such features as text pop-ups and easier illustration insertion. Very interesting.

Have independent bookstores improbably weathered the e-book transition better than chain stores and are they even on the rise? Zachary Karabell makes the case in Slate.

Do elite MFA programs have a race problem? NPR took an in-depth look.

Don’t forget about the discussion forums, where you can have your query critiqued and talk writing with some great authors!

Why in the world does everyone in dystopian movies wear knitwear? Vulture takes a look at the great moments in Dystopian knitwear.

And finally, today is iPhone 6 release day! My good friends at CNET have all the latest reviews. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an iPhone 6 to play with.

Have a great weekend!