Sam Hiyate and the Rights Factory launch a new podcast, Agent Provocateur
As the name suggests, Agent Provocateur is a podcast that is not afraid of taking a stance, though Hiyate also says he wants to spotlight all sides of an issue.
Control tactics: Sarah Berman discusses writing about Keith Raniere, NXIVM, and a self-empowerment scheme that masked the wanton abuse of countless women
The Vancouver journalist’s book chronicles a four-year plunge into the depths of the NXIVM miasma.
Scary stories: a single-volume anthology from the British Library provides a cogent and concise history of the literary horror genre
From 17th century Gothic novels to the modern-day zombie story, the horror novel continues to fascinate readers and evolve in the literary consciousness.
Ashley Audrain’s thriller The Push is the top seller for the first half of 2021, according to BookNet Canada
Total unit sales were up year-over-year for the first part of 2021, with juvenile/young adult sales in the lead, followed by adult nonfiction, and adult fiction.
To catch a predator: Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown’s book details her pursuit of justice for the victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Though marred by some sloppy writing and digressions, Brown’s book provides a valuable counter to a justice system in thrall to wealth and influence.
When you’re a stranger: Omar El Akkad follows up his bestselling debut with a novel that represents a stark departure in form and subject
“Any story, any work of literature, any storytelling endeavour has to be both lighthouse and storm,” El Akkad says.
Skin in the game: librarian Megan Rosenbloom goes on a hunt for a very esoteric category of rare books
As a leader of the Anthropodermic Book Project, Rosenbloom has for years been ensconced in the realm of anthropodermic bibliopegy – in lay terms, the practice of binding books in human skin.
Casey Plett and Cat Fitzpatrick team up to launch new feminist publisher LittlePuss Press
“We’re not an all-trans press,” says Fitzpatrick. “We definitely understand ourselves as a feminist press run by trans women.”
De Sade’s notorious manuscript scroll, an “emblem of literary and artistic freedom,” acquired by French nation for €4.55 million
The manuscript, deemed by the French government a national treasure, is one of the most controversial and frequently banned works ever published.
Not what they seem: P.J. Vernon and Carrie Jenkins deliver queer thrillers with very different tones and approaches
A breezy, plot-driven book and an abstruse, philosophically dense ontological mystery provide different pleasures for readers.