Have We Reached Peak Celebrity Audiobook Narration?

It was the only black-owned bookstore in town. Now it’s a haven for people evacuated by the California fires.

I was in Pasadena on New Year’s to visit the Huntington Library and remembered it was an Octavia Butler haunt. This story about Nikki High, who uses her bookstore, Octavia’s bookshelf, as a support center is totally worth reading, but here’s a snippet to encourage you to check it out.

“We packed all the books off the shelves and put them in the attic,” explains High. The books were replaced with items that people gave to the victims of the fire. Donations poured in from as far as Portland and filled the store with supplies such as toothpaste, diapers, cat food and water. Community volunteers, including loyal customers, stepped in to help organize and distribute items.

Amazon threatens to remove Bloomsbury UK title appears to speed up new deal

In a blast from Amazon’s past, the biggest bookseller to ever exist threatens to remove Bloomsbury UK titles, rattling the publisher’s share price and reminding us all of what Amazon can do when it wants. I did. A new contract was struck shortly after this announcement, but one can’t help but wonder if Bloomsbury signed a less lucrative deal than they would have liked because the public threat was so strong. The two sides had been in negotiations for several months, so the quick deal after the saver rattle appears to be more than a coincidence. I haven’t heard any hostility from the publisher/Amazon in a while. It can be a sign of publisher adaptation or a sign of not so much advanced hegemony.