By Joni Di Placido

Hello hello! Thanks to Marina for keeping this going while I was flitting around NYC last weekend! Chrissy is in NINC this week, so watch out for her updates in the KWL newsletter on Monday!

Other than NINC, what’s been happening in the literary world over the last seven days?

How to use subtitles correctly

BookNet Canada with some really insightful metadata tips—are you including subtitles in your book titles, and are you doing it effectively?

https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/9/25/dont-do-what-donny-dont-does-misusing-subtitles?utm_source=BookNet+Canada+eNews&utm_campaign=4c3e11ae39-enews_180925&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a10723ac8b-4c3e11ae39-321497145

It happens to everyone: writers on writer’s block

If you’re feeling stuck, know that you’re not alone: LitHub collected the experiences of several famous authors on how they experience writer’s block.

https://lithub.com/is-it-real-25-famous-writers-on-writers-block/

The Nobel Prize in Literature may not return next year after all

Well, this is grim:

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-noble-prize-in-literature-could-be-cancelled-for-more-than-a-year-amid-sexual-assault-scandal-12052666

Banned book week

Ron Charles of the Washington Post (link behind a paywall) asked this week if we really still need Banned Book Week, positing that the practice of banning books is “largely confined to our repressive past”.  I’d argue that yeah, we do. Because while, yes, adults in the Western world can now—for the most part—acquire whatever they want to read, there are still tiresome people restricting what children and young adults can read. And let’s be honest, the most challenged books are those featuring marginalized characters—The Hate U Give, Drama, I am Jazz. How about, instead of pretending that violence, sex, swearing and LGBTQ people don’t exist, we teach kids to read critically, form opinions and use books as a platform for discussion?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-books-biblioracle-0930-20180925-story.html

An unexpected bestseller: The Wonky Donkey, by Craig Smith

We dare you to watch this video of a Scottish woman reading aloud to her baby grandchild without dissolving into giggles. It’s so good.

Daily struggles of a librarian.

This is a great article on the struggle of technology in libraries. Let’s all take a moment to appreciate librarians and all they do.

https://lithub.com/i-am-a-librarian-i-am-a-tech-whisperer/

And that’s a wrap! Let me know if I missed anything in the comments, and have a fabulous weekend!

Staff Book Recommendation:

Jen McKenzie, Partner Ops Team Lead

Just One Damned Thing After Another

“I’m on book three of this series and there have been multiple instances of inappropriate giggling in public. What happens when you take a bunch of eccentric historians, wind up their curiosity, feed them too much sugar and tea, then give them the ability to time travel?”