This week in open letters! I mean books! This was the week of Open Letters to Solve Everything. First, a group of luminaries led by Thomas Chatterton Williams including J.K. Rowling, Margaret Atwood, and Malcolm Gladwell published an open letter that bemoaned an “intolerant climate that has set in on all sides” and, though it […]
J.K. Rowling
Honoring Juneteenth in the book world (This week in books)
This week! It’s Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in Texas two full years after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Here are some of the articles about Juneteenth this morning that caught my eye: Jamelle Bouie on the centrality of slaves in the struggle for emancipation and a better America. Mary Harris […]
J.K. Rowling…… (This week in books)
This week! Books! As thousands of people around the world continued protesting injustice and brutality in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and at the start of Pride month, J.K. Rowling decided to double down with views on transgender people widely seen as transphobic, first in a series of tweets, then on a more […]
A heartbreaking week in America (This week in books)
I’m not going to lie, it’s tough to post today and what’s happening is bigger than books. My heart is utterly breaking about what’s happening in this country. The police and vigilante mobs are murdering Black people in broad daylight and arresting journalists. 100,000+ COVID deaths and counting, by far the most in the world, […]
How to create a great villain
Bill Sikes. Lady MacBeth. Captain Ahab. Voldemort. The Wormwoods. Sauron. Iago. The best villains in literature send a shiver down our spine and make our blood pressure rise. Why do some villains have such a hold on us while others feel like weak sauce? Here are some tips on how to craft a memorable villain. […]
Who are the most memorable parents in books?
The Wormwoods in Matilda. The Weasleys in Harry Potter. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. There are some seriously memorable parents in literature. Which ones are your favorites? Art: The Artist and His Family by James Peale
