Rowling, for free, and a plea to kids

For kids needing respite in the pandemic, J.K. Rowling is making her new book available, in daily installments, for free at www.jkrowling.com. It’s “The Ickabog,” and she worked on it years ago, “in fits and starts,” as she wrote the Harry Potter books. The theme is abuse of power — an enduring theme and not, she cautions, connected to anything specific today.

When she took a break from writing, she stashed “Ickabog” in the attic. Her kids had a role in it — first as audience (she read at night to them as she went), now as editors (“As I worked to finish the book, I started reading chapters nightly to the family again. This was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my writing life, as The Ickabog’s first two readers told me what they remember from when they were tiny, and demanded the reinstatement of bits they’d particularly liked [I obeyed].”) Delightful.

She’s posting “a chapter (or two, or three) every weekday” till July 10.

Kid illustrators: She’s soliciting your work for later print editions. Author royalties will go to groups particularly hit by the pandemic.

Hat tip to Ocracoke’s Leslie Lanier, who owns Books to be Red. Her Facebook post about her masks policy was one highlighted by the Shelf Awareness newsletter. Lanier first thanked the week’s customers, and affirmed how “hot, itchy, and aggravating” masks can be, especially if worn all day as hers are.

Then, this:

“I understand that there are hundreds of opinions about masks and believe it or not I respect yours. I thought long and hard about what my shop would be during the pandemic time. For my shop, you need to wear a mask and wear it correctly. I have one I will give you if you don’t have one. Let me get that out of my mouth before you storm off. If you don’t choose to wear one, no hard feelings. I hope you will shop here another time. I have had health care professionals applaud me for requiring masks and gripe at me for requiring masks. Clearly, there are hundreds of opinions. Yes, I know you DON’T have Covid-19. I don’t either but neither of us really know who we have all been hanging around.

“Thank you, enjoy your visit to the island. We are happy everyone is here.”

Booksellers, publishers and authors in Italy took an ugly hit in the first four months of 2020: 8 million fewer books sold than in the 2019 period. Italy, especially the north, of course had a hellish time in the early part of Europe’s COVID-19 pandemic. As of midweek, Italy’s death toll had passed 33,000, according to Johns Hopkins. (Publishers Weekly)

Recipients of Amazon Literary Partnership grants include: Archipelago, Graywolf and Milkweed presses, Lambda Literary, and PEN America. (PW)

Obituary notes: Robb Forman Dew, author of “fiction, memoirs, essays, criticism and cookbooks,” was 73, noted Shelf Awareness. Her 1981 novel, “Dale Loves Sophie to Death,” won the National Book Award (the American Book Award, back then) for first novel. Her trilogy (“The Evidence Against Her,” “The Truth of the Matter” and “Being Polite to Hitler”) was “her crowning achievement.”

New and recent

From Elliot Ackerman, “Red Dress in Black and White.” A young American woman in a changing Turkey decides to leave, without her Turkish husband, but with their young son and her lover. The husband, Murat, decides to fight it, and layers of relationships and intrigue are exposed. Ackerman’s previous works include “Waiting for Eden” and “Places and Names.” As a Marine he was highly decorated during his five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Knopf, 288 pp.)

From J. M. Coetzee, “The Death of Jesus,” a novel.

Also, from U.S. Sen. Martha McSally (Arizona), “Dare to Fly: Simple Lessons in Never Giving Up.” … From U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), “This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman.” … Michael Connelly, “Fair Warning.” … Nora Roberts, “Hideaway.” … Scott Turow, “The Last Trial.” ... Stuart Woods, “Bombshell.”

—Erica J. Smith, erica.smith@pilotonline.com