It is very hard to find depictions of Queequeg online that don’t make you feel just a little bit uncomfortable. (I’m looking at you, Friedrich von Ledebur.)

This August, as we prepare to unleash a truly remarkable fall catalog, MobyLives will be taking a bit of a breather. We’ll still post the occasional news item or feature, but for most of this month we’ll be posting a roundup like this every morning. We will, of course, remain active on Twitter and Facebook. We hope you have a great August, and that you’ll keep checking in with us!

• Is Rick Perlstein a plagiarist, or does his exhaustive new book about the ascendance of Ronald Reagan—The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan—just get so close to the bone that it leaves conservatives critics just sputtering any damn thing that comes to mind? Some critics are loving the hell out of the book. “It says much about his talent as a writer that he makes these years of funk lively, engrossing and on occasion mordantly funny,” notes Frank Rich in a rave review for the New York Times Book Review…. But according to another Times report, this one from Alexandra Alter, a Reagan biographer named Craig Shirley says Perlstein plagiarized his own book about Reagan and he wants $25 million in damages. Perlstein’s publisher, Jonathan Karp of Simon & Schuster, meanwhile, points out that Shirley is cited 125 times in the end notes, which are posted on line…. Which brings up another issue, observes Alter: ” … many academics and publishers remain uncomfortable with the practice [of putting endnotes online], saying it requires readers to take an extra step to find a writer’s sources, and that online documentation could be easily lost.” (The New York Times)
• While American libraries have had some success lending ebooks, working with the platform continues to be a challenge globally. The International Federation of Library Associations reports that the global ebook market is “patchwork at best,” and that subscription services could take up a significant chunk of the market that libraries are trying to reach. (Publishers Weekly)
• Sony announced yesterday that it will no longer produce ereaders because they are not “economically viable.” This isn’t terribly surprising, as some are predicting the demise of the ereader (smart phones and tablets have blood on their hands). The company will still produce ereaders in Japan, however, where they apparently cost $1,100 and only support PDFs (seriously). Ereaders: big in Japan (for now). (The Bookseller)
• Lois Lowry talks to The New York Times Magazine about the new adaptation of The Giver. Of the process, she says: “The film rights were optioned probably 18 years ago, so this has been a very, very long process. My entire involvement is as an interloper, an onlooker, an opinion giver. I don’t have any contractual involvement, so they could have gone ahead and made it without consulting me at all, but they’ve been gracious about involving me.” Unfortunately, there’s no word on how Lowry feels about Jeff Bridges‘ decision to turn The Giver into a totally chill stoner bro. (The New York Times Magazine)
• The main characters from FX‘s (or FXX‘s?) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have written a self-help book. Charlie, Dee, Mac, and Dennis might not seem like ideal sources for how to lead even a functional life—they’re prone to eating cat food, hunting the homeless for sport, and occasionally smoking crack–but that’s not stopping them from weighing in on topics like relationships, careers, recipes, fashion, and more. (TIME)
• Reading Harry Potter may make kids more empathic. It also definitely makes kids more likely to get swirlies for being NERDS. Just kidding, this is great. (Not so great? The title of the study, which is super lame: “The greatest magic of Harry Potter: Reducing prejudice.” The greatest magic in Harry Potter is the time-turner because it makes absolutely zero sense.) Researchers “found that across several studies conducted, the children and young people who read and discussed sections of the books that dealt directly with prejudice showed ‘improved attitudes’ towards immigrants or gay people if they identified emotionally with Harry’s character.”If they identified with Voldemort’s character they showed “improved attitudes” towards being a jerk, probably. (The Independent)
• What kind of literary scientist are you? The answer may surprise you! (Full Stop)
• A pro-gun children’s book aims to convince them that their parents’ guns will not kill them. One of the authors told Armed American Radio (lol) that “Most kids aren’t scared of a gun … that’s another good point this book tries to make.” A good point, yes. If you are scared of a gun and you are a kid, you are weak and in the minority and are probably reading Harry Potter right now. Anyway, this book sounds terrifying and awful. (The Guardian)
• A W.H. Smith bookshop is literally London’s hottest store because it is extremely hot inside. How hot? Well I’m not really sure how hot, because the temperature is in Celsius, which is a made-up system of measurement. So we’ll say that it’s 135 degrees in this shop. So hot you could boil tea, you saucy gent. So hot all me biscuits are melting. (London Evening Standard)

Today’s passage from Moby-Dick: 

How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg — a cosy, loving pair.–Chapter 10

Today’s Melville House book: Event by Slavoj Zizek 

Today’s song: “I Can’t Seem To Make You Mine” by Alex Chilton