Long Reads #18

I'm finally back with another Long Reads post! Hisashiburi desu ne~ (It's been a long time). This time, I'm focusing on book-ish essays:

My Father's "Eviscerated" Work by Raphaëlle Rérolle - This is actually a really good essay about Tolkien's legacy, and a little of what his family thought about it. For example, the Lord of the Ring film studios didn't want to pay royalties to the estate. That's not very fair. And sadly, the estate has no way to make sure that the films are true to the books (so if you don't like the films, just blame the producers).

It Matters if You're Black or White: The Racism of YA Book Covers by Annie Schutte - This is actually a really thought provoking covers. Even though I buy books based on whether the cover is attractive, I don't normally think much about the cover afterwards. She does make a compelling case for a bias towards Caucasian characters though.

YA Book Post - Whitewashing Covers by Diana Peterfreund - And here, one of the authors featured in the above article to say that her cover was accurate (surprise!). And yes, it does seem as though her protagonist is white, even though the word "brown" was used at one point. I think the point to take back from the two articles is: some covers are accurate, and some are not. Let's do all we can to change the inaccurate ones.

Royal Bodies by Hilary Mantel - I'm including this under the "books" category because Hilary Mantel is an awesome writer. Yes, this is the article that had everyone in shock because she said some bad things about Kate Middleton, but the real focus of this article is really how women like Marie Antionette and Anne Boleyn have been portrayed. A really good look if you're into historical fiction.

On Travelogues by Ian Manley - If you were to read only one article from here, read this one. It's so awesome that clicking the title will link you to the page (It's that good!). I may even subscribe to their RSS feed(; And this isn't in the article (but appeared when I saved to readability), but there's also a list of "enduring Travelogues in the Public Domain". This is a really great introduction to the history of the travelogue (also bemoaning how most travel blogs nowadays are awful - oops! I think my other blog falls under this!), and I think I'm going to read more travelogues as a result. Any reccomendations?

What about you? What have you been reading?