March 30, 2015

The Reading Book Post, March 30th

The Reading Book Post with all the literary news of the previous week

The end of March is here. Finally, the sunny days have arrived and I hope that they will continue! But with that it's getting really hard to stay inside and work. Oh well. But let's take a look at all those things that happened the past week in the literary world.  


  • As usual, this week's Reading Book Post will begin with some award news. On one side, The Orwell Prize announced its longlist, which includes four first-time authors and other well established political writers. On the other side, The Man Booker Prize announced the shortlist and the winner is due to be made public on May 19th. Lastly, the winners of the 2015 Bancroft Prize were publicized, an award focusing in the field of history.



  • Go Set a Watchman is approaching its day of publication and this week it officially has a cover! Which one do you prefer? I like the colours in the US cover, but I like better the UK one. 

  • In a similar story, this week the cover for the Illustrated Harry Potter edition was revealed and it's amazing! What do you think? Do you like it? The book will be published on October 6th.

  • But this week there were some really sad news too. The Swedish and Nobel-winning poet, Tomas Transtormer, died at the age of 83. He was awarded the Nobel Prize of literature in 2011. Check out his poems, they were wonderful! But his was not the only loss of the literary world. Martyn Goff, literary administrator, author and bookseller died at the age of 91. He contributed to the organisation and popularity of the Booker Prize and he was also known for his efforts to increase literacy in children.
  • Clean Reader app, brought some strong protests among the authors. This app applies a filter to the ebooks purchased by its store and changes the profanities, for example, "hell" becomes "heck" and "shit" becomes "crap". But after the protests all the titles of the authors were removed by the application's catalogue. Author Joanne Harris, know for her novel Chocolat, declared that this is "a small victory for the world of dirt". What do you think about that? Do the profanities bother you in a book?

  • Although I didn't read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid as a child, I know that elementary and middle-school kids love the series (my nephews and nieces included). If you happen to know such a kid you can make them really happy, because the tenth book of the series will be published on November 3rd. 

  • Which Stephen King Character Are You? This fun quiz lets you know which character from the master of horror you are. Take it and let me know which one you got. I got Christine.

8 comments:

  1. are they going to illustrate all the hp books? cause the latter ones arent really kid friendly...

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    1. I'm not really sure, but you're right! The last books are closer to a thriller than a children's book!

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  2. I read the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" as an adult (well, legally adult as least) and simply loved it! I have even given it as a present to other (well, sort of) adults!

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    1. Hahaha! I've always felt some curiosity.. Maybe I should pick it up, at least I myself feel more like a kid than an adult!

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  3. That Clean Reader thing is a total joke. I hate it when people sacrifice artistic integrity in order to not offend people. I can understand the whole 'protect the children!' angle, but to be honest I still disagree with their views.

    On a different note, it turns out I'm Jack Torrence. I haven't seen or read The Shining, but hopefully I don't end up as an insane axe-wielding murderer.

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    1. I'm not really sure if there is even a way not to offend anyone. A novel is a work of art and if the author chose to include profanities it was for a reason. In the same spirit, whould you paint clothes to a painting that includes nudes?

      The Shining is amazing! Both the book and the movie, although the movie changes a little the story. But Kubrick did an excellent job and it's one of the best horror movies. I haven't read Christine, that I got the character!

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  4. I'm so excited for the new Harry Potter book! It looks so beautifully done! Diary of a Wimpy Kid was the book of my childhood! I can't believe the series is still continuing! Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

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    1. Isn't the illustration amazing? I can't wait to see the whole graphic novel! :)
      I really wish I has read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid while I was younger, but it's never too late, so I might just try it.

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