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Our new weekend column on The Weekly Round Up covers all the news in the publishing world! Each Saturday and Sunday, stay abreast of what’s new, your favorite writers, literary events, openings and book signings.  Today Sex with Madonna and musical mayhem rule! 

Madonna’s ‘Sex’ Turns 25

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Twenty-five years ago, Madonna shocked the world, again, with one of the most “daring” periods of her careers, according to HuffPost writer Matthew Jacobs.  The books Sex and it’s vinyl companion Erotica hit the market on October 22 and 21, respectively, in 1992. Topping The New York Times Bestsellers list, the book sold a phenomenal 150,000 copies its first day.  While it was devoured by fans, critics and the moral compass of our nation— the faith-based community and parents found the imagery in Sex to be vulgar. This begged the questions, “Has Madonna gone too far this time?” One of the most infamous of the photos in the coffee table book that ran for $50 at the time and came in a sealed package with a metallic cover, was a stark naked Madonna hitchhiking on a public street. At  time when female artists of her caliber played it safe, Madonna pushed every button imaginable and continues to do so stating in 1992 that she fears being over exposed, “only at the gynecologist’s.” Read more about what Jacobs says about this book and this milestone in Madonna’s career here.  

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Former Fox News Anchor Gretchen Carlson Releases New Book on How to Fight Back Against Harassment

Though many have accused her of harassing her guests, it was sexual harassment claims against former Fox News honcho Roger Ailes that prompted Gretchen Carlson to sue and leave the network.  In her new book, Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back, the former Miss America compiles the stories of women and men who have experienced sexual harassment on the job. Carlson also added a chapter providing 12- steps to follow if you are thinking of going forward with a legal claim against an employer for harassment.  To learn more about Carlson’s book and how you can stop sexual harassment in the workplace, read more here.

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Yale Takes Over Twitter with #Blackbiblio Hashtag

 width=Yesterday, Yale took over Twitter with the hashtag #BlackBiblio.  As part of Yale’s History of the Book Program at Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, #BlackBiblio refers to  a think tank of curators and experts in the field of Library Science, literature and academia who came together to design what is going to be the Black Bibliography Project at Yale.  #BlackBiblio is going to catalog rare materials from the 20th century from activists like W.E.B. Dubois and more. Attendees discussed best practices, methodology, collaboration with other entities and presentation of materials over the course of three days.  Rarely do events as these trend on Twitter, but yesterday for most of the morning and afternoon, #BlackBiblio was one of the top trending topics. For more about the collection, next steps and how to participate, read Beinecke’s Twitter timeline here.

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Siblings’ Startup Shows You How to Turn Your Book Collection into a Public Library

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Do you have a collection of books with some unique finds you want to showcase? Have you ever thought about having a library or bookstore of your own? These siblings have created an app that will help you o just that. Libro Library let’s you list the books in your collection you want to lend out and those you wish to borrow from other lenders.

While it is still in the early stages, the program is being piloted in a few regions. In an age of e-books, physical books aren’t selling the way they had in eras past. Still, there are some people who relish in the feel and smell of a paperback much in the way there are record collectors who still love the smell and the sound of vinyl albums.  The siblings have invested their savings in making the application work and available; their goal is to keep the service free for book lovers.  Read more about the app and how the siblings began working together here.

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Anthrax Guitarist Scott Ian to Release New Book of Stories from the Road in December

Credited with the emergence of the “speed” or “thrash” genre’s of heavy metal, Anthrax is most widely known for their live performances and have retained a steady and loyal base of fans since they formed in 1981, while the line-up has changed over the years, one member, Scott Ian, is still rocking it out with the best of them.  Ian, penned his first memoir, I’m the Man: The Story of That Guy from Anthrax in 2015. His new book, All Access: Stories from a Hard Rock Life, includes all the stories he says “didn’t fit into the flow of the first book.”   Included in this December 12 release are stories about encounters with David Lee Roth, Madonna, and even one about being mean-mugged by Donald Trump at a fundraiser, because he wore leather to a black tie event.  For more details about Ian’s book and the inspiration behind it, as well as news about his latest tour, read more here.

 

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Aisha K. Staggers

Aisha K. Staggers has been writing since middle school. She had her first major publication in her local newspaper's entertainment section while a sophomore in high school, a publication in another state paper followed. Aisha has been contributing to various paper, magazines and textbooks for over 15 years. In addition to her time as an instructor of social sciences in higher education, Aisha has served as a director of education and policy research centers, and on the staff of legislative commissions. Aisha previously served on the Executive Board of the CT Young Democrats Women's Caucus and has remained active in politics and public policy. She is an alumni of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT and Fisk University in Nashville, TN where she earned Bachelor's and Master's Degrees, respectively, and completed the South Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program in 2008. Currently, Aisha is Senior Editor for BookTrib, a division of the literary public relations firm, Meryl Moss Media. In addition to her own work, Aisha will be writing the liner notes for an upcoming Prince tribute album and contributing a chapter to a 2018 scholarly work on Prince and the Minneapolis Sound.

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