New review: Gwendoline Riley's latest, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑚 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 www.complete-review.com/reviews/popg...

The Anniversary “A book that confronts the purity of fact, the tyranny of memory, and the totalitarianism of family like no other.” —Jhumpa Lahiri A subtle yet heartrending portrait of an abusive ma...

In the mail: only one title, but it's good to see ARC of Andrea Bajani's Premio Strega-winning 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦, coming from Other Press 8/2026 otherpress.com/product/the-...

The Sun Script Author: Rein Raud Translator: Christoper Moseley Series: English Translations of Scandinavian Literature, no. 90 ISBN: 978-1-909408-76-0 Pages: 462 Published: 2026 Order: norvik.press@ucl.ac.uk

In the mail: very pleased to see the new @reinraud.bsky.social 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡, from @norvikpress.bsky.social norvikpress.com/product/the-... Estonian fiction ! (Two of his books are already under review at the CR.)

New review: Caroline Bicks on "My Year of Fear with Stephen King", in 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 www.complete-review.com/reviews/book...

Hans Ulrich Obrist Owns More Than 40,000 Books. Here Are a Few of His Favorites. As a memoir tracing his life in art comes out, we quizzed HUO on the literary predilections that started it all.

Admirable and enviable, from Hans Ulrich Obrist: "I have a ritual where I buy a book every day" www.culturedmag.com/article/2026...

-ky | Rowohlt Verlag -ky, eigentlich Horst Bosetzky, war Industriekaufmann und studierte dann u. a. Soziologie und Psychologie an der Freien Universität Berlin. Bis zu seiner...

There's a popular German mystery author who published under the pseudonym "-ky". Completely un-googleable etc. www.rowohlt.de/autor/ky-465

(Meant 'any more' of course; fortunately a decent amount has been. But there's a lot more.)

Baffled why this hasn't been translated yet. Indeed, why any (indeed, so much) of Mulisch's work hasn't been translated yet.

(Yes, I make slips like this too — but I don't have quite the resources of the NYTBR. (And, yes, I also reviewed this: www.complete-review.com/reviews/dans... ))

Good to see it reviewed in the NYTBR, and, sure, I don't think it's actually spelled out (i.e. mentioned) in this volume of the series, but come on @nytimes.com that's not how the narrator's last name is spelled www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/b...

www.yiddishbookcenter.org/about/news/y...

New review: the latest in Solvej Balle's planned septology, 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝐼𝑉) www.complete-review.com/reviews/dans... (Out today !)

FFS www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...

In the mail: never a great fan of middlemen in any capacity, but can't deny their influence, especially in this area, so very pleased to see @lbmcgrath.bsky.social on "Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction", in 𝑀𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛; @princetonupress.bsky.social press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

but often gives rise to lots of cursing/damning in/of your name ?

Also amused by the title page (and figure that there are at least a handful of book-buyers who will be reässured to see this).

"His prickly character and sharp views have been smoothed as flat as the refrigerator magnets sold across town as souvenir tributes to him."

China’s Most Famous Modern Writer: From Fiery Rebel to Cute Communist Mascot

Nice to see an article on Lu Xun @nytimes.com — even if it is to report that: "The Chinese Communist Party has turned Lu Xun, a Mao-era hero who excoriated the establishment, into a bland, Disney-style character" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/w... [$]

Don't see too many negative reviews nowadays, but Martel still pretty consistently manages to bring out the best (worst) in reviewers.

Don't think I could bring myself to read a Yann Martel book, but appreciate that some continue to get published, just for the reviews. E.g now David Sexton's of his latest, concluding: www.standard.co.uk/culture/book...

I mean, come on — if this table of contents / the chapter-headings doesn't convince you this is a must-have .....

New review: Daniel Hahn on "The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation", in 𝐼𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐵𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐 www.complete-review.com/reviews/tran...

Dialogues of Confucius: The Complete Text. Translated, introduced, and with commentary by Brian Bruya and Wenwen Li

Brian Bruya

Next week, Apr 15 at 5:30pm EDT, head to Eastern Michigan University to hear from Brian Bruya, co-translator of the Dialogues of Confucius! This work is the first complete English translation of the Dialogues, a rediscovered companion to the Analects

This is a free, in-person event: buff.ly/psuiwVu

From the @publisherswkly.bsky.social report on a new report on: "Books in Translation: Trends and Transformations in the European Publishing Market" www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

and the just-out translation of Svetislav Basara's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, from @dalkeyarchive.bsky.social dalkeyarchive.store/products/ris... Four of his books are already under review at the CR, but it's been a while since I read anything of his; always interesting.

In the mail: neat duo: another George Sand from Dedalus, a new translation of 𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑧𝑖𝑎 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖 www.dedalusbooks.com/our-books/bo...

Why Did Trump Officials Award $2 Million to a Small Art School in Queens?

Sorry to see the NEH turned--illegally, it goes without saying--into an opaque patronage fund. Neither the fund nor the funded is willing to make public the process for awarding grants.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/a...

DeWitt: "I think I am looking death in the face. Can’t get my head around this – impossible to imagine Pynchon or Cormac McCarthy, in early career, contemplating this with anything but horror."

They've announced this year's Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes recipients news.yale.edu/2026/04/08/e... Could-have-been-but-isn't-among-them: Helen DeWitt paperpools.blogspot.com/2026/04/we-l...

Currently reading Herve le Tellier's The Name on the Wall. Surprised no UK publisher has seen fit to publish it, or his back catalogue, after the success of The Anomaly.