Last week, Ruth Rendell claimed that reading novels is a dying art. Sadly, she might have a pointNo one can say precisely why John Williams's novel Stoner has become a bestseller almost 50 years after its first publication. After all, plenty of books, "forgotten" or otherwise, are recommended by word of mouth and yet most will not go on to sell more than a few hundred copies. And it's hard to know in what ways, if any, its story – a young man falls in love with literature and thus a new world is revealed to him – might have touched people. Many of those who rushed to buy it will not yet have got around to opening it and some will never read it. Stoner will languish on their shelves, its spine unbroken, just like Jung Chang's Wild Swans, the non-fiction hit of 1992.But still, it has given us something to think about, this dusting down of so plangent and substantial a novel. On Radio 4 last week, Ruth Rendell, the novelist and Labour peer, suggested that Stoner is a book for our times, her argument being that we live in an age when reading is for most an alien pastime, just as it is to William Stoner until he has an epiphany. (Asked to elucidate a poem by a professor, he is unable to say anything except: "It means... it means..." and yet, in this moment, everything changes; the verse, whether he understands it or not, has touched him on some powerfully deep level.) "We are told that it isn't happening," said Rendell. "But it is. Reading is no longer something that everybody... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
Barnes & Noble acknowledged Monday that it has cut jobs throughout the company, but insisted that a report that said it had laid off its entire Nook hardware staff was “incorrect.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Microsoft's getting ready to follow Amazon, Apple, and Google into the reading game with an app for Windows to peruse ebooks, magazines, and comics. The new app appears be part of Microsoft's cross-platform Xbox entertainment services, which currently include Xbox Music and Video. Microsoft... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Open Road Integrated Media has signed an agreement to acquire E-Reads, the digital publisher founded by Richard Curtis in 1999. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary scout Simone Garzella looks at what's selling in the the Arabic book market how the region continues to evolve amidst some troubled times. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big libraries get all the attention. But in late September of 2013, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) issued an interesting report on small and rural libraries in the United States. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seven new rights holders have signed agreements for Kindle Worlds, Amazon's model that allows writers to publish and sell authorized stories inspired by popular worlds. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“In recent years, new bookstores have virtually mushroomed in the city of Sofia," says Rumyana Tsvetkova, reporting for Radio Bulgaria, Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two Pulitzer Prize-winners and a Man Booker-shortlisted author are among the 16 people longlisted... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a woman recently turned herself in to American authorities and confessed to participating in setting several fires, a judge ordered she read both 'Goliath' and Mary C. Wood's 'Nature's Trust' in addition to serving a prison sentence and completing community service. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new section of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios is expected to represent the Diagon Alley shopping area frequented by the wizarding world in the books. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From biographies to technical studies and step-by-step guides, here are 10 books that you should look for in the next few months.Of course, we think you can learn a lot online. But, if you're looking to take a deeper dive, there is often no substitute for the kind of thoughtful analysis you can... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new section of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios is expected to represent the Diagon Alley shopping area frequented by the wizarding world in the books. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From the Fly to Zero Core, the most exciting titles in the music market are put together on a shoestring and given away in shops. We talk to the editors proving that print can still thrive• See the best free magazines in pictures hereA few months after its creation, the Fly magazine almost came... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As more readers favor Kindles and iPads over pulp-based books, Chantal Restivo-Alessi of HarperCollins is mining digital data to determine how publishers can maximize profits.Having worked at EMI records for over a decade, Chantal Restivo-Alessi knows what it's like to have the digitization of... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two of the writers shortlisted for last year's Costa Short Story Award have made the final... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Pew survey found that e-reading increased as well but that more adults read a print book in 2013 than in the previous year. 'Print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits,' the report stated. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Internet has been disrupting the businesses of publishing and bookselling for the past two decades. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The fifth installment of Digital Book World, the annual New York City conference on digital publishing, was held last week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A few key take-aways from DBW 2014: teens aren't reading for fun, ebook sales grow overseas, Wall Street discounts publishing and Amazon is like modern art. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books are rising in popularity, but according to the Pew Research Center, print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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