Turning literature into a numbers game makes some sense for the book trade, but none for readersWe may be halfway through January already, but the spirit of new year is still in full swing over in San Francisco, where the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge goes from strength to strength to strength. More than 240,000 of Goodreads' 25 million members have already committed to reading more than 14m books this year, pledging to get through them at an average of more than a book a week. And many fans of books will say hurrah for that. I reckon I'm pretty much in favour of books and literature, too, but the Goodreads Reading Challenge just sets my teeth on edge.It starts right there in the name. Since when was reading any kind of challenge? Isn't it supposed to be fun? Maybe not for children still learning to differentiate their Perfect Peters from their Horrid Henrys, or for the one in six UK adults who still struggle with literacy, but Goodreads is a site for people who are already "readers" . I don't think they have schoolchildren in mind when they suggest you should "raise your reading ambitions" and it certainly doesn't look like a scheme designed to help adult learners "make it to the final chapter". All this talk of pledging, of targets, of tracking your progress, is just another step in the marketisation of the reading experience, another stage in the commodification of literary culture.We know that literacy correlates with better social outcomes, that literary fiction... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
The real problem with ebooks is that they're more 'e' than book, so an entirely different set of rules govern what someone can and can't do with them compared to physical books, especially when it comes to pricing. The collusion in pricing has been a public issue for a while, but we need to talk... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spotify did it for music. Netflix did it for movies. And now, Trip Adler and Scribd are doing it for books. The 29-year-old entrepreneur and his six-year-old San Francisco startup just unveiled an online subscription service that gives you unlimited access to a large library of digital books for... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The good news: According to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, more than half of American adults read books for pleasure in 2012.The good news: According to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, more than half of American adults read books for pleasure in... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones has raised over £75,000 for Booktrust's Children's Reading Fund at a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you're not already in a state of advanced excitement over the Breaking Bad finale, Francesco Francavilla's episodic images will put you over the edge. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roughly the same portion of adult Americans read at least one book in 2012 as did in 2008, but the share of adults who read at least one work of literature last year fell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Retirement means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For Steven Soderbergh, it has meant, turning his attention away from directing theatrical releases at a breakneck pace, and working on any number of other projects instead. One such project involved writing a novella on... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The number of children who rarely read—or do not read at all—has risen in the past... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic has donated 1 million books to Reach Out and Read, a literacy charity that works to provide books to at-risk children via doctors and nurses. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan is to invite the book trade to join an industry-wide campaign building awareness... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Global literacy nonprofit Room to Read announced a partnership with the Asia Foundation's Books for Asia, which provides donated educational material throughout the region. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Looks like Amazon is making good use of its Goodreads acquisition. When it debuted the latest Kindle e–reader Tuesday, among the features and specs touted––faster processor, higher–contrast screen, next–gen light––was Goodreads integration, giving readers a built–in community of 20 million to... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo has announced a new batch of e-reading devices to launch worldwide. The range includes three... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Remember hiding out reading a book under the covers after you were supposed to be in bed? This brilliant children’s book embraces that tradition. Reading after dark has lost a bit of its wonder. In the era of tablets, there’s no need for kids to rebel in the nerdiest of ways, stashing... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Miranda McKearney is to step down from her role as director of The Reading Agency in December.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This could be the final blow to paper and ink news: Reporters graduating out of journalism school and headed to work at newspapers and magazines don't read print media, with over seven of 10 choosing digital news and social media websites instead ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tony Cliff's Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant has been delighting audiences online for years?garnering three Eisner nominations in the process?and at the end of August, it hits print as a 168-page full-color paperback from publisher First Second. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2013-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Android-flavored reading app is offering up a couple more of its own e-reader's features for those with Google-fied devices. Just like folks with Kindles have already encountered, the Kindle for Android app now keeps tabs on time remaining in both chapter and book should pace be of... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A poll by Gallup reveals South Korea's favorite foreign novelist was, surprise, French SF author Bernard Werber, followed by Murakami and Hemingway. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Reading Agency has partnered with publisher Barrington Stoke to create initiatives that will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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