All posts tagged: Books

The Press Tour’ Fashion Book on Sale

The Press Tour’ Fashion Book on Sale

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission. Even with the end of awards season, The Barbie marketing machine marches on. Margot Robbie and THR Power Stylist Andrew Mukamal are now New York Times bestselling authors, as their new book, Barbie: The World Tour, has landed on the chart — and you can score it on sale right now. Marked down to 40 percent off at Amazon for a limited time, the book (Rizzoli) comes on the heels of Ryan Gosling’s bedazzled “I’m Just Ken” performance at the Oscars. It features the Barbie star and executive producer’s whirlwind press tour looks, including outfits that didn’t make it to the pink carpets when the publicity was cut short by the writers and actors strikes. (The film itself is streaming on Max.) Robbie and Mukamal teamed with prominent fashion photographer Craig McDean to showcase her Mattel doll-inspired looks. The 160-page tome also includes rare images from Mattel’s archives, designer sketches, Polaroid photos …

‘You can see it as a revenge fantasy’: The new book arguing that enslaved people co-authored the Bible | Books

‘You can see it as a revenge fantasy’: The new book arguing that enslaved people co-authored the Bible | Books

Enslaved people wrote the Bible, carried the messages of the apostles and spread the word of Jesus around the Roman empire, according to a shocking new book by the theology professor Candida Moss. God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible argues that apostles and early Christians used enslaved scribes, secretaries and messengers to write the New Testament and shape the very foundations of Christianity. “The overwhelming literary and archeological evidence shows that this kind of work was done by enslaved or formerly enslaved people,” says Moss, the Edward Cadbury professor of theology at the University of Birmingham. Scholars think only about 5-10% of Romans were literate: the very wealthy – and the people they enslaved. “One reason that slaves were educated to do this work is because – especially when it comes to something like copying out a manuscript by hand – it hurts. So wealthy people who were educated didn’t want to do it”, Moss says. “And, particularly as their vision got worse as they got older, they needed enslaved people …

Amazon Kindle Lock Screens Are Showing Ads for AI-Generated Books

Amazon Kindle Lock Screens Are Showing Ads for AI-Generated Books

Amazon has been a huge staging ground for the proliferation of AI-generated spam. In fact, as we noticed earlier this year, its marketplace has already started to fill up with shoddy AI-generated listings — at the same time, of course, that Amazon itself is working on tech to generate more of the same. Now the consequences of this proliferation seem to be spilling over into the world of Amazon’s millions of readers. Many of its Kindles, by far the most popular e-readers in the world, are displaying ads for blatantly AI-generated books. And they’re showing up not as a little box but in one of the most conspicuous advertising spaces in the publishing industry: the Kindle’s lock screen. If you were unaware that these reading devices could also be ad vehicles, here’s a quick background. In the US, Amazon sells Kindles, including the popular Kindle Paperwhite, at a $20 discount off its retail price of $189.99 if you buy an “ad-supported” edition. Take the discount, and your Kindle will essentially show ads as a big …

Limited Edition Case Bound Books

Limited Edition Case Bound Books

Limited edition case-bound books have a unique appeal to book collectors and enthusiasts. These books offer a chance to own a rare piece of literature and showcase bookbinding’s craftsmanship and creativity. Let us explore the various aspects of binding special editions, from understanding case binding to designing unique covers and preserving these valuable books. The Appeal of Limited Editions There is an undeniable allure to owning a limited-edition book. These editions’ exclusivity and scarcity attract collectors seeking to possess something unique and special. Limited editions often come with additional features, such as signed or numbered copies, special illustrations, or even personal dedications from the author. These elements make each book a cherished treasure that stands out from regular editions. Moreover, limited edition books hold prestige within the book-collecting community. They can become highly sought-after items, driving up their value over time. This combination of exclusivity and high demand makes limited editions a captivating category for collectors, book lovers, and anyone wanting to bind their own book. Delving deeper into the world of limited editions, it’s …

Books that Break Your Heart and Put it Back Together Again

Books that Break Your Heart and Put it Back Together Again

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. By day, Leah Rachel von Essen is the editor-in-chief of Chicago Booth Magazine at the University of Chicago. By night, she reviews genre-bending fiction for Booklist, and writes regularly as a senior contributor at Book Riot. Her blog While Reading and Walking has over 10,000 dedicated followers over several social media outlets, including Instagram. She writes passionately about books in translation, chronic illness and bias in healthcare, queer books, twisty SFF, and magical realism and folklore. She was one of a select few bookstagrammers named to NewCity’s Chicago Lit50 in 2022. She is an avid traveler, a passionate fan of women’s basketball and soccer, and a lifelong learner. Twitter: @reading_while View All posts by Leah Rachel von Essen I like to read books that make me cry on planes—apparently. I never plan it, but somehow I end up choosing the perfect, tear-duct-squeezing, emotionally-aching, devastating books on planes (throwback to a flight attendant literally having to ask me if …

