A friend has made me aware that my very particular Canadian/ Southern accent is coming out hard and creating a diphthong "u" in dust jacket, so enjoy that.

thanks, @levistahl.bsky.social!

Some more Nancy Lemann coverage this past week! www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

Speaking of New Orleans, don't miss Joe Bond's book launch at Octavia Books next month!

If this is the last regular ep of The Lit Hub Podcast (which it may well be! More on that TK!), I can't think of a better way to go than talking books-as-objects with Meg Reid and book bans with Philomena Polefrone from the ABA. Happy Indie Bookstore Day Eve!!

I think this is my favorite podcast I've done because I got to talk to @drewsof.bsky.social about books as consumer objects!! Formats! Book costs! All my favorite things. Thanks to Drew and @literaryhub.bsky.social for inviting me--hope you give it a listen. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Let's hope that if The Correspondent does cause a boom in "late-in-life transformation" novels, writers over 60+ will be given more serious consideration (not just 39 year olds who are good at writing older characters).

I get in on the fun Nancy Lemann renaissance with a look at her trio of new and republished books--two pendant novels and a work of quasi-reportage. Her New Orleans reminds me a little of Winnie-the-Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood, but more humid and soused. Gift link: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

I remember when I said a few years back that I was concerned about, y'know, everything, as a naturalized citizen (naturalized under a parent's application!) and everyone was like "you're not their target" and "they can't do anything if you're a citizen." Seemed short-sighted to me then and now!

Way too early to be annoyed but I just saw the big debut author post a series of rejection letters for their short stories and then a screenshot of how many holds their book has at nypl. But like, those two things are unrelated. The only thing that has changed is marketing!

literally the first thing that comes up when I googled him www.cnn.com/2026/02/06/p...

Sourcebooks always has a whole football team's worth of personnel changes in every publisher's lunch email.

I think before you build an Arc de Triomphe you should be able to identify at least un (1) triomphe

my hot take is if you contribute to a bookstore GoFundMe and the store goes under six months later, you should get your money back.

Always in life, it is interesting to see the story of one who was wild and later abandons his vices. —Nancy Lemann, The Ritz of the Bayou

Having a Google alert for a book that's been really visible for a few weeks has given me a really interesting window into how much slop there is out there. Like, this quote is completely fabricated/ hallucinated / whatever you want to call it. The bots just churning out garbage copy.

Every single facet of this country shitting on fat people for decades and then making GLP-1s unaffordable and not covered by insurance really lays bare that it really wasn't about health at any point.

My family pays $700 a month for good insurance from AN EMPLOYER. We also pay $75-100 for every specialist appointment and $300+ a month for non-generic insulin products. People who can't understand the gap probably don't have a chronic condition or someone in their family with one.

I increasingly think the only unifying position that we could all get behind is "total reset." I'd be fine with it. I never want to see any of these people again (even the dems).

Went on threads to check on a notification and saw something about the NHL "ripping off" Heated Rivalry by orchestrating a ceremonial Crosby/Ovechkin puck drop--like HR wasn't inspired by Sid and Ovie in the first place. People are so dumb!

Yay! Another publisher-operated bookshop! www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

I think about this re: content creators. I saw commenters yelling at a creator because she said she was flying her son to ski practice but like 99% of the reason food accounts take off is because they have an aspirational kitchen! People seem to not realize the wealth required to get into your feed.

The Ritz of the Bayou by Nancy Lemann has been out for about a week. Here's what the critics are saying!

Nancy Lemann, The Ritz of the Bayou.

With her first new novel in 24 years, Nancy Lemann returns to New Orleans and its eccentricities—but now the cult-favorite author has widened her lens. Kaitlyn Tiffany spoke with Lemann to discuss her approach:

Good morning, Bluesky. Delighted to see Nancy Lemann getting well-deserved attention, baffled by the NYT’s characterization of New Orleans/its literary culture, including the Richard Ford quote: it “is noisy and crowded, and not a good place to be a novelist.” It’s a GREAT place to be a novelist.

Have a lot of feelings about this! Only a few are warm, I'm sorry to say.

It's crazy that we're still constantly re-litigating whether AI slop is damaging our brains, when we have such a clear and apparent example in our chief executive.

nature is truly healing

it can work here, folks

I love that the one thing that unites us all globally is a complete and utter aversion to JD Vance.

I needed a content warning for young Julianne Moore in The Fugitive because goddamn

oop I take it back: wind.

Bell centre rushing through the star spangled banner at an even faster clip than normal tonight.

Really wish the Atlantic had thought to ask the southern publisher (that's also bringing nancy's books back into print) if they had thoughts about Americans exoticizing the south. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

I agree with this and also find it generally weird that we try to separate children's happiness from the whole, like they aren't experiencing all the same misery adults are, with even fewer emotional tools to handle it.

coachella weekend is always so bizarre for the rest of the country.

wait, I had meetings all day, is the dewitt GoFundMe thing real?

at least one good thing is happening in books after this shitshow of a week.

I can't stand the way Tampa Bay plays.

Because my hockey posts always bomb, I decided to double down and go long on my habs, who just made the playoffs! It's also about books, I promise. open.substack.com/pub/megireid...

I know this Freida McFadden news is a big deal but I'm still not convinced she's just a semi-sentient AI they're using to crank domestic thrillers every 6-8 months.

I'm promoting the eff out of a 70 year old writer who isn't online and hates being interview BUT she also has worn herself out going to events in new orleans, mississippi, NYC, DC, etc. She cheekily emailed me she's in a "psychosomatic physical decline right now." She's showing up, though!

gosh, I can't figure out what all of these fragile ceasefires have in common. www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/ira...

lol www.hubcity.org/news/hub-cit...

I really dislike the utah mammoth from a branding persepctive but I have to admit they got me with the ZAMMOTH

dream pub, dream critic, dream art! (I love you, possum wine bride)

Whoa, a big day for LOST GIRLS enthusiasts. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...

A top GOP strategist is offering this as an argument as to why the midterms might not be a disaster for Republicans.