Spanish novelist Almudena Grandes has died; Harper has hired Adenike Olanrewaju; Shilpi Suneja writes about pervasive mythologies of dirtiness and cleanliness; and other stories.

George Saunders has launched a Substack; Christopher Gonzalez discusses the emotions at the heart of his debut; Eric Nguyen talks reading diaries and memoirs; and other stories.

Idaho library book turns up after more than a century; Percival Everett explains his belief in the primacy of the reader; Lydia Davis reflects on her “exhaustive impulse”; and other stories.

Bryan Washington describes visits to gay bars across the country over the past year; Emma Ramadan reflects on the art of translating experimental writing; veteran editor and publishing executive Charlie Conrad has died; and other stories.

Time recommends one hundred books published this year; the Bay Area Book Festival establishes new leadership positions; Farah Bashir discusses rendering life and death in Kashmir; and other stories.

“Thinking is really about 90 percent of the work.” —James Hannaham, author of Pilot Impostor

Deesha Philyaw writes in praise of Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether; Talya Zax considers the state of Egyptian fiction in the wake of the Arab Spring; Electric Literature seeks to determine the best book cover of the year; and other stories.

The translator of Migratory Birds and Permafrost uses Google Maps to immerse herself in the settings of her translation projects.

Poet Kevin Goodan reflects on how fire has shaped his life; Salt Lake Community College hosts events to mark Native American Heritage Month; the New York Times Book Review seeks reader input to determine the best book of the past 125 years; and other stories.