Summer is upon us, but book news waits for no Hampton Jitney. Here’s what’s going on this week in books and reading:
Comixology Announces Unlimited Subscription Service
In the on-going quest to find a subscription service for books and reading that actually works, Comixology is throwing its hat into the ring with a $5.99/month all-the-digital-comics-you-can-read offering. The catch: no Marvel or DC titles, which together account for more than 66% of comics sales. It’s hard to imagine that either hard-core comics readers or casual fans will be interested in ponying up without titles for the big two. We shall see.
Writers Begin To Openly Oppose Donald Trump
More than 600 writers, including a fair number of heavy-hitters like Stephen King and Junot Diaz, signed an open letter to the American people outlining the case against Donald Trump for president. More than 22,000 people have signed onto the petition since it first went live.
J.K. Rowling Defends Trumps Right to Be Trump
In her remarks at the PEN American Literary Gala last week, Rowling defended Trump’s right to be, well, basically everything the signers of the aforementioned petition condemned. He was her example of an odious messenger and message that still must be protected in the name of free speech. It was a striking choice, especially considering that there are writers all over the world that are actually imprisoned and persecuted for their speech.
The Millennium Series Gets a Fifth Installment
Quercus announced this week that Lisbeth Salander will be returning for a fifth book in the Millennium series, with David Lagercrantz returning to write it. The Girl in the Spider’s Web sold well enough that the series seems to have enough interest to become one of the very few series that has continued after the creator’s death. No title yet, but the next book will be out in both the US and the UK in 2017.
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