- Galen Bacharier reports that Missouri librarians and the local chapter of the ACLU are fighting back against the removal of books from school libraries. (Springfield News-Leader)
- Scott G. Bruce investigates the long history of ghost stories. (Perspectives on History)
- Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman explain how the “double u” (w) got its name. (Grammarphobia)
- Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza likes to read in public. (LitHub)
- Are you a fan of mysteries but struggle to explain what kind of mystery you like? CJ Connor is here with a rundown of mystery subgenres for you. (Book Riot)
- Heinz Insu Fenkl isn’t the first author to consult the I Ching while writing. (LitHub)
- Claire Woodcock interviews Brian Covey, a Florida teacher who was fired for posting a view of empty bookshelves at his school to raise awareness of the consequences of DeSantis’s censorship. (Vice)
- Barry Yourgrau makes serendipitous discoveries in libraries and at booksellers. (LitHub)
- Kate Wheeler shares a delightful memory of sharing stories with her brother via audiobooks. (NPR)
- Bruce Holsinger details the laborious process of making parchment, a critical element of books for centuries. (Lapham’s Quarterly)
- Reports are coming out about a deluge of AI-generated texts flooding different publishing outlets (a venerable sff magazine and Amazon’s Kindle Store) but Emily Temple wonders why anyone would want to read them anyway. (LitHub)
- Imad Gebrayel dives into the fascinating history of modern Arabic typographical design. (Futuress)
- …and I would never forget to pass on Book Riot‘s excellent censorship dispatches: February 17 and February 24.
The article about reading in public is great! I often get looks when I’m reading in public, once in a while a comment that becomes a pleasing conversation.