Summer Reading Lists!

School is wrapping up, finals are here, I am crying and sleeping with my books. But all will be well. Soon I will be home and in the city for the summer. As a lit student, summer is the time for me to fall back in love with reading. Being able to choose what books I read is now a luxury given all the reading that I have to do for my courses. Summer is my time to shine.

For this summer I have a few books on my list:

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
• Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
• Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
• Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink by Kevin Young

It’s a varied, strange list. But I’m very excite to read some non-fiction and memoirs along with literature. It’ll be a good few months.

What are y’all reading for the summer? Anything I should check out?

BFG Trailer is Big, Fun, and Gorgeous

Okay, excuse the cheesiness above. I can’t help it. I’m terribly excited.

I love Roald Dahl. I love his books, I love the movies based off of them, I love the anecdote about his burial. Don’t know the anecdote about his burial? I’ll put it at the bottom of this blog post. Now you have to read it. Muahahahahaha.

But back to the point. The BFG. The Big Friendly Giant. One of the best children’s books out there. What’s not to love about a little girl, a runty giant, and the queen of England teaming up? It’s a beautiful book, filled with the imagery of dreams swirling in jars. It’s a dream in itself.

Roald Dahl’s books are so filled with imagery that they seem to lend themselves very well to film. Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, they all translated so well that their movies are an integral part of my childhood. Who doesn’t remember the great chocolate cake scene in Matilda? Or Veruca Salt being accosted by squirrels? Or the beautiful peach soaring into the sky?

So now, at the age of 21, I’m thrilled about the idea of watching The BFG come to life on the big screen. This summer I’m going to be dragging quite a few people to the theaters to see it with me.

I MEAN, LOOK AT HOW GREAT THIS TRAILER IS!!!!!

It’s a whizzpopper. And it’s releasing on 7/1/2016 in the U.S

 

********Anecdote********

“Roald Dahl died on 23 November 1990, partway through writing a third Charlie Bucket story, titled Charlie Bucket and the White House. He was buried with some of his favourite items, including: a power saw, HB pencils, chocolate, red wine and his snooker cues.”

Source (I suggest reading the rest, it’s an interesting article)

 

 

 

Thoughts on a Women Dominated Industry

I’m a girl trying to enter the publishing industry. When I enter a small publishing house, or a literary agency, it’s most likely that the person I will be meeting with will be a woman. This also often goes for mid-sized or even large agencies and houses. In publishing, women dominate.

Unlike most industries, where men are most often seen and women unheard, women are entering the publishing world at an unprecedented rate, with 85% of hires in publishing with 1-3 years of experience identifying as female. According to this 2010 article in Publishers Weekly, this may be because more women are majoring in English or that more women are willing to accept the lower salaries found in publishing.

To me, both are acceptable. I love that this industry is women-friendly. I love that I can go into work feeling comfortable with my gender, and know that I will have a lower possibility of being discriminated against because of gender.

The article in PW indicated however that some editors were concerned about the lack of gender diversity in publishing, and speculated that less male editors may lead to publication of books that only appeal to women. There is a high level of concern over the lack of younger male readers. According to the article, the male market between 18-32, due to the long held trend of men being less frequent readers. Are female editors less likely to publish material that will appeal to men?

I believe this concern is inherently a little sexist, but also ignoring the long history of publishing and women’s reading habits. Publishing, like almost all other industries, was for most of its history run by men. Men were publishers, editors, agents, and somehow, women still read. Women have been reading what men have chosen and edited and written for centuries, so I can believe that what women choose can still appeal to men. They just have to open up the book to read it.

Summer Internship!

New semester, new internship. Given that I’ll be home this summer, I decided it was finally time to apply to literary agencies aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnd I got one! It’s at a mid-sized, well-established agency located in midtown. The agents seem really friendly and great to work with. I’ll be starting in late May and working there until Mid-August, which is plenty of time to learn as many things as I can.

Luckily for this internship, a lot of the my responsibilities are similar to the same ones I had at my prior publishing house internship, but I’ll be learning a few new skills as well. For example: reader’s reports. I can do those now. I’ll also, of course, be learning more about the agenting side of the industry, and a new perspective can never hurt, particularly now that I can apply my arts management coursework.  However, I  still get to delve into the wonderful world of unsolicited slush. Beautiful, awful slush.

I’m very excited.

B&N’s New Concept

One of the bibles of the publishing world is Publisher’s Weekly, an industry journal with a fantastic website. Recently they released the news that Barnes and Noble is planning on opening a concept store. This store, conveniently located near me, in Westchester, NY, is supposed to capitalize on one of the growing trends in the publishing industry: the hybridization of digital and print media.

Courtesy of Publishers Weekly

This store will ironically be in the same location as a former Border’s (RIP). According to PW, the store will have an outdoor seating area and some form of restaurant. It will be “…not be like anything you’ve seen in other Barnes & Noble stores”. Patrons will take an escalator to the main floor that will open up into “the piazza area.” which is just fancy talk for a large open space. The bookshelves will arranged around the common space. And apparently there will be cloud lighting. Whatever that is.

These stores are supposed to open in October 2017, with three or so locations planned. These locations are supposed to encourage people to buy online products while still in the physical location. This is an interesting concept because you can apply the help of in-store sales associates while still being online. I suppose also having a lot of the books for sale online would also make life a heck of a lot easier for the sales associates themselves. Quite a few less boxes to unpack.

It’s nice to think that even though we’re in the digital age, even though we’re constantly surrounded by people on their phones, companies are still looking to create spaces for people to congregate who love books.

Welcome to the bookshop future, I suppose.