Laura Davulis
@davulis.bsky.social
Order muppet, with regret. History editor, JHU Press. Got a book idea? Get in touch: davulis@jhu.edu. (I do not speak for my employer here, etc etc.)
Reposted by Laura Davulis
iykyk but in case you don’t, behold:
January 2, 2026 at 9:26 PM
iykyk but in case you don’t, behold:
I just want to state for the record that I do exercise some discretion about what I choose to take from the various neighborhood Little Free Libraries. I left this one behind, for example.
January 2, 2026 at 6:10 PM
I just want to state for the record that I do exercise some discretion about what I choose to take from the various neighborhood Little Free Libraries. I left this one behind, for example.
Reposted by Laura Davulis
Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
January 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
Reposted by Laura Davulis
When you get the reputation of being the guy with the encouraging words on New Year's Eve, it can start to come through as a little pressure -- what if the situation on the ground is worse than usual? what if people are more scared than they usually are, and with cause? what use are good vibes then?
December 31, 2025 at 11:21 PM
When you get the reputation of being the guy with the encouraging words on New Year's Eve, it can start to come through as a little pressure -- what if the situation on the ground is worse than usual? what if people are more scared than they usually are, and with cause? what use are good vibes then?
With ~12 hours still remaining in 2025 is it too early to call it? Well, regardless:
the Mountain Goats - This Year (Official Video)
YouTube video by the Mountain Goats
youtu.be
December 31, 2025 at 5:25 PM
With ~12 hours still remaining in 2025 is it too early to call it? Well, regardless:
There is no such thing as a “regular American” and it is un-American to suggest that there is.
This is how Christopher Caldwell begins his essay on Zohran Mamdani for the Claremont Review of Books.
Why are these people such freaks?
Why are these people such freaks?
December 30, 2025 at 12:10 AM
There is no such thing as a “regular American” and it is un-American to suggest that there is.
I recently had to get involved in a technical discussion of spine widths and paper choices and PPI (no, the other one: pages per inch) and boy howdy am I glad that that is not my regular job
A lil’ printing primer. Two versions of a book. Same page count, but very different spine widths! How could this be? Is it magic?
December 28, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I recently had to get involved in a technical discussion of spine widths and paper choices and PPI (no, the other one: pages per inch) and boy howdy am I glad that that is not my regular job
If you were alive & listening to the radio in the 90s, you’ll probably enjoy It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (streaming on HBO) even if you’re not a huge JB fan (I would call myself a mediumish fan.) A really wonderful, thoughtful, tender film.
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley - Official Trailer | Directed by Amy Berg
YouTube video by Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
youtu.be
December 28, 2025 at 1:22 AM
If you were alive & listening to the radio in the 90s, you’ll probably enjoy It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (streaming on HBO) even if you’re not a huge JB fan (I would call myself a mediumish fan.) A really wonderful, thoughtful, tender film.
You just never know what you’re going to find when you step into a small town bookstore. Today’s find: featured food books, gay books, Tim Curry’s memoir, and this:
December 27, 2025 at 5:33 PM
You just never know what you’re going to find when you step into a small town bookstore. Today’s find: featured food books, gay books, Tim Curry’s memoir, and this:
Reposted by Laura Davulis
When someone praises your book, say thank you, and try to believe it. I am FULLY AWARE you probably don't really believe it. But try. And don't say anything negative.
December 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
When someone praises your book, say thank you, and try to believe it. I am FULLY AWARE you probably don't really believe it. But try. And don't say anything negative.
Reposted by Laura Davulis
You've been very good -- so we've delivered a short, free holiday trial at PublishersMarketplace.com, now through 12/27. Happy holidays from PM!
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
Publishers Marketplace
PublishersMarketplace.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:33 PM
You've been very good -- so we've delivered a short, free holiday trial at PublishersMarketplace.com, now through 12/27. Happy holidays from PM!
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
This post-holiday party pile of balloons has been sitting in the @hopkinspress.bsky.social basement for several days and I believe I showed admirable restraint for those several days but today I could restrain myself no further
December 23, 2025 at 9:54 PM
This post-holiday party pile of balloons has been sitting in the @hopkinspress.bsky.social basement for several days and I believe I showed admirable restraint for those several days but today I could restrain myself no further
Okay, people. As far as I can tell I have responded to all queries and book proposals received through yesterday, 12/22/2025. If you sent me something and didn’t hear back, please feel free to check in or resend, though you likely won’t hear from me until mid-January.
December 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Okay, people. As far as I can tell I have responded to all queries and book proposals received through yesterday, 12/22/2025. If you sent me something and didn’t hear back, please feel free to check in or resend, though you likely won’t hear from me until mid-January.
Today, December 22nd, daylight will be two seconds longer than it was yesterday. By the end of the month we’ll be gaining 30 seconds of daylight every day, give or take.
