On Friday, Powell’s Books, which laid off most of its workers earlier this month, has rehired more than one hundred employees to help meet the demands created by an upsurge in online book sales.
Meg LaBorde Kuehn, the CEO of Kirkus Media, has written an open letter announcing that digital subscriptions to Kirkus magazine are now free. “Our mandate, now and always, is simple: help our community of book lovers discover the best new reads and stay ahead of the curve.”
As bookstores close, authors cancel book tours, conferences get delayed (Book Expo America), or canceled (the American Library Association), and publishers postpone the publication of books, Alexandra Alter reports on how Covid-19 is affecting the publishing business. “Some of the most anticipated titles of the spring have been delayed by weeks or months,” Alter writes, “including the latest by the best-selling children’s book author Jeff Kinney, literary novels by Graham Swift and Ottessa Moshfegh, and nonfiction books by Representative Eric Swalwell of California, the Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings and the comedians and late-night television hosts Desus and Mero.”
At the Melville House blog, Ryan Harrington points out some ways that we can help bookstores and libraries—for which you can do archival and editing work without leaving your home.
The headline of a new Monica Hesse column suggests how to best use Woody Allen’s new memoir (spoiler alert: not as reading material).
“Fortunately, the year has already given us a number of great books that can entertain you, transport you, maybe even inspire you.” Critic Ron Charles offers book recommendations for these “challenging, cloistered times.”
The new issue of Bookforum is now available online.
