May 14, 2015

Is Thomas the Tank Engine Stalinist propaganda, or free-market pornography, or a series of books about trains with gray faces?

Mark Krotov

This year marks the seventieth anniversary of The Railway Series, which was, as far as I know, the first series of books to bring anthropomorphic trains to an English-speaking audience.… Read more »

Censorship

Chinese translation of Indian poet draws criticism from state and scholars alike — Chad Felix
Egypt continues crackdown on novelist Alaa Al Aswany — Ena Brdjanovic
Has anyone in the White House read the Senate Torture Report? — Mark Krotov
Tea Party chair calls for UN fund-raising book by Kermit the Frog to be banned — Taylor Sperry

Should teachers throw books at students?

Liam O'Brien

(DISCLAIMER: The short answer to the question in this headline is “no”. The long answer is below. None of the following names in this article are made up.) Let us… Read more »

#twitterfiction week is in full swing

Taylor Sperry

We’re in the heart of The Twitter Fiction Festival, which kicked off on Monday with a love-story-in-tweets by Everything I Never Told You novelist Celeste Ng. This year’s festival, which… Read more »

Criado-Perez says her “wake-up call” inspired new book

Kirsten Reach

In 2013, Caroline Criado-Perez led a campaign to get Jane Austen’s face on the £10 bank note. Her campaign was successful. Thrust into the public spotlight, she had to endure… Read more »

This week in celebrity book reviews: Starbucks CEO praises ex-general’s business book

Mark Krotov

If one were to place every kind of writing on a spectrum from Extremely Popular to Online Pharmacy Comments Section, book reviews would, sadly, fall closer to vegan11201’s thoughts on… Read more »