Electric, poignant, exquisitely written: inside the inaugural Women’s prize for nonfiction shortlist | Books

Electric, poignant, exquisitely written: inside the inaugural Women’s prize for nonfiction shortlist | Books

As chair of judges for the inaugural Women’s prize for nonfiction, it has been a privilege to read some of the best work produced in English by women in the last year. From our longlist of 16 fantastic titles, my fellow judges Venetia La Manna, Nicola Rollock, Anne Sebba, Kamila Shamsie and I have chosen a shortlist of six must-read books. The first (in order of author’s surname) is Thunderclap, by Observer art critic Laura Cumming. The author draws attention to the genius of an overlooked artist, Carel Fabritius and, by extension, makes us look anew at the whole of Dutch art. Amid this she weaves in sections of memoir about her artist father. Deeply researched and meticulously wrought, this is tender, electric and highly original. Cumming has a real gift for putting paintings into words: she helps the reader to see things that they might have otherwise missed. She is a master of structure, and her diction is gorgeous, while the revelation on the last page is breathtakingly poignant. Quick Guide Women’s prize for …

The Oxford English Dictionary’s latest update adds 23 Japanese words | Books

The Oxford English Dictionary’s latest update adds 23 Japanese words | Books

Katsu, donburi and onigiri are among 23 Japanese words added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its latest update. More than half of the borrowed words relate to food or cooking. Santoku, a knife with a short, flat blade that curves down at the tip, and okonomiyaki, a type of savoury pancake, were both added. Okonomiyaki is derived from okonomi, meaning “what you like”, combined with yaki, meaning “to fry, to sear”. Katsu – a piece of meat, seafood, or vegetable, coated with flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried, and cut into strips – is considered a boomerang word, a case of reborrowing: katsu is the shortened form of katsuretsu, which is a borrowing into Japanese of the English word “cutlet”. Donburi, a Japanese dish consisting of rice topped with other ingredients, is also used to describe the bowl in which this dish is served. The culinary use is likely related to the Japanese adverb donburi, meaning “with a splash”, which “could be an allusion to the sound of ingredients being dropped into a bowl”, …

‘A bygone world of glamour’: Hollywood and the age of couture – in pictures | Art and design

‘A bygone world of glamour’: Hollywood and the age of couture – in pictures | Art and design

Marlene Dietrich, 1936 Many of Huene’s subjects during this period were based at Paramount Pictures, including Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Mae West and the director Ernst Lubitsch. Paramount was regarded as having a strong European sensibility and Huene likely felt at home among this coterie. Here, Huene’s lighting accentuates Dietrich’s sculpted features and prominent cheekbones Source link

Dozens of library services and 26 museums to receive £33m government funding | Books

Dozens of library services and 26 museums to receive £33m government funding | Books

Forty-three library services and 26 museums will be given funding in the latest round of the government’s cultural investment fund. £10.5m will be distributed through the libraries improvement fund (LIF), which helps services upgrade their buildings and improve their digital infrastructure. Local authorities can bid for the money on behalf of their library services. £22.6m will be awarded to museums. The biggest LIF awards were given to London councils, with Camden council awarded £499,999 and Hackney libraries receiving £499,700. Reading, Chester, Wakefield and Medway services were also given awards of more than £400,000. Newcastle libraries were given £382,159 to create a new reading facility in a disused part of the Walker Activity Dome. It will also support increased opening hours and create a community space. “This is fantastic news,” said Christine Herriot of Newcastle city council. The extra funding “will help make the library bigger by bringing unused storage space back into use, give it a new entrance and enable us to widen digital services on offer while putting in place employment support to help …

5 Ways to Write in Your Books

5 Ways to Write in Your Books

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, where we report on literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Carrie Turns 50 In case you’ve maybe gotten a little complacent about exactly how good Stephen King is at his job, try this on for size: Carrie, which turns 50 next month, was his debut novel. Here’s Margaret Atwood reflecting on its significance and impact:  But underneath the “horror,” in King, is always the real horror: the all-too-actual poverty and neglect and hunger and abuse that exists in America today…The ultimate horror, for him as it was for Dickens, is human cruelty, and especially cruelty to children. It is this that distorts “charity,” the better side of our nature, the side that prompts us to take care of others. And here are the folks at NPR musing on whether King’s blockbuster writing is “great literature,” which, frankly, is pretty far down the list of interesting questions one could ask about his …