News•Feb 27, 2026
Odds & Ends: February 27, 2026
The Art of Manliness roundup highlights four distinct topics: Karl Marlantes’ novel *Matterhorn* delivers a raw, first‑hand Vietnam experience; Billy Wilder’s 1944 film *Double Indemnity* is praised for its razor‑sharp dialogue and noir tension; the Jetboil Stash cooking system promises to boil water in roughly 100 seconds for backpackers; and a Slate investigation reveals bar soap harbors far fewer bacteria than a body‑wash pouf. Each piece is linked to broader cultural conversations about authenticity, efficiency, and traditional versus modern consumer habits.
By The Art of Manliness
News•Feb 27, 2026
The House of Illusionists and Other Stories by Vanessa Fogg
Vanessa Fogg’s new collection, The House of Illusionists and Other Stories, compiles a decade’s worth of her speculative fiction, previously featured in venues such as Lightspeed and Podcastle. The stories are united by a preoccupation with tragic endings, collapsing societies,...
By Strange Horizons
News•Feb 27, 2026
Ancient by Luke Barley Review – the Secret History of Britain’s Woodlands
Luke Barley’s new book *Ancient* chronicles the intertwined history of Britain’s woodlands and its people, tracing forest development from post‑glacial birch to the oak‑dominated landscapes that powered medieval society. He explains the legal definition of ancient semi‑natural woodland—trees existing before...
By The Guardian – Books
News•Feb 26, 2026
Scary Mommy 2026 Readers' Choice Best Book Subscription Box
Scary Mommy’s February 2026 feature unveils its Readers' Choice finalists for the Best Book Subscription Box. The shortlist spotlights 15 services—including Aardvark Book Club, Banned Books Box, The Strand’s Book HookUp, and Book of the Month—spanning genre‑specific, niche, and first‑edition...
By Scary Mommy
News•Feb 26, 2026
Meet the Author: Oliver Johnson
Oliver Johnson, a former Waterstones bookseller and Hodder & Stoughton commissioning editor, has debuted as a crime novelist with the thriller *Caller Unknown*. The novel follows amnesiac protagonist Ed Constance, whose childhood hostage trauma is re‑triggered by a mysterious phone...
By Crime Fiction Lover
News•Feb 26, 2026
The “Freest Writer” In Stalin’s Russia
The new scholarly work uncovers how Laurence Sterne’s 18th‑century novels resurfaced in Soviet Russia despite Stalinist censorship, becoming a covert touchstone for intellectuals seeking artistic freedom. By examining letters, diaries, translation drafts, and editorial correspondence, the authors trace Sterne’s reception...
By OUPblog (Oxford University Press)
News•Feb 26, 2026
Author Spotlight: Susan Palwick
Susan Palwick discusses her speculative story where AI legal personhood emerges after a human population collapse, drawing on pandemic‑era tech dependence and AI‑generated art. She explains the alien surgical enhancements, like a tentacle, as AI’s literal misreading of human comfort....
By Nightmare Magazine
News•Feb 26, 2026
A Handbook to Spirit-Hunting
The newly surfaced "Handbook to Spirit‑Hunting" compiles Yoruba mythological entities into a practical field guide for aspiring spirit hunters. It categorises spirits as dark, nature, or transcendental, offering detailed descriptions, behavioral cues, and specific tactics for capture or avoidance. The...
By Nightmare Magazine
News•Feb 26, 2026
Five Questions with Federico Marcon, Author of “Fascism”
Federico Marcon’s new book, *Fascism: The History of a Word*, offers a semiotic reconstruction of the term “fascism,” tracing its meanings from Mussolini’s regime through post‑war scholarship to contemporary political discourse. The work proposes a novel historiographical method that treats...
By University of Chicago Press – The Chicago Blog
News•Feb 25, 2026
How Readers Actually Search for Books (And Why Authors Sometimes Miss the Mark)
Authors often assume readers discover books through friends or shelves, but most start with online searches on Google, Amazon, or AI tools. Readers scan titles, descriptions, keywords, and categories before opening a book, making metadata the first point of contact....
