Little Star Journal

Don't miss our typically smart and thoughtful takes! Sign up for Book Post! books.substack.com

Last week, Janet Webster Jones of @sourcebksellers received the Voice of the Heartland award at the @HeartlandIndies. Read her remarks on being honored here: books.substack.com/p/diary-janet-…

On the latest episode of @theshortfusepod, host Elizabeth Howard talks to @BookPostUSA editor and critic Ann Kjellberg about the value of literary criticism as a form of sustained reflection. artsfuse.org/281678/

Adam Thirwell in @TheGuardian recommends @BookPostUSA as a cure for graphomania! theguardian.com/books/2023/aug…

The next installment in our summer read-along of Middlemarch is here! This week Mona Simpson considers Jane Austen’s influence on George Eliot and her characters. Leave your thoughts in the comments! books.substack.com/p/middlemarch-…

RIP Cormac McCarthy. Here is Tracy Daugherty, in Book Post in December, on McCarthy’s last two books—“a final testament made of fragments suggesting the beauty of life’s unknown tongue.” books.substack.com/p/review-tracy… This

Just in time for summer, Mona Simpson kicks off Book Post’s Summer Reading of Middlemarch! 1. Skip the preface; 2. What Woolf & James got wrong about Eliot. Join us! The world is chaotic, take refuge in the mighty spirit of George Eliot tinyurl.com/5yv6vcr3

Have you heard? We'll be partnering with @JoinTertulia this winter! A little different from our usual partners, Tertulia is a book discovery app that brings all the world's book conversations to readers looking for their next book. Read about it 👇❄️ books.substack.com/p/announcing-o…

A pandemic correspondence finds solace in poetry and memory: 2 students of Derek Walcott remember @racheldewoskin & @KirunKapur h/t @arrowsmithpress / @AskoldMelnyczuk books.substack.com/p/diary-1-rach…

"Here we wonder at the individual—the performer—that a writer can be. Mantel’s single greatest asset is voice—that is to say, her voices, their clarity, toughness, and persuasive honesty." books.substack.com/p/review-april…

Dog Days of Summer reading from Book Post! We've opened up some of our choicest reviews by some great writers, and are offering a special sale for summer subscribers here! Including: @michaelidov @dwaynebetts @EnrigueAlvaro @AlffDave @ccaryl 🌼🌱🌞⛱️🦋🍉 books.substack.com/p/dog-days-of-…

For our new #Diary, @SumanaSiliguri tries to get a good look at our unavoidable though furtive companion, exhaustion books.substack.com/p/diary-sumana…

.@Observer is featuring our latest #Notebook this week (on TikTok and the future of reading), as part of a new syndication partnership. 🥂 #Observer! observer.com/2022/08/tiktok…

Editor's note: I whispered to our subscribers today to have a look at my brother Paul Kjellberg's beautiful interactive translation/commentary on the ancient Chinese philosoper #Zhuangzi; uncertain philosophy for uncertain times @WhittierCollege (✍🏼) paulkjellberg.com/commentaries/m…

"What Can Literature Do in the Time of War?" @HarrimanInst symposium with Maria Stepanova, Polina Barskova, @sophiepinkhmmm Edwin Frank, Mattvei Yankelevich, Ostap Kin harriman.columbia.edu/event/symposiu…

A threnody from the great Maria Stepanova ft.com/content/c27974…

“Last year, my neighbor went searching for her husband––they had taken him prisoner, but then they said they had let him go. She searched for him day after day for many days …" Yevgenia Belorusets' stories and photographs of Eastern Ukraine books.substack.com/p/diary-yevgen…

"The Nun of Kenmare was assertive. This is top-shelf Love Advice. Do not be afraid to embrace a change of opinion on a provisional attachment!" -from Anakana Schofield's Diary piece on the prolific Nun of Kenmare. Read the full piece here! books.substack.com/p/diary-anakan…

"It’s difficult to fathom the gigantic and relentless gripes all these people had....but unlike many of God’s good, misunderstood specimens and people with dormant profiles on dating apps, the Nun of Kenmare did not dwell upon her woes." books.substack.com/p/diary-anakan…

I’ve seldom read, let alone contributed to, a book as innovative in its conception as Irina Mashinski’s THE NAKED WORLD. Please join us for the pre-launch on Feb. 10: bit.ly/3rj44PK Here is my translation of one of Irina’s lyrics, as bracing as a swim in early spring.