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 ]
Succession, shipwrecks, and a romantic comedy top my list of leisure reads Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-06-12 07:00:00 UTC ]
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Courtney Pentland will begin her role as the 2023–2024 president of the American Association of School Librarians following the official close of the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on June 27; we spoke with Pentland about how she plans to support her fellow librarians—and encourage pre-service... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Gilbert Cruz is joined by The Times’s thriller columnist, Sarah Lyall, to talk about some great suspenseful titles to check out this summer. And the editor Joumana Khatib gives her picks for books to look out for between now and Labor Day. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-06-09 19:53:20 UTC ]
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A sequel to Colson Whitehead’s “Harlem Shuffle,” new stories from Jamel Brinkley, a debut novel about a teenager who worked for Andy Warhol — and more. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-06-09 09:01:29 UTC ]
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Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos, Deborah Levy’s August Blue, and Frieda Hughes’ George: A Magpie Memoir all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * Fiction 1. Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck (New Directions) 10 Rave • 3... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-09 08:53:52 UTC ]
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A survey by the Publishers Association found reading to be more popular than going to the cinema or browsing social media, coming second only to watching TVMore people plan to escape into books than go to the cinema this summer, new polling from the Publishers Association has found.The survey by... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-08 08:00:00 UTC ]
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The Los Angeles Times says it is cutting 74 jobs due to economic challenges as the newspaper strives to transform itself into a digital media organization Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-06-07 20:06:25 UTC ]
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Grab one of these waterproof Kindle cases before you head out on any summer adventures. Your book/ereader will thank you.- Kate Krug Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-06-07 10:32:00 UTC ]
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I’ve been working on a theory about novelists lately: most of us wish we were rock stars. I’m basing this on a few things, like, for example, who wouldn’t want to be a rock star? Also, with all our anonymity, social anxiety disorders, and how we tend to be at our best while wearing sweatpants […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-07 08:52:59 UTC ]
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The new manga releases out June 2023 include isekai, a slice-of-life romance, a new story from the creator of Chainsaw Man, and much more! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-06-06 10:31:00 UTC ]
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A lawsuit says the edict “forces bookstores and libraries to self-censor in a way that is antithetical to their core purposes.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-06-02 18:12:34 UTC ]
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Working with the Booker Prize Foundation, Dua Lipa recently visited HMP Downview, a women’s prison in Surrey, to get a firsthand glimpse of Books Unlocked, a program set up by the BPF and the National Literacy to foster a culture of reading for incarcerated people. Lipa, who recently launched a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-02 14:54:54 UTC ]
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Take a look at previous What We’re Reading blogs for more reading inspiration. Hungry Ghosts, by Kevin Jared HoseinI'm thoroughly enjoying Hungry Ghosts, the debut novel by Kevin Jared Hosein, who won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, and whom I had the pleasure of hearing read at the... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2023-06-01 06:19:41 UTC ]
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Bethanne Patrick's 10 recommended books for June include long-awaited fiction from Lorrie Moore and Jenny Erpenbeck, strong debuts and surprising histories. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-31 13:30:42 UTC ]
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Turns out our soon-to-be AI Overlord, ChatGPT, has a worldview based in the 19th-century canon, Gen X sci-fi favorites, and the social dynamics at Hogwart’s School For Lil Magicians. According to this profile at Business Insider, a data scientist has reverse-engineered ChatGPT’s reading list by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-30 15:25:12 UTC ]
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Whether you're looking to belly laugh, contemplate the future of humanity, or dig into conspiracy theories, I have a sci-fi read for you! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-05-30 10:34:00 UTC ]
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Flaws used to feed their sales but now writers are expected to be saints‘As you get older you realise that all these things – prizes, reviews, advances, readers – it’s all showbiz, and the real action starts with your obituary.”Martin Amis first started spinning in favour of his future... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-27 17:31:09 UTC ]
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These books rewind time, depositing readers in the Cumbrian countryside, coastal Maine, rural Wyoming and beyond. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-26 15:30:50 UTC ]
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Readers love to read about book people almost as much as writers love to write about them (I love to do both). My latest novel, On Fire Island, follows uber-talented young book editor, Julia Gold and literary wunderkind, Benjamin Morse, through their journeys on and off the page. Threaded in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-26 08:52:35 UTC ]
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Raymond Carver, one of the most beloved and influential short story writers in the history of American fiction, was born eighty-five years ago today. Below is a New York Times review of Carver’s final story collection, Where I’m Calling From, written by future Pulitzer Prize (and Orange Prize,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-25 17:31:12 UTC ]
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