By Jill Grunenwald, Marketing and Communications Specialist

It’s ALA Week! If you’re headed to New Orleans, be sure to stop by booth 3715 and say hi to me as I’ll be working the OverDrive booth this weekend (and doing some presentations on what’s new with OverDrive, so be sure to check out our schedule once you get to the exhibit hall). Until then, check out this week’s list of five articles that caught my attention.

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Bustle has a list of 5 fascinating, yet unsolved, literary mysteries
Okay, but, seriously, where did Agatha Christie go those eleven days? (Because as much as this Whovian loves the episode The Unicorn and the Wasp, I realize that a time traveling Gallifreyan was probably not involved.) Also, the Voynich manuscript is one of those things that is just utterly, utterly fascinating. (WAIT. Maybe the Voynich manuscript is from Gallifrey!)

Pajiba breaks down the self-publishing problem plaguing Amazon
The self-publishing industry is dealing with some serious controversies these days, first with the whole Cocky trademark and now book stuffing. After Amazon changed their pay structure, some … industrious self pub authors figured out how to get around the rules.

Speaking of Amazon … Stephen King! Smart Speakers! 
I will admit, smart speakers like Alexa and Google Assistant make me tin foil hat levels of nervous, but my love for Stephen King might outweigh the paranoia. Billed as a “voice-activated book recommendation tool,” the Stephen King Library will recommend King books based on users’ reading tastes. (That said, I feel like this particular AI skill would be way better if the voice was Kathy Bates reprising her role from Misery)

Marlon James has written a new fantasy series he is describing as an “African Game of Thrones” and I AM HERE FOR IT.
I got to hear James read from A Brief History of Seven Killings when he won the 2015 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction and his way with words is incredible. The title of the new book is Black Leopard, Red Wolf. The cover is amazing. And I want to read it RIGHT NOW (said Veruca Salt style).

Over on Signature Reads, 10 Stunt Memoirs that Shook Up Writers Lives
I’d never heard the term “stunt memoir” before, but as soon as I read it I immediately knew exactly what type of memoir the article would reference. Having met him in person, I also just kind of love the idea of Colson Whitehead – yes, that Colson Whitehead – playing in the World Series of Poker. (Check out the Professional Book Nerds interview with Colson Whithead here.)