An interesting take on a pandemic story. Shōgun for the win (we hope)! It’s Taylor Swift’s world and we’re just living in it. VP memoirs. The new words being forced on us. More Hugo Awards drama. And Hemingway has a birthday party. Welcome to this week in books:
Nothing New Under The Sun: In the early 1350s Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, a story about a group of Italian nobility that escaped to a countryside villa to isolate during an outbreak of the black death. They began to entertain each other by telling stories and what ensues is a collection of 100 saucy, salacious, spicy (some might even say smutty) tales. Really what else can we expect from a group of Italian nobles? The book’s unabashed use of Catholic clergy in its racy tales earned it a spot on the Vatican’s list of banned books in 1559. The Italian public protested so vocally that the Vatican compromised and allowed the book to be altered, keeping the smut but replacing the clergy with regular folk. There is even speculation that Chaucer used it as inspiration for his Canterbury Tales which has a similar structure of a competition of stories within a larger story. Netflix has adapted The Decameron in a transparent attempt to draw parallels to the pandemic lockdowns we all faced, but with a medieval spin. Listen, we all had a glass of wine too many and got absorbed in another not-so-savory tale (Tiger King anybody?) during the pandemic, but I say what happens in lockdown should stay in lockdown. AmIRight?
Shōgun Success: Shōgun, the 1975 novel by James Clavell, was recently adapted to a FX series and is currently topping the lists for Emmy nominations coming in at 25 separate nominations. Clavell was inspired by one sentence in his daughter’s homework: “In 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai.” He spent two years researching feudal Japan before beginning his famous work. The story centers around Englishman John Blackthorne who is lost at sea and wakes up where few white man have ever set foot: Japan. Shōgun became a huge bestseller and was adapted to TV in 1980. The newest adaptation has also been a smash hit. Even George RR Martin, who is famously disparaging about screen versions of books, has praised the novel and both of its adaptations. I must confess that I have never read the book but the show is astonishing. 10/10. Would recommend.
Swift Lit: Literary Swifties will be pleased to see a whole new book devoted to discovering literary references in Taylor Swift songs. Swift is famous for leaving easter eggs in her lyrics and music videos for her rabid fans. Taylor Swift: By The Book connects Swift’s lyrics to The Illiad, Great Gatsby, Emily Dickinson and more. It has been said before, and bears repeating, that if the famous blonde ever decided to start her own book club the internet would break, celebrity book clubs would perish in fear, and publishers would explode from excitement.
Battle of The Books VP Edition: Hillbilly Elegy soared to the top of bestseller lists last week after J.D. Vance was named as Trump’s running mate. Then Biden dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Now her memoir, The Truths We Hold, has climbed up Amazon’s bestseller charts. Both author’s books have gone back to print to match demand. My only take here is that I’m glad people are reading.
New Words: If adding new words to the lexicon gives you “the ick”, look away now. The Cambridge Dictionary has added over 3,000 words to its official dictionary so far this year. We are happy to see “romanstasy” has made the list as well as “chef’s kiss” and “boop.” But I wholeheartedly reject all attempts to normalize “dinkwad,” “delusionship,” or “Brotox.” I already have children who insist the phrase “skibbidy Ohio riz” means “you’re a terrible flirt.” Make it stop.
Clever Cunningham: JK Rowling’s first draft of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was famously rejected by 12 publishers before Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury got his hands on the manuscript. Cunningham spoke with the BBC about what he saw in the book that other publishers didn’t. His background in marketing made him approach children’s books differently, especially his time as Roald Dahl’s publicist. Rowling’s use of humor and childhood friendship stood out to him from other books of the time. Rowling credits Cunningham for discovering Harry Potter. Let’s have a moment of silence for all those other publishers who passed on the best selling children’s book of all time.
Here We Hugo Again: Last year the Hugo awards got themselves in a heap of trouble for arbitrarily disqualifying certain candidates for political reasons. There is another scandal brewing this year. The panel has rejected hundreds of votes for one unnamed finalist because they say they were fraudulent. The votes were made by “voters whose second names were identical except that the first letter was changed, in alphabetical order; and a run of voters whose names were translations of consecutive numbers.” Because there was no evidence that the finalist was aware of the fraudulent votes they were not disqualified but with the removal of those votes, they did not win. I don’t know folks, there has to be more to this story. Weird drama. I can’t look away.
The Adults Aren’t Reading: A new study by The Reading Agency shows that half of adults in the UK are not reading regularly. Most of those non-readers are what the study defines as “lapsed readers” meaning they have lost the love and habit of reading. Among the reasons cited are a lack of time, the distraction of social media, and an inability to focus for any length of time while reading. I think this is common to all readers these days, we have so many options for entertainment that come in ever smaller, more bite sized doses that it's a wonder any of us can focus on anything. It’s high time we reclaim our reading habits. What are some of the tricks you use to focus on reading? Share in the comments below.
Hemingway Days: Fans gathered in Key West last week to celebrate Ernest Hemingway’s 125th birthday. Hemingway lived in Key West during the 1930s and it remains home to the Hemingway Home & Museum and the Hemingway Look-Alike Society. The Hemingway Days Festival which is in its 25th year began in the 80s as a promotional stunt for Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a local restaurant that Hemingway favored. The three day festival holds a look-alike contest as well as a short story competition. (Perhaps only allowing six words? I must investigate). I support this entire endeavor!
All The Book To Screen Adaptations This Week: Unlike George RR Martin, we love screen adaptations. Here are all the related news that has our attention this week:
Fourth Wing series has a show runner. We are one step closer to the sexy dragon TV show we all deserve!
Dance First, the life story of Samuel Beckett dropped a trailer:
Fortunate Sons, the 2012 non fiction book about 120 Chinese boys sent to the US to be raised and educated America in 1872 will be adapted to film.
Pachinko Season 2
Catch Up with Ariel over at I’m So Glad You Asked where she is making her case that the “Muse” is real.
Marybeth is chronicling the path to her newest novel over at I Will Tell You This.
I am following the suggestions from one of your earliest blogs here about how to read more books… I am newly retired and put this endeavor into a new schedule for my days. I read I a “bound paper book” 🤣)after lunch when I now have a rest. Please don’t think this is an excuse to nap as I am not a napper. I get in my bed, arrange pillows especially to support my legs, pull my drapes and read with one of those little lights just for my book. This is something I truly look forward to each day. I listen to an audiobook in the car or in my quilting studio while I work. Then while my husband saws logs, I read on my phone in the dark. I read carefully chosen series that could be called “cozies” if they were British. The point is that they are interesting but allow me to unwind and feel drowsy after about 10-20 minutes. This plan is working well!