Reading about the reading life: February 23, 2018 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Reading about the reading life" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is where I collect stories about reading and the reading life. Basically, these are items related to reading, maybe writing and literacy, that I find interesting and think my four readers might find interesting as well with a little commentary. As with other features I do on this blog, I do it when I have time or feel like it. Comments are always welcome (within reason). 

 

I found some interesting things since the previous edition, so let's have a look. 

• A new look at Mario Vargas Llosa. The guy is 81, and he is still writing on. Via The New York Times. 
• Also via The New York Times, a look at the Hyman Archive in London, considered the largest archive of magazines in the world, at least according to Guinness. 
• You know we live in seriously shitty and rude times when a newspaper has to publish a list of etiquette books. Via The New York Times. 
• In Idaho, they recreated a book brigade to move books from one building to another. Via The Idaho Press-Tribune.
• At Lecturalia (Spanish language article), a look at the detectives that gave form to Hercule Poirot. 
• The Associated Press had recently yet another of those "OMG. Libraries are taking old books out" articles. It's called weeding people, and healthy libraries need to do it every so often. 
• Book Riot featured a nice profile of erotica editor and writer Rachel Kramer Bussel. If you want to read good erotica, forget that shady stuff and pick up some of her work instead. 
• The big honcho of some fancy high fallutin' publishing house recently said that e-books are stupid. That is it. Put those damn tablets down, you whippersnappers. Via The Guardian.
• Via The Conversation, how P.T. Barnum may have paved the way for the Pendejo In Chief. Part of this is in light of the recent Barnum biopic, but historically speaking Americans are notorious for embracing all kinds of showmen, con men, snake oil men, so on. Article also highlights a new book on the history of deception that I am thinking of adding to my TBR list. 
• I just found this interesting overall. A look at how American (US) funerary rites may be changing. The book connection comes in part because the article mentions Mitford's The American Way of Death. Via The Conversation. For a more recent look at the death industry in the U.S, I would also recommend Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, which I have read and reviewed.