By IngramSpark – Blog
News•Feb 25, 2026
This Novel About Family Drama Is so Good You May Want to Re-Read It Immediately
Allegra Goodman’s latest novel, *This Is Not About Us*, returns to the multi‑generational family saga format she first explored in *The Family Markowitz*. The book is structured as 17 linked stories that trace three generations of a Jewish family, using...
By NPR – Books
News•Feb 25, 2026
New Meat in a Clean Room Edited by Ira Rat
*New Meat in a Clean Room* is a tightly curated horror anthology edited by Ira Rat, featuring six stories that fuse post‑punk alienation, splatterpunk violence, and hauntological motifs. The collection’s aesthetic—sterile clean rooms turned filthy—serves as a metaphor for bodily...
By Strange Horizons
News•Feb 25, 2026
Read to Respond: Critical Perspectives on AI in the Humanities
Duke University Press’s “Read to Respond” program has launched a new “Critical Perspectives on AI in the Humanities” reading list. The list aggregates recent peer‑reviewed articles, journal issues, and scholarly books that interrogate AI’s cultural, ethical, political, and labor implications...
By Duke University Press – Blog
News•Feb 24, 2026
Years Ago, Novelist Tayari Jones Snuck Into a Writing Class. It Changed Her Life
Novelist Tayari Jones recounts how sneaking into a first‑year creative‑writing class at Spelman College launched her writing career. Guided by instructor Pearl Cleage, she gained her first audience and the confidence to call herself a writer. Jones later achieved national fame...
By NPR – Books
News•Feb 24, 2026
Farewell to Vicente Rafael
Vicente Rafael, a leading historian of the Philippines, died on February 21, 2026 at age 70. He authored five influential books with Duke University Press, including *The Sovereign Trickster* (2022) and earlier studies on translation, colonialism, and nationalism. Rafael held...
By Duke University Press – Blog
News•Feb 24, 2026
Fredi Nwaka: Owning His Story and Building a Legacy
Award‑winning British filmmaker, actor and motivational speaker Fredi Nwaka has released *Boy*, the first volume of a planned memoir trilogy that chronicles his South‑London upbringing, trauma, and rise in the film industry. He frames the book as a legacy tool,...
By IngramSpark – Blog
News•Feb 24, 2026
Diana Martha Louis on Colored Insane
Diana Martha Louis’s new book *Colored Insane* uncovers how nineteenth‑century American asylums labeled Black patients as the “colored insane” and used psychiatric theory to reinforce racial and gender hierarchies. Drawing on scarce archival records from the Georgia Lunatic Asylum, she foregrounds the...
By Columbia University Press – Blog
News•Feb 22, 2026
History of Mixed-Race Children Orphaned in Germany After WWII Inspires New Novel by Sadeqa Johnson
Sadeqa Johnson’s debut novel, *The Keeper of Lost Children*, dramatizes the largely unknown saga of mixed‑race children left in German orphanages after World War II. The story emerged from Johnson’s deep dive into archival records and survivor interviews that reveal thousands...
By NPR – Books
News•Feb 20, 2026
7 Romance Sub-Genres Driving Reader Demand
Romance remains the commercial engine of modern publishing, consistently outpacing fantasy, sci‑fi, thrillers and literary fiction combined. Seven sub‑genres—contemporary, romantasy, billionaire, romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and LGBTQ+—are currently delivering the strongest sales velocity, social buzz and indie market share. The...
By IngramSpark – Blog
News•Feb 20, 2026
How Metadata Can Support the Discoverability of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Books
In recent TechForum sessions, industry experts from EDItEUR, BookNet Canada, and the Société de Gestion BTLF presented new ONIX and Thema guidelines aimed at improving metadata for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis titles. The best‑practice notes detail how to tag...
By BookNet Canada – Blog