Well, not only is it Friday, people, it’s also the first day in a week in which we don’t have Canada Reads. The winner was announced yesterday (good news: a woman of colour won while defended by another woman of colour — SMASH that glass ceiling, people) and thus ends our nightmarish national attempt to behave more American for another year. Gladiators! Catharsis! Pathos! Victory! Huzzah! The entire book industry In Canada was, of course, shut down for the whole week so that no non-contest news would interrupt the flow of fluff articles from the CBC (as is evidenced by the fact that the CBC Books page has highlighted no articles except those about the show since last week.) We can finally get back to castigating our frat-boy in chief, who is doing a surprisingly good job on Covid, despite all his other failings, especially around race and reconciliation, for a “scandal” that wouldn’t even make a sidebar in the most liberal/anti-POTUS of news outlets in the United States right now. All is well and normal. Except, you know, everything. Please have a beer on me and charge it to the PM.
- Samra Habib wins Canada Reads — congratulations!;
- Book sales are in trouble this year…;
- …But clinging to life because of Mary Trump who is single-handedly propping up the industry right now;
- The New Yorker interviews one of the OG Harper’s letter authors;
- ‘Fastie author Adrian McKinty wins major crime fiction award;
- On writers with trauma;
- What 100 different writers are reading during quarantine (for me right now it’s Thomas King’s Indians On Vacation and Desmond Cole’s The Skin We’re In – both highly recommended for different reasons);
- Does epic poetry fit in modern society?;
- NYPL is doing some good work, as usual, during the pandemic;
- First novel prize in the US has a Loooooonglist out;
- Did you read and love His Dark Materials? Did you ever watch and love Fleabag? Well, have I got news for you (PS, some people find this guy to be like sexual catnip, but I can’t get Moriarty out my head ;
Bookninja 