December 22, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Today, December 22nd, daylight will be two seconds longer than it was yesterday. By the end of the month we’ll be gaining 30 seconds of daylight every day, give or take.
Reposted by Laura Davulis
the vice president is a klansman
JD Vance: "In the United States of America you don't have to apologize for being white anymore"
December 21, 2025 at 8:22 PM
the vice president is a klansman
I’ve seen two Brazilian films in theaters in the past year—both were set during Brazil’s military dictatorship (I’m Still Here and The Secret Agent.) Is this just a quirk or is that period receiving a lot of attention from Brazilian filmmakers right now?
December 21, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I’ve seen two Brazilian films in theaters in the past year—both were set during Brazil’s military dictatorship (I’m Still Here and The Secret Agent.) Is this just a quirk or is that period receiving a lot of attention from Brazilian filmmakers right now?
When I pick up the first advance copies of books from our production department, I like to give them a little pep talk on our ride down to the mailroom to send them to the author
I actually love the image of the book making its way in the world—the notion behind the “envoi,” where the author wishes it farewell—“Go, little book.” I just encountered Anne Bradstreet’s wonderful “The Author to Her Book”: en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Aut...
December 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
When I pick up the first advance copies of books from our production department, I like to give them a little pep talk on our ride down to the mailroom to send them to the author
Good morning! This is Radar, an adoptable dog at BARCS (www.barcs.org), and today we went on a walk. Radar would love nothing more than to find his very own human to lean on. Radar is so fond of leaning, in fact, that I had trouble getting a picture of his cute lil face.
December 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Good morning! This is Radar, an adoptable dog at BARCS (www.barcs.org), and today we went on a walk. Radar would love nothing more than to find his very own human to lean on. Radar is so fond of leaning, in fact, that I had trouble getting a picture of his cute lil face.
Reposted by Laura Davulis
“Hello, it's me, The Dean of Yale. I read your thesis, I think it could be a bestseller. Now you must decide between Yale and marrying the hometown barista guy.”
It's the highest of high art. If you're an academic you need to watch it ASAP.
It's the highest of high art. If you're an academic you need to watch it ASAP.
Time for our annual viewing of the academia-themed Just in Time for Christmas, in which she gets cold called by the “Dean of Yale,” who wants to publish her dissertation because it will be a bestseller and offers a flyout for a job she didn’t apply for, and mystical William Shatner shakes things up.
December 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
“Hello, it's me, The Dean of Yale. I read your thesis, I think it could be a bestseller. Now you must decide between Yale and marrying the hometown barista guy.”
It's the highest of high art. If you're an academic you need to watch it ASAP.
It's the highest of high art. If you're an academic you need to watch it ASAP.
Every year people discover this movie for the first time via a thread like this one and every year it delights me anew
Time for our annual viewing of the academia-themed Just in Time for Christmas, in which she gets cold called by the “Dean of Yale,” who wants to publish her dissertation because it will be a bestseller and offers a flyout for a job she didn’t apply for, and mystical William Shatner shakes things up.
December 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Every year people discover this movie for the first time via a thread like this one and every year it delights me anew
Reposted by Laura Davulis
Maria has been accused over the years of fabricating her story that she had gone to the FBI. After finding the document in the trove, I called her. She broke down in tears.
“I’ve waited 30 years. I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
“I’ve waited 30 years. I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
December 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Maria has been accused over the years of fabricating her story that she had gone to the FBI. After finding the document in the trove, I called her. She broke down in tears.
“I’ve waited 30 years. I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
“I’ve waited 30 years. I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
A reminder, since New Hampshire is in the news for stupid shit again, that the Union-Leader is the local *conservative* paper. I know it sounds like it shouldn’t be, but it is.
December 19, 2025 at 3:20 AM
A reminder, since New Hampshire is in the news for stupid shit again, that the Union-Leader is the local *conservative* paper. I know it sounds like it shouldn’t be, but it is.
Someone should cross reference attendees at that event with the book proposal that Brockman sold 2 months later
December 18, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Someone should cross reference attendees at that event with the book proposal that Brockman sold 2 months later
Reposted by Laura Davulis
People who aspire to be academics: I wish to live a life of the mind
Actual academics:
Actual academics:
I have a weird question for the #bird people on here. Do you think someone could tell that a book was pooped on specifically by a sparrowhawk (or perhaps hawks generally) just from the feces? I'm looking at a 16th c. case where witnesses claim books were pooped on specifically by sparrowhawks!
December 18, 2025 at 3:34 PM
People who aspire to be academics: I wish to live a life of the mind
Actual academics:
Actual academics:
Good news, Baltimore: tomorrow, the sun sets a little later than it did today (though the days don’t start getting longer until Monday)
December 17, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Good news, Baltimore: tomorrow, the sun sets a little later than it did today (though the days don’t start getting longer until Monday)