Ron Does Stuff

The Ateneo Press Grand Anniversary sale, the passing of an audiobook pioneer, an International Booker Prize winner, and Gwyneth Paltrow in this week’s edition.

Ateneo Press Grand Anniversary Sale

Looking for some savings this week? The Ateneo Press is holding a grand sale on June 20, with discounts of up to 70 percent. There are also going to be bargain titles that are going to be sold for only P100 and free ice cream. The sale is going to be held at the Bellarmine Hall.

Audiobook pioneer Barbara Holdridge passes away at 95

As readers of the blog know, I’ve been posting about the audio erotica The Trials and really appreciating the skill that goes into it. And while I’m only really getting into it now, turns out that the audiobook as a form has been around since 1952.

I found out about all of this while reading Publishers Weekly‘s obituary for Barbara Holdridge, who pioneered the form along with Marianne Mantel in the 50s. The two of them started out with convincing Dylan Thomas to record his poetry for them, before going on to add recordings by W.B. Yeats, Eudora Welty, T.S. Eliot, and William Faulkner. I did not know Faulkner was still alive in the 50s.

The company they founded, Caedmon, would be honored in 1992 with a Peabody Award for its contribution to American arts and letters. Both her and Marianne were also recognized in 2021 by the Audio Publishers Association.

Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp

The Guardian has an interview with Banu Mushtaq, the author of Heart Lamp, which was recently awarded the 2025 International Booker Prize. The win is a lot of first for the Booker Prize, according to The Guardian.

It’s a year of firsts for the International Booker: this is the first time that a collection of stories has won; it’s the first winner from the Kannada language; and it’s Mushtaq’s first book to appear in English. At 77, she is also the oldest winner.

Check out the interview to find out more tidbits about Banu Mushtaq, such as the time when she was the target of a fatwa in 2000.

According to the Barnes & Noble description of the book, Heart Lamp is described as a collection that “exquisitely captures the everyday lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India.”

Gwyneth Paltrow biography cover reveal

I don’t know about you guys, but I personally feel I know all I need to know about Gwyneth Paltrow and her vagina-scented candles. But if you still want to know more, People reveals that a biography of the star is coming out on July 29. The publication also revealed the cover this past week. Pre-orders are already available if any of you are interested!