Seattle-area booksellers, moved by community support During coronovirus shutdown, say 'indie bookstores will thrive again' - The Seattle Times

Today Panzer decided to make his trip in the Catosphere closer to home (he lives in Washington state), so he stopped in at The Seattle Times Newspaper site. (The city of Seattle is located in Washington state.) With just a little digging in the posts, our inquisitive kitty boy found one about how indie bookstores are doing in the Seattle-area (Washington) with the coronavirus pandemic state-ordered shutdown.

According to the post by Moira Macdonald, Seattle-area (Seattle, Redmond and Mercer Island) independent bookstores are finding creative ways to continue to sell books. Bookstores are adding shopping carts to their websites so buyers can order their books online. Books are then either mailed to the buyer or can be picked up curbside outside the bookstore.  People are also calling in their book orders for mail or pickup. Book buyers are buying from their neighborhood indie bookstores to help keep them from closing permanently.

Don't worry. They'll be open soon.

Panzer says, "The neighborhood bookstore is where humans can go and hold a book in their hands. That's important to a lot of humans."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Seattle-area bookstores

Dispute Arises Over 'No-No Boy,' a Classic of Asian-American Literature With a Complex History - The New York Times

Today, Panzer was shaken from his nap by booing and hissing coming from the Catosphere. Hopping in the Panzermobile, our brave kitty pilot followed all the noise to The New York Times site. There he found a post about Penguin Random House's Penguin Classics.

According to Alexandra Alter, there's a publishing disagreement between Penguin Random House's Penguin Classics and Shawn Wong, a University of Washington professor, the John Okada estate and the University of Washington Press. The disagreement surrounds Penguin Classics new publication of John Okada's 1957 novel No-No Boy. The novel a Japanese-American man who refused to serve in the US military in WWII. Shawn Wong believes his 1976 copyright of the Okada novel (and subsequent transfer of the copyright to the University of Washington Press) prevents Penguin Classics from publishing the novel. Penguin Classics believes that copyright only covers portions of the novel and they can publish the remainder of the novel. Penguin published the novel in May.

Hearing even more booing and hissing, our kitty boy traveled on to The Seattle Times site. With no digging at all he found a post there about the disagreement too.

According to The Seattle Times' Moira Macdonald, Penguin Random House has now contacted the Okada estate. The estate representative, however, is not interested in dealing with Penguin at this time. The University of Washington has paid the Okada estate royalties for the novel since it was published by them. Penguin has made no such offer. Several Seattle bookstores have pledged not to sell Penguin Classics' version of  No-No Boy. Several well-know authors have also voiced their disapproval of Penguin's actions.

I'm serious. Don't buy Penguin's version..

Panzer says, "Under no circumstances will this little kitty ever buy a copy of Penguin Classics' No-No Boy."

Note: The New York Times post is long. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection. The Seattle Times post is also long. Bring another cup of tea and two muffins to read it too.

To read The New York Times post tootle over to No-No Boy

To read The Seattle Times post tootle over to John Okada's No No